Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Audio, Inc." in Golf

Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the greatest match their sport had ever known.

The Masters golf tournament weaves a hypnotic spell. It is the toughest ticket in sports, with black-market tickets selling for $10,000 and more. Success at Augusta National breeds legends, while failure can overshadow even the most brilliant of careers. But as Curt Sampson reveals in The Masters, a cold heart beats behind the warm antebellum facade of this famous Augusta course.

During his more than forty-year career as champion amateur, dominating professional, and senior star, the Golden Bear has won almost 100 tournaments around the world. Topping that astounding achievement are his record 20 major-championship victories: two U. S. Amateurs, six Masters, four U. S. Opens, three British Opens, and five U. S. PGA Championships.

Ben Hogan was the hero no one knew. No one knew what drove him to practice until his hands bled. No one knew what private demons built the high walls that surrounded him. No one was even sure how he hit a golf ball with such godlike precision. He built a legend and a mystique that captivates golfers still.

In the wake of the stock-market crash and the dawn of the Great Depression, a ray of light emerged from the world of sports. In the summer of 1930, Bobby Jones, a 28-year-old amateur golfer, mounted a campaign against the record books. In four months, this natural, self-taught player conquered the British Amateur Championship, the British Open, the United States Open, and finally the United States Amateur Championship.

Was there ever a year in golf like 1960? It was the year that the sport and its vivid personalities exploded on the consciousness of the nation, when the past, present, and future of the game collided. Television, still a new medium, provided a fresh window to this fascinating show and enabled this "rich man's sport" to win over millions of new fans.

The Augusta National Golf Club in eastern Georgia is an American icon shrouded in intrigue. It is every bit as exclusive as its prestigious Masters Tournament. Behind the wondrous scenes and memorable tournament play, however, resides a secretive and clannish club with a gentlemen-only membership of 300. Their shared legacy is an institution co-founded by the unlikely partnership of Bobby Jones, unparalleled amateur golfer, and Clifford Roberts, a tight-lipped Wall Street investment broker.

Missing Links is the story of four middle-class buddies who live outside Boston and play golf together at Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Links and Deli, not so fondly known as Ponky. An 18-hole garbage dump with hazards that include a concrete river surrounded by a chain-link fence and the pillars of the elevated train that runs through the course, it is reputed to be the worst golf course in America.

Greg Norman is golf's most complex and controversial celebrity and perhaps its most gifted and charismatic player. Winner of more than 70 tournaments, including the 1986 and 1993 British Opens, he has reigned as the world's number-one-ranked golfer for most of a decade and began 1998 as the PGA Tour's career-earnings leader with almost $12 million.

At 20, Tiger Woods made his debut in a Nike commercial. “Hello, World,” he said. “Are you ready for me?” The world was ready. His handlers kept a tight rein on the private superstar, carefully controlling his media coverage. Although everyone recognizes Tiger Woods, his true character has remained a mystery.

One stroke separated the three leaders of the 1960 U.S. Open as they went into the final two holes. Arnold Palmer, who had overcome a seven-stroke deficit in the fourth round, won the championship by two strokes, beating both Ben Hogan and a young amateur named Jack Nicklaus. This remarkable come-from-behind achievement, which still stands as the greatest final-round comeback at the Open, signaled the end of an era and the beginning of modern-day golf.