A Golfer’s Bookshelf

Golf has inspired more good writing than almost any other game. Perhaps it is the long walks between shots, which leave plenty of time to think. Perhaps it is the game’s talent for comedy and humiliation in roughly equal measure. Whatever the reason, the first decades of the twentieth century produced a small shelf of golf books that are still a pleasure to read.

Five of them are now in the GolfProse Library, complete and free. Here is a short guide.

The Clicking of Cuthbert — P.G. Wodehouse (1922)

The place to start. Wodehouse’s first collection of golf stories, mostly narrated by the Oldest Member, the clubhouse sage who has seen it all from his chair in the smoking-room. The stories are about love, rivalry and the redemptive power of a good short game, and they are among the funniest things Wodehouse ever wrote. Begin with the title story, and don’t skip the preface, in which Wodehouse claims the book “is written in blood.”

We’ve written more about it in “The first tee is a promise of a better day.”

The Heart of a Goof — P.G. Wodehouse (1926)

Wodehouse’s second collection, published in America as Divots, and our text is that American edition. The Oldest Member is back, along with some memorable characters, including the poet Rodney Spelvin. It opens beautifully: “It was a morning when all nature shouted ‘Fore!’” Start with the title story, in which the Oldest Member explains what a “goof” is: a golfer who has let the game “eat into their souls.”

The Complete Golfer — Harry Vardon (1905)

The great champion’s memoir and manual, from his boyhood in Jersey to his tour of America. The instruction is a century old, but the writing is warm and wise, and the chapter on his famous grip is still worth reading. See our article on Vardon’s lessons, then start with “Golf at Home.”

The Golf Courses of the British Isles — Bernard Darwin (1910)

Darwin was the finest golf writer of his age, and this is his grand tour of the courses of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales as they were in 1910. It is opinionated, funny and full of affection. Read the chapter on St Andrews, then the chapter on Wales, in which he confesses his love for one small course above all others. Many of these courses have changed since, so read it as history and as travel writing rather than a guidebook.

Fore! — Charles E. Van Loan (1918)

The American entry on the shelf. Van Loan was a popular sportswriter and short-story writer, and these nine stories of country-club golf are brash, slangy and very funny. The first, “Gentlemen, You Can’t Go Through!”, is about the eternal enemy of every golfer: the slow foursome in front, “too infernally selfish to stand aside and let the younger men go through.” Every golfer will recognise them.

A note on the texts

These books are reproduced from their original editions, which are in the public domain in the United States. They reflect the language and attitudes of their time, which occasionally show. We have corrected obvious errors of transcription but have not otherwise altered them.

Happy reading — and if you find a passage you love, tell us about it.