Jason Scott Deegan

John Garrity's book Ancestral Links takes author home to Ireland

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 remote corners of the Emerald Isle to find his family history and golfing lore all at once. His journey also takes him to Scotland, another golf mecca.

Garrity finds that golf isn’t just a game but a passion flowing through the blood from his family tree. The book, published by Penguin Group, reads as a memoir and travelogue. It’s available for $24.95.

Hank Haney's new book preaches golf swing fundamentals

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 should look like.

Haney starts with the most basic of fundamentals, moving from the grip and the stance, posture and alignment to the backswing and forward swing. Chapter six touches on practice, emphasizing how important it is to concentrate on each ball you hit at the range.

Next, Haney moves to the course and prepares you for the final lesson, how to work the ball and shape shots. The book is a bare-bones instructional guide. There are no graphics and no real fancy photos. It’s just Haney swinging the club.

While other swing books might look better, this one is better. The meat of it, the text, is juicier, rich with important details. You might never play like a Tiger on the course, but at least by reading this book you can relate a little better to the world’s No. 1 player.

A book about golf and food? Yum!

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 San Francisco. Unfortunately, I’ve only tasted one of the courses in the book: The Burger Dog from the Olympic Club. Kind of symbolic that the only fancy meal featured in the book I’ve experienced is a hot dog, but that’s OK. It was mighty good, as I recall.

Of all the recipes, several caught my immediate attention. For years, the TV broadcasters covering the PGA Tour’s The International touted the legendary milkshakes at Castle Pines in Colorado. The tournament is no longer but the milkshakes are still the club’s signature. I’m drooling on my computer screen right now thinking of a tall cold creamy one.

I’m a big seafood buff, so the Maidstone Chowder at Maidstone, the Shrimp and Grits at the Ocean Forest Golf Club and the Lobster Bisque at the Stanwich Club sound superb. The book features a nice blend between the photographs of the food and the photos of the courses.

It’s not for every golfer, but the book can make a nice gift in the right hands: a food-loving golfer or a golf-loving foodie. Or better yet, a golfer whose spouse loves to cook!

Published by Pindar Press, the hardcover book retails for $50.

Get to know Hogan, Stewart, Jones and Snead through books from Cumberland House Publishing

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 swing in golf, is particularly fascinating, considering how few people knew him intimately. His public persona was one of a surly, reclusive man. Towle recounts more than 100 original stories and observations about “The Hawk.”

One of Hogan’s great rivals was Sam Snead, also born in 1912. Snead won three Master’s and three PGA Championships and helped foster the growth of today’s Champions Tour.

Jones, best known as the only man to win a calendar “Grand Slam,” is no doubt the greatest amateur who ever lived. He also co-founded Augusta National. He quit competitive golf at a young age, adding to his legend. How many more trophies could Jones have collected if he stuck with it? No one knows.

Towle also edited “I Remember Payne Stewart” by Michael Arkush. It’s hard to believe the 10th anniversary of Stewart’s tragic death in a plane crash came and passed last month.
His legacy lives on through his knickers and the pros who still love him today.

If I had to pick one of the four books, I’d probably go for Hogan or Jones because they are icons in the game. But any golf library would be well-served by adding any or all of the four titles.

Celebrate Arnold Palmer turning 80 with several books about The King

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 snapped more than 250,000 photos of Palmer over the years at events that many journalists were never invited to … family celebrations and parties that show Palmer in another light than just the shots performing that trademark swing. Giles, who served as Palmer’s dentist, has lived every golfer’s dream, getting a chance to hang out with Palmer on a buddy-to-buddy basis.

The book is a bit self-serving for Giles, but for Palmer fans, it is a refreshing look behind the curtains of his life. Published by Triumph Books and released in September, the book retails for $27.95.

