America Tees Off: True Tales of Golf's Rich History
Autor David Sowellen Limba Engleză Hardback – dec 2025
These stories cover both the great amateur and professional players, as well as the golf adventures of average players and the not-so-average, like U.S. presidents, athletes in other sports, Hollywood stars, and the mega-wealthy. You’ll read about what was thought to be a highly questionable land purchase in the Sandhills of North Carolina in 1895 that led to the golf mecca of Pinehurst, how Babe Didrikson Zaharias’s husband used his cigar to give her assistance during tournament play, and how the scientist who worked on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos helped President Eisenhower improve his game.
America Tees Off also covers the effect of American ingenuity on the game’s equipment and how the sport was televised. These lesser-known, behind-the-scenes true stories will entertain and inform the most serious golf enthusiasts as well as those just getting into the sport’s colorful history.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781496243164
ISBN-10: 1496243161
Pagini: 304
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 31 mm
Greutate: 0.62 kg
Editura: Nebraska
Colecția University of Nebraska Press
Locul publicării:United States
ISBN-10: 1496243161
Pagini: 304
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 31 mm
Greutate: 0.62 kg
Editura: Nebraska
Colecția University of Nebraska Press
Locul publicării:United States
Notă biografică
David Sowell has written about golf and golf history for numerous publications, including the United States Golf Association’s Golf Journal, Links Magazine, and Golf Illustrated. He is the author of three books, including The Masters: A Hole-by-Hole History of America’s Golf Classic (Nebraska, 2019).
Extras
The Father of American Golf
In the fall of 1887, Robert Lockhart, a Scottish transplant who resided
in New York City and who was in the fine linen trade, made a trip to his
hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland, to purchase linen goods. During
his trip Mr. Lockhart took a break from his business responsibilities and
made the forty-mile train trip to St. Andrews, which was then, as it is
today, the undisputed world capital of golf. His destination was Old Tom
Morris’s Golf Shop at the St. Andrews Links.
No one has ever left a greater imprint on golf than Old Tom Morris. He
was Jack Nicklaus, the legendary club maker Karsten Solheim, a magnificent
golf course designer à la Donald Ross, and a superb golf instructor
like Butch Harmon all wrapped up in one. His crowning achievement
as an instructor was his son Young Tom Morris. Young Tom was beating
his father on the course by the age of thirteen and had matched his
father’s total of four British Open titles by the time he was twenty-two.
Sadly, Young Tom passed away at the age of twenty-four
from a pulmonary hemorrhage.
Old Tom’s shop was just a few paces off the eighteenth green at the St.
Andrews Links. He had opened it in 1866, and by this time he employed
eight craftsmen, who were turning out clubs and balls bearing his name.
The shop was filling orders from around the globe, but none were from
the United States. But that would soon be changing, thanks to Robert
Lockhart.
It is not known what time of day Lockhart entered the shop. If it was
after Old Tom’s daily morning round, Lockhart may have encountered
the shop’s famous proprietor. Old Tom loved to talk golf with the
shop’s customers. With the smell of gutta boiling on the stove for that
day’s ball production permeating the establishment, he would stand
among the shavings that covered the floor, explaining to a would-be
buyer the qualities of the various components that were used in club
making—dogwood, persimmon, apple, hickory, and ash.
Often Old Tom would take a customer to a special place in the shop.
The special place was Young Tom’s locker filled with his clubs and club-making
tools. As the customer would gaze at the locker’s contents, Old
Tom would say, “Undisturbed since he last touched it.”
When Lockhart departed the shop that day and made his way back
to the train station with his purchase of six golf clubs and two dozen
balls neatly packed in a box, the residents of St. Andrews who saw him
would have surmised there was nothing special about it. However, this
was indeed a very special purchase, as it would trigger a golf explosion
in the United States.
Along with another fellow Scotsman, John Reid, and several others,
the group broke in the clubs and balls in a cow pasture in Yonkers, New
York. More clubs and balls were ordered. The group soon moved to a
thirty-acre field just down the road and laid out a six-hole course.
In November 1888 the group formally formed a golf club. They chose
to name the club after the world capital of golf, St Andrews. And they
vowed to hold themselves to the same high standards that were observed
there. To distinguish the club from its namesake back in Scotland, an apostrophe
was added; their club’s name would be St. Andrew’s Golf Club.
Some years later the New York Times would acclaim Robert Lockhart as
the “Father of American Golf.”
