To the Linksland: A Golfing Adventure

This is a very well written book that is as much about people who love the game as it is about the links courses referred to in the title. The author takes us on a pleasant 7 month journey that includes his experiences as a caddy on the European professional tour, and subsequently an extended vacation in Scotland where he plays numerous linksland courses. We are introduced to numerous acquaintances, most of whom claim golf as an important part of their lives and heritage. As a result we learn a good deal about the early history of the game, the modern game (as of 1991), the differences in the casual golfer's approach to its play in Scotland/Europe and the U.S., and personal glimpses of some of the players who have had an impact during the past 150 yrs.We are also introduced to a number of golf courses in a way that includes not only the usual topical descriptions (length, greens, hazards, flora etc.) but also Bamberger's emotional response and evaluation after having played them.I don't usually enjoy this type of odyssey but the author's relaxed style, the people he meets, and his experiences at play in golf's homeland made this a thorougly enjoyable read.

To the Linksland has something for everyone: a look inside a pro tour, an intimate view of Scottish golf, and, most of all, an accurate depiction of the never-ending quest for improvement and the associated cycles of hope and despair that all golfers experience. Bamberger manages to evoke these weighty themes without crossing over the line into contrived mysticism or gross sentimentality. I re-read it every spring, when it's still too cold to play but I need a golf fix. My favorite golf book, it captures the true spirit of the game!

Informative and thoroughly entertaining. Read it 5 or 6 years ago and I still take the time to offer my view. Apart from the interesting insight into the trials and tribulations of Teravainen and the "off course" life of the caddies, Bambereck pays a visit to the home of golf, which is bound to inspire any golfer to follow suit. Read the book and listen to the sound of your golf shots. You`ll know what I mean!

This is a sheer joy to read. It makes you want to hit the road, to hit the ball, and very far. This book convinces you that golf is the game born between the land and the sea. The linksland. It links us back to the elements. Do you remember a memorable passages on mental golf in Knowlson's superbe biography of Samuel Beckett? Bamberger's book is the best companion for mental golfing on a sleepless night, too. I enjoyed every line of it. It also contains a miracle. The books anti-hero, Peter Teravainen, won the Japan Open! I translated this book into Japanese. It was the high moment of my life.

This is on one of the best, most-enjoyable reads in the ever-expanding (and oversatuated) literature of golf. Bamberger, of course, is now an esteemed writer for Sports Illustrated, and his "beat" now takes him well beyond the 19th Hole. Anyone familiar with Bamberger's writing knows, however, that no matter his subject matter, from Mike Piazza to the "unorthodox" high school basketball player featured in SI two weeks ago, Bamberger's real subject is the athlete him/herself - his/her family, "roots", inner make-up, obstacles, goals, etc. "To the Linksland" remains essential reading for anyone who wants to see how a now big-time writer thinks and has always thought about sport. And it deals with the game that Bamberger not only loved first, but also best. Bamberger's golf pedigree is unblemished. His mother has never, to my knowledge, ever even picked up a stick (unless it was a putter Bamberger kept in his bed while still in high school). His father swings a mighty driver but alas, if he makes contact at all, it is with G-d's great earth not the ball. But the writer's brother is the sorriest duffer of all. For, you see, unlike Bamberger Sr., Bamberger Brother has tried. And tries. To hit the golf ball. Forget the IQ cut-off, the Bamberger Brother scores closer to his LSAT. How do I know all this? So I'm not so objective. I am the Bamberger Brother. But order the book anyway - you won't be disappointed.