Giles also supplied several photos for the book “Arnie Inside the Legend” by Larry Guest. The book is more than a decade old, but still available through Cumberland House Publishing for $14.95. The book is still as relevant today as ever. Guest takes a personal look at golf’s most beloved hero with stories about his majors, his love of flying and many other intimate aspects of his life.

Book "Golf's Dream 18s" brings fantasy courses to life

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. The book begins with my favorite topic, Scenic Holes. I’d pay $1,000 to play a round at this dream 18 with ocean-side holes from Old Head, the Challenge at Manele, Cypress Point, Kauri Cliffs and Pebble Beach all wrapped into one 6,627-yard layout.

I’d also play a hefty sum to play his dream 18 of Links holes, a collection of dunes and seaside treasures from Lahinch, Doonbeg, St. Andrews, Waterville, Royal Portrush, Ballybunion and Turnberry. Wow!

The shortest fantasy course is the “Short Holes” collection playing just 5,011 yards. But it’s long on legend with holes from Pebble Beach, the Olympic Club, Merion, Riviera and Royal Troon. Conversely, the next chapter, the Long Holes, maxes out at 8,748 yards, highlighted by the 725 par-5 ninth hole at the Gallery at Dove Mountain in Arizona. Every par 3 is longer than 250 yards. I hope I never play that course. You couldn’t pay me to play it.

The book ends with the “Ultimate Dream 18,” a fantasy course designed like a real one with a par of 71 playing 7,073 yards. It brings together the best of the holes featured earlier in the book. If you’ve played any holes on this list – I’ve played four of them and walked a fifth – then you’ve lived a good life.

I’ve seen other golf books that just seem to list great golf holes, but this package truly makes for a fun read. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to play all 18 of a certain “dream course.” Collect your scores and see what you shot. Published by Abrams, the 304-page book retails for $50.

2010 golf calendars ready and waiting for a home

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 some great new layouts, including three newer Washington state golf courses I enjoyed earlier this year: the Prospector and Tumblecreek at Suncadia Resort and the magnificent Chambers Bay. February is dedicated to the King Arnold Palmer’s best layouts, like the soul-stirring Tralee in southwest Ireland. Donald Ross’ influence dominates March. August is the haven of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, although I’ll be playing them next week, the first week in November.

Spending $12.99 on that calendar is a no-brainer. For your desk at work, consider a page-a-day calendar. The 365 Golf Holes from the editors of Golf Digest Publications touts itself as America’s Bestselling Golf Calendar. It’s easy to see why with all the great photography.

Or go with the 2010 Golf Quips, Quotes and Jokes! Calendar. I love the famous quotes the best. Cruel course architect Pete Dye explains his design philosophy best this way: “Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair?” NFL legend Lynn Swann sheds light on the game’s frustrations: “I come off the golf course, and I’m always down. So I go home, I take a shower, I put on my four Super Bowl rings and I say, I am an athlete.”

Both page-a-day calendars cost $12.99. For more, visit workman.com or pageaday.com.

Columbia Sportswear makes great golf wear, too

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 out their rain suits until Columbia created a new line that holds its own against any kind of weather, while staying incredibly light, breathable, waterproof and flexible for the demands of walking. Today, all the caddies of Bandon Dunes wear Columbia golf gear. Die-hard golfers who don’t let rain halt their round should follow suit.

The all-black Columbia Match Play Parka ($230) is both comfortable and comforting in any condition. Its Omni-Tech waterproof fabric keeps the rain out while allowing body moisture to move away from the skin. No feeling like a sweaty, cramped sardine trapped within. Playing in the rain is never fun, but at least you can’t blame a bad swing on the Columbia rain gear. It acts like a coat but doesn’t feel bulky and restrictive like one.

You can keep the separate Ballistic II Windproof Fleece attached inside the jacket for extra warmth or easily snap it off and remove it for wet fall or spring days that aren’t too cold. The Match Play Pants ($140) complete to ensemble. Front pockets in the pants and jacket can carry golf balls and tees. The deep Velcro back pockets on the pants will keep a scorecard dry. Velcro at the bottom of the legs to ensure no wetness or dew sneaks in.

