A Feel for the Game: To Brookline and Back - Hardcover

Crenshaw, Ben; Hauser, Melanie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038550070X ISBN 13: 9780385500708

Publisher: Doubleday, 2001

Synopsis

One of the most successful golfers of the century offers an ode to the traditions and spirit of golf through the prism of his life, introducing the players and teachers who have inspired him during his career.

About this title

About the Author

Ben Crenshaw began playing golf at the age of six, and after twenty-seven years on the PGA Tour is one of the most beloved figures in sports. Born, raised, and devoted to Austin, Texas, Ben makes his home with his wife, Julie, and daughters, Katherine, Anna Riley, and Claire.

Melanie Hauser spent twenty years covering sports at the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Post. An award-winning feature writer and columnist, she has contributed to Sports Illustrated, Golf World, Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and CBS SportsLine.com. Now a freelance writer, she lives in Houston, Texas.

From the Back Cover

"The three most unforgettable consecutive Sundays in Ben Crenshaw's life. A lesson. A death. A championship. It's funny how things work out. A little man spends his whole life trying to teach you his grip, and then you find out you have been in it all the while."
—Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated, April 17, 1995

Reviews

Nicknamed "Gentle Ben," Crenshaw was one of the most popular players on the PGA golf tour during a career that spanned from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. Among his 19 tournament victories are two Masters wins, with his second, a particularly dramatic one, coming only days after the death of his mentor Harvey Penick. Following the 1995 Masters Crenshaw's last tour win Crenshaw put his full energies into captaining the American team in the 1999 Ryder Cup, played at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. The American squad staged an unprecedented comeback on the final day of the tournament to recapture the prestigious title from the Europeans. Although Crenshaw traces his rise as a Texas schoolboy champion through his Masters victories, he is clearly most proud of his role in leading the Ryder Cup team. His pride, however, leads the ever-emotional Crenshaw into making some silly statements, such as comparing the Ryder Cup's popularity to that of the Super Bowl. His prose borders on the saccharine at times, especially when he writes about his childhood and current family life. Still, Crenshaw's many fans will enjoy his insights and recollections of a successful life in golf.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This autobiography of two-time Masters champion Crenshaw, who has won 19 PGA tournaments over his 25-year career, is primarily driven by its account of the remarkable U.S. team comeback in the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline, MA, under his captaincy. Along the way, emphasis is placed on Crenshaw's deep Texas roots, his affinity for tradition, and his volatile temper. Each chapter is introduced with a list, and several more lists are appended to the book. Some are predictable, like "Favorite U.S. Courses," "Best Putters," or "Most Colorful Players." Others accentuate Texas pride ("Best Texas Players" and "Best Austin Tex-Mex"). Still others stress his love for the storied Masters ("What Makes Augusta Special," "What a Golfer Needs at Augusta," and "Best Greens at Augusta"). Finally, there is that improbable Ryder Cup victory ("Things a Ryder Captain Must Do," "Best Ryder Cup Players," "Best Comebacks," and "Most Significant Ryder Cup Moments"). This volume is sure to be of interest to libraries with any size golf holdings. John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

If you follow professional golf, you like Ben Crenshaw. It's that simple. Yes, he has a sentimental streak as wide as the fairways at Augusta, but he wins you over with his unaffected charm and his ingratiating inability to hide his emotions. This memoir traces Crenshaw's entire golfing life, but it focuses on his most recent and greatest triumph: the 1999 Ryder Cup, in which the Crenshaw-captained U.S. team came back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to defeat the Europeans and reclaim the cup. The matches took place at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Crenshaw played in his first U.S. Junior Amateur tournament in 1968 and where Francis Quimet, in 1913, became the first American to win the U.S. Open. Golf history is Crenshaw's passion, and his love for it is palpable in these pages. The story of the Ryder Cup comeback has been told many times, but hearing it from Crenshaw, the man to whom it meant the most, will have special meaning for anyone who cares about golf. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 038550070X
• ISBN 13: 9780385500708
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211