The Greatest Game Ever Played
Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In 1913, golf's first superstar went up against a green 20-year-old amateur. It was the birth of modern golf. Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the most spectacular match the sport has ever known. Vardon had escaped a life of poverty in Britain to achieve universal recognition as the greatest champion in the game's history. Ouimet, a virtual unknown from Massachusetts, was only three years removed from his youthful career as a lowly caddie and worshipped Vardon. When these unlikely opponents finally came together in their legendary battle at the 1913 U.S. Open, the world's reaction to its remarkable drama and heart-stopping climax gave rise to the sport of golf as we know it today.
Weaving together the stories of Vardon and Ouimet to create his narrative, Mark Frost has crafted a uniquely involving, intimate epic: equal parts sports biography, sweeping social history, and emotional human drama.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This first nonfiction effort by Frost, who is a novelist (The List of Seven), television producer (Twin Peaks) and scriptwriter (Hill Street Blues), deftly tells the story behind the legendary 1913 U.S. Open, in which Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old golf amateur from Massachusetts, shocked the genteel golf world by defeating British champion Harry Vardon, the most famous pro golfer of his time and the inventor of what today is still considered the modern grip and swing. Frost knows he has a good story and manages to touch on all the right elements of the plot: Ouimet and Vardon not only represent two different social worlds and two different generations, but also share a number of key personal facts and traits. Ouimet was "the boy-next-door amateur, young and modest and free from affectation," while Vardon was the consummate professional whose record of six British Open victories has never been matched. Yet Frost superbly shows how both shared a steely drive to succeed that helped Vardon overcome a long bout with tuberculosis and Ouimet to overcome a working-class background in which golf was seen (especially by his father) as a wealthy man's game, the perfect example of the evils of capitalism. Frost beautifully weaves history into his narrative, clearly showing the long-term impact this duel had on the game and how it helped propel the U.S. Open into the arena of world-class golf. Frost's final chapters on the last two rounds of the 1913 Open have all the page-turning excitement of a blockbuster novel.
Customer Reviews
Great read
I have to admit I was drawn to read the book after seeing the movie of the same name. It was intriguing to me to realize that sports, and indeed many other vocations, were not always dominated by a few individuals who received lavish support from an early age. There was indeed a time when an amateur could win the US Open. I enjoyed the movie but I enjoyed the book more. Francis Ouimet was led an interesting life and the book makes me appreciate this unassuming man.
The greatest game ever played
One of the best stories of all time and one of my favorite books...well done Mr. Frost!
Read to learn
If you play golf and care about the game, you would be remiss if you didn't read this book. An important story that reminds us that golf, at its core, is more mental than physical. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy.