Book Review 'Life on the Green' Lessons and Wisdom from Legends of Golf

 I like inspirational reading. With the invention of smartphones...yeah...I'm that old.... (to remember that day of invention) some of my favs are apps the send inspirational push notifications daily. I love that you can be "nudged" into pausing from what you were just pushed.

...soundbites of life... 

But for me, nothing beats holding a book and reading a passage...getting context of that passage from the storyline...and getting a truer meaning from what you just read. 

Life on the Green is such a book. 

Author Ann Liguori has put together conversations of 12 familiar golf stars into a very readable book that focuses on what makes these people tick...and... what do you think it takes to have success in golf and in life (guess what?! They are intertwined!)

My favorite person that she interviews is Jack Nicklaus. in the sub-chapter "What makes a Legacy" Jack talks about charities, and how much his career has meant to these fine endeavors. He says "That's all fantastic, we're very proud of what we've done. But it all happened because I made a couple 4 foot putts. And if I had not made those 4-foot putts, we wouldn't be in this position."

Mind-blowing. Amazing how something so big starts with something so small. 

like soundbites of life...

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review: One for the Memory Banks

 Who doesn't like golf trips? Every guy's rite to get a group of his buds and spend a weekend hitting the links. Author Luke Reese does the rite one better...he gives us an inside look at his golf trips among the international classic golf links while doing business in Great Britain and Ireland.

What I enjoyed about One for the Memory Banks is every chapter had a review of the golf they played at the upper tier courses he played with his friends throughout their sales careers with Wilson. Many times I found myself stopping and saying  to myself "wow, I gotta see what that place looks like.....google!....show me Royal County Down!" and then I could let myself dream a little.

Priceless little inside information stories add to the allure of this book....how North Berwick created bunkers, the heartwarming tale of Laddie Lucas, and the very cool meeting of caddie Aidan Doyle.

Author Luke Reese does a great job allowing the reader to go with him on his adventures through these great courses sharing stories, meeting nice people along the way, and making time for golf when there was no time. 

..and isn't that what we all want to take away from a golf trip?

Keep it in the short-grass,

MyDailySlice

Heritage Golf Course. Tucker GA. Sold to developers. Save the course!

 https://www.change.org/p/tucker-city-council-protect-tucker-heritage-links-from-overdevelopment?cs_tk=AnKfcHZmSupCNxQial8AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvKYvXlo1aLqfIzVd54_Dbvw%3D&utm_campaign=fb6b9adb5d7949d5991311b4fd1dfe0c&utm_content=initial_v0_1_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_term=cs

Back in the day --only 30 years ago-- I moved to Atlanta. Fresh from the spoils of Florida with flat golf courses, I was ready to experience golf with hills. Heritage was in my sights from newly formed friendships and social golf leagues that were hot at the time. 

The location cant be beat if you live ITP. The best place for the money and by far the most challenging, Heritage was the golf course of the day. 

Currently, Heritage is the busiest public course in the Atlanta area. Where these golf maniacs will go if the developer gets his way is an unknown horror for these diehards?

If you live in Atlanta, please sign the petition link provided to keep the zoning as a golf course. I'm sure the owners of the golf course are happy to get out from under the pain of managing the course, and to reap the money from a choice location where space in Atlanta does not exist. I'm sure they want to sell...it is their right.

But is it not the right of the thousands of golfers that depend on golf for fellowship to keep the course as maybe a muni, or to a developer that will keep the course for the good of the sport?

Keep it in the short grass,

JFB

Coil/Strike Book review

Okay, first off, let me tell you that Coil/Strike is an unorthodox read....but that is okay, because the author is making the assumption that you are tired of common ground instructors and instructional books. If that is where you are at....then this book if for you! Phairway Phil leads your from the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment by de-constructing your current thoughts of a complex golf stroke, to one of a simple...efficient "strike"....not swing.

Secondly, this book will get you in and out of your skivvies in front of a mirror so your inner self can help you visualize a new coil strike....so there's that....I mentioned it was unorthodox....but the term crazy-like-a-fox comes to mind because the author knows that to break the conventional, you have to get the reader back to the basics.

This book does, and it will allow you to experience a whole 'nother way to see your game.

......With or without your skivvies.

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review; Lateral Hazard...A Novel by David Saari

Growing up in the Midwest...my family and I played many board-games when it the weather was unkind to be outdoors. My favorite was the game Clue. My favorite character: Professor Plum, favorite weapon; lead pipe, favorite scene; any of them.

Lateral Hazard, by David Saari is just such a novel. Setting; private golf club in MN; weapons; golf club, bra, facebook account; suspects...uh...everyone.

A fun read that will keep you guessing, Lateral Hazard is the 3rd book of golf-themed mysteries.

So grab your Knife, go to the kitchen....sit down with a bagel and this book, and hope that Mr Green is not lurking in the shadows!

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review: Arnie...The Life and Times of Arnold Palmer

My Dad worked in the radio department on corporate jets for Firestone, in the days when Akron Ohio hosted The World Series of Golf at the Fireston CC. My Dad enjoys telling the story when he met Arnold Palmer.

Arnold borrowed Firestone's hangar for his Cessna Citation. When he stepped of the plane, Arnold looked at the big hangar, looked at my Dad and his radio crew, and said " this would be a good spot to put a tennis court"...Dad and his crew, not knowing of his wit, let alone the fact that Arnold was engaging them in conversation, were perplexed. Then came Arnold's big grin....and true to Arnold Palmer form, had corraled another group of regular folk into Arnie's Army. Mt Dad never held a golf club in his life, yet now at 87....still tells that story like it was yesterday.

Just before the 2017 Masters, there is a biography of Arnold Palmer in your bookstores that you should read. It is a walk down memory lane of people that have crossed his path in life,sharing stories of what Arnold meant to them in their lives.

Where the books strengths are, however, is in the great stories from the author Tom Callahan...a personal friend of Arnold Palmer, and a very good writer. The book flows from the perspective of seminal years in Palmer's life...uncovering little nuggets of "wow!-I-didn't-know-thats"....as well as some of his lessons of etiquette.

A sure-fire bet to warm the heart of anyone, you don't have to be a memeber of Arnie's Army to enjoy this book.

My Dad is getting a copy.


Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Golf Book Review: '18 Holes With Bing'

If you want a great Father's Day book, please read 18 Holes With Bing Golf, life and lessons from Dad by Nathaniel Crosby. 

Bing Crosby, in his day, was more popular than Elvis or the Beatles. He is best known for his supple singing voice crooning Holiday tunes, but was an esteemed actor, and a mover and shaker in Hollywood, and an inspirational celebrity in entertaining the troops through-out the war

Nathaniel Crosby is his son from his second marriage, and was joined at the hip with his Dad in the country-club set.

Bing's greatest vice was the game of golf, he often said he only worked to support his golf habit, it was his passion, and he died in Spain doing what he loved best, golfing.

Nathaniel, was able to excel at the game to the point where he won the US Amateur, and was low amateur in the US Open in 1984.

This book is a tribute to his father, and is a loving memoir from a son that certainly was in the right place at the right time in his father's life. Nathaniel was up close and personal to his father's many friends that influenced Nathaniel in his own life. The fact that they both had a high level of interest in the game of golf, allowed Nathaniel unfettered inside-the-ropes access to Dad, that he gives his readers a members pass.

If you're in the market to find a book for Father's Day, I highly recommend picking this one.


Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB