Books link the past and future of golf

The

BOOKSHELF Links to the Past and Future

by tom bedell

The Nature of the Game: Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond (Knopf, $40) by Mike Keiser with Stephen Goodwin, is a handsome volume recounting Keiser’s second occupational life as a golf destination developer.

His first was as a head partner in Recycled Paper Greetings, a (mainly) greeting card company that gave Keiser the wherewithal to indulge his growing obsession with linksstyle golf.

Though Bandon Dunes was the course and resort that really implanted Keiser in just about every golfer’s noggin, he actually started out with a ninehole course in New Buffalo, Mich., called the Dunes Club, an outright homage to Pine Valley.

The book goes into all this history in ingratiating detail, goes on to recapitulate the now 20-plus year history of Bandon Dunes, and then takes in what might be called the rest of the Keiser empire: Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania, the Cabot Courses in Newfoundland (and the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia), and the expanding Sand Valley Resort in Wisconsin, now largely run by Keiser’s sons, Michael and Chris.

Well, sure, the book can be viewed as one big advertisement for Keiser’s properties. A

whiff of entitlement occasionally wafts by, a tinge of self-congratulation. But anyone who has been fortunate enough to play any of the Keiser-involved courses knows he is surely entitled to the congratulations. What began at the Dunes Club has spread its ripples world-wide, altering the nature of modern golf course architecture in the process. Modern may not be the proper term, since Keiser has all along been devoted to linksstyle golf, and the team of architects he has employed can mostly be assigned to the minimalist school — the likes of David McLay Kidd, Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Rod Whitman. The book will be catnip for golf architecture junkies. Keiser devotes an entire chapter to Doak, but all of the designers have their say, as sizable portions of the text are oral histories about the creation of Charlie Mechem the courses. The book is rich in detail, fun to read and the photos are gorgeous. The only problem is the uncontrollable itch it creates to get back out and play some of the courses.

HOW HE PLAYED THE GAME

If little remembered today, Ed Oliver was a significant presence on the PGA Tour before and after World War II. He was a star of the era, if more due to his outsized personality than from any sustained success. Credited with eight official Tour wins, a member of three Ryder Cup teams, Oliver bested the best of his day from time to time, and when the best included the likes of Hogan, Snead, Nelson, Locke, Palmer, that’s saying something.

Born in Wilmington, Del., in 1915, Oliver succumbed to lung cancer in 1961 at age 46. John Riley, who grew up with Oliver’s children, tells the story in his “How He Played the Game: Ed “Porky” Oliver and Golf’s Greatest Generation” (Riley Publications, $30.00).

Oliver was rarely called “Ed.” “Porky” was only one of several nicknames he carted around -- ”Snowball,” “Snobie,” “Chops,” “Old Chops” and “Chopsy” among others. The porkchops reference certainly related to his well-publicized appetite — though only 5-foot-9, Oliver often ballooned up to 240 pounds, and Riley has fun relating how badly sportswriters of the day referred to his avoirdupois.

Oliver was something of a hard-luck case on the course, too, consistently blowing tournament leads in the closing holes, usually due to a balky putter. His bridesmaid credentials included finishing second to Hogan in the 1946 PGA Championship, second to Julius Boros in the 1952 U.S. Open and second to Hogan again in the 1953 Masters.

As one of the first pros drafted into the army during the war, he lost close to four full years of his prime playing time. And in one of his worst breaks, after finishing in a tie at the 1940 U.S. Open, he was disqualified with two other players who, over weather concerns, started their final round early. Despite pleas on his behalf from Gene Sarazen and Lawson Little, who had finished with the same score as Oliver, he was eliminated from the playoff.

Riley’s research into Oliver’s career is impressive. He perhaps leans on individual round scores and tournament winnings to somewhat numbing detail. And while he repeatedly tells us how popular Oliver was among fans and his fellow players, he doesn’t show quite enough detail about the on-course antics.

Nonetheless, it’s a good and poignant effort in resurrecting an overly neglected player, where in his hometown they rechristened the Wilmington Golf Club in 1983 as the Ed Oliver Golf Club.

ARNIE AND JACK

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus will never be overly neglected. But can we ever read too much about them? Charlie Mechem’s

“Arnie and Jack: Stories of My Long Friendship With Two Remarkable Men” (Mission Point Press, $26.95) comes at the pair from the unique vantage point he had, serving as an adviser to both men. Mechem was the commissioner of the LPGA from 1990-95, but prior to that he was the head of the Taft Broadcasting Company, which is where his association with Nicklaus began, Charlie Mechem commissioning Jack to build a course near Cincinnati and later helping with the video version of his book, “Golf My Way.”

After his LPGA term ended, Mechem was asked by Palmer to be a personal assistant, and he served as such, without pay, for more than a decade. Consequently the book has a bit more Arnie material, but there are ample anecdotes here about both. Nicklaus provides a foreword, as does Doc Giffin, another longtime Palmer adviser. There’s nothing too new, deep or revealing here about either icon. It’s a bit hagiographic, and Mechem is hardly a great prose stylist. But the many photos are great, and I’ll ask again, can we ever read too much about Nicklaus and Palmer?

Tom Bedell has played many Keiser courses, has the same birthday as Jack Nicklaus, and once went 18 holes with Arnie.

Crowned Heads: Las Calaveras 2022 Edicion Limitada

by laramie navrath and demario brown

Las Calaveras was first launched in 2014 by Crowned Heads Cigars and manufactured in the My Father Cigars Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The annual release of Las Calaveras pays homage to those who have passed away over the past year and is intended to be a celebration and remembrance of those lives who are no longer with us.

Las Calaveras EL 2022 consists of a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers – marking the first time in the series, the Las Calaveras as a Nicaraguan puro. The blend has limited availability and comes in three vitolas: robusto extra, corona gorda and toro extra.

The Corojo wrapper has a style of delivering classic Nicaraguan structure and intensity, while retaining complexity and balance. The first third of the cigar starts off with a touch of white pepper, hints of cedar and sweet breads. The effortless draw can be attributed to the high quality of construction with ample abundance of smoke. The flavor and strength level are light medium. The meat of the cigar amps up the flavor adding elements of lemongrass with the bolder notes of cedar and pepper, especially in the retrohale. The final third of the smoke is a crescendo in strength, with notes of grains and light baking spices giving the cigar a smooth casual finish.