In the fall of 1887, Robert Lockhart, a Scottish transplant who resided
in New York City and who was in the fine linen trade, made a trip to his
hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland, to purchase linen goods. During
his trip Mr. Lockhart took a break from his business responsibilities and
made the forty-mile train trip to St. Andrews, which was then, as it is
today, the undisputed world capital of golf. His destination was Old Tom
Morris’s Golf Shop at the St. Andrews Links.
No one has ever left a greater imprint on golf than Old Tom Morris. He
was Jack Nicklaus, the legendary club maker Karsten Solheim, a magnificent
golf course designer à la Donald Ross, and a superb golf instructor
like Butch Harmon all wrapped up in one. His crowning achievement
as an instructor was his son Young Tom Morris. Young Tom was beating
his father on the course by the age of thirteen and had matched his
father’s total of four British Open titles by the time he was twenty-two.
Sadly, Young Tom passed away at the age of twenty-four
from a pulmonary hemorrhage.
Old Tom’s shop was just a few paces off the eighteenth green at the St.
Andrews Links. He had opened it in 1866, and by this time he employed
eight craftsmen, who were turning out clubs and balls bearing his name.
The shop was filling orders from around the globe, but none were from
the United States. But that would soon be changing, thanks to Robert
Lockhart.
It is not known what time of day Lockhart entered the shop. If it was
after Old Tom’s daily morning round, Lockhart may have encountered
the shop’s famous proprietor. Old Tom loved to talk golf with the
shop’s customers. With the smell of gutta boiling on the stove for that
day’s ball production permeating the establishment, he would stand
among the shavings that covered the floor, explaining to a would-be
buyer the qualities of the various components that were used in club
making—dogwood, persimmon, apple, hickory, and ash.
Often Old Tom would take a customer to a special place in the shop.
The special place was Young Tom’s locker filled with his clubs and club-making
tools. As the customer would gaze at the locker’s contents, Old
Tom would say, “Undisturbed since he last touched it.”
When Lockhart departed the shop that day and made his way back
to the train station with his purchase of six golf clubs and two dozen
balls neatly packed in a box, the residents of St. Andrews who saw him
would have surmised there was nothing special about it. However, this
was indeed a very special purchase, as it would trigger a golf explosion
in the United States.
Along with another fellow Scotsman, John Reid, and several others,
the group broke in the clubs and balls in a cow pasture in Yonkers, New
York. More clubs and balls were ordered. The group soon moved to a
thirty-acre field just down the road and laid out a six-hole course.
In November 1888 the group formally formed a golf club. They chose
to name the club after the world capital of golf, St Andrews. And they
vowed to hold themselves to the same high standards that were observed
there. To distinguish the club from its namesake back in Scotland, an apostrophe
was added; their club’s name would be St. Andrew’s Golf Club.
Some years later the New York Times would acclaim Robert Lockhart as
the “Father of American Golf.”
Cuprins
Acknowledgments
The Father of American Golf
The Most Flamboyant Player on Tour Outdoes Himself
Young Tiger Overcomes a Rough Patch
A Young Executive Goes Rogue
Babe Ruth Agrees to Become a Yankee at the Eighteenth Green
Arnold Palmer Resuscitates the British Open
Golf Grabs Michael Jordan
President Obama Cuts His Golf Short for Good Reason
Golf Infects the United States’ Two Richest Men
A Big Opening in Tinseltown
Anchors Aweigh, Sam Snead
A Picture-Perfect Tackle
Bryson Does His Thing
American Golf Goes Public
A Surprising Defeat Leads to a Stellar Collaboration
It Was Alice’s Idea
It Was Do or Die
The Seller Thought the Buyer Had More Money than Common Sense
Golf Lessons in an Office Suite in the Heart of New York City
Golf, Bitter Cold, and Pantyhose
Scottie Records His First Professional Win
usga’s First Tournaments and usa Golf’s First Cinderella Story
The Winning Eighteen-Hole Score Was 132
The First Roar at the Masters
Augusta National and Eisenhower, Part 1
Augusta National and Eisenhower, Part 2
“Anytime You’re Playing with Arnold That Happens”
“Be the Right Club . . . Be the Right Club Today!”
Keeping Your Golf Balls from Getting Too Hot
Golf and Nuptials
Burning Tree Club: A Male Bastion
He Walked to the Beat of a Different Drummer
It Would Have Been a Great Story
Sunday Golf
A Blessed Final Round?
