FORE! AN ODE TO GLORIOUS GOLF
So Help Me Golf:
Why We Love The Game
Rick Reilly Headline £18.99
★★★★★
Much of golf journalism is samey and so-so. A weary loop of the usual subjects just tarted up and booted back out the door. Endless drills and tips; tournament write-ups of the Any-Brand-GoesHere Ho-Hum Classic; plodding interviews with a succession of slim-bodied, yet strangely chubbyfaced, US Tour pros. Not forgetting entirely forgettable essays and opinion pieces.
American sports writer Rick Reilly is the glorious exception to all this. When he wants to tell you something golfy, it’s because he knows you’re ‘gonna’ love it. He is clearly smitten by the game and has become its biggest cheerleader, drinking it in from all angles and snuffling out priceless golfing truffles wherever his nose for a story takes him. Anything to do with golf, big or small, sparks his curiosity. No doubt he’s writing a rollicking essay on ball-washers even as I write.
This book is Reilly’s heartfelt ode to the game: a bulging collection of sharp and snappy snippets. True tales and personal takes on anything and everything. And while it’s all about golf, it’s not really. The author likes people even more, so many of the pieces here are really about the things that people do. Some of which will touch you in ways you don’t see coming.
His usual wit and charm is in abundance, but what actually keeps you turning is just how fascinating, informative and revealing it all is.
Highlights include the pro who robbed banks between tournaments, the astronaut who played golf on the Moon, the man on his third heart who nearly won the US Open, the player who hugged the fan who cost him victory, the 18 most unforgettable holes in the world, golf in PoW camps, and how Tiger Woods is allergic to grass.
Reilly’s previous book was Commander In Cheat, a noseholding dive into Donald Trump’s golfing lies and disgraces. It’s entirely possible that Reilly felt compelled to write immediately this entertaining and feelgood follow-up to help restore our faith in humanity and the game itself. If so, he has succeeded in rare style.