A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour

by John Feinstein

In the highly acclaimed bestseller A Good Walk Spoiled, John Feinstein captures the world of professional golf as it has never been captured before. Traveling with the golfers on the PGA Tour, Feinstein gets inside the heads of the game's greatest players as well as its struggling wannabes. Meet superstars like Nick Price, who nailed a fifty-foot putt at the seventeenth to win the British Open, and Paul Azinger, who marked his return from a bout with cancer with an emotional appearance at the Buick Open. Go behind the scenes for Davis Love III's unforgettable come-from-behind victory in the Ryder Cup. In golf, Feinstein eloquently relates, the line that separates triumph from disappointment is incredibly fine. "One week you've discovered the secret to the game; the next week you never want to play it again".

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, History

680 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

John Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.

Reviews

[Bill Varon · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book, you will:
1. no longer shake your head and wonder how someone can sit on the couch and watch a golf tournament all day long on a perfect Sunday afternoon, especially each of the 4 "Majors"
2. look forward with great anticipation to watching the Ryder Cup every two years
3. yearn to attend a golf tournament in person and follow one of the unknown fringe players from hole to hole

John Feinstein lived with, dined with, traveled with, caddied for, and spent 100% of his time with a dozen golfers over the course of an entire season. This book describes what goes on in the minds of the very best pro golfers as well as amateurs struggling to make it onto the tour.

You do not have to be a golfer or a fan of the game to really enjoy this book.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd absolutely read more of his books.

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takeaways:

-John Feinstein hated John Daly and took every opportunity to trash him, even if it didn't make sense within the storyline.

-He was desperate for the accomplished tour veterans to like him.

-He thought he could run a golf tournament better than the USGA.

-He has no clue how to end a passage with a good quotation and instead goes out of his way to insert himself and his opinion.

-He has no problem tossing around unsupported assumptions, but at least he sometimes admits when it's speculation.

-He doesn't know how to properly use "literally."

-He's simply not a very good writer.

-I will say this, his reporting and access is great, but all of the things above far and away cancel that out.

This my third and final John Feinstein book. I can't take it anymore. Tell the story, don't be the story.

I can see how the average golfer/reader might love this book, but for a journalist and/or an avid golf fan, you'll want to throw you book through the window.

[Grant Wharton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I hate this game, and I can’t wait till tomorrow to play it again”. One of the most relatable quotes I’ve ever read in a book.

As a biggggg golf guy I thought this book was awesome. Gives you a behind the scenes look at life on the PGA tour on everything from how nerve wracking Q-School can be, to how much of a loose cannon John Daly really was. Knowing a bit of golf pre-Tiger is also interesting stuff, would like to read a book by this guy post-Tiger to see how much he changed the game.

Would rec to any golfer 🏌🏻

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a golf book. Wouldn't recommend it if you aren't a golfer, but if you are it's a good glimpse into life of a professional golfer. I'm a Feinstein fan too.

[Anup Sinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s no questioning John Feinstein’s sports writing and this is a very insightful book about the PGA scene in the mid-1990s. It is long and perhaps outdated as the athletes have mostly retired (aside from a then-young Phil Mickelson who missed most of 1994 due to two broken legs, anyway). I still enjoyed it, it’s really the first golf book I have ever read and it taught me a lot about the culture and the events. He got very close to the golfers and the tour and is an excellent narrator.

I am utterly amazed how Feinstein can write so expertly on so many different sports.

[Shane Schirmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a fantastic read. Mr. Feinstein is quite talented at getting to know his subjects, and pulling back the curtain on what being on tour is really like. The book was honest, open, and very revealing. I credit both Feinstein and his subjects for their hard work and candor during this project. Some of the subject matter must have been quite difficult to open up about.

[Paul Mrochinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot like Feinstein’s other works following athletes for a season, did not know much about golf in the early/mid 90s but a great portrayal of life on tour. Does a great job portraying people as human and making you want to root for multiple characters competing against each other. While there’s plenty of coverage of big names, exploring the lives of golfers who are primarily focused on just remaining on the tour/getting back to it is what makes this book special and will change the way in which I follow the sport.

