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Two Years in St. Andrews: At Home on the 18th Hole [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

George Peper (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


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Hardcover, Deckle Edge, May 30, 2006 --  

Book Description

May 30, 2006
The Old Course at St. Andrews is to golfers what St. Peter's is to Catholics or the Western Wall is to Jews: hallowed ground, the course every golfer longs to play -- and master. In 1983 George Peper was playing the Old Course when he hit a slice so hideous that he never found the ball. But in looking for it, he came across a For Sale sign on a stone town house alongside the famed eighteenth hole. Two months later he and his wife, Libby, became the proud owners of 9A Gibson Place.

In 2003 Peper retired after twenty-five years as the editor in chief of Golf magazine. With the younger of their two sons off to college, the Pepers decided to sell their house in the United States and relocate temporarily to the town house in St. Andrews. And so they left for the land of golf -- and single malt scotch, haggis, bagpipes, television licenses, and accents thicker than a North Sea fog. While Libby struggled with renovating an apartment that for years had been rented to students at the local university, George began his quest to break par on the Old Course.

Their new neighbors were friendly, helpful, charmingly eccentric, and always serious about golf. In no time George was welcomed into the local golf crowd, joining the likes of Gordon Murray, the man who knows everyone; Sir Michael Bonallack, Britain's premier amateur golfer of the last century; and Wee Raymond Gatherum, a magnificent shotmaker whose diminutive stature belies his skills.

For anyone who has ever dreamed of playing the Old Course -- and what golfer hasn't? -- this book is the next best thing. And for those who have had that privilege, Two Years in St. Andrews will revive old memories and confirm Bobby Jones's tribute, "If I were to set down to play on one golf course for the remainder of my life, I should choose the Old Course at St. Andrews."

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Former Golf magazine editor Peper (Playing Partners: A Father, a Son, and Their Shared Passion for Golf) bought a townhouse beside the 18th hole of the Old Course in the Scottish village of St. Andrews and spent a few years living there and penning this pleasant homage to "golf's version of the Vatican." Peper soaks up the traditions, vistas and aura of the storied Royal and Ancient Golf Club, pokes gentle fun at the horrors of Scottish cuisine, reminisces about encounters with such celebrities as Jack Nicklaus and Sean Connery, and gives shot-by-shot recaps of some of his many confrontations with the Old Course (his goal was to shoot an under-par round). Peper writes with jaunty, understated good humor, lit with occasional flashes of exhilaration and despair depending on the vicissitudes of his game. The narrative calms down in accounts of his wife's remodeling of their townhouse or dull thumbnails of neighbors; often the book really feels like a story about a couple who retire to a golf course. But golf fans—devotées of one of life's most pedestrian thrills—will savor this walking-speed appreciation of their greatest shrine. Photos not seen by PW. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Peper, former editor of Golf Magazine, bought a flat on the eighteenth fairway at St. Andrews' Old Course in the 1980s, moved there with his wife in 2003, and remodeled the 150-year-old home. In this memoir of his first two years in Scotland, he lives every golfers' dream: hanging his hat alongside the most revered golf course in the world, playing it regularly, and gradually coming to feel at home in the charming village of St. Andrews. It's hard to read this beguiling account without a touch of envy, but Peper successfully adopts a self-deprecating tone, in terms of both his own, hardly shabby golf game and his extensive connections throughout the golf world (name-dropping runs rampant, from Nicklaus to Prince Andrew). Still, his love of the game--and his ability to describe the enduring pleasures of a properly executed shot--will win most golfers over, even as they hack their way around charmless municipal courses and contemplate buying new furnaces for their suburban tear-downs. It's Under the Tuscan Sun for golfers, with all the bittersweet pleasures that implies. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 30, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743262824
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743262828
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George Peper is one of America's most respected golf journalists. For 25 years he was Editor-in-Chief of GOLF Magazine, with a total readership of 7 million. He is currently Editor-at-Large for LINKS Magazine where his column appears in each issue.

Peper is the author of 18 books on golf, two of them New York Times best sellers. His next book, entitled LINKS, is due from Artisan in 2010. Co-written with Scottish golf writer Malcolm Campbell, is is a celebration in words and photos of the world's 244 links courses.

