Golf is a major global industry. The sport is played by more than 60 million people worldwide and there are more than 32,000 courses in 140 countries across the globe. This book looks at the power relationships in and around golf, examining whether the industry has demonstrated sufficient leadership on environmental matters to be trusted to make weighty decisions with implications for public and environmental health. The first comprehensive study of the varying responses to golf-related environmental issues, it is based on extensive empirical work, including research into historical materials and interviews with stakeholders in golf such as course superintendents, protesters and health professionals. The authors examine golf as a sport and as a global industry, drawing on and contributing to literatures pertaining to environmental sociology, global social movements, institutional change, corporate environmentalism and the sociology of sport. -- .

Whilst many claim to know the Rules of Golf, the fact is that every year golf's governing bodies receive thousands of inquiries about how to apply these Rules to the actual game. Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2012 clarifies any ambiguity that might arise from the Rules and allows you to correctly interpret the complete Rules of golf, including all new and revised decisions made by the R&A's Rules Committee and the USGA that come into effect in 2012. The level of detail is staggering, covering everything from using bottled water to gauge a slope to what to do when your ball lands on a crawfish mound. Whether in competition or everyday play, this book provides you with the necessary guidance to impartially apply the Rules in any situation encountered on the golf course.

Golf Rules Illustrated 2012 contains every Rule in the world's most popular game, including all the New Rules that come into play in 2012 that are valid to the end of 2015. Fully redesigned for ease of reference, this official publication of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club - the game's ruling body - will help you to better understand the laws of the game, no matter what your level of play. With a quick guide, FAQs and all-new incidents, images and artwork, this clear, detailed book allows you to get to grips quickly and easily with even the most difficult situations.

Golf fans will not forget the 39th Ryder Cup in a hurry. Staged at the Medinah Country Club just outside of Chicago, the 2012 event has already gone down as the most remarkable competition in its 85-year history. The American team had home advantage, and a golf course unapologetically set up to suit its own players. Supported by tens of thousands of loud and proud fans, the USA's star-studded line-up dominated the first two days and ended the Saturday with a seemingly unassailable 10-6 advantage. No away team had ever won the Ryder Cup from such an unpromising position. Sunday was singles day, traditionally the forte of American teams. The situation looked bleak, especially when European team member and number 1 golfer in the world, Rory McIlroy, very nearly missed his tee-off time. Yet slowly but surely, the European team - who had top-loaded their line-up in one last throw of the dice - started to turn the scoreboard blue. With inspirational captain Jose Maria Olazabal stiring European blood with thoughts of the late Ryder Cup magician Seve Ballesteros (whose silhouette was emblazoned on the players' sweaters and bags), the tide turned and the previously dominant American players started to crumble in the face of the onslaught. Suddenly European players were holing miraculous putts to win holes out of the blue. Something very special was happening. When German Martin Kaymer sank his putt on the eighteenth green to clinch the point that retained the Ryder Cup, the most astonishing comeback in the event's long and distinuished history was complete. Miracle at Medinah is the compelling narrative of those amazing three days in Illinois, a fitting chronicle of an unbelievable sporting story.

For many, golf could be defined as long periods of aggravation, punctuated by brief but dazzling flashes of clarity and reward. When those brief, satisfying moments disappear, when the ball seems to have a mind of its own, when well-grooved swings suffer a complete and total collapse, we find ourselves in that panicked state known as a slump. The wonderful and terrifying thing about golf is that, regardless of skill level, a slump can, and does, happen to anyone. Here, for the first time, is a book about some of the worst times in the careers of some of the most successful people to ever play the game - and how they dug themselves out. "Breaking the Slump" tells the story of golf greats Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson, and Dottie Pepper among many others. This is an emotional and spiritual first aid kit for anyone who plays the game because, like it or not, there are two kinds of golfers in this world: those who've suffered a debilitating slump and those who will suffer one sometime in their future.