This fall, Columbia introduced a new fashion design for the Match Play Jacket and Match Play Pants that looks just as sharp as the all-black parka with a little more pizzazz in its look. The colors are a green plaid with yellow and white stripes. I wear the jacket and the parka to every-day outings, like soccer practices and football games, since they look and feel so casual. The fleece can easily be moved back and forth between the two as a liner.

Even Columbia golf shirts are designed for function and fashion. The Straight Shooter Polo ($70) is anchored by the same breathable back vent as on the parka. My solid orange and blue shirts are two of my favorites for golf because of their wicking, quick dry material. The fabrics even protect from harmful UV rays. The shirts don’t feature the crest of a fancy golf club on their chest, but they feel and look just as good. Click here for more information.

Book "Jenkins At the Majors" a stroll down memory lane

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. Jenkins’ work has been seen in Sports Illustrated and currently Golf Digest.

He had a front row seat for some of golf’s great moments:

• Ben Hogan beating Sam Snead in the 1953 U.S. Open at Oakmont.
• The battle between Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Palmer at the 1960 U.S. Open.
• Greg Norman’s stunning collapse at The Masters in 1996.
• Tiger Wood’s monumental blowout at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2000.

The book, which retails for $26.95, would have been an absolute collector’s item with more photos and a coffee-table-size format. The book is a stroll down memory lane with an expert guide that lived it.

"Haunted Golf" a ghastly good read

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 that have links to mysterious tales of ghosts and the unexplained. It even relives at the “haunted” career of Greg Norman, the most snake-bitten of all golfers.

The soft-cover book, published by The Lyons Press for $14.95 earlier this year, starts out with the ghastly murder of a victim who haunts the scenic coastal fairways of Victoria Golf Club on Vancouver Island.

Although I’ve never played the course – I’ve just driven by – this is a well-known tale that I’d heard before. The others were all new to me, mostly from old-world golf properties on the East Coast where ghosts are almost required they’re so historic. I’ll save the rest of the gory details of the book for you to discover.

It’s a good read, fun and easy to get through in a couple of days. Maybe if they decide to put out another edition, I’ll put in my two cents. I’ve got two ghost tales from golf friends that didn’t make the cut.

The Golf Book by Sports Illustrated a winner

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 Bobby Jones used to win the Grand Slam in 1930. I like that the book doesn’t focus on one aspect of golf. It brings everything about the game to life, from equipment to the players to the courses.

Some of the world’s greatest golf writers have entries within: Names like Herbert Warren Wind, the man who coined the phrase “Amen Corner” at The Masters. And Dan Jenkins. And Grantland Rice. The book is broken up by with passages detailing eras critical to the game like the Golden Age (1913-1930), the Rise of Jack and Arnie (1955-69) and Tiger’s Time (1996 to present).

For all the wonderful words within, it’s the double-truck photo spreads that are truly special. The awe of Cape Kidnappers, a cliffside course in New Zealand. The evolution of the golf ball and the golf tee. The helicopter view of Shadow Creek, a course encircled by the desert of Las Vegas.

For $29.95, it’s a gift I’d love to find under my Christmas tree. I don’t usually dole out such high praise, but this golf book scores under par from start to finish.

Have a ball with The Scramble Scoop

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 down to pick up these shots can wipe out your back.

If you’re like me, one wrong bend can put you out of the tournament altogether. The Scramble Scoop is designed to make hitting the bad shot fun, or at least easier to deal with.

Without stopping, you can go whizzing by in a cart and gobble up your ball with the scooper. The handle of the scooper can be lengthened or shortened with a few twists. It almost becomes a game within the game to scoop up all the shots in one pass without dropping any.

For $16.95, it’s an affordable gizmo that will become a conversation piece among your foursome during those long waits between holes that are so common in scrambles.

