Divots, Shanks, Gimmes, Mulligans, and Chili Dips: A Life in Eighteen Holes

Waggoner ( The Traveling Golfer ) is a devotee, but not a master of the links. Unlike many of his fellow hackers, however, he can laugh at his limitations (albeit bitterly at times), making his book highly entertaining. The first half is devoted to the pros, the second to the duffers. Waggoner pays homage to Arnold Palmer, who helped lure him onto the course; laments the current paucity of such towering talents as Jones or Hogan or Palmer or Nicklaus; and shows how difficult it is, both emotionally and economically, to be a fringe pro. Turning to life among the hackers, he discusses the art of throwing the club after a bad shot and reviews his sessions with a zen-oriented teacher. Waggoner recalls his first attempt to play the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland (his score was a lousy 101), in what should fittingly have been the last chapter, but it is followed by an anticlimactic one. Nonetheless, the book is a lot of fun. (Apr.)