The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf

This book is more than a story about Bobby Jones. I learned more about how WWI started in just a few pages than any other book I've read on the war. I love American history and Mark Frost can really write. Great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about the legendary Bobby Jones by Mark Frost. I particularly appreciated his providing a detailed historical setting of the events in Bob Jones' life. Reading this work leaves us with the feeling that we knew him and with an appreciation of his talent, his warmth and his integrity. Mr. Frost's only error that I detected has nothing to do with golf. He writes that Bob served in the US Air Force during WWII, but there was no Air Force until after WWII. He served in the Army Air Corp. No biggy. You will enjoy this beautifully written story.

This book is an excellent account of Bobby Jones the golfer, but more importantly Bobby Jones the person. It should be of particular interest to today’s younger golfers, to see how golf was played in the nineteen twenties.

In The Grand Slam, Mark Frost tells the story of Bobby Jones and the way in which his inconceivable 1930 championship run changed the sport of golf forever, in such a lively and engaging way that readers will be on the edge of their seats even though the outcome has been assured for 75+ years. Each of Jones' Grand Slam wins is recounted in painstaking detail, giving Frost the opportunity to paint an illuminating portrait of the golf world of the 20's and to set Bob's accomplishments against the backdrop of the times in which he lived. He reached his athletic peak at a time when people were beginning to tire of the frenetic pace of the Jazz Age and longed for a simpler time. Bob Jones possessed all the qualities Americans appeared to be searching for, and so, like the other sports heroes of the Golden Age he was quickly elevated to demi-god status. Frost does a wonderful job of peeling back the layers of the legend to reveal the human being underneath. He has proven yet again why he is one of the best writers working today. This book is a must for all true students of the game, but should appeal to non-golf fans as well.

Any golfer has heard about Bobby Jones, this book brings his life into focus for all of us. Bobby Jones played this game as an amateur and never was a professional golfer. He won many tournaments both here and in England as was able to afford this by the help of his father.He was married and they lived with his parents as the many travels Bobby had to make playing golf, it made it handy for his family to be cared for. I was surprised that Bobby Jones had quite a temper and his language was not the best either. He tried to control this but he was such a prefectionist that whenever he made an error he let out his frustration this way.This book covers all his winnings from a very young age until he won the Grand Slam with were all the big tournament in one year. A terrific feat that has not been done to this day. Until Tiger Woods did it but his was done covering from one year to the next.If you love history and love golf, this book is worth the read.Letta Meinen

It’s a great book to read if you play and like golf. Mr. Jones was an exceptional man and an extraordinary golfer. A man of honor and integrity. Mark Frost is a good writer and obviously did much research to give such a personal and honest and thoughtful account of Mr. Jones’ sacrifice to reach his golfing greatness and maintain his personal dignity and humility. Any young person beginning a career would be inspired by Mr. Frost’s telling of Bobby Jones’ growing and maturing as a man and champion athlete.

and had never heard of him although I like and watch golf fairly often. I was especially intrigued with the story because of his ethics and strength of character. There are too few movies and books about people that live beliefs that are admirable so I always like to have those books for both me and the kids I homeschool to read!This is a good book. One of Bobby Jones successes has stood the test of time and not been replicated since the 1930s. Once he had quit tournament play, he became "a professional" from the standpoint that he assisted in making a different type of golf club (that is still considered one of the finest), built golf courses and even was the creator of one of the best courses in Atlanta, which hosted the Masters. This is a terrific book and one that I believe most golfers would definitely enjoy...as well as those just interested in golf or reading about an admirable person.

I just finished reading Mr. Frost's exceptional new work, The Grand Slam. Not only does the author provide you with tremondous insight into Jones' character and personality (something he does, by the way, without engaging in the incessant psychobable that characterizes so many other modern biographies), he tells a great story. And even though you already know the outcome of the major tournaments in which Jones competed, Mr. Frost creates such suspense that you find yourself sliding forward on the edge of your chair as the players approach the 18th green of the final round. Also, Frost does an exceptional job of placing the evolution of Jones' career in the context of American and European history. His vignettes on World War I, the Jazz Age, Harding and Hoover, and the Great Depression add a great deal to his narrative. And his potrayals of Walter Hagen, the first prima dona on the American golf scene, are a joy to read. Even if you are not a golf fan, you will like this book. If you enjoy the sport, then you will love it. Well done, Mr. Frost.

Very readable. Lot of facts about the golfers at the centre of the story but also a lot of social history of the times

I like the way Mark Frost tells the story of Bob Jones and also ties in the history of that time and how it applies

Full of wonderful insights into the childhood, early years, glory days, and final courageous battle with adversity in his last days..truly a great man who played the ball as it lay to the best of his ability, and shaped & was shaped by the game

Mark Frost writes historical golf books like thrillers. I’ve read The Greatest Game Ever Played, The Grand Slam and The Match, all by Frost. These books are all thoroughly researched and then that history is woven together to create an engrossing story. You will feel you are next to Ouimet, Jones, Hagen, Varden, Ray, Nelson, et al, as they play critical rounds and holes. You will also gain a really nice sense of who they are with their being careers well detailed. I just didn’t realise how good these players were.The only downside of these books is that I’ve finished them..

Very enlightening look into the game ,and a humbling look into the life of one of the true greats of the game.