Bobby Jones Goes Hollywood
A Member of the United States’ Atomic Team Aids President Eisenhower’s Game
The Golden Bear and Inverrary
Two Former Prodigies Battle It Out in a Playoff
Golf Plays a Huge Role in the First Gigantic Corporate Deal
Ben Is Back
Mr. Icicle
A Bad Look for Bubba
The Schenectady Putter: Born in a Bonfire
A Sand Trap in a Department Store
A Big Change for the United States Open
Arnie the Pilot
Under Unusual Circumstances, a Player Makes Quite a Debut in a U.S. Open
Baseball Almost Loses Out to Augusta National
Ben Who?
He Scoffs at a Huge Fine by the Government, Then Comes off the Course Twice to Help Save the United States from a Financial Meltdown
It Looked Like an Ice Cream Scoop on a Stick
Nixon’s Golf
White House Helicopter Goes Out of Bounds
Overrated?
A President Overdoses on Golf
A President Plays an Enormous Amount of Golf Without Any Criticism
A Golf Game Ends a Bitter Hollywood Feud
The State of the Union
Detroit Loses Its Golf Soul
The Country Club at Brookline Could Have Missed Out
The Nation’s Top Sports Journalist Attempts to Qualify for the U.S. Open
The Most Politically Significant Round of Golf Ever Played
Gene Sarazen, Howard Hughes, and the Sand Wedge
Bryson Had the Distance Twice
A Former Champion Tries to Avoid the Heat but Ends Up Being Toast
Walter Hagen Makes a Groundbreaking Decision
From a Hospital Bed in Santa Monica
Two Trailblazers Need Assistance with Finding a Place to Play
A Triumphant Comeback
Michelle Gets Her Major
Twelve Golfers Play It Off for Eleven Spots
Two Sad Passings
Walter Hagen’s a Victim of a Crime
A Marathon Stretch of Golf
Golf and the Cold War, Part 1
Golf and the Cold War, Part 2
Tiger Puts On a Staggering Spectacle, and Nicklaus Bows Out
Hollywood’s Hustler
More Hollywood’s Hustler
Even More Hollywood’s Hustler
A Bag in One
Some Golf on the Silver Screen
The President’s Caddie
John F. Kennedy: The Hit-and-Run Golfer
One of the Game of Golf’s Most Staunch Traditionalists Makes the Switch
A Caddie Named Shirley
The Mighty Mo
The United States’ First Olympic Golfers
Will Rogers’s Disdain for Golf
Sam Snead Takes a Couple of Swings at Wrigley Field
A Former Artillery Officer Unleashes a Birdie Barrage
A Record-Setting Final-Round Comeback
President Trump Honors Babe
Friday the Thirteenth
An American Woman Plays with a British Royal and Stirs Up Golf Fashion
Battle of the Sexes
Ben and Terrible Tommy
Highly Regarded cbs Golf Commentator Goes Out of Bounds
Slow Play Results in a U.S. Senator Decking a Prominent dc Surgeon
Walter’s Shenanigans
Arnold Palmer’s Hearing Spurred Him to Two of His Masters Wins
John Daly Wins for the First Time in a “Sober” Fashion
It Was an Odd Finish to a Playoff
Two American Standouts Have Problems in Great Britain
Ticker Tapes and Toots
A Special Friendship
Spouses, Ex-Spouses, and Significant Others
The Father of American Golf
The Most Flamboyant Player on Tour Outdoes Himself
Young Tiger Overcomes a Rough Patch
A Young Executive Goes Rogue
Babe Ruth Agrees to Become a Yankee at the Eighteenth Green
Arnold Palmer Resuscitates the British Open
Golf Grabs Michael Jordan
President Obama Cuts His Golf Short for Good Reason
Golf Infects the United States’ Two Richest Men
A Big Opening in Tinseltown
Anchors Aweigh, Sam Snead
A Picture-Perfect Tackle
Bryson Does His Thing
American Golf Goes Public
A Surprising Defeat Leads to a Stellar Collaboration
It Was Alice’s Idea
It Was Do or Die
The Seller Thought the Buyer Had More Money than Common Sense
Golf Lessons in an Office Suite in the Heart of New York City
Golf, Bitter Cold, and Pantyhose
Scottie Records His First Professional Win
usga’s First Tournaments and usa Golf’s First Cinderella Story
The Winning Eighteen-Hole Score Was 132
The First Roar at the Masters
Augusta National and Eisenhower, Part 1
Augusta National and Eisenhower, Part 2
“Anytime You’re Playing with Arnold That Happens”
“Be the Right Club . . . Be the Right Club Today!”
