Golden Era of Golf

Barkow's chronicle is not so much a cultural study of America's impact on the sport as a short history of the professional game wrapped loosely in the American flag. While this nationalism may distinguish Barkow's book from other golf histories, it doesn't make for a compelling argument. In the last century, it is true, the greatest heroes to the hacker masses were American. The tour and sponsors that brought the game into every home via television were American. And the technical innovations that changed golf from a medieval contest of leather, feather and wood to a modern battle of balata, graphite and metal were instigated by Americans. But suggesting that the entrepreneurial and democratic character of American society, as well as U.S. geography and economy, drove golf to its current prominence seems a stretch. It is also gratuitous; would one make the same argument about baseball as the apotheosis of rounders? Barkow himself seems uncomfortable with his titular argument, and he returns to it only intermittently. Instead, he prefers to rush through a chronicle of the game's evolution. His capsule bios of the game's greats are well rendered; his history of the PGA tour effectively traces the influence of agents and race; his stories of how golf innovations came about are worthy of Charles Panati. However, none of these aspects break new ground, so it is unlikely that Barkow's book will make it beyond the niche of dedicated golf readers. (Nov. 17)