Peper has written scripts for two dozen videos and television shows. His script for The Story of Golf, a two-hour documentary for Public Broadcasting, won him an Emmy nomination.

Peper's commitment to golf and golf course architecture was recognized in 2008 when he was presented the Donald Ross Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Society of Golf Course Architects. Previous recipients include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, and Robert Trent Jones. In 2009 the Metropolitan Golf Writers presented him the Lincoln Werden Award for lifetime achivement to golf journalism.

Among his contributions to the game are "Pace Ratings" which establish playing times for golf courses and "The Need System" which was adopted by the USGA as the recommended method for allocating handicap strokes across 18 holes. Peper is also the originator of GOLF Magazine's biennial list of the Top 100 Courses in the World.

Currently Peper is Editor -at-Large for LINKS Magazine where his column appears in each issue. He lives in Newport, Rhode Island and St. Andrews, Scotland where he has a home on the 18th hole of the Old Course.

 

Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved every sentence - thanks, George!, August 21, 2006
This review is from: Two Years in St. Andrews: At Home on the 18th Hole (Hardcover)
I've taken two trips to St. Andrews and can definitely relate to George's Peper's outstanding take on the place. I treasured every sentence of these 299 pages. He's really nailed the spirit of St. Andrews, both the setting and its people. I'm not a mad, keen golfer, and my wife - like Peper's - is disinterested in the sport itself. But - like me - she loves the atmosphere of the place. One of the greatest things in the world is to sit on the steps in front of the 18th green and watch group and group tumble home with big, goofy grins on their faces. It's a fabulous way to spend an early evening.

Peper's character really shows through here. When you read his bio on the backflap, it's only then that you get a sense of the depth of his accomplishments in golf and journalism. The book taken at face value gives you the impression that he sort of tumbled into some of these accomplishments (hello, R&A Competition Committee!) by being at the right place at the right time. While I'm sure luck played a small part, there's also the matter of talent and hard work. First, the guy can flat-out write. He's funny, engaging and perceptive. Second, the guy works hard. At one point, he lets on regarding the assignments he's juggling. He's definitely not slacking over there!

The two other characters worth mentioning:

- Mr. Peper's neighbor Gordon Murray. There's that expression "it's not what you know, it's who you know"...Gordon seems the living embodiment of that and of what Pepard calls "Gordon's three degrees of separation" (none of that six degrees stuff applies here).

- Millie Peper. This Westie charmer is surely the cutest thing on four legs to hit the Old Course in some time.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Thanks, George!, June 20, 2006
By 
E. Lyle (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Two Years in St. Andrews: At Home on the 18th Hole (Hardcover)
George Peper had a wonderful experience in St. Andrews and, thanks to his low-key, affectionate book about the town and its people, we have one, too. He captures all things good about St. Andrews and Scotland - the friendliness and decency of the people, the feel of the air, the light on the hills and sea, the feeling of standing at the first tee of the Old Course, and the uncanny sense of being exactly where you want to be.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Contrasts in Golf and Life for Two, July 18, 2006
By 
rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Two Years in St. Andrews: At Home on the 18th Hole (Hardcover)
An experienced wordsmith, Peper memoirs his decision to spend two years in their invested real estate lining the sacred 18th at golf's home.

Reminiscent of Rubenstein's excellent book: A Season at Dornoch, former editor of Golf magazine Peper and his wife venture to live in their St. Andrews adventure home.

There is just one great memory after another recalled enjoyably and in adventerous fashion by this pro writer and avid golfer and full of life fellow who exhibits humility while brushing lifes and rounds of golf and drinks with golf elite and St. Andrews citizens.

The differences in culture and golfing are explored, with the Scottish life clearly providing what Peper terms: "a life mulligan." A more purer, innocent, slower, less marketed way of life.

The golf stories are worth the read, especially humorous tale of the H.W. Wind nameplate.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dogged pursuit, tee shot
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Course, Open Championship, Links Trust, New Course, Gordon Murray, Links Pass, Andrews Golf Club, Gibson Place, British Open, Ancient Golf Club, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Old Tom Morris, Club Committee, New York, Herbert Warren Wind, Tiger Woods, Golf Digest, Andrews University, Thursday Club, Our Backyard, British Amateur, Autumn Meeting, Swilken Burn, North Sea
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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