Customer Reviews

Royal and Ancient: Blood, Sweat, and Fear at the British Open

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Only the very best writers can sustain drama when they're recounting events whose outcome is already well-known--and who isn't aware of Jean Van de Veld's slow-motion deflation on the final hole at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, the culminating event in Curt Sampson's splendid new book, Royal and Ancient? Sampson's a wonderful phrase-maker-writing of Tiger's "adhesive gallery" is a good example-with an ample feeling for the game and the people who make it interesting, from the tournament players at the forefront to the deeply sequestered greenkeepers, such as Carnoustie's John Philp, who tried to defend the old links against the assaults of a generation of golf pros who regard birdies as a birthright. Sampson's written other good books, but this one is superb.

Curt Sampson has been my favorite golf writer for several years now, ever since Hogan, which was just about the best golf biography I've ever read. His next book, The Masters, was excellent too. This one is great--plenty of fascinating history of the most prestigious golf tournament ever, plus an account of last year's unbelievable Open, which may have been the toughest major ever played, with probably the most fantastic finish ever. Must reading for any golfer.

ROYAL AND ANCIENT, story of the 1999 Open championship with some Open background, is not my first Curt Sampson read.

I have also digested with much joy:

THE LOST MASTERS, the story of the controversial 1968 Masters championship.

and

THE ETERNAL SUMMER, the story of the hard-fought 1960 season.

I was lucky to read MASTERS and SUMMER in that order. MASTERS is a slanted but colorful and enjoyable piece of work. I was pumped for more Sampson and got my wish. SUMMER is one of the best golf history books ever written, and I have read most of them; period.

So coming off SUMMER, you can imagine that I am expecting another great piece of golf-history work in ROYAL. In the case of ROYAL, however, I would have settled for decent.

Reading ROYAL is like eating sawdust. Sampson takes us over several acres of previously plowed fields (Old Tommy, Young Tommy, the greens with two holes, the rail road, the warm beer, etc.). And it never gets better. I just gave you the highlights. The modern characters are largely boring and the characterizations do nothing to wake them up.

Advantage any chance you get to read MASTERS. Whether you are a fan of the institution or skeptical, it is an interesting read and entertaining.

Leap at any opportunity to read SUMMER. It is a top-drawer treatment of 1960's events.

If you get a chance to read ROYAL, pass it up. Except for Open fanatics, I cannot imagine anyone liking this book. But the fanatics might, for that matter; people wonder how I can enjoy so many endless editions of golf history.

Did Curt Sampson come to Carnoustie, Scotland in 1999 expecting to turn the British Open upside-down like he did Augusta National in "The Masters?" If so, he was beaten to the punch by a genial Frenchman named Jean Van de Velde who gave golf's signature event its wackiest finish ever.

I didn't like "The Masters" much; its agenda was a little harsh. But "Royal And Ancient" sees Sampson approach his topic with more respect, and get better results. He takes in the history of the Open, champions from Old Tom Morris to young Tom Watson, the sound of Carnoustie's winds whipping through the media tents and the dry fescue, and the separate pilgrimages three American golfers take for the big event.

"Royal And Ancient" is scattershot in many ways; none of the three golfers Sampson spotlights make the cut. He spends a good deal of time honing his Dan Jenkins aspirations, detailing the misadventures of a tour hanger-on who doesn't merit the print. Sampson wrote a famous bio on Ben Hogan, and there are times Sampson seems in danger of writing another here.

But after a slow beginning Sampson puts you right at the center of things, analyzes expectations against results and giving a thorough sense of what a British Open entails by using this particular year's edition as a case study. He rambles some, but he tells some fun stories and quotes some interesting people.

The big controversy at Carnoustie most of the week was the condition of the course, with the rough grown so high players could not try to advance the ball if it went off the fairway. A writer likens it to asking basketball players to play with a medicine ball. Meanwhile, course superintendent John Philp argues the game is supposed to be a test of skill and not a birdie racket.

"Carnoustie in 1999 looked like it had been working out," Sampson opines. "And had joined a motorcycle gang."

A tough layout made for a strange leaderboard, topped much of the time by Van de Velde, a Frenchman who at the last hole in regulation demonstrated the Frenchness of the words "elan" and "folly." Sampson does a great job describing the scene, Van de Velde going for the green with a three-stroke lead rather than sensibly lay up. The result was one of those bizarre moments that make sports fans out of casual bystanders, and a Scot named Paul Lawrie who made the local fans very happy.

"Except for the heroic Nicklaus versus Watson duel at Turnberry in 1977, no Open finish in the TV age could compare. But there is romance in tragedy, and tragedy in romance, and the travails of the doomed, flawed hero affect us more deeply than someone's big win," Sampson writes.

Maybe, but Sampson finds Van de Velde months after defying expectations he would shrivel up like a raisin from his shame. Instead, he kept his head high, determined to enjoy what he can from life.

Still, it was a lot easier to enjoy the 1999 British Open if you weren't Van de Velde, and easier still enjoying it with the help of Sampson's clever, comprehensive book.

Sampson for me is the consummate golf writer; clever, knows his game and does it all creatively. Witness the way he puts together this chronicle of The Open. Starts with the Morris' and their famed dominance of early golf, then the interest of England and the rest.

Interwoven here are the rest of glorious Open history-Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Watson, and Hogan. Then the tie with Carnoustie and the wee little iceman.

Boy this author can captivate you while getting it all down. This flows and ebbs till it ends up at the Burn and that 18th. Never Compromise --- great putting with new found friend--- never compromise style -- must go for it!

This is like author's other books (try them out, especially Hogan and Eternal Summer and Masters, they're favorites) this was just excellent reading to the end.

a great job of not only capturing the 1999 open, but also giving the reader the feel for the history and passion of the open.

Golf is more than a game. When we can not play the game, we watch it. When we can not watch the game, we read about it. And who is best at capturing the feeling of the game of golf on print than Curt Sampson? He is the story-teller of golf.

Mr. Sampson has given the forest of golf literature some of its tallest timber, and Royal & Ancient is one mighty Sequoia. He captures the tension, trauma, triumph and tragedy of a major championship as no one before him. If you enjoyed The Eternal Summer, Hogan and The Masters, you will positively LOVE Royal & Ancient.