Playing It Down

Author Ralph Cissne shares how his life was enriched by the love of golf and the uniquely competitive characters the game attracts. Eighteen Playing It Down stories explore encounters with mentors and teachers, players and pretenders celebrating the glories of parenthood, brotherly bonds, and moments that matter.

"Our mothers were convinced golf would teach important life lessons, build character and preclude a life of crime. 'Golfers are so clean cut,' my mother said. If golfers are clean cut, I discovered, that was a clever disguise."

"I embraced the idea that each of us was a force of nature, a gathering place, a river that whispered and roared as it moved through the world. A river does not turn back. A river goes with the flow, patiently carved canyons from stone."

"Our group of golf friends grew up with strict parents of The Greatest Generation and a supporting cast of Baby Boom siblings. Those experiences reflected aspects of a brotherly bond tempered with an unspoken awareness, mocking winged monkeys aside, Joe and I aspired to play that other game, the one more meaningful in which dreams never die."