So Help Me Golf, Rick Reilly
So Help Me Golf, Rick Reilly
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So Help Me Golf
Why We Love the Game

Author: Rick Reilly

Narrator: Rick Reilly

Unabridged: 7 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published: 05/10/2022


Synopsis

A beloved New York Times bestselling author and golf aficionado shares his insatiable curiosity, trademark sense of humor, and vast knowledge of the game in this cavalcade of original pieces about why we love the sport, now featuring three additional new pieces.

This is the book Rick Reilly has been writing in the back of his head since he fell in love with the game of golf at eleven years old. He unpacks and explores all of the wonderful, maddening, heart-melting, heart-breaking, cool, and captivating things about golf that make the game so utterly addictive. We meet the PGA Tour player who robbed banks by night to pay his motel bills, the golf club maker who takes weekly psychedelic trips, and the caddy who kept his loop even after an 11-year prison stint. We learn how a man on his third heart nearly won the U.S. Open, how a Vietnam POW saved his life playing 18 holes a day in his tiny cell, and about the course that's absolutely free.

Reilly mines all of the game’s quirky traditions—from the shot of bourbon you take before you tee off at Peyton Manning’s course, to the way the starter at St. Andrews announces to your group (and the hundreds of tourists watching), “You’re on the first tee, gentlemen.” He means that quite literally: St. Andrews has the first tee ever invented. We’ll visit the eighteen most unforgettable holes around the world (Reilly has played them all), including the hole in Indonesia where the biggest hazard is monkeys, the one in the Caribbean that's underwater, and the one in South Africa that requires a shot over a pit of alligators; not to mention Reilly’s attempt to play the most mini-golf holes in one day.

Reilly expounds on all the great figures in the game, from Phil Mickelson to Bobby Jones to the simple reason Jack Nicklaus is better than Tiger Woods. He explains why we should stop hating Bryson DeChambeau unless we hate genius, the greatest upset in women’s golf history, and why Ernie Els throws away every ball that makes a birdie. Plus all the Greg Norman stories Reilly has never been able to tell before, and the great fun of being Jim Nantz. Connecting it all will be the story of Reilly’s own personal journey through the game, especially as it connects to his tumultuous relationship with his father, and how the two eventually reconciled through golf. This is Reilly’s valentine to golf, a cornucopia of stories that no golfer will want to be without.

About Rick Reilly

Currently a screenwriter and author, Rick Reilly for years wrote for Sports Illustrated and appeared on and wrote for ESPN. In addition to being voted the NSMA National Sportswriter of the Year eleven times, he has been recognized with the Damon Runyon Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. USA Today called him, "the closest thing sportswriting ever had to a rock star."


Reviews

Goodreads review by Zibby on November 13, 2022

This book is a valentine to the game of golf. It includes real stories about people playing Golf. It covers the funny side and the emotional side of it as well. The author talks about all the significant figures in the game, from Phil Mickelson to Bobby Jones to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods. Through......more

Goodreads review by Matt on May 29, 2024

Audiobook read by the author. Liked this one, didn't love it. Some fun golf stories about iconic people and courses but some stories dragged on when I got the impression that telling some of the stories was for him and not the reader.......more

Goodreads review by Jerod on March 28, 2024

Lots of short, funny stories in here that made this very easy to read. An example for my audience: *interviewing OJ Simpson on an LA golf course right after he was found innocent* “Do you mind if I walk the back nine with you and ask a few questions?” “Only golf questions,” he said sternly. “No questio......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on March 06, 2025

This book was packed full of stellar stories from all walks of life. Each chapter was something you’d hear on some in-depth podcast that you never knew existed. Does that make sense lol? I’m kinda crazy when it comes to compiling my thoughts haha. Anyways, really good and easy read!! Y’all should to......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on July 22, 2023

Enjoyed the various different stories of a game I love to play. Nothing else to say about the book!......more


Quotes

“Acclaimed sports journalist [Rick Reilly] journeys to the heart of a unique sport and pastime. He loves the sport’s mix of tension and calmness, its social nature, and the rich history of famous courses. Most of all, he loves golf’s democratic nature. Every player has an equal chance, and even royalty can wilt when faced with the little white ball. The game doesn’t care who it humiliates, although it can also supply moments of clarity, grace, and beauty. Reilly ably captures all of these elements, mixing in sketches of iconic players and colorful figures…. Throughout, the author interweaves his personal story, noting that golf probably saved him… An informative, enjoyable romp.”—Kirkus Reviews