[Josh Pella · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a golf nut you’ll definitely enjoy it, other wise this won’t be making book club.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nearly-500 page book on golf seems an unlikely read, and it did go into many rabbit holes of PGA Tour details, but overall this is pretty good stuff due to Feinstein’s talent and style. He must’ve lived in some golfers’ pockets in order to get their dialogues and decisions during golf rounds, but finds ways to keep it interesting. And spreading his view over a dozen or so golfers helps to compare the various successes and failures over a good-sized group. Some of my favorite parts are when he drops any objectivity and describes the quality of play and the decisions that went into creating great games, or rotten ones. Feinstein isn’t going to sugar coat bad play, and of course can’t disguise poor results when the money earned at each tournament is public knowledge. And then there’s the different personalities on the golf course, which he surely enjoys enlightening us about. Stoic? Angry? Outright uncivil? Classy? All are here to savor or endure.

[Andy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember one day I walked to the common area of my dorm, and I saw my friends watching The Masters. I'd barely ever thought about golf, and I'd never seen any of them watch it before. When I asked them why they were watching a golf tournament, all they said was "it's The Masters." It's hard to express just what that means for a very specific subset of the world, and the grip that the absolute top end of golf has (a quarter of British golfers said they would divorce their wives to play there once), but "A Good Walk Spoiled" is probably the closest anyone has ever come to explaining it.

"A Good Walk Spoiled" is about a year on the professional golf circuit in the nineties. Unlike most sports histories, this one focuses on the also-rans. Players you mostly haven't heard of compete for fame and fortune or just to make enough money to keep going. They come close to greatness but don't always make it, often losing in devastating ways. If there is any thesis to this book, it is that golf is an overwhelmingly mental game. The things that are routine suddenly become impossible under enormous amounts of pressure. Slight lapses in judgment can be incredibly costly. And so the book progresses, walking the narrow line between absolute heartbreak and triumph.

I sometimes think people are too quick to dismiss niche nonfiction if they aren't interested in the subject matter. It's an incredibly hard sell for anyone who doesn't already like golf. But within it, the stories are fundamentally human. The fear of failure, of being at the top but slowly getting passed by, or overthinking everything, its all so real, and "A Good Walk Spoiled" does it better than almost any work of fiction I've ever read. There's a discussion of race and privilege that is both sensitive and well thought out (the book was written almost immediately prior to Tiger Woods hitting it big, though it does reference him in passing). I think there's more willingness to branch out in other media, like those hourlong videos about obscure video games on YouTube, but it feels like literature lags behind in that respect. I wonder how many people out there dismiss this book without a second thought, but would love it if the player names were fictionalized and they were playing some made-up sci-fi/fantasy sport (I've heard enough people try and convince me that Quidditch is actually a well designed sport, really, to last a lifetime, so the bar seems low). I know I would have if not for my dad getting me a copy.

Having read it, I still don't want to watch professional golf, and I don't even want to play it myself all that much. But I'll watch The Masters. And I'll highly recommend "A Good Walk Spoiled."

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the great golf books. Feinstein takes you inside life on the PGA tour. Not only does he feature the stars but he also goes in depth on the struggles of those players who are fighting for their spot on the tour for the next season. I started reading this book many years ago and just recently picked it off my shelf and found a book mark half way through. It was time to finish it. I’m glad I did. While many of the chapters are centered on a particular golfer, he cleverly weaves stories about other players who have faced similar challenges. He does it in such a way that you want to keep reading just like a good mystery. This is a must read for any golfer but it would be interesting for anyone interested in sports. While it is a bit dated, having been written in the mid 90’s, the struggles, heart aches and joys are still the same.

