By: Len Ziehm
Even though Michigan has snow and cold during the winter months, golfers still want to immerse themselves in their favorite past time. One can only watch so much golf on television. How about snuggling up by the fireplace with a good golf book?
Here are a couple of good ones that I have read recently.
Up & Down: Victories and Struggles with the Course of Life
As part of my pre-tournament coverage at a PGA TOUR events, I liked to walk at least nine holes in the first two rounds with a player just to get a handle on the course.
There was no player I’d enjoyed following more than Bubba Watson. Sure, over most of those years he was one of the PGA Tour’s top players but that wasn’t why I’d spend time with him. I did it because he was fascinating to watch. His creative shot-making skills were obvious, whether he was playing good, or bad. He would try to bend shots right or left, over or around trees or hazards. That was his style.
There’s a lot more to Bubba Watson than the shot-making skills witnessed on the golf course. We get a better insight into the two-time Masters Champ in his book, “Up & Down: Victories and Struggles with the Course of Life,’’ written during the pandemic stoppage with the help of Don Jaeger.
In our frequent travels we passed through the small town of Bagdad, Florida, many times and found it unusual that a town of less than 4,000 near the Alabama line could spawn three PGA Tour players, Watson, Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley. Bubba still lives there and is active in the Pensacola community in a variety of ways, not the least of which, as a part-ownership of the local minor league baseball team, the Blue Wahoos..
A few things that I found interesting in the book. Bubba’s wife, Angie was a star basketball player, they have two adopted children, plus he struggles playing golf in front of crowds.
He candidly reveals these on and off the course issues, his growing religious faith, his battles with anxiety and his ongoing efforts to make himself a better person. In short, the book reveals what makes Bubba tick and I found it most interesting. I heartily recommend reading it.
Copies can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yVWsFi
Best Seat in the House
“Best Seat in the House’’ written by, the oldest son of the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus II, was also a collaboration with Don Yaeger.
The book is a son’s loving tribute to a father, who is both famous and exemplary. “Best Seat in the House’’ is much more, however. It’s a guide to good parenting and a portrait of how a functional family operates. Plus, it provides unusual insight into what makes an athlete great. 
Jack Nicklaus II frequently caddied for his famous father, most notably at the 1986 Masters, that Jack won at age of 46.
In my nearly 60 years reporting on a wide variety of sports, it was one of the most dramatic individual victories in sports history.
Like his father, Jack II is the father of five, president of the golf course design company that his father created, a member of the board of directors of Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which has generated millions of dollars for children’s healthcare. He is also the chairman of both the Muirfield Village Golf Club, in Columbus and the Memorial Tournament.
What’s it like being the son, and namesake, of Jack Nicklaus? Jack II has experienced it and explains in a most touching way.
I had a hard time putting the book down and apparently Jack did, too. In the forward, Nicklaus admitted,
“I did not realize what the impact some of our experiences together had meant to him. I will treasure these words forever.’’
Reflections on big tournament victories were almost incidental in comparison to the father-son interaction when Jack II was growing up and the period of growth for both after the days of PGA Tour glory were winding down.
You’ll find this book well worth reading.
Find it at: https://amzn.to/3yR6GGR
