I’ve been told I’m part Irish and that the Deegan name is a big Irish name. Maybe it’s my turn to write a book about how a golfer goes back to Ireland to play golf. Oh, and maybe I’ll look up a few ancestors while I’m there. Seems to be a theme these days. Author Tom Coyne did it last year with his enjoyable read, A Course Called Ireland. And John Garrity follows up with his book Ancestral Links: A Golf Obsession Spanning Generations. Garrity, a respected golf writer with Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine, embarks on a journey to ... full post »

Hank Haney is the man who has helped Tiger Woods become the most recognizable athlete on the planet. Love or hate Woods, it would still be wise to take some of Haney’s expertise to heart. Hank Haney’s “Essentials of the Swing,” his 2009 book published by John Wiley and Son’s, outlines a seven-step program to hitting more consistent shots and learning to shape them on command. Haney’s first two books were about fixing swing problems and offered insight into the way he gives a lesson. With this book, Haney hopes to explain his vision of what every aspect of a swing ... full post »

If just glancing at the cover of “The Club Menu” doesn’t make your stomach jump and your hunger churn, you’re not human. The “Club Menu: Signature Dishes from America’s Premier Golf Clubs,” by authors Scott Savlov and Jon Rizzi, combines two of my favorite passions, food and golf, into 128 pages of delicious photos and recipes. It takes a unique behind-the-kitchen-doors look at why some people actually join swanky private clubs. Not for the golf, but the food! I’ve played some of the courses listed in the book: East Lake in Atlanta, Pebble Beach in California and the Olympic Club in ... full post »

Would you like to get to know Ben Hogan, Payne Stewart, Bobby Jones and Sam Snead? What golfer wouldn’t? Unfortunately, these legends have all passed on to the greener pastures in the sky. But a recent series of books – the “I Remember” collection by the Cumberland House Publishing – can help you better understand the men themselves, not just their impact on the game of golf. Author Mike Towle, a long-time golf writer, shed some light on the lives of Jones, Hogan and Snead with his interviews of people who knew them personally. Hogan, who some believe had the purest ... full post »

To any other athlete without a heart as genuine as Arnold Palmer, Howdy Giles might have been perceived as an overzealous fan. But Palmer isn’t just any professional athlete. He is, after all, The King, a leader who holds court over a legion of fans. Giles chronicles his giant leap from just another person in “Arnie’s Army” to Palmer’s inner circle of friends in his book, The King and I: An Unlikely Journey from Fan to Friend. Palmer turned 80 this year and that has millions of golf fans feeling melancholy that the end of an era is approaching. Giles has ... full post »

Officially move David Barrett to the top of my list of favorite golf writers. I thoroughly enjoyed his last book, The Golf Courses of the U.S. Open. But the new one is off the charts. Barrett’s book, Golf’s Dream 18s, is the most creative book about golf holes ever conceived. It’s the best combination of photography and text in one package about the subject as I’ve ever seen. I put it up with Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book as the two must-have golf titles of the holiday season. Barrett put together dream 18-hole layouts by topic, featuring 18 so-called courses. ... full post »

Walking through the mall the other day, I was amazed that the 2010 calendars are already ready and waiting to be purchased at bookstores. I haven’t given up on 2009 yet, but I guess it’s the “early bird gets the worm” mentality when it comes to getting those calendars on the shelves. Nobody pumps out great golf calendars like Workman Publishing Co. out of New York. The “365 Days of Golf 2010″ is a full-sized, picture-a-day premier hanging calendar for golfers. It features photos of more than 250 golf courses. Each month works off of a theme. January looks at ... full post »

The golf gear by Columbia Sportswear Co. got quite the baptism by fire. Or make that rain. To test the technologies best known for the ski slopes, Columbia turned to the caddies at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort to break in their new rain gear. The caddies at Bandon Dunes see all kinds of weather on the remote Oregon coast four hours south of Columbia’s home base of Portland. The weather blowing in directly off the Pacific Ocean at the resort can bring hard rain and bone-numbing cold in between the rare moments of blissful sunshine. The 300-plus caddies kept wearing ... full post »

Dan Jenkins has lived a charmed life, covering golf for the past 60 years. The best you and I can do to peek into the details of his life would be to read the book, Jenkins At The Majors: Sixty Years of the World’s Best Golf Writing. The book, released in May by Doubleday, chronicles classic stories from Jenkins about golf’s four majors, The Masters, the British Open, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. Jenkins doesn’t report on the strokes that win golf tournaments but looks deeper at the people and the impact with a wry sense of humor. ... full post »

From the title alone, I knew I’d love the book “Haunted Golf.” I’m almost as big a fan of ghosts and the supernatural as I am of golf. I love a good horror movie and a good scare. Just in time for Halloween, right? This book feeds my fascination with both subjects. In fact when it came out, I was a bit disappointed. I have a running list for book ideas and this very topic was high on it. Authors Anthony Pioppi and Chris Gonsalves beat me to the punch with a look at some well-known golf resorts and courses ... full post »

They say don’t judge a book by its cover. Yet that old adage doesn’t apply with Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book. Its cover is a beautiful montage of the game’s greatest players. It’s just the first clue that this new hardcover coffee table book is a winner. Brilliant photography and creative story-telling - two staples of Sports Illustrated - highlight the latest effort in a series of great sports books from SI starting with the Sports Illustrated 50: The Anniversary Book in 2004. The Golf Book celebrates the wonderful history of the game, starting with a picture of the Spaulding ball ... full post »

The Scramble Scoop is one of the more odd golf products I’ve ever received to review. But that doesn’t mean the scoop doesn’t work. It’s just got a very small niche in the world of golf. The Scramble Scoop is a ball retriever specifically made to be used in a scramble. If you’re a short hitter, you’re probably tired of stopping the cart at your ball to bend down and pick it up. It’s embarrassing enough to have hit a poor shot that won’t be used in competition, but the humiliation is just part of the problem. Years of bending ... full post »

The story behind the book, “Golf’s Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links of Utopia” is almost as inspiring as the story inside it. Dr. David Cook, a respected mental guru, watched his self-published book sell more than 65,000 copies, mostly by word of mouth, before selling the story to a major publisher (Zondervan) last August. Golf stars like Tom Lehman and Larry Mize have looked to the book for wisdom and inspiration about a game so complex that no one, not even Tiger Woods, has yet mastered it. Cook, who has 30 years of experience working with PGA, NBA, ... full post »

I’m not afraid to admit I love golf. I am a little bit apprehensive to admit I love shuffleboard, though. I remember playing it as a child. I haven’t tried it in years, but throw me on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean and I’d love to battle in a shuffleboard extravaganza. So where does that leave Sholf? Believe it or not, Sholf is a real game. It’s a quirky cross between the two sports that you can play inside or out. The makers of Sholf even believe it could provide entertainment at a football tailgate, the ... full post »

I’m man enough to admit that real men, especially golfers with bad backs like me, love spas. In honor of national spa week this week, here’s a peek inside the top spas I’ve visited the past 12 months. • Spa Amira at The Homestead Resort, Glen Arbor, MI – The spa, opened in 2008, might feature the most spectacular view of any spa in the Midwest. It rests on a ridge high above Lake Michigan with views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Manitou Islands. On warm summer days, treatments can be done outside next to the pool. The ... full post »