Under the Lone Star Flagstick: A Collection of Writings on Texas Golf and Golfers

This collection of reprinted pieces, edited by a former newspaper sports scribe now freelancing, begins with a partly tongue-in-cheek essay on the greatness of Texas. There are seven entries on Ben Hogan and essays on the Holy Trinity--Harvey Penick, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. Other pieces follow on many less publicized linksters: Tommy Bolt; Byron Nelson, with his 11 consecutive wins in 1945; Jimmy Demaret; Lloyd Mangrum; and Fred Couples. Other standouts are articles by Skip Bayless on Lee Trevino; Franz Lidz on Robert Landers, a self-described ""throwaway person"" who began his rise to the top on the senior tour; and Jim Murray on Charlie Sifford, the first great black player in the U.S. There are also six entries on the ""girls,"" such as Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Kathy Whitworth, two of them written by Penick. The remaining grab bag of pieces covers Texas courses and the invention of the sand wedge and the golf cart, bringing the work to a strong finish. Most of the contributors are Texans; among the ""aliens"" are Murray, Grantland Rice and Peter Dobreiner, who acquit themselves almost as well as if they were natives. (Nov.)