cover image Golf Dads: Fathers, Sons, and the Greatest Game

Golf Dads: Fathers, Sons, and the Greatest Game

Curt Sampson, . . Houghton Mifflin, $22 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-618-81248-6

In his 11th golf book, Sampson (Hogan and the Masters ) tells the story of golfing fathers and sons, although a daughter or two, most notably Michelle Wie, appear in the magazine profile–like chapters that make up the book. These stories, including an introduction where Sampson recounts his relationship with his father and the game, explore both the happiness and pain of familial bonds shared on and off the links. Sampson mixes family stories of seven accomplished professionals—Wie, Ben Hogan, David Feherty, Peter Jacobsen, Lee Trevino and Jack Burke Jr. and Sr.—with those of lesser known golfers. Touching stories include a family of three sons, one of whom is tapped to donate a kidney to his ailing father, and another about a son who spread his father's ashes on a Mexican golf course where his dad had taken him in his youthful summers. The stories of Wie and Trevino are incomplete because both Trevino and Wie's father, Byung Wook, refused interviews with Sampson, but the others are thoroughly researched and deftly told in compelling narratives. This book is sure to be a popular gift for golfing dads on Father's Day. (May)