Keeping Your Golf Balls from Getting Too Hot
Golf and Nuptials
Burning Tree Club: A Male Bastion
He Walked to the Beat of a Different Drummer
It Would Have Been a Great Story
Sunday Golf
A Blessed Final Round?
Bobby Jones Goes Hollywood
A Member of the United States’ Atomic Team Aids President Eisenhower’s Game
The Golden Bear and Inverrary
Two Former Prodigies Battle It Out in a Playoff
Golf Plays a Huge Role in the First Gigantic Corporate Deal
Ben Is Back
Mr. Icicle
A Bad Look for Bubba
The Schenectady Putter: Born in a Bonfire
A Sand Trap in a Department Store
A Big Change for the United States Open
Arnie the Pilot
Under Unusual Circumstances, a Player Makes Quite a Debut in a U.S. Open
Baseball Almost Loses Out to Augusta National
Ben Who?
He Scoffs at a Huge Fine by the Government, Then Comes off the Course Twice to Help Save the United States from a Financial Meltdown
It Looked Like an Ice Cream Scoop on a Stick
Nixon’s Golf
White House Helicopter Goes Out of Bounds
Overrated?
A President Overdoses on Golf
A President Plays an Enormous Amount of Golf Without Any Criticism
A Golf Game Ends a Bitter Hollywood Feud
The State of the Union
Detroit Loses Its Golf Soul
The Country Club at Brookline Could Have Missed Out
The Nation’s Top Sports Journalist Attempts to Qualify for the U.S. Open
The Most Politically Significant Round of Golf Ever Played
Gene Sarazen, Howard Hughes, and the Sand Wedge
Bryson Had the Distance Twice
A Former Champion Tries to Avoid the Heat but Ends Up Being Toast
Walter Hagen Makes a Groundbreaking Decision
From a Hospital Bed in Santa Monica
Two Trailblazers Need Assistance with Finding a Place to Play
A Triumphant Comeback
Michelle Gets Her Major
Twelve Golfers Play It Off for Eleven Spots
Two Sad Passings
Walter Hagen’s a Victim of a Crime
A Marathon Stretch of Golf
Golf and the Cold War, Part 1
Golf and the Cold War, Part 2
Tiger Puts On a Staggering Spectacle, and Nicklaus Bows Out
Hollywood’s Hustler
More Hollywood’s Hustler
Even More Hollywood’s Hustler
A Bag in One
Some Golf on the Silver Screen
The President’s Caddie
John F. Kennedy: The Hit-and-Run Golfer
One of the Game of Golf’s Most Staunch Traditionalists Makes the Switch
A Caddie Named Shirley
The Mighty Mo
The United States’ First Olympic Golfers
Will Rogers’s Disdain for Golf
Sam Snead Takes a Couple of Swings at Wrigley Field
A Former Artillery Officer Unleashes a Birdie Barrage
A Record-Setting Final-Round Comeback
President Trump Honors Babe
Friday the Thirteenth
An American Woman Plays with a British Royal and Stirs Up Golf Fashion
Battle of the Sexes
Ben and Terrible Tommy
Highly Regarded cbs Golf Commentator Goes Out of Bounds
Slow Play Results in a U.S. Senator Decking a Prominent dc Surgeon
Walter’s Shenanigans
Arnold Palmer’s Hearing Spurred Him to Two of His Masters Wins
John Daly Wins for the First Time in a “Sober” Fashion
It Was an Odd Finish to a Playoff
Two American Standouts Have Problems in Great Britain
Ticker Tapes and Toots
A Special Friendship
Spouses, Ex-Spouses, and Significant Others
Recenzii
“Golfers love good stories to share on a tee box or in a grill room, and this book is stuffed with tales to impress even the most seasoned golf storyteller. One great anecdote after the next, each chapter is a dive into America’s rich golf history, with a cast of characters broader than any field in golf. A breezy, joyful stroll through the American golf story.”—Tom Coyne, New York Times best-selling author of A Course Called America
“No sport has such a rich history as golf, and David Sowell brings that past to life in this entertaining book about golf in America. This is a must for every golfer’s library. The prose is as pure as a well-struck seven iron. Pour a tumbler of scotch, settle into your favorite chair, and enjoy.”—Philip Reed, author of In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing
Descriere
Engaging, accessible golf stories tracking golf’s impact on the country, covering players, tournaments, courses, and equipment since the game was first established in the United States in 1887.