Open: Inside the US Open Golf Tournament |
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John Feinstein
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Pages: 384 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0751535966
Pub: Time Warner Paperbacks
Pub date: 2004-06-03
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 301052
Reader Reviews:
Organisers rather than players (1/1 people found this helpful)
Having read "A good walk spoiled" (twice) I knew this would be extremely readable and this prevented me from abandoning it completely - most of the book was about the organisers - the players had relatively little mention (except Tiger). I groaned every time a new USGA official was introduced as this inevitably involved next reading their life story. What was goood was the coverage of how a public course was selected and brought up to US open standard. Made me want to visit when the open returns to Bethpage in 2009. The stories about the slim hopes of the regional qualifying players were also well done. A couple of little digs at the Open and European players were unnecessary.
More of the Same (1/1 people found this helpful)
If you've read feinstein before then you'll know his style - and this is more of the same. If this is your first venture then 'a good walk spoiled' would be a better starting point. If you're interested in golf's administrators and 'golf politics' as much as the players, then this is the book for you.
Boring Look at Staging the 2002 US Open Golf Tournament (2/2 people found this helpful)
If someone told you that you could read a book about what it was like to escort the President of the United States through catering tunnels in hotels, would you want to read it? I wouldn't.
Open is seriously flawed by providing me with much more information than I ever wanted to know about the USGA, biographies of its staff members, and little incidents of limited relevance to the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, the brilliantly rehabilitated course on Long Island. Two-thirds of this book could have been eliminated without taking away anything I wanted to learn about the staging of the Open.
On the other hand, the book is detailed and will probably be very popular among those who know those who are described in the book or have played Bethpage Black. If you fall into either category, this is definitely a five-star book.
Emblematic of the book's fundamental problem is that it fails to have a single illustration of an entire hole on the course. It would have been interesting to see what the hole layouts' and conditions were before and after the USGA paid for the fix-up.
Of the many little anecdotes in the book, I liked the ones about the qualifying rounds the best. My interest is mostly in playing golf and developing great golf courses, and this book could have used more of a focus on both subjects.
After you finish enjoying the book, I suggest that you visit Bethpage Black and take a look for yourself. If you don't mind getting up early in the morning, perhaps you can even play a round there.
Despite not liking the book very much, I would like to compliment the USGA for its new focus on bringing the Open to courses where ordinary golfers with average incomes can pay. That's a fine contribution to the game and to us all.
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Categories
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Books -> Special Features -> Search Inside!
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)