Book Review "The Houston Dynasty" Tales from College Golf's Greatest Team

 "Forward by Jim Nantz".......you had me at "Hello"!

Jim Nantz is, and always will be, the greatest commentator of sports...especially in golf. He has a connection to Houston golf, via his time rooming with Freddie Couples at the University of Houston.

But this book is not about his time at Houston...it is about an earlier era, when Dave Williams joined the University of Houston in 1951...as a volunteer head coach for the golf team.

Coach Williams would go on to create a dynasty that involved many of the greats of the game from the 50's through the 80's. His legacy not only changed golf for U of H but has become a template of how to run a golf team at the college level.

"The Houston Dynasty" carves-out a specific time from those years. The years when Jim McLean joined the team.

In 1968 Jim joined the Cougars when Coach Williams offered him a full scholarship and coming to terms with Texas heat. and humidity. He would play for him until 1973...earning multiple golf team badges of honor such as All American in 1972. Most recently, Jim was inducted into the golf Hall of Fame in 2025.

Jim had a front-row seat to this era of Cougar golf, and he gives us an awesome inside-look of college golf life, the characters that populated Baldwin House which was dorm for the golf team, and why U of H was the place to be if you were a kid out of high school being recruited.

Great photos of the teams and Coach Williams...a kick is the prize money newsclipping from one of Jim McLeans' early pro victories in 1970. Points to the growth of this fabulous sport. Stories of his roommates you can't make up, and random golf tips from a world class teacher, are scattered into this well written and fast-paced book.

If you want a behind-the-scenes look from one of the top golf talents of his era about the top college team of its era...please seek this book out. I loved it because I played for my high school golf team back in the day, and reading this brought out some great memories!!!

Keep it in the short grass,

MyDailySlice

Book Review 'Life on the Green' Lessons and Wisdom from Legends of Golf

 I like inspirational reading. With the invention of smartphones...yeah...I'm that old.... (to remember that day of invention) some of my favs are apps the send inspirational push notifications daily. I love that you can be "nudged" into pausing from what you were just pushed.

...soundbites of life... 

But for me, nothing beats holding a book and reading a passage...getting context of that passage from the storyline...and getting a truer meaning from what you just read. 

Life on the Green is such a book. 

Author Ann Liguori has put together conversations of 12 familiar golf stars into a very readable book that focuses on what makes these people tick...and... what do you think it takes to have success in golf and in life (guess what?! They are intertwined!)

My favorite person that she interviews is Jack Nicklaus. in the sub-chapter "What makes a Legacy" Jack talks about charities, and how much his career has meant to these fine endeavors. He says "That's all fantastic, we're very proud of what we've done. But it all happened because I made a couple 4 foot putts. And if I had not made those 4-foot putts, we wouldn't be in this position."

Mind-blowing. Amazing how something so big starts with something so small. 

like soundbites of life...

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review: One for the Memory Banks

 Who doesn't like golf trips? Every guy's rite to get a group of his buds and spend a weekend hitting the links. Author Luke Reese does the rite one better...he gives us an inside look at his golf trips among the international classic golf links while doing business in Great Britain and Ireland.

What I enjoyed about One for the Memory Banks is every chapter had a review of the golf they played at the upper tier courses he played with his friends throughout their sales careers with Wilson. Many times I found myself stopping and saying  to myself "wow, I gotta see what that place looks like.....google!....show me Royal County Down!" and then I could let myself dream a little.

Priceless little inside information stories add to the allure of this book....how North Berwick created bunkers, the heartwarming tale of Laddie Lucas, and the very cool meeting of caddie Aidan Doyle.

Author Luke Reese does a great job allowing the reader to go with him on his adventures through these great courses sharing stories, meeting nice people along the way, and making time for golf when there was no time. 

..and isn't that what we all want to take away from a golf trip?