What makes nine-hole golf so extraordinary? What can a shorter course offer an experienced player? How can these courses compare to the Scottish championship-level courses? The beautiful, quiet and often little known nine-hole golf courses offer even the lowest handicap golfer a challenge and with a level of difficulty rarely found on 18 hole courses it's hardly surprising that there are even nine hole courses no one has ever played below par. Walk in the footsteps of golfing legends and find some surprising gems, from the prestigious nine-hole courses which hosted some of the earliest Open Championships to the more unusual, such as Harris where a renovated shipping containter acts as a clubhouse. You can even take on the giants of Gleneagles and St. Andrews and play the nine-hole layouts at these celebrated golf meccas. Helpfully divided into geographical areas, The Nine-Holer Guide includes statistics and contact details for each course. Learn about the history and the rare wildlife that can be seen while playing - and enjoy the unique experience of visiting Scotland's wealth of beautiful nine-hole golf courses. Whether you're the Open Champion or an occasional golfer, The Nine-Holer Guide tells you everything you need to know before you tee off.

Celebrating 150 years of The Open Championship. The official book produced in partnership with The R&A at St Andrews, to celebrate The 150th Open, which began its journey in Prestwick on the west coast of Scotland in 1860. This beautiful book captures and celebrates the stories and history that make The Open so unique, with a fascinating and lively narrative history of the Championship, including interviews and exclusive content from champions of the game past and present. From caddies to greenkeepers clubhouses to breathtaking courses, through archive imagery and stunning photography, these pages reveal the fascinating sights, stories and characters from this revered Championship’s long and remarkable history.

Alister MacKenzie was one of golf's greatest architects.  He designed his courses so that players of all skill levels could enjoy the game while still creating fantastic challenges for the most experienced players.  Several of MacKenzie's courses, such as Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Pasatiempo, remain in the top 100 today.  In his "lost" 1933 manuscript, published for the first time in 1995 and now finally available in paperback, MacKenzie leads you through the evolution of golf--from St. Andrews to the modern-day golf course--and shares his insight on great golf holes, the swing, technology and equipment, putting tips, the USGA, the Royal & Ancient, and more.  With fascinating stories about Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, and many others, The Spirit of St.  Andrews gives valuable lessons for all golfers as well as an intimate portrait of Alister MacKenzie, a true legend of the game.

The remarkable story of a curious genius whose lifelong quest to unlock the science behind the perfect golf swing changed the game forever.
In 1939, an average Joe named Homer Kelley played golf for the first time and scored 116-a respectable score for a beginner, but frustrating for a science-minded perfectionist like Kelley. He did not play again for six months; then when he did, he carded a seventy-seven. Vexed, he grew increasingly obsessed and devoted over the next thirty years to solving the science behind the perfect golf swing, self-publishing his findings in 1969 in a book titled "The Golfing Machine." This revolutionary book "explained" golf, unlike every other tome that merely "described" it. Unfortunately, the majority of golfers dismissed the book because it was all but unreadable, too thick with physics and geometry and scientific vernacular. "The Golfing Machine" seemed doomed to obscurity until visionary teacher Ben Doyle and superstar-in-the-making Bobby Clampett brought Kelley's teachings to prominence-only to witness Clampett implode on golf's most public stage. Validation finally came seventy years after Homer Kelley's lifework began, and twenty-five years after his death, when a teenage prodigy named Morgan Pressel became the youngest golfer, male or female, ever to win a major championship.
In "Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine," veteran journalist Scott Gummer brings to light the untold story of golf's most curious genius. A colorful portrait of obsession and an enlightening look into the nuances of the game, Kelley's amazing journey illuminates an important but underappreciated chapter in the history of golf.

For years, amateur golfers have been going to see pros to learn how to improve their game. If there were some major technical difficulties that the pro could correct, the amateurs would come away with an improved game. For most of us, we might see an improvement or two under the watchful eye of the pro, but when we returned to the course, our bad golf game simply returned. Even if we remembered the technical changes, we simply could not hit the ball on the sweet spot time after time like the pros. There is a very simple explanation as to why this is the case-the golf pro has good hand-eye coordination, and you don't. Most of us are not blessed with great hand-eye coordination like the pure ball strikers that you see on the television each weekend. Does this mean that you are doomed to forever be relegated to the land of the high handicap? For years, author Larry Carpenter thought that was the case, but when he realized what the basic problem was, he was able to develop alternative techniques that helped him improve his game. Using these techniques, he was able to take his handicap from the high twenties down to single digits. In this book, Larry Carpenter shares with you the techniques that he adopted to compensate for not having the incredible hand-eye coordination that single-digit golfers normally possess. When they say don't be mechanical and play by feel, you simply have to realize that if you try to hit the ball by feel, you're going to whiff it. And you are going to be continually frustrated by your high handicap. The techniques in this book are based upon mechanical principles, best exemplified by the equipment testing robot, Iron Byron, that enable the less blessed golfer to compensate for their lack of hand-eye coordination and stand a much better chance of making solid contact with the ball every swing.

