Joe,
I have just seen the movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played” and I thought it was fantastic. Should I not bother to read the book if it is all the same stuff? What did the movie leave out from the book, if anything?
Bob
Hello Bob,
They did a nice job on the movie, but the book has so much more interesting detailed information that I think you will enjoy the book even more. For examples of what the movie did not show, the book tells the whole story about how Harry Vardon rose to prominence, how his disease almost killed him but left him with The Yips. The movie only shows his hands twitching but does not explain why. The book says how he was almost booked on the Titanic, how he toured the US and beat everyone wherever he went, how Francis and his brother built a 3 hole course in their backyard, the transition between the gutta percha ball and the modern ball, and gives a shot by shot description of the most important holes in the 1913 US Open. The book also describes how this was also a young Walter Hagen’s first Open, and he almost stole the show, but the movie ignores Walter, as well as many other colorful characters that the book describes in rich detail. The movie showed a close match while the book showed wild leaderboard swings, and end of the contest was also different. The movie ends with a few brief statements about Harry, Francis, and Eddie, but the book goes into great detail about what happened afterwards to every single character besides those 3. I could go on and on about the differences between the movie and the book, but in my opinion this book is a masterpiece, and it ranks among the finest pieces of literature a golfer could ever hope to read. If you do not read this book you are really missing out on a lot of enjoyment.
Joe
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
The Evil Twin’s Challenge - Part 2 (true story):
In review from last post, I bet Joe a dinner that he could not break 80 at our local course (par 70) on the day after they aerated the greens, because the aeration holes caused the ball to roll like a pachinko game, and also he could only use 7 clubs. He played the front nine 6 over, and the back 9 is much harder, so I like my chances to win the bet. His drive on the 10th hole is drawing downhill toward a water hazard, but stops just short. Lucky dog. He then hits the green, but 3-putts again, now he is 7 over. YES!! He hits the 11th in regulation with a birdie opportunity, but gets too aggressive and goes 3 feet past, and the par putt bounces away from the cup again (YES!!), now he is 8 over and my mind is reviewing some exotic dinner menus and my mouth begins to water. He hits the 12th in regulation, but he is 40 feet left and above the hole facing a steep downslope, and he lags 6 feet short, that’s nasty, but I cannot help but chuckle because if he misses this one it may not stop near the hole. The par putt curls slowly, zigzags a couple of times in slow motion, hangs on the lip, and then drops. Lucky dog. He hits the 13th in regulation and lags to 2 feet. Even these 2-footers are no sure thing on aerated greens because the aeration holes are rather large and each one has a dent around it, but somehow he makes it with another 360-ringer. On the 14th it usually takes a pretty good drive to clear the creek, and you must clear it to have any chance to reach the green in 2, and he was not using the driver today, but he leans on the fairway wood, almost comes out of his shoes, and barely makes it over the creek. Then he hits the green, but on the lower tier with the hole on the upper tier. Then he drops this 40 foot bomb on me. Ouch. Lucky dog, but still he is 7 over. The 15th is a par 3 with a green that slopes steeply back to front. He hits the green 40 feet right of the flag and curves the bouncing lag putt 3 feet past. Now I am getting worried because he is starting to make putts despite the aeration holes and dents. If he can make a 40 footer, surely he can make this 3 footer, but NO, it bounces away for another 3 putt bogey (YES!!), now he is 8 over. He hits the 16th in regulation, 30 feet below the hole, lags to 3 feet, and it bounces away again (YES!!) and now he is 9 over. He hits the par three 17th with a 20 foot birdie putt, which he had better make, because the 18th hole is very difficult even without an aerated green. I figure his only chance to finish 9 over and win the bet is to birdie right now on 17 and then bogey 18. His approach putt bounced to a stop about 3 feet from the hole. What a relief. I feel even more relieved when he again misses the 3 footer, now he is ten over and his bet is all but lost. When his is not looking, I am doing cartwheels. Let’s see, should I have the lobster or the chateaubriand, and maybe some la poupedou French wine? He hits the narrow 18th fairway and then pulls his approach on the left side of the green more than 50 feet above the hole. His only slim hope is to sink this ridiculous birdie putt to get back to 9 over and win the bet. I smile at the futility of it all as he strikes the downhill putt on a line about ten feet left of the hole and then it begins to arc down the hill as I walk over to offer my condolences, but…wait a minute, it’s curving closer, you have got to be kidding, get away from there…NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!…. I hang my head as there are screams and high fives all around, except for me of course, I still don’t believe it. If I had not seen this for myself I would say this was all made up. Eight 3-putts and 2 penalties, and I still lose the bet. So what do you suppose he ordered for dinner? Beer and pizza of course. At least he let me have some.
