Description
Book SynopsisFor golf's true enthusiasts, the game is far more - and far more complex - than a simple hobby, commodity, or slice of the sports industry. It is a physical and mental place to be, a community. It has a history, a hierarchy, laws, a language, and a literature. And in Richard J. Moss, it has a chronicler.
Trade Review“Richard J. Moss is the leading historian of golf in America. A scratch golfer as well as a crack scholar, Moss brings his clear yet sympathetic and deeply knowledgeable eye to this very fine new book.
The Kingdom of Golf in America is the best study we have yet of golf’s by turns snobby, democratic, and in any event surprisingly large place in the fabric of American life.”—Orin Starn, author of
The Passion of Tiger Woods“Any book by historian [Richard] Moss is a reason for celebration, especially when the subject is golf, a game he understands far better than most. With
The Kingdom of Golf in America Moss has provided a richly detailed and brilliantly nuanced account of the game’s social growth in America, must (and delightful) reading for anyone who wants to understand how golf got into the bloodstream of a community and a nation. He beautifully reveals the scope of our enduring love affair with life’s most complex and social game. Bravo.”—James Dodson, author of
Final Rounds and
American Triumvirate: Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, and the Modern Age of Golf"[Richard J. Moss's] own love for the game is infectious."—Henry Allen,
Wall Street Journal"A historian specializes in the past, but Moss casts a sharp eye on the game's future as well and his conclusion is sobering."—Dennis McCann,
Wisconsin GolferTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. From Nothing to Something
Chapter 2. Golf Literature
Chapter 3. Clubs and Courses
Chapter 4. Golf before the War
Chapter 5. Golf and World War I
Chapter 6. Golf’s Golden Age?
Chapter 7. Golf in the 1930s
Chapter 8. Golf and World War II
Chapter 9. Hogan, Snead, and Nelson and the Rise of the Modern Touring Pro
Chapter 10. The Golf Community in a New Age of Affluence
Chapter 11. Golf and the Age of Television
Chapter 12. Golf and the Two-Party System
Chapter 13. Understanding the Golf Community
Chapter 14. Against the Wind
Appendix A: Golf, Parks, and the American Lawn
Appendix B: Golf Courses in 1920
Appendix C: The pga in 1935
Bibliographical Essay
Index