[John Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not everyone will love this book as much as I did. I have been following the PGA Tour for many years, and was familiar with most of the names discussed in the book, and the era of the early 1990s. Feinstein brings to life the many different characters who are either safely on the Tour, or struggling to get back to the tour, or fighting to keep their exempt status. Everybody has a different goal, but they all feel immense pressure. Some want to win their first tournament, others to win their first major, others to build on their resume for greatness, and others to prove they can still play as they are aging. The most poignant stories involve those who are trying to make it through Q-school to get a Tour card, and those who are desperately trying to earn enough money in the last few tournaments of the year to avoid Q-school. But Feinstein also discusses characters such as John Daly, immensely talented but a loose wire who is his own worst enemy. Towards the end of the book, the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill (Rochester, NY) is discussed. I was there, watching the Sunday singles as the European team forged a strong comeback to win the cup. I watched Nick Faldo win his match to clinch the cup. It was such fun to read about those matches 30 years later, and to know more about the players who competed. This book is great for golf aficionados, but others may not enjoy it as much.

[Janell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining ramble through mostly the 1994 PGA Tour season... although it overlaps a bit into 1993 and 1995. Feinstien really got access to get into the heads of a variety of players, from the best in the world that year to those just struggling to stay on the Tour. It goes from tournament to tournament through the year, each time highlighting a couple of those players, and revisiting others. You get a compact life history of each of the highlighted players, and really get a greater understanding of the motivations and frustrations that come with being a pro golfer. It helps a lot if you were following golf in the '90s, because it would probably be hard to keep all of the names straight if you didn't have a head start. The pictures in the middle of the book help, and so does the ability to look people up on the internet. Of course, this action took place more than a quarter-century ago, so it does feel pretty dated. I'd almost certainly have given it a higher rating if I'd read it when it came out. Still, it was fun at the end of the book to think about the career paths of everyone in it since then (even an 18-year-old named Tiger Woods gets a couple of mentions, as does a Pro-Am player by the name of Trump, who was apparently a bit of a narcissist). If you're into golf, and especially if you were into golf in the 1990s, it's a good read.

[Adam Rosenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not play golf, at least not since swinging the club on the 16th in Jaffrey New Hampshire and taking my new hernia with me directly to the ER from the course. But I occasionally do enjoy watching on TV, and often root for the shank, the 3 putt, and the shots that roll back in the sand. Feinstein tells the story of the famous and wealthy, i.e. the Price's, Watson's, Faldo's, Couples', Azinger's, Daly's and many others who patrol the world playing golf and trying to say in the zone. From the big stars to those just trying to survive on the lesser golf tours, Feinstein conveys the tension, anxiety and fear that goes hand in hand with playing golf. All of these pros dread the possibility that they will wake up one day and their A game will have disappeared. By hanging with these golfers, Feinstein captures what life is like playing professional golf, and how these men deal, or not deal with family issues, cancer, divorce, being away from their children and their pursuit of winning. Fun read.

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty years on, this was an interesting read for those things that have changed on the PGA Tour and those that haven't. An interesting snapshot in time just prior to the game-changing arrival of Eldrick: many of the purses, distances and sponsor commitments seem quaint by comparison to today.

The books paints the portraits of around a dozen pro golfers through the story of the 1994 PGA Tour season. It manages to present a clear picture of most of these players in the context of the season, even as many of them don't feature at the business end of the tournaments.

My primary criticism would be that there is a reluctance to say anything too negative about any of the players other than John Daly. The predicament of the sports writer throughout the ages I suppose. In addition, this level of acces to the players would no doubt have been more enjoyable in the pre-internet age, but is still revealing as to the pressures on tour.

Probably not one for the casual fan.

[Andrew Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a big book when it came out in the 90s. Feinstein was lauded for writing an excellent book on golf. Thirty years later A Good Walk is a good read, but golf has changed dramatically, and the book is no longer quite as excellent. (Oddly, no book has been written since that takes its place. This may be because the internet is filled with websites that offer many of the insider bits that Feinstein wrote. But future fans of the sport will miss not having a snapshot in time of Tiger, and Scheffler and the other greats who took the place of Nick Price, and the lesser names who filled out this book.)

The book is not a 3. I would have given it a 3.5 if able. But since it is a wee bit dated I canna give it a solid 4.

[Michael Liebermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feinstein’s value is as a storyteller. He floods his books with amazing anecdotes, golden nuggets that infuse books with flavor. His writing, in general, is good but far from great. His commentary on professional golf is incisive. Having not been alive during 1994, I can’t speak to whether Feinstein captures the essence of that year’s PGA Tour season, but nonetheless I found it a compelling narrative. The endless accounts of tournaments dull after a while, though. Had Feinstein stripped off the excess fat, this could have been excellent; still, it’s a strong book that gives readers a window into the shuttered life of golfers on Tour.