Take in "Golf's Sacred Journey" with new book

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, MLB and NFL athletes, crafted a fictional account of a struggling golf pro who meets a small-town rancher who delivers uncommon insight. The setting of the story really exists, a “goat ranch” golf course surrounded by a cemetery in the tiny Texas town of Utopia, 80 miles west of San Antonio.

Cook even holds real-world retreats to the Texas Hill Country to help everyday golfers rediscover the faith in their games, and maybe even, the meaning behind their lives. The hard cover book is available for $16.99.

Sholf: the love child of golf and shuffleboard

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 office or even parties, etc.

I can’t vouch that Sholf will go over well in large social settings, but my kids love teeing it up against dad in the basement. Sholf comes with a long carpet putting green and eight golf balls for $59.95. Putters can be purchased as well for $9.95, but it’s just as simple to grab the putter out of your golf bag. (Just don’t forget to put it back before heading out to play!)

The carpet has three scoring zones (plus a bonus zone for an extra point). The idea is to put your putt closest to the edge of the carpet without it rolling off. Like table shuffleboard, only the team with the ball closest to the end of the carpet gets to count the points.

Your strategy can involve bumping the other person’s balls off the carpet or trying to score on your own. That’s the fun of Sholf, watching your opponent hit a great putt, then retaliating by blasting it off the board. Kids love that.

I won’t dare suggest that Sholf can improve your putting, but it certainly can’t hurt to get some extra practice strokes dealing with aim and touch. Sholf might not be for the golf purist, but for anybody looking for a fun family game should give it a try.

Overindulge during spa week at these fab golf spas

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 inside might be small by most spa standards, but I like to think of it as intimate. An outdoor garden with a fireplace is a relaxing place to unwind after your treatment.

• The Crystal Spa at Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa, Thompsonville, MI – Completed late last year, the northern-Michigan-themed spa features 12 treatment rooms, private locker rooms for men and women, a manicure and pedicure area, and an outdoor meditation garden with a hot tub. The spa is the Midwest’s only LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified spa that fully incorporated green building practices. It cost $5.5 million to build the 13,000 square-foot expansion to an existing indoor pool and fitness area. Regulars consider it a priceless getaway.

• The Spa at Dromoland Castle, County Clare, Ireland – My most recent spa adventure was the shortest, just a half-hour neck and shoulders rub, but after six rounds of golf, it might have been the most affective on my well-being. The spa, completed in 2007 in the basement of a refurbished castle, offers guests an outdoor covered hot tub to unwind in. My favorite part of the spa was the five full-body massage chairs next to a roaring fire in the meditation room.

• The Sanctuary Spa at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, S.C. – This resort prides itself in blending seamlessly with the surrounding Lowcountry. The nearby natural resources inspire treatments featuring seaweed and mineral-rich muds. Southern comfort never felt so good as it does at this Mobile 5-star spa.

• The Kohler Waters Spa at the American Club, Kohler, WI – A new glass-enclosed rooftop deck with whirlpool, fireplace and lounge just adds to an already impressive array of facilities of this Mobile four-star spa. Make sure to arrive early and stay late for a treatment. The whole experience is Shangri-La.

• The Spa at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO. – From the moment the private elevator door opens to the second floor, it’s clear that guests of this spa are in for a luxurious treat. The senses are stimulated when a soft aroma grips you. The eyes overindulge in a mediation room featuring panoramic views of the surrounding Cheyenne Mountains and the award-winning golf courses. Treatments range from the 4 ½-hour Fountain of Youth to others that can cure all ills.

• The Green Reed Spa at the Sandia Resort & Casino, Albuquerque, N.M. – Don’t let your stereotype of casinos get to you. This is a high-end spa complete with large locker rooms with hot and cold tubs, a stream room and dry sauna. The soft brown tones and exquisite tile work enhance the Native American roots of the spa.