Keep it in the short-grass,

MyDailySlice

Heritage Golf Course. Tucker GA. Sold to developers. Save the course!

 https://www.change.org/p/tucker-city-council-protect-tucker-heritage-links-from-overdevelopment?cs_tk=AnKfcHZmSupCNxQial8AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvKYvXlo1aLqfIzVd54_Dbvw%3D&utm_campaign=fb6b9adb5d7949d5991311b4fd1dfe0c&utm_content=initial_v0_1_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_term=cs

Back in the day --only 30 years ago-- I moved to Atlanta. Fresh from the spoils of Florida with flat golf courses, I was ready to experience golf with hills. Heritage was in my sights from newly formed friendships and social golf leagues that were hot at the time. 

The location cant be beat if you live ITP. The best place for the money and by far the most challenging, Heritage was the golf course of the day. 

Currently, Heritage is the busiest public course in the Atlanta area. Where these golf maniacs will go if the developer gets his way is an unknown horror for these diehards?

If you live in Atlanta, please sign the petition link provided to keep the zoning as a golf course. I'm sure the owners of the golf course are happy to get out from under the pain of managing the course, and to reap the money from a choice location where space in Atlanta does not exist. I'm sure they want to sell...it is their right.

But is it not the right of the thousands of golfers that depend on golf for fellowship to keep the course as maybe a muni, or to a developer that will keep the course for the good of the sport?

Keep it in the short grass,

JFB

Coil/Strike Book review

Okay, first off, let me tell you that Coil/Strike is an unorthodox read....but that is okay, because the author is making the assumption that you are tired of common ground instructors and instructional books. If that is where you are at....then this book if for you! Phairway Phil leads your from the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment by de-constructing your current thoughts of a complex golf stroke, to one of a simple...efficient "strike"....not swing.

Secondly, this book will get you in and out of your skivvies in front of a mirror so your inner self can help you visualize a new coil strike....so there's that....I mentioned it was unorthodox....but the term crazy-like-a-fox comes to mind because the author knows that to break the conventional, you have to get the reader back to the basics.

This book does, and it will allow you to experience a whole 'nother way to see your game.

......With or without your skivvies.

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review; Lateral Hazard...A Novel by David Saari

Growing up in the Midwest...my family and I played many board-games when it the weather was unkind to be outdoors. My favorite was the game Clue. My favorite character: Professor Plum, favorite weapon; lead pipe, favorite scene; any of them.

Lateral Hazard, by David Saari is just such a novel. Setting; private golf club in MN; weapons; golf club, bra, facebook account; suspects...uh...everyone.

A fun read that will keep you guessing, Lateral Hazard is the 3rd book of golf-themed mysteries.

So grab your Knife, go to the kitchen....sit down with a bagel and this book, and hope that Mr Green is not lurking in the shadows!

Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Book Review: Arnie...The Life and Times of Arnold Palmer

My Dad worked in the radio department on corporate jets for Firestone, in the days when Akron Ohio hosted The World Series of Golf at the Fireston CC. My Dad enjoys telling the story when he met Arnold Palmer.

Arnold borrowed Firestone's hangar for his Cessna Citation. When he stepped of the plane, Arnold looked at the big hangar, looked at my Dad and his radio crew, and said " this would be a good spot to put a tennis court"...Dad and his crew, not knowing of his wit, let alone the fact that Arnold was engaging them in conversation, were perplexed. Then came Arnold's big grin....and true to Arnold Palmer form, had corraled another group of regular folk into Arnie's Army. Mt Dad never held a golf club in his life, yet now at 87....still tells that story like it was yesterday.

Just before the 2017 Masters, there is a biography of Arnold Palmer in your bookstores that you should read. It is a walk down memory lane of people that have crossed his path in life,sharing stories of what Arnold meant to them in their lives.

Where the books strengths are, however, is in the great stories from the author Tom Callahan...a personal friend of Arnold Palmer, and a very good writer. The book flows from the perspective of seminal years in Palmer's life...uncovering little nuggets of "wow!-I-didn't-know-thats"....as well as some of his lessons of etiquette.

A sure-fire bet to warm the heart of anyone, you don't have to be a memeber of Arnie's Army to enjoy this book.

My Dad is getting a copy.


Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB