Ben Hogan's Five Lessons among five reissued golf books you'll love again

Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons among five reissued golf books you’ll love again

Posted by Admin December 15, 2024 Golf

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Over the past 65 years, millions of golfers have studied Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons,” making it the bestselling golf book of all time. Now, Hogan’s masterpiece has received the definitive edition it deserves.

Everything that is old is new again. Ever since COVID, golf is hot again and that goes for golf books too, which has been an exciting development for those who love the written word. My bookshelf is exploding with golf books to the point that I’ve fallen woefully behind in reading and reviewing them and it feels as if I may never get caught up. But one of the best trends I’ve noticed is the classics are being reissued by a variety of publishers. Some have been out of print for a while and had become hard to find. It’s not just Hogan’s “Five Lessons.” Here are a handful of golf books worth making space on every golf fan’s bookshelf.

Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons

It’s back and better than ever with a new introduction by Lee Trevino. In 1957, Hogan partnered with Herbert Warren Wind and illustrator Anthony Ravielli on an instruction book that remains a go-to for golfers. In each chapter, a different tested fundamental is explained and demonstrated with clear illustrations. The new version, out Nov. 19 from Avid Reader Press, includes never-before-seen photos and memorabilia hand-selected from the Hogan estate archive, as well as nearly 100 pages of new writings that expand on Hogan’s unbelievable life story and extraordinary career.

A Season in Dornoch

Lorne Rubenstein travelogue on golf and life in the Scottish Highlands was reissued earlier this year with a special 25th anniversary edition from Back Nine Press.

Hard to believe it has been that long since Rubenstein famously spent a summer in Dornoch to rediscover the natural charms of the game. The latest edition of this landmark book includes a new introduction by Stephen Proctor, a new essay by Rubenstein that brings his story up to date, and a new Afterword by Tom Coyne that brings it all together. There’s also 32 color photographs collected during Rubenstein’s adventures in the Highlands.

The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National

Ward Clayton’s original book “Men on the Bag” has a new title but is every bit as good if not better than the original, which was published 20 years ago.

As detailed earlier this year here, Clayton was working five years ago as a co-producer on the golf documentary “Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk,” when the thought occurred to him that he needed to update his 2004 book on Augusta National Golf Club caddies. It had gone out of print in 2015.

“Someone said I tried to buy your book and it was $100 or something on eBay. I thought ‘Man, I need to find a publisher that I can complete this with,’ ” said Clayton.

He found one in Blair/Carolina Wren Press, and he updated the story of every caddie in the book, notably Carl Jackson and Jariah Beard, a brand new chapter on the neighborhood and a closing chapter on today, with details on two caddies making an impact now.

To the Linksland

Thirty years after publication, To the Linksland still enthralls readers who pick it up for the first time — or return to the book for the sheer pleasure of it.

In 1991, Michael Bamberger gave up his apartment, took a leave of absence from his job and joined by his newlywed wife, dropped out of the workaday world and into the world of golf again thanks to an infamous letter. It was dated Oct. 24, 1990, addressed to Mr. Peter Teravainen, in London, England – a journeyman American pro on the European Tour who Bamberger hoped might let him caddie for him. Teravainen answered.

“Normally, I would have thrown a letter like this in the trash, but a couple of things caught my eye, and I figured I would let him have a chance,” Teravainen recalled last year in an e-mail to me.

Teravainen wrote back to Bamberger that he was hired for two tournaments. That wasn’t much of a commitment but it was enough for Bamberger to make his own leap of faith.

“Reading his book To the Linksland a few years later, I realized what stress he was under to keep the bag,” Teravainen says. “Luckily, we made the cut the first two tournaments – I would never change anything if I was making cuts – but the third tournament really sealed the job for Michael for the rest of the season. He writes about it in the book how windy it was during the (final round) at the Catalonia Open. I shot 69 that last day, definitely one of the best rounds of my career up to that point, and had my best finish in forever. Michael was my regular caddie after that, not a temp.”

A Golf Digest review of To the Linksland 30 years ago noted that “there are writers who reduce ideas and there are writers who expand them. Bamberger is one of the latter.”

Bamberger set out to make a study of the game, and he’s done just that ever since. This 30th-anniversary edition of Bamberger’s classic, lyrical tale of discovery (Simon & Schuster) is bookended with a new introduction by Golf in the Kingdom author Michael Murphy and a new afterword by Bamberger, with a trove of new photographs in between.

Gettin’ to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf

This may come as a shock to many of today’s golf fans but the professional game didn’t begin with Tiger Woods. Both the PGA Tour and LPGA have a rich history and thankfully author Al Barkow did the leg work and tracked down and spoke to all the key players many of whom have since passed away. This oral history has been an invaluable tool to me and any golf writer worth his salt.

Here is the early rundown on those golfers who barely had money to buy gasoline and held on to their club jobs so they could cover basic living expenses. Here is the story of mainly joyous men and women who went out on their own and hoped for the best. Here are names such as: Henry Picard, Paul Runyan, Harold Sanderson, Frank Walsh, Chandler Harper, Patty Berg, George Fazio, Betsy Rawls and numerous others who took on a challenge that took guts, skill, and more than a bit of luck.

Barkow’s book originally was printed in 1986 and while you can still pick up a copy on Amazon and the like (for $50+ dollars), kudos to Classics of Golf for giving this true classic new life.