THE PLAYING LESSON

An amateur golfs across America via jobs, friends, and checks.

The prolific, acclaimed author of golf books (To the Linksland) offers up one of those “a year in the life of” books, a welcoming tale of his playing golf at a number of different courses and PGA events. Up first is the Bob Hope Desert Classic pro-am in January, with Bamberger working as a volunteer and recounting a number of golf-related anecdotes inspired to some extent by George Plimpton’s popular The Bogey Man. At the “rigid, cold, and corporate” AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he manages to caddy for a wealthy man and USGA board member. Along the way Bamberger hopes his readers uncover “something on this long green trip that helps you in your golfing quest.” He has to write a $7,000 check to get into the WM Phoenix Open’s one-round Monday pro-am. Throughout, he profiles numerous pros and amateurs, including LIV golf announcer David Feherty in Las Vegas, and revels (for now) in newly acquired golf swing and putting tips. He plays in a pro-am for the LPGA’s stepping-stone Epson Tour. He even plays in the pro-am of Florida’s Ocala Open on the minor-league tour—for $500. Meanwhile, he opines on the fairness and unfairness of the rules of golf and using the right equipment. In Miami, Bamberger plays in a LIV pro-am even though he disdains LIV golf. At the Masters he sadly watches long-time announcer Verne Lundquist descend for the last time from his famous perch by the 16th green. Hobnobbing with the likes of Nancy Lopez, he plays in four LPGA pro-ams in New Jersey. Ever the philosopher-golfer, Bamberger reminds us that “no matter our level of play, golf gives us the freedom to make our own crappy decisions, along with some good ones.”

Pleasant golf memories abound in this refreshing, rambling paean to the game.