Sports & Recreation : Golf

“Golf . . . is a sport in which the whole American family can participate--fathers and mothers, sons and daughters alike. It offers healthy respite from daily toil, refreshment of body and mind.”. --President Dwight D. Eisenhower. On January 24, 1953, four days after his inauguration, the New York Times reported that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been spotted on the White House lawn practicing his short irons in the direction of the Washington Monument. This image of “The Golfing General” was one that the American public quickly became accustomed to, as Eisenhower is said to have played nearly 800 rounds during the course of his two-term presidency. He befriended the game's most beloved players, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, and Byron Nelson, and was the subject of hundreds of golf jokes and cartoons. The public's awareness of Eisenhower's obsession with golf led directly to the sport's mid-century surge in popularity. In Don't Ask What I Shot , noted historian Catherine M. Lewis offers a unique alternate portrait of Ike and this watershed period in American history. “Any time you have a person in the position of President Eisenhower, who was so enthusiastic about golf and had the press paying attention to his many excursions on the golf course, it was going to make people aware of the game and how much he enjoyed playing it.”. --Arnold Palmer. " Don't Ask What I Shot is a fascinating examination of one of golf's pivotal decades, and the remarkable president who did more to popularize the game than any other in history.". -Mark Frost, award-winning author of Grand Slam and The Greatest Game Ever Played. "Whatever remained to be done to remove the last traces of the average man's carefully nurtured prejudice against a game originally linked with the wealthy and aloof was done by President Eisenhower.". --Herbert Warren Wind, renowned golf writer more...

Price: $24.95

A look inside the high-pressure creation of the new breed of superstar golfers. No longer the realm of quaint traditions and a few weekly hours practicing chip shots, junior golf has evolved into a fierce training ground, where ultra-high-tech cameras provide cutting-edge swing analysis and young players spend almost every waking hour on the driving range. Reporting from the front lines of this brave new game, veteran golf journalist Kevin Cook spends a year inside the guarded, security-gated David Leadbetter Golf Academy, a three-hundred- acre golf mecca where teenagers attend an on-campus high school and live in dorms alongside state-of- the-art putting greens, video facilities, and manicured links—at a cost to their parents of more than $100,000 a year. As often as not, the parents are more driven than the kids. Driven also explores the scientific knowledge that has allowed upstarts to uncork 320-yard drives and to play better than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson played when they were juniors long ago—way back in the 1990s. Cook’s subjects include teen superstar Michelle Wie and her pushy parents; Ty Tyron, the youngest player to ever win a Tour card (now a burnout at the age of twenty-three); Mu Hu, the Chinese teen commanded by his government to become the Yao Ming of golf; and tennis superstar Ivan Lendl’s daughter, Isabelle, who might be the next Annika Sorenstam. Destined to change the way the world perceives the game, Driven is a compelling, behind-the-scenes look at golf’s next generation. more...

Price: $15.00

From one of golf's funniest, most popular players comes another hilarious look inside the pro sport and the people who play it. more...

Price: $14.00

Was there ever a year in golf like 1960?         It was the year that the sport and its vivid personalities exploded on the consciousness of the nation, when the past, present, and future of the sport collided. more...

Price: $19.00

The co-author of the classic Extraordinary Golf offers an innovative approach to improving the overall game by focusing on putting, which accounts for more than one third of the strokes in a typical round. Not just a tips-and-techniques book, Extraordinary Putting features a series of illustrated exercises that will help golfers: - Develop the inner freedom to trust themselves and recognize self-imposed barriers - Find the peace of mind that comes from letting go of mental chatter and self- judgments - Increase awareness, allowing golfers to pay attention to their experiences - Understand the differences in those experiences from stroke to stroke - Master the art of self-coaching more...

Price: $14.95