In review from last post, I bet Joe a dinner that he could not break 80 at our local course (par 70) on the day after they aerated the greens, because the aeration holes caused the ball to roll like a pachinko game, and also he could only use 7 clubs. He played the front nine 6 over, and the back 9 is much harder, so I like my chances to win the bet. His drive on the 10th hole is drawing downhill toward a water hazard, but stops just short. Lucky dog. He then hits the green, but 3-putts again, now he is 7 over. YES!! He hits the 11th in regulation with a birdie opportunity, but gets too aggressive and goes 3 feet past, and the par putt bounces away from the cup again (YES!!), now he is 8 over and my mind is reviewing some exotic dinner menus and my mouth begins to water. He hits the 12th in regulation, but he is 40 feet left and above the hole facing a steep downslope, and he lags 6 feet short, that’s nasty, but I cannot help but chuckle because if he misses this one it may not stop near the hole. The par putt curls slowly, zigzags a couple of times in slow motion, hangs on the lip, and then drops. Lucky dog. He hits the 13th in regulation and lags to 2 feet. Even these 2-footers are no sure thing on aerated greens because the aeration holes are rather large and each one has a dent around it, but somehow he makes it with another 360-ringer. On the 14th it usually takes a pretty good drive to clear the creek, and you must clear it to have any chance to reach the green in 2, and he was not using the driver today, but he leans on the fairway wood, almost comes out of his shoes, and barely makes it over the creek. Then he hits the green, but on the lower tier with the hole on the upper tier. Then he drops this 40 foot bomb on me. Ouch. Lucky dog, but still he is 7 over. The 15th is a par 3 with a green that slopes steeply back to front. He hits the green 40 feet right of the flag and curves the bouncing lag putt 3 feet past. Now I am getting worried because he is starting to make putts despite the aeration holes and dents. If he can make a 40 footer, surely he can make this 3 footer, but NO, it bounces away for another 3 putt bogey (YES!!), now he is 8 over. He hits the 16th in regulation, 30 feet below the hole, lags to 3 feet, and it bounces away again (YES!!) and now he is 9 over. He hits the par three 17th with a 20 foot birdie putt, which he had better make, because the 18th hole is very difficult even without an aerated green. I figure his only chance to finish 9 over and win the bet is to birdie right now on 17 and then bogey 18. His approach putt bounced to a stop about 3 feet from the hole. What a relief. I feel even more relieved when he again misses the 3 footer, now he is ten over and his bet is all but lost. When his is not looking, I am doing cartwheels. Let’s see, should I have the lobster or the chateaubriand, and maybe some la poupedou French wine? He hits the narrow 18th fairway and then pulls his approach on the left side of the green more than 50 feet above the hole. His only slim hope is to sink this ridiculous birdie putt to get back to 9 over and win the bet. I smile at the futility of it all as he strikes the downhill putt on a line about ten feet left of the hole and then it begins to arc down the hill as I walk over to offer my condolences, but…wait a minute, it’s curving closer, you have got to be kidding, get away from there…NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!…. I hang my head as there are screams and high fives all around, except for me of course, I still don’t believe it. If I had not seen this for myself I would say this was all made up. Eight 3-putts and 2 penalties, and I still lose the bet. So what do you suppose he ordered for dinner? Beer and pizza of course. At least he let me have some.
