Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin' on Birdies

by Michael K. Bohn

Overview

You can't play Major League Baseball and bet on a game; just ask Pete Rose. Don't try running a betting ring in the NHL, either. Want the surest ticket out of NCAA sports? Betting's the way to do it. In stark contrast, however, the United States Golf Association officially sanctions betting among players during their games. And it's not just the pros who bet. Every man, out with his buddies, asks at the first tee, "Shall we make this interesting?" Yet there has never been a betting scandal in organized golf.

Money Golf is the first book that tells the complete story of golf's unique association with wagering and how that relationship evolved. It features anecdotes from fifteenth-century Scots to Tiger Woods and all the smooth-swinging flatbellies, movie stars, athletes, politicians, women golfers, Joe Six-Packs, hustlers, and sharks in between. It also serves as a primer for novice golf bettors, providing explanations of Calcuttas (betting auctions), odds-making, on-course games, and the art and history of golf hustling. It even highlights movies and books that include golf wagers, showing that even writers understand the marriage of the two.

Wagering on golf has been part of the game since it migrated to the United States in 1888. All of the early icons of American golf bet when they played-Francis Ouimet, Walter Hagen, and Gene Sarazen. Even Bobby Jones, the simon-pure amateur, wagered on his game. Sam Snead and Ben Hogan always had a little something on the side; so did Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson learned how to bet on golf when they were little kids. All the personalities, stories, and history of betting on birdies are included in Money Golf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612343433
Publisher:	Potomac Books Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Michael K. Bohn's latest book, Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin’ on Birdies (Potomac Books, Inc., 2007), was one of Golf Digest’s top golf books of 2007. A freelance writer, Bohn is the golf reporter for nineteen weeklies in Northern Virginia. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations     vi
Foreword     vii
Acknowledgments     ix
"Let's Make This Interesting": An Introduction to Money Golf     1
"Ten Guineas a Side?" The Early Years, 1300-1887     14
Best Bets: Ouimet, Hagen, and Jones: An American Golfing Boom, 1888-1930     35
Titanic Thompson Stays Afloat: Tough Times, Tough Bets, 1930-38     72
Snead, Nelson, and Hogan: Even Money, 1938-59     98
The "King" and "Super Mex": Arnie's Army Invades Television, 1960-83     139
High-Stakes Golf: Money Games, 1984-97     183
Tuesdays on Tour: The Pros Play for Their Own Money, 1998-2006     218
Betting Games: Fear the Snake, Avoid the Wolf, Chase the Rabbit     250
Selected Bibliography     267
Index     272
About the Author     278

Editorial Reviews

"A good read. I'll, er, bet you would like it."

". . . .a comprehensively reported book that traces the history of gambling in golf and how it developed with the sport."

"Not only does this book document the history of betting on golf, but perhaps more interestingly, it is stuffed full of gambling anecdotes – a cracking read!"

“Michael Bohn has written a splendid book recording the history of betting on golf. The examples start with Scots royals James I and Mary Queen of Scots and lead through the golden days of match play in the 1800s and 1900s to the present day fever of the Ryder Cup. Henry Longhurst, the great British writer and commentator, said, ‘You should always play for a little more than you care to lose!’”

“If you play golf for money, you need this book; if you don’t play golf for money, you need to start.”

"Intently researched, skillfully reported, and artfully written, Money Golf is something you can bank on, proving once and for all that some of the best stories are about following the money."

“A zesty collection of tales from the monetary front lines of golf. Bohn’s funny and detailed recounting of classic and sometimes harrowing wagering wars reveals how wide and colorful the theater of operations really is. It’s entertaining and also useful—it’s rich with field-manual material that helps simple soldiers like me live to fight another day.”

From the Publisher

"Not only does this book document the history of betting on golf, but perhaps more interestingly, it is stuffed full of gambling anecdotes – a cracking read!"—Golf Monthly

Golf Monthly

“Michael Bohn has written a splendid book recording the history of betting on golf. The examples start with Scots royals James I and Mary Queen of Scots and lead through the golden days of match play in the 1800s and 1900s to the present day fever of the Ryder Cup. Henry Longhurst, the great British writer and commentator, said, ‘You should always play for a little more than you care to lose!’”—Archie Baird, director, Heritage of Golf Museum, Gullane, Scotland

Archie Baird

“If you play golf for money, you need this book; if you don’t play golf for money, you need to start.”—David Owen, author of My Usual Game: Adventures in Golf

David Owen

"Intently researched, skillfully reported, and artfully written, Money Golf is something you can bank on, proving once and for all that some of the best stories are about following the money."—Thomas Bonk, golf writer, Los Angeles Times

Thomas Bonk

"A good read. I'll, er, bet you would like it."—Wisconsin Golfer

Wisconsin Golfer

“A zesty collection of tales from the monetary front lines of golf. Bohn’s funny and detailed recounting of classic and sometimes harrowing wagering wars reveals how wide and colorful the theater of operations really is. It’s entertaining and also useful—it’s rich with field-manual material that helps simple soldiers like me live to fight another day.”—Guy Yocom, Golf Digest

Golf Digest - Guy Yocom