In the ten years since Golf Anecdotes was first published, the game and its players have changed dramatically. This new edition, now with a foreword by Arnold Palmer and a new chapter covering the latest and greatest golf stars like Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods, reflects those changes. Readers can enjoy a sweeping look at this royal and ancient game, in a volume that is both an informal history as well as a vivid recounting of golf's most striking incidents and personalities.
Robert Sommers takes us on a grand tour that stretches from the game's dim origins in the 12th century right up to the modern PGA tour. Indeed, no other anecdote book offers this much historical depth or serves up such fascinating lore. We learn for instance that the first known golf match took place in 1504, between James IV of Scotland and the Earl of Bothwell. Sommers likewise paints a colorful portrait of golf in the era of the first professionals—Old Tom Morris, Allan Robertson, and Willie Park—describing the earliest rules, the equipment used, the most memorable events. Much of the book focuses on the 20th century. Here readers will find wonderful tales of Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, Joyce Wethered and Babe Zaharias, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino, Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman, and of course, the amazing Tiger Woods. Thus the wide world of golf is presented, the first professionals and the latest stars, the double eagles and the double hits. Informative and highly entertaining, Golf Anecdotes will appeal to anyone who loves the game.
| Foreword | xi | |
| Preface | xv | |
| Acknowledgments | xix | |
| Introduction | 1 | |
| 1 | From Royal Bans to Tournament Golf | 11 |
| 2 | The Age of the Gutty Ball | 21 |
| 3 | From the Robber-Core Ball to the First World War | 45 |
| 4 | From Bobby Jones to the Second World War | 75 |
| 5 | Byron Nelson to Arnold Palmer | 151 |
| 6 | The Age of Nicklaus | 239 |
| 7 | Parity and the International Scene | 285 |
| 8 | The King Abdicates | 321 |
| Index | 369 |
Overview
In the ten years since Golf Anecdotes was first published, the game and its players have changed dramatically. This new edition, now with a foreword by Arnold Palmer and a new chapter covering the latest and greatest golf stars like Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods, reflects those changes. Readers can enjoy a sweeping look at this royal and ancient game, in a volume that is both an informal history as well as a vivid recounting of golf's most striking incidents and ...