Monday, October 17, 2005
The Evil Twin’s Challenge (true story):
I bet Joe a dinner that he could not break 80 at our local course on the day after they aerated the greens, because the aeration holes cause the ball to roll like a pachinko game, and since he is always telling people how much fun it is to play with only 7 clubs, this time let’s see what HE can do with only 7 clubs. So he chooses a fairway wood, 3 irons, 2 wedges, and the putter. Par at our course is 70 so he has to shoot 9 over to win the bet. The first 2 holes are par 4’s and he hits both greens in regulation. The approach putts bounced, hopped, skipped and jumped to 2 feet and he manages to make pars. The 3rd hole is a long par 3 into the wind and his tee shot found a bunker. He blasted out to 6 feet, and the putt started at the hole but zigzagged away, and now I knew the game was on, because unless his par putts were under 3 feet, he had no chance on these aerated greens. The 4th is a par 5 and his drive ends up behind 2 trees so I figured he had to chip out, but no, he takes a gamble by hitting a hook between them right at the lateral water hazard on the right and it draws back into the fairway. Lucky dog. He hits the green and lags to 2 feet and gets his par. On the 5th, his drive goes into the water hazard. YES!! He drops, hits the green and 3 putts for double bogey. Now the game is really on. He pars the next hole, a short par 3. On the 7th, he is on in regulation, lags to 3 feet, and the putt zigzags and lips out. Now he is 4 over (YES!!). On the 8th the drive is pulled into an unplayable lie. There is no truth to the rumor that I stepped on it, so it’s a penalty, then he drops and hacks it out of the rough onto the green about 60 feet short of the flag. The lag putt is 6 feet short, and again the next putt zigzags away from the hole. Double bogey, now he is 6 over (YES!!), and apparently cannot stop the bleeding. He hits the 9th green in regulation, but has a downhill sidehill 50 footer, which he lags to 6 feet below the hole. Now he is really in trouble, but this time the putt takes a lucky bounce and does a victory lap around the lip and falls in. Not to worry, the back 9 is much harder than the front 9 so I feel pretty good about the bet so far. (to be continued)
I bet Joe a dinner that he could not break 80 at our local course on the day after they aerated the greens, because the aeration holes cause the ball to roll like a pachinko game, and since he is always telling people how much fun it is to play with only 7 clubs, this time let’s see what HE can do with only 7 clubs. So he chooses a fairway wood, 3 irons, 2 wedges, and the putter. Par at our course is 70 so he has to shoot 9 over to win the bet. The first 2 holes are par 4’s and he hits both greens in regulation. The approach putts bounced, hopped, skipped and jumped to 2 feet and he manages to make pars. The 3rd hole is a long par 3 into the wind and his tee shot found a bunker. He blasted out to 6 feet, and the putt started at the hole but zigzagged away, and now I knew the game was on, because unless his par putts were under 3 feet, he had no chance on these aerated greens. The 4th is a par 5 and his drive ends up behind 2 trees so I figured he had to chip out, but no, he takes a gamble by hitting a hook between them right at the lateral water hazard on the right and it draws back into the fairway. Lucky dog. He hits the green and lags to 2 feet and gets his par. On the 5th, his drive goes into the water hazard. YES!! He drops, hits the green and 3 putts for double bogey. Now the game is really on. He pars the next hole, a short par 3. On the 7th, he is on in regulation, lags to 3 feet, and the putt zigzags and lips out. Now he is 4 over (YES!!). On the 8th the drive is pulled into an unplayable lie. There is no truth to the rumor that I stepped on it, so it’s a penalty, then he drops and hacks it out of the rough onto the green about 60 feet short of the flag. The lag putt is 6 feet short, and again the next putt zigzags away from the hole. Double bogey, now he is 6 over (YES!!), and apparently cannot stop the bleeding. He hits the 9th green in regulation, but has a downhill sidehill 50 footer, which he lags to 6 feet below the hole. Now he is really in trouble, but this time the putt takes a lucky bounce and does a victory lap around the lip and falls in. Not to worry, the back 9 is much harder than the front 9 so I feel pretty good about the bet so far. (to be continued)