[James Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would love an updated version

Read this first about 20 years ago from a recommendation from my father.

Although a lot about the game has changed, what most people don't see or care very much about are the guys trying to make a living playing golf. We all have our heroes of the game, whether that was Faldo and Azinger when this book was written, or McIlroy and Scheffler now. Their tales of golfing prowess and course exploits are superhuman. However the struggles to stay on the "big boy" tour, the pressures of Q-School, and stresses of maintaining a tour card are really where this book shines.

Highly recommended for even the most casual fan of the game.

[Brian The Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable journey through the men's professional golf tour in 1994 that focuses on about a dozen pros from various levels of the game. Feinstein chronicles the ups and downs and downs and ups that seem to follow each player, and in a compelling manner that keeps your interest. However, if you're not a fan of golf, it may seem less interesting. And while Feinstein is a superb storyteller, at a certain point the stories (especially the off-the-course matters related to family) start to have a sameness about them.

[Jamie Horan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another top class effort from one of the best sports writers in the world. Feinstein walks you through a year on the tour combining behind the scenes anecdotes with the moments we know and remember fondly.

We grow to know and love all of the characters featured from the Q-school failures to the multiple Major winners. The best bits are undoubtably the skilled retelling of the majors which keep you on the edge of your seat.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Feinstein passing away in March, the world lost a truly great sports writer. Feinstein is a master of conveying emotion, and this book is an excellent example. Golf can be an extremely emotional game, and Feinstein helped describe all of those emotions in this book. Feinstein walks for a year with some of the best on the PGA Tour, as well as with some who are struggling just to continue playing, and he makes all of their stories equally thrilling and compelling. This is a fantastic book.

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golf book. I’m reading it. Feinstein I’m reading it. He’s great on golf channel at majors and books by John about basketball, football, NCAA ball, all excellent. He explains the sport well, the perspectives of players and coaches and ancillary participants without making you feel like an idiot if you’re not a big time fan. Great read, and correct too, golf is for sure a good walk spoiled.

[a.t.m. · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book, insider golf stories

I highly recommend this beautiful book to anyone remotely interested in the life of golf professionals. This book was superbly written and meticulously researched by the author. His in-depth knowledge about every golfer mentioned is simply captivating and I couldn’t put the book down. I can’t say enough about it, it’s that good.

[Tom Sparrenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique look into what its truly like to be a player on the PGA Tour. The struggles of the well known and lesser known players are depicted in great detail within the book. While the era focused on (early 90's) is 30+ years old, reading about some of the old players/tournaments will bring back good memories. For those struggling on the PGA Tour, it's a real struggle.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book and insight into how professional golfers can be trying to simultaneously make it on the PGA tour while also trying to keep their spots on the tour and ultimately remain as a pro golfer.

Feinstein really made you feel connected to the golfers and details all of their passion for golf so exquisitely.

[Morgan B · Rating 2 out of 5]

~2.5. A time capsule of the PGA tour (coincidentally) the year before Tiger Woods hit the scene, the book is great when it focuses on the sport’s history and oddities and absolutely miserable when the author provides shot by shot breakdowns of half the players in the field at tournament (which unfortunately is 80% of the book).

[Tucker Burks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really intriguing book to read all these years later - being aware of a lot of the names helped, and I think was a large part of why I enjoyed the book so much. I know a lot of the names as “legends of the past”, but Feinstein does such a great job of illuminating their year on tour and some of the inner workings of their struggle to succeed. Really fun read!

[Sunil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting part was understanding the life of the grinders who participate in pre-qualification tournaments. The coverage of the majors and actual tournaments was bland in parts. I expected this to be funny but it wasn't for the most part. An ok book.

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read if you are a golfer or just know golf from watching TV. follows the lives of 6 or 7 successful and struggling golfers on the PGA Tour. Explains some of the workings of the tour and the struggles some very good golfers have to stay on the big league
I enjoyed it immensely
John