Hitting the links? First hit the books

The Toshiba Senior Classic is on and golf fever has hit Newport Beach

once again.

Since we don’t know the winner yet, we don’t know if it will be

Fuzzy Zoeller, Curtis Strange, Raymond Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Gary

McCord or a local pro. But the excitement is on for Orange County’s

only official PGA-sanctioned event, which inevitably gets everyone

thinking about hitting the links.

Even though we are talking about a sporting event (or a good walk

spoiled -- depending on your viewpoint), don’t forget about the

Newport Beach Public Library as a source of information or

inspiration. The publishing world loves golf, and every year there

are more and more biographies of the greats, histories of the

championship matches, how-to guides on improving your game and just

plain beautiful books of photographs that celebrate the beauty of the

courses and the glory of playing the game well.

One of the most recent books is Tom Clavin’s “Sir Walter: Walter

Hagen and the Invention of Professional Golf.” The title verges on

hyperbole, but it is true that Hagen was the first player who made

his living entirely by playing (not teaching) golf. In fact, he was

the first professional golfer to top $1 million a year in the 1920s,

roughly equivalent to $40 million today. Not bad for a poor kid who

learned the inner workings of golf earning 10 cents a day as a caddy.

And though the title stretches things a bit, Hagen did help

popularize the game and was truly one of America’s first superstars.

“Who’s Your Caddy: Looping for the Great, Near Great, and

Reprobates of Golf” by Sports Illustrated’s resident funnyman, Rick

Reilly, is a side-splitting look at some of the greats of golf, some

great duffers and one very funny first-time caddy. Reilly actually

convinced the likes of John Daly, Jack Nicklaus, David Duval, Jill

McGill and Tom Lehman to let him caddy for them and learn about the

game by being as close to the game as you can get. He even convinced

Donald Trump, Deepak Chopra and Bob Newhart to let him caddy for

them. The results are funny, insightful and, in some cases (like

serenity guru Chopra), laugh out loud hilarious.

British writer Howard Sounes has compiled a fascinating history of

modern golf since 1950 by concentrating primarily on three of its

greatest players in “The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus,

Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf.” His use of “wicked” is a

double-entendre: “wicked” as in terribly difficult, and “wicked” in

the hipper sense of being glamorous and wildly popular. Since it is

written by a Brit writer not beholden to the sports media or the PGA,

it gives fresh insight into the sport that it has become today.

And on the instructional front, there is Annika Sorenstam’s recent

“Golf Annika’s Way.” It’s a wonderful look at the outstanding female

golfer’s career and how she determinedly set out to correct the

faults in her game. In doing so, she offers tips and exercises on

golf management, irons and woods, wedge and bunker play, and a

terrific take on getting back to the basics.

For this and other books and films on golf and improving your

game, just drop into any branch or call the reference desk to find

the material you need.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newport beach library.org. For more information on the

Central Library or any of the branch locations, please contact the

Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.