Dogleg Madness

This amiable ramble through the world of the golf tournament revolves around a contrast between the game as it is played at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island and at the Ozona Country Club's invitational tournament in West Texas. The differences are enormousprofessionals versus amateurs, players who play to win versus players who play to enjoy the game, big money versus little money. Bryan, a writer for Golf magazine, attempts to show the cosmic significance of the sport, which he couples with baseball as one of the games that ""mirror the unfairness and haphazardness of our lives, then top off the punishment with the incongruous objectivity of a final score.'' This larger Weltanschauung is conveyed with only moderate success. There is much about Bryan's own golf game (evidently not very good) and the personalities of the great players in the Open and the not-so-greats in Texas. It's a pleasant book but inconsequential. (April)