Book Review: The Sports Illustrated Golf Book
For the next few weeks I'm going to review one of the many attractive books released in time for Christmas.
Obviously, I get a small cut when you buy these books through the Amazon link and some of you rightfully guessed that I use those royalties to furnish my yacht and my beach house in the Virgin Islands (but NOT the Malibu chateu, where I'm keeping it free of all consumer electronics in my quest to find inner peace through transcendental meditation along with a diet of seeds and spring water).
No, the real motivation here is to bring some attention to several new golf books. The golf magazines have relegated book reviews to thumbnail comments once or twice a year, and as someone who has put a few books together, it's disappointing not to see a more thorough inspection of these efforts.
The first tome I'll highlight was published by one of those very magazines and to be brutally honest, I dreaded its arrival even though I was provided a review copy by the good folks at Brener-Zwikel.
Due to some of the pre-release coverage--namely an absurd attempt to rank the top 20 golfers of all time for the purpose of an online and in-print publicity push--the Sports Illustrated's The Golf Book looked like another over-branded, over-packaged, under-nourished attempt to sucker unsuspecting wives and daughters into buying dad a book he'll inevitably donate to the Salvation Army.
Boy was I wrong.
Once you get past the pre-packaged cover and the unfortunate Sports Illustrated logo-strewn end sheets, the title page features an image of Bobby Jones' last ball used in winning the Grand Slam. That, combined with the next ten-or-so mind-blowing images let you know this is going to be a stunning collection of golf photography, legendary correspondence and SI-style sidebars.
Working with Designer Steven Hoffman, Editor Kevin Cook and Senior Editor Jim Gorant compiled an eccentric collection of images and musings from a variety of sources. While they could easily have crafted a rich collection strictly from the SI archives, the team scoured the USGA and World Golf Hall of Fame collections for many rarely-seen images and offbeat memorabilia (photographed lovingly by David N. Berkwitz). With an obvious attention to detail and an apparent quest to create something way beyond the typical golf coffee table book, a reader can't go more than a page or two through The Golf Book without letting out a "wow" or "look at that shot!"
Interspersed with the imagery are select and edited writings from the masters of the profession and some of their legendary accounts (Wind, Darwin, Jenkins, Murray, Rice) along with a few quirky choices (Steve Wulf on Mac O'Grady). Only a Michael Bamberger selection on Donald Trump doesn't belong, particularly when links golf gets short shrift and Bamberger has written so beautifully on the subject.
Though the book is broken down into eras, the editors cleverly juxtaposed matching photos of epic reactions from different eras. In the case of a shot showing Nelson, Mangrum and Demaret scoreboard-watching at the Masters, there's a comparison shot of Anthony Kim finishing off a win at Quail Hollow and framed by one of today's full color PGA Tour scoreboards. The comparison offers a perfect summation of startling changes in the game.
The only hiccup is the aforementioned top-20 golfer ranking, or as it's called in the book, "The Immortals Invitational." It's a gimmicky gatefold of player images and their ranking along with a panel listing that immediately dates the book and adds nothing except for the only possible listing of Carolyn Bivens' name in a golf book of substance.
And The Golf Book is a publication of substance, a treasure that will age gracefully and bring joy to any lucky recipient.
The Lowdown
Value: The book is a mere $29.95, a shade under $20 on Amazon. It would be a great value at twice the price. Really.
Writing: Edited essays from SI and other publications from the best of the profession along with plenty of fun sidebar-style material.
Design and Printing: Top-notch. Quality paper, sturdy binding and lively design give the impression of a Taschen-style coffee table publication.
Grade: A-
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Reader Comments (10)
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Which contained a similar "tournament", played at various courses of note. While in retrospect it seems kind of dorky, I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Spolier alert - Nicklaus won, I think he beat hogan in the final match.
Not sure if there is any connection between the two "immortal invitationals", but they Mulvoy angle suggests there might be.
If you're a golf fan, you should have this book. There are photos here you won't see anywhere else, not to mention stories from some of the greatest golf writers in the history of the medium.
Thank you, Geoff, for the great review.
(You have permission to give a shout out for Golf Book Review.)