Tiger Woods called his book HOW I PLAY GOLF. Great for him but what has that got to do with the rest of us mortals. Even Jack Nicklaus said of Mr. Woods 'He plays a game with which I am not familiar.' David Owen plays a game with which we are all familiar. He plays in a weekly foursome, takes mulligans off the first tee, practises intermittently at best, marks his ball on the green with his lucky coin (until the luck wears out, and he switches to something newer/hotter/fresher), wore a copper wristband because Seve Ballesteros said so, and struggles for consistency even though his swing IS consistent - and mediocre. He bets, he wins, he loses, he agonizes, he dreams. HIT AND HOPE is as pure a definition of the game of golf as anyone has ever devised. Through the annecdotes in this book, Owen takes the mundane aspects of the game and how we approach it and stands them on their head, turns them inside out, and lays our follies bare for all the world to see. He does for contemporary golfers what P.G. Wodehouse did for golfers in the 1920s, or Jacques Tati did for humanity at large: he finds humour and nobility in our essential silliness, as expressed in our pursuit of a little white ball over a vast greensward.

Top golfing instructor Jim McLean shares the secret to a better swing and a better game

It's what every great golfer knows and every struggling player wants to know: how to find ""the slot,"" the perfect channel through which the shaft and club head can meet the ball on the downswing for a more powerful, accurate, and consistent swing.

Great ball-strikers like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Jack Nicklaus were slot swingers. Today, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk provide dramatic examples. Now leading golf instructor Jim McLean shows you how to find the slot to take your game to the next level. With step-by-step instructions and more than eighty illustrations by leading golf illustrator Phil Franke, "The Slot Swing" makes it easy.Shows you how to find the perfect channel for a more powerful and consistent swingShares McLean's secrets from more than twenty years as a top instructor to the greatest prosFeatures stunning two-color art by Phil Franke and a full-color foldout showing how the dramatically different swings of Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Bruce Lietzke and Jim Furyk all end up in the slotWritten by the author of the classic book "The 8-Step Swing, " named one of the 20th Century's top 15 golf instructionals by "Sports Illustrated"

This book helps you get out of a golfing rut, get locked in to your slot, and find the sweet spot in your game.

This guide provides quick, practical solutions to 150 of the most common golfing problems. Here is the easy-to-use survival guide that golfers have been waiting for. Unlike other books that focus only on shots and techniques, this guide starts with specific problems, then explains how to correct them. Broken into play-focused sections such as "The Tee Box" and "The Fairway" and featuring "The Five Faces of the Perfect Club," an alignment program that will enable golfers to hit any shot they need to make, this book will provide immediate and real results. Gary Perkinson (New York, NY) is a senior editor at "Golf" magazine. He has also worked as a writer and editor at "Golf Illustrated", "Senior Golfer", "Golf for Women", and "Travel + Leisure". T.J. Tomasi, PhD (Nantucket, MA) is a Class A PGA Professional at Nantucket Golf Club. His articles appear regularly in "Sports Illustrated", "Golf", "Golf Tips", and other publications. He has authored or coauthored 13 books.

Golf has been around for over 600 years, its origins tracing back to the links in Scotland in the fifteenth century. Since then, the game has spread worldwide, with millions of fans and players from all walks of life. Born on the Links: A Concise History of Golf encompasses the entire history of this popular sport, from the fifteenth century up to the present. It covers the development of golf equipment, rules, and playing fields, and shows how the game changed from a pastime exclusively for the rich to a sport that is played by millions of people of all classes, ages, and backgrounds. In addition, this book details the lives and accomplishments of the many iconic players of the game-including Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Ben Hogan, Charlie Sifford, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, and Tiger Woods-and their greatest moments on the golf course. Additional chapters focus exclusively on the history of African Americans and women in the sport, recognizing their distinct struggles for equality and recognition, as well as their ultimate triumphs. A comprehensive yet readable resource, Born on the Links also features a timeline of golf history, lists of the winners and runners-up of every major professional and amateur golf championship held since 1860, the winner of every major international team and cup competition held since 1922, and more. The most up-to-date history of golf, this book will entertain and inform all fans and historians of the game.

