Books! Proctor's Monarch Of The Green, Pettit's MacKenzie Reader, McStravick's Road War Papers
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It’s that time of year when chances are pretty good you got a golf trinket you didn’t want and still await that amazing golf book you mumbled out loud about. Well, I don’t like your chances so might as well treat yourself.
I’ve only read one of the three but have good reason to believe the other two, while pricey, will be real keepers.
My favorite read of a summer we were deprived of links golf comes from American Stephen Proctor who meticulously researched Monarch of the Green: Young Tom Morris, Pioneer of the Game.
A former senior editor at the Baltimore Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle, Proctor took on the difficult task of telling Young Tom Morris’ story and delivered a highly readable, immensely satisfying work of non-fiction despite the—spoiler here—dark ending. I note the non-fiction component given the previously published and also superb, Tommy’s Honour, Kevin Cook’s researched and fictionalized account of the Morris’. While the liberties were small, any created dialogue can be a killer for some (it was not for me, a credit to Cook’s respect for the subject matter).
While telling the story of Young Tom, Proctor also introduces to the origins of The Open, life in St Andrews and other areas without ever straying from telling the incredible life story. A must if you are going to Scotland or dreaming along those lines. Aren’t we all these days?
Another great Scot—when he wanted to be—is going to be chronicled in a much needed compilation of writings, photos, plans and other information. Josh Pettit’s MacKenzie Reader is at the printer and will provide an update to the prior MacKenzie coffee table book by Tom Doak. So much has been uncovered since that excellent work and I can’t wait to see what Pettit ultimately will surprise and delight us with (I’ve seen portions and also contributed a short piece on the Good Doctor’s less-than-rosy days spent in L.A.).
Reading about a nasty fight over a road does not exactly sound very golfy, but owning Roger McStravick’s other well-researched works and knowing his passion for St Andrews, I can’t wait to find out more about those early days that shaped the town and led to an absurd war.
Nick Rodger profiles McStravick and previews the book here in this Herald story.
It seems we’ll also learn more about how the Old Course came to be. My copy is on order and I can’t wait.
“Everybody had written that the first hole was created in the 1840s or so,” he said. “But I found the receipt from the 1830s which showed the carter was being paid to take the rubbish from St Andrews, dump it on what was the beach, level it off and that reclaimed land was how the first hole was created. The man who actually did this, John Carstairs, talks about the whole case. The first hole is effectively built on the rubbish.”
For McStravick, the Old Course and St Andrews as a whole is the gift that keeps on giving. “There are so many wonderful twists and turns in the history of St Andrews and that’s the beauty of the place,” he said.
