false 4 0 false false Wed May 13 04:50:10 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 04:57:30 -0700 2009
That gorgeous yet usually benign setting is the backdrop to one of the most dramatic golf matches in the history of the sport.

So much so that it is worthy of simply being called The Match.

Nice title. Drinks at the turn on me.

Amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken ‘CBS’ Venturi took on Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan at the behest of wealthy car dealer Eddie Lowery who bets millionaire George Coleman the non-pros can beat the pros in a best ball match. Not a bad call. And figures are vague as to how much was actually wagered… but as their cocktail pride increased with each new round of liquid courage on the rocks, so did the wager. Frost estimates it was around $20,000, a sizeable wager considering this was 1956 when a house could be had for that amount of money and a new car cost around a couple grand.

For the casual golf fan the story of The Match is riveting; for the casual reader it is just as riveting and maybe even more so as Frost demystifies the game and also gives adequate back-story as to the different worlds that each player came from and their motivations.
A fun read that continually surprises like trying to guess the weather in that part of the country.
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