The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story
by Mark Frost
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark FrostEdition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2005-09-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 496
Book Reviews of The Greatest Game Ever Played: A True Story
Book Review: Not Up To Par
Summary: 2 Stars
I guess I'm swimming against the tide on this one, but I found this book to be a badly written, superficially researched effort. It's a shame that an amazing story has been told so badly. It's a credit to the material the author has to work with that the book garnered so many 5-star reviews even from people who noted the many weaknesses of the storytelling itself.
The book covers the early days of competitive golf in England late in the 19th century and in the U.S. early in the 20th century. For anyone who's watched Tiger Woods on TV, calmly making his way around a technicolor, manicured course (with everyone reverently watching), the tales of life on the links 100-plus years ago is fascinating. It was a gentleman's game played in lovely settings, but the equipment and the upkeep of courses barely resemble today's standards. Even the rules have been changed to smoothe the game's edges.
Into this chaos entered a 20-year-old American who had only once played in a tournament outside of his home state, Francis Oimet. First, Oimet tied the two greatest golfers in the world after four rounds, and then he beat them in a playoff on the next day. He remained an amateur the rest of his life, eventually becoming a stock broker. Oh, and by the way, Oimet became fascinated with golf because he grew up literally across the street from where the U.S. Open tournament was held: The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., which waw the club that literally gave us the term "country club."
The champions that Oimet beat were British citizens: Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Vardon was the greatest champion of the game's first 50 years, and his fascinating and tragic story has been told in several books. Vardon basically introduced competitive golf to the U.S. public by barnstorming for six months in 1903 and beating all comers. Ray, the other Brit, was a friendly-but-intense contender for the heir to Vardon's crown. Together, Vardon and Ray had barnstormed across the country in 1913 and beaten every single one of the best players in the U.S. head-to-head.
Oimet, age 20 at the time, was a complete unknown, and not even considered one of the better amateurs in the country (yet). His caddy was a 12-year-old who had trouble carrying his clubs without having them scrape along the ground. But Oimet overcame nerves, bad luck, an angry father, and a dozen other hardships to win a stunning victory that propeled golf into the pantheon of spectator sports. He literally walked across the street to get to the tournament each day.
It's a mind-blowing story, and full of fascinating asides, such as the physical and psychological hardships endured by both Oimet and Vardon, and the inequal treatment of pro and amateur stars, even when they were playing in the same tournament. So, there's a lot that's memorable about the book.
However, the book is so flawed that I have to recommend that people find other books about the early days of golf and its stars, and read them instead. A few observations might suffice. 1. The book recreates conversations and thoughts that couldn't possibly be known to the author. There are literally hundreds of direct-quote conversations that are impossible to verify, and the only apology for the fiction is an oblique reference at the end of the book. 2. Those alleged conversations are generally stupid and cliched -- which isn't a surprise since the author cut his teeth by writing for television. 3. There's no bibliography. With a bibliography at least, we could read some of the original books that undoubtedly had the snap of originality, even if they were unreliable, too. 4. Most annoying of all, the author apparently has never found a stupid metaphor that he can resist, and he usually stacks them together, two-per-paragraph. They contrast badly with the more interesting analysis or more affecting writing about players' personalities and hardships. Just cutting out those "there was enough electricity in the crowd to light up all of Boston" would improve the book immensely.
In summation, if you are dying to find out the story of Francis Oimet, the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, read this book. If you want a well-done book about the early days of golf, find something else.
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