All eat from the bowl of life -- Tiger Woods just has a bigger spoon.

So writes Curt Sampson in his groundbreaking account of the current state of golf and the man who changed the game forever -- Tiger Woods. With a mix of power, skill, and business savvy, Woods has become the biggest sports figure since Michael Jordan, wielding a competitive edge of equal parts inspiration and intimidation. As for the rest of the golfing world -- including other players, junior golfers and their parents, corporate America, agents, instructors, fans, and the media -- it's either catch up or give up.

As in his controversial bestsellers "Hogan" and "The Masters," Sampson digs deep to tell stories that wouldn't otherwise be told. From the Austin golf course worker whose admiration for Woods leads him to spend every waking minute mimicking him, to the unemployed talk show host whose website stretches the bounds of hero worship, to the other end of the scale, where up-and-coming pro Charles Howell III -- tapped by Nicklaus to be the next great challenge to Woods -- continues to close the gap.

By turns moving, hilarious, and eye-opening, Chasing Tiger is an affectionate yet wary account of one extraordinary man's impact on the world of sports, and the game of golf as it moves into a new era.

Hank Haney is one of the most well-respected and sought-after golf instructors in the world today. He is famous for rebuilding the swing of the world's #1 player, who has gone on to win six more Majors and counting. Haney has also worked with hundreds of top pros, including Masters and British Open champion Mark O'Meara, who attributes the durability and dependability of his swing to Haney and says that "Hank knows more about ball flight and what controls it than anyone in the game." In this book, Haney goes beyond tips and quick fixes to lay out the principles behind the perfect swing. Point by point, chapters cover every aspect of the swing, from grip to contact to ball flight, with 160 illustrations to help players understand the concepts and check their form. Putting Haney's approach into practice enables players to make the powerful, repeating swing that can hit every kind and shape of shot--with every club in the bag--with equal ease on a consistent basis. A master work from a master instructor, Essentials of the Swing will be essential reading for any golfer who is looking to reach the height of his or her game. Hank Haney (Westlake, TX) is #3 on Golf Digest's list of America's 50 greatest golf teachers. He's the Director of Instruction at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy and the founder of Hank Haney Golf, Inc., which operates golf programs nationwide. He's the author of three previous books: The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need (978-0-06-270237-1), No More Bad Shots (978-1-892129-97-0), and Fix the Yips Forever (978-1-59240-236-6).

Gary Sutherland was a lapsed golfer, until he acquired his late dad's putter. After studying a crumpled golf map of Scotland, Gary decided to embark on a voyage. His target was to play 18 rounds of golf on 18 Scottish islands in honour of his dad, a ship's captain who, when he wasn't at sea, was never off the golf course. His journey would take him from the Northern Isles to the Outer Hebrides. Playing in the Harris hail and Arran sunshine, he would encounter an odd variety of golfing hazards, including sheep on the tees, cows on the fairways and electric fences round the greens. This is golf in the raw - a million miles from St Andrews. It is a life-affirming tale of remembrance and discovery. It's about having a laugh and holding on to what's dear. And it's about a putter with magical properties. You can believe what you choose to, but it all happened...

Once a year, when the U.S. Open is played, the United States Golf Association picks a course and then modifies it wickedly so that even the world’s best golfers often scramble to avoid triple-bogeys.

Now Golf Digest writer John Strege reveals how over the past fifty years the USGA has venomously transformed already difficult courses into "monsters." With relish, he tells what happened to the pros -- Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Woods, Snead, Hogan, among others -- who hooked shots into the rough, missed putts and routinely finished over par in this grueling annual competition.

Bobby Jobe is a pro golfer whose swing is better than his attitude. When he bogies the last four holes and blows his lead in a major tournament -- again -- he berates his caddy, Henry "Greyhound" Mote. Jobe loses both Greyhound, who walks off the course, and the game. And before the day is out, he'll lose his eyesight to a lightning strike and his future in golf -- unless he can do what no one has ever done blind: make a comeback. Bob Cullen's funny and wise story, full of PGA lore, perfectly captures the mysterious and irresistible nature of the game of golf, not to mention, love, friendship, and life.

