The Legend of Bagger Vance, Steven Pressfield, Spike Books, 1995
In the year 1931, the golf course at Krewe Island, outside Savannah, Georgia, is in danger of closing because of the Depression. The local city fathers come up with the idea of a holding a one-day 36-hole golf match for the then huge purse of $20,000. They invite Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, two of the Masters of the game. At the last minute, a local war hero named Rannulph Junnah is added to the match; his particpation is reluctant, at best. He brings along his caddy, and mentor, a black man named Bagger Vance, who spends the match teaching Junnah the meaning of life.
He tells Junnah the secret of the Authentic Swing. As Junnah is lining up a shot, all the possible shots flow out from him along lines of force. The golfer isn't looking for the perfect shot to hit, the perfect shot is looking for the golfer to be hit.
For Junnah, the first 9 holes are a disaster, with Vance constantly in his ear about all sorts of weird things. Around the 10th hole, it starts to click, and Junnah lets Jones and Hagen know that they are in for a major fight.
I didn't think it was possible for a couple of rounds of golf to read like a Battle that should be taking place on Mt. Olympus, but Pressfield really pulls it off. This is much more than just a sports novel, and is strongly recommended.
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