This may come as a shock to some of you, but I have never picked up a golf club in my life. Ever. I am not what you would call... athletically inclined. Hell, I can barely manage bowling. Despite not playing golf and knowing virtually nothing about it, I enjoyed this book immensely. My boyfriend is an AVID golfer. Not only does he love playing eighteen in the morning, he actually wants to watch golf on TV. Now that is a true fan. I partly wanted to read this book to see what the appeal is, but realistically, I love sports books and I knew if anything could me into golf, it would be reading about it. John Williamson did a great job outlining the early history of the sport in Scotland while detailing how it changed and evolved over the years. The book really takes off however, when golfing is introduced to the United States. America helped streamline golf and slowly began to dominate the sport. It took off like wildfire and soon thousands of golf courses were sprouting up all over the country. Honestly it was all very fascinating how different players, equipment and even policies affected the game. The author didn't shy away from early controversies though involving the clash between amateurs and pros, the limitations facing women, and the racist attitude towards African Americans. The only "golf history" left out that I could tell was information about schools incorporating it and the push to get more youth involved. Other than that, this book did a great job outlining the history of American golf. The author covers the different courses, players, tournaments, and even goes play by play in some crucial matches. There are even nice appendixes at the end outlining all the winners and locations. A must buy for any golf aficionado.
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