The Wisdom of Harvey Penick [Hardcover]

Harvey Penick (Author), Bud Shrake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1997

The collected wisdom of the game’s greatest teacher.

The legendary Harvey Penick worked with an amazing array of champions over the course of nearly a century, sharing his invaluable wisdom with golfers of every level. In 1992, at the age of eighty-seven, he offered the world a timeless collection of advice and anecdotes entitled Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, which went on to become the bestselling sports book of all time. Unlike so many other instructors, Penick was able to dispense with the technical jargon and communicate the very essence of the game. He went on to write three more books, all bestsellers, and all filled with thoughts, stories, and golf advice that has stood the test of time. Now Bud Shrake, Harvey’s friend and collaborator, gathers together the very best pointers, portraits, and parables from all four of Harvey’s previous works. Filled with nuggets of wisdom and enhanced with dozens of personal photographs and keepsakes from the Penick family scrapbooks, The Wisdom of Harvey Penick is a lasting treasure from the most beloved teacher in all of golf.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A master of parable and the Socratic method, Harvey Penick, the Texas pro who molded the games of Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, emerged late in his long life as the golf world's pied piper. With the phenomenal success of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, his first primer, Penick earned a dedicated international following eager to hang on his anecdotes and embrace the practicality of his gentle advice that always seems more personal than generic. The Wisdom of Harvey Penick gathers the best of that first volume and joins it with highlights from Penick's three bestselling successors: And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend; For All Who Love the Game, which is geared particularly toward women; and The Game for a Lifetime. The compilation forms a single, convenient lifelong studies program complete with photos and keepsakes from the Penick family scrapbooks.

About the Author

The late Harvey Penick was a renowned golf pro who began his career at the Austria (Texas) Country Club as a caddie. Though he coached golf at the University of Texas for thirty years, and worked with the likes of Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, and Betsy Rawls, he never left the country club, where he continued to teach until his death in 1995.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (October 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684845083
• ISBN-13: 978-0684845081
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Essays

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Penick Encourages & Guides Without Being Technical, August 23, 1998

By 

S. Whitlock (Denver, Ski Country USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Harvey Penick (Hardcover)

This book provides the best of Penick's great anecdotes. He has so many golf related stories from his days of teaching, coaching, and assisting, and each one sheds a new perspective on this timeless game. His best contribution to golf writing is his ability to provide clear visuals in association with sound golfing principles. He doesn't leave the reading wondering how to implement an idea, but puts it in concrete terms by providing examples from his own life as well as the people he coached. Apart from the wonderful golf tips, this is just a plain good read, which borders on an autobiography. If you love the sport and you love life, you will truly enjoy this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, January 30, 2000

By 

Robert A. Juneo (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wisdom of Harvey Penick (Hardcover)

For us average golfers the tips are worth 5 strokes a game. I now understand more about the mechanics of the game after reading Harvey's books, than from all the instruction tips in monthly golf magazines. An entertaining and helpful book for weekend golfers. A must read for young and new golfers. Great for both men and women.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice tips for golfer at all levels, January 4, 2007

By 

Wantao A. Chu "Average Golfer" (Macedonia, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Harvey Penick (Hardcover)

Nice tips for golfer at all levels, don't have to read the entile books, each pages have different tips to help/advice the game of golf. Will be nice just flip open a page each day during golf seasons.