Greatest Game Ever Played, The: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, And The Birth Of Modern Golf

I had watched the movie numerous times & wanted to know more about Harry Vardon & Frances Ouimet. What I got was not only that but a definitive history of the modern game of golf. I am not a golfer but have always had interest. Excellent writing mixing history with the humanity of the players. Recommend this for anyone.

Excellent from cover to cover

Great book. Read it again as been a few years. One of the best sports stories ever told. Enjoy a great read.

Part history, part biography, part sports hero mythology, TGGEP tells the story of two golfers: English professional Harry Vardon and US amateur Francis Ouimet, and the golfing worlds they inhabited, destined to meet in the 1913 US Open in a match that would change the game of golf forever.Splendidly well told, with little nuggets of lore sprinkled throughout (did you know that the golf 'bogey' and the 'boogieman' share a common origin?), this was a can't-put-down read which led me to more of the author's books. Next up: The Match.Highly recommended.

Heard it was good. Exceeded my expectations.

This is just an excellent book. Not only was it entertaining, I learned a lot about the history of golf and about those who were instrumental in developing golf as we know it today.

This is a wonderful read about a magical event in golf history. I spring and well written. Hard to put down!

This books refreshes one of the great sports stories and reminds us of early greats of the game. It has both sports detail and personal stories intertwinedOne caution…lots lots lots lots of detail…sometimes hard to follow.

My daughter, a flautist, once asked me in her teenage years to take her to a great flautist's concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London; on the journey back, she asked how I had enjoyed the concert. I told her before asking her the same question. What followed was a detailed description of the music's complexity and the instrumental skills required to play it. I wondered if we had attended the same concert - her flautist's eyes and ears had been aware of so much more.So it is with Mark Frost's 2002 book. Although many readers may enjoy it just as a story, only a golfer will understand and appreciate it fully.Frost is a skilful story-teller who knows how to keep readers in suspense and often, while striding down the narrative's fairways towards a long, straight drive out of the screws, he leaps into the rough and just as annoyance begins to fester, a brand-new, once-hit golf ball appears. At the risk of more mixed metaphors, Frost tells his tale but tangentially throws facts, people and events in which become fascinating in themselves: in the build up to the 1913 Open, we read a succinct description of the ways in which golfing standardisation and terminology developed, e.g. par, bogey and standard scratch (P 177-8); the first press tent was erected at the 1913 Open (P 194); in 1913, plugged balls had to be played as they lay until 1960 and pitchmarks on greens could not be repaired.He describes all the events in great detail and breathes vivid life into the characters of all the players; he looks into their eyes then reads their minds in the crucible of competition at the highest levels."Walter, (Hagen) throughout his life always came off as a bit of a rogue. Not in the dishonest sense; more in the style of an adored, risqué uncle, who'd spin tall tales about exotic ports of call while he dazzled you with effortless sleight of hand magic tricks, the tang of peppermint on his breath not quite camouflaging the three whiskey sours he'd downed at lunch." (P 186 He is not portrayed very favourably in the film "The Legend of Bagger Vance" either.)However, it is for Harry Vardon and Frances Oimet that he retains his fulsome praise, players he obviously admires greatly; his descriptions of Vardon do not ignore his less admirable traits but they are mentioned with the delicacy, subtlety and prudence typical of the press of his day. His meticulous portrayal of Oimet gradually builds in intensity until he fills the pages. Their match is described in minute detail, obviously after comprehensive research.For anyone interested in the modern advance of this great game, the national rivalry still under-pinning the Ryder Cup's friendly meetings, the names which fill the Royal and Ancient's history, the development of the golf club and ball and the nature of the game itself for the players who play it in national competitions and on the lowliest of fairways today, Frost has written a wonderful book. It is difficult to believe my copy made its way from America in three days, for less than the price of a decent golf ball; what a bargain and it will certainly live longer!Highly recommended.

A great book following golfs early years, the guys who played and built the game into what it means today. The 1913 Open is exciting, tense and throughly captivated by the authors skill with words. Every swing and putt is easy to imagine as if one were playing themselves. If you play golf, at whatever level this book will grab you, if you don’t play then you will after reading this book

A great golf story and not just about the 1913 US Open and Vardon and Ouimet but it covers what happened to their contemporaries.

Advertised as "Very Good", but not so.Front cover creased, and a large section of the inner pages bent/"wavy" which looks like water damage - maybe it was read in the bath or by a pool? As it was for a gift, very disappointing, as I expected "Very Good" to be exactly that.

Very interesting and informative book bringing to life the sport at that time as well as and probably more importantly the lives of those playing the game. It is an insight into the world then and particularly how little in many ways people had and received compared to the present. Overall an excellent book.