Also Available as a Time Warner AudioBook

WATCH OUT, TIGER!
HERE'S WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT
THE NEW GOLFING SENSATION,
BILL GEIST AND FORE! PLAY

FORE!
Country clubs that don't want you as a member…rules clearly in need of revision...and high-performance socks that promise to take two strokes off your score. Ah, golf! Has there ever been a sport that comes with so much baggage and heartbreak? Never fear-Emmy Award-winning commentator Bill Geist, author of The Big Five-Oh and Little League Confidential, has taken up-and taken on-the sport that makes duffers of us all. Geist intrepidly shares the misadventures, hilarity, and uproarious learning curve that has marked his own golfing experiences, including:

· Playing in the Bad Golfers Association Tournament-and losing

· Playing in the Blind Golfers Association Tournament-and losing

· Visiting a golf psychiatrist and forgiving his parents for always making him hit into a bunker

· Discovering a way to keep the cost of golfing down-by buying balls by the 36-pack whenever you play nine holes

· Learning to lower your score: "Every so often skip a hole-it's still the best way to take 8-10 strokes off your game."
PLAY

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM WARNER BOOKS

HOW I PLAY GOLF
by Tiger Woods
With the editors of Golf Digest
The #1 New York Times Bestseller

Tiger Woods's domination of golf is unparalleled and his achievements in his young career are extraordinary. Now here is the book every golf fan has been waiting for-the first and only how-to guide authorized by Tiger Woods that explains both the mental and physical aspects of his game. With hundreds of brilliant photos, Tiger explains clearly his golf fundamentals, including his grip, stance, ball position, balance, rhythm, and routine. As Tiger shows us how he does it, he helps us improve our game with some of his favorite techniques and tips. As personable and charming as it is instructive, this book is the ultimate golf lesson.

THE PGA MANUAL OF GOLF
The Professional's Way to Learn and Play Better Golf
Rick Martino, Director of Instruction, PGA of America
with Don Wade

What did a one-legged Englishman contribute to our understanding of the golf swing? What is the best club to use when learning how to hit a draw or a fade? And why did Billy Casper practice putting in the dark? From thinking about golf to making real shots to putting together your first set of clubs, THE PGA MANUAL OF GOLF has the answers to every question you will ever ask about the sport. The only instructional book put written by the PGA itself, this is the ultimate guide to the game-how it is played and how you can play it better. Authoritative, concise, and filled with rich anecdotes of the great golfers, this revised and updated manual should be the cornerstone of any golfer's library.

THE PUTT AT THE END OF THE WORLD
A novel by Lee K. Abbott, Dave Barry, Richard Bausch, James Crumley, James W. Hall, Tami Hoag, Tim O'Brien, Ridley Pearson, and Les Standiford.

Golf is not a team sport. But who says fiction can't be? Fore? No, nine. That's how many literary grand masters each contribute a chapter and together bring you a blistering drive of a story that beats par with every page. It follows three notorious hard-luck golfers who turn up to inaugurate a new state-of-the-art course…and things start to get very rough in the rough. Will the green run red? Where, exactly, is the mysterious nineteenth hole? With this suspenseful and hilarious ensemble tour de force of sex, money, and mayhem on the links, the "good walk" has never been more fun.

"Riotously funny...infectiously entertaining…the literary equivalent of a pie fight."
-St. Petersburg Times

The best players know that golf is a game of confidence, and most important, concentration–the ability to focus and block out distraction. The goal of achieving clear thought is also at the heart of Buddhist teachings. In his highly original and groundbreaking book, noted PGA coach and Buddhist instructor, Dr. Joseph Parent, draws on this natural connection and teaches golfers how to clear their minds, achieve ultimate focus, and play in the moment for each shot.

Zen Golf presents a simple system for building “mental game mastery.” Dr Parent’s unique PAR Approach (focusing on Preparation, Action, and Response to Results) guides golfers with specific techniques for each aspect of their games. In chapters such as “How to Get From the Practice Tee to the First Tee”, “You Produce What You Fear”, and “How to Enjoy a Bad Round of Golf”, the author shares a personal teaching regimen that has helped improve the games of professionals and amateurs alike. By combining classic insights and stories from Zen tradition, Zen Golf helps eliminate the mental distractions that routinely cause poor shots and loss of concentration, allowing golfers to feel in “the zone” that professionals have learned to master.

Clear, concise, and enlightening, Zen Golf shows golfers how to prepare for, execute, and equally important, respond the results of any golf shot. A different approach to golf instruction, this book shapes ancient philosophies into new teachings.