Fairways and Greens

by Dan Jenkins

"Tell me about plumbing, fine. Tell me about carpentry, terrace gardening, the timer on VCRs. Go ahead and explain cellophane. Tell me about all of these things, but don't try to tell me about golf, okay? Golf I know."—Dan Jenkins

After four decades of covering golf-not to mention "playing scratch from the blues and gambling for my own money when I didn't have any", Dan Jenkins most definitely knows golf. He may, in fact, know the game better than anyone on the planet. Now, his latest and long awaited collection brings together his best writing on the game, from serious pieces on timeless classics like the 1954 Masters and the 1960 Open to humorous takes on everything from the best things in golf-the best bar is Club XIX in the Pebble Beach Lodge-to his unrequited love of golf carts. With a cast that includes everyone from Hogan, Palmer, and Nicklaus to all of the lurkers and spoilers on the PGA Tour, the book is a timeless addition to great golf literature.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Humor

247 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Dan Jenkins was an American author and sportswriter, most notably for Sports Illustrated.

Jenkins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R.L. Paschal High School and Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played on the varsity golf team. Jenkins worked for many publications including the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Playboy, and Sports Illustrated. In 1985 he retired from Sports Illustrated and began writing books full-time and maintained a monthly column in Golf Digest magazine.

Larry King called Jenkins "the quintessential Sports Illustrated writer" and "the best sportswriter in America." Jenkins authored numerous works and over 500 articles for Sports Illustrated. In 1972, Jenkins wrote his first novel, Semi-Tough.

His daughter, Sally Jenkins, is a sports columnist for the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Matt Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book Fairways and Greens by Dan Jenkins. The book was about Dan Jenkins and his stories and his experiences through golfing and being a golf announcer of the game for years. Dan jenkins loved the sport of golf and everything that came with it he loved the people in the game such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee trevino along with others where he tells the many stories that he has witnessed. The book is a collection of stories that he has witnessed and seen from golf tournaments on the pga tour he announced to stories of his life in golf such as playing from the tips and gambling with money that he did not have to survive for food and to pay rent. The book in all was pretty good I gave it a 4 out of five stars because I liked it but it's an older book so some of the the terms and things that happen where outdated.. The intended audience for this book is a die hard golf fan, If you do not like golf do not bother on this book, but if you do I highly recommend it.

[Andres Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Jenkins is the funniest golf writer of the 20th century, and in his long career in Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest (among others) he chronicled with wit and humor the accomplishments and the antics of the greatest golfers of the modern era. This is a compilation of some of his best articles, among them: memoirs of his carefree golf growing up playing "Goat Hills"; a lampoon professional golf in an imaginary tournament featuring the best players of all eras with at least 3 majors; a chronicle of a golfing trip in Scotland; and the usual Dan Jenkins real-life myths about how he witnessed some of the historical victories of Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, etc...

[Chip Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of the great golf writer Dan Jenkins's columns. The first part of the book are humorous columns that can get a little tedious after a bit. The second part is his columns about the great golfers he covered - specifically Ben Hogan, Bryon Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. The 3rd part was more personal with his famous story about he and his friends golfing and gambling on a course in Fort Worth. He also has a column about golfing with G.W. Bush and going to Scotland and golfing on the Open courses. Great light reading.

[Sharon Beers · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Dan Jenkins and golf - hilarious. Politically incorrect