The Cookie Jar Library

It’s hard to find a seminal book on the ancient game, written in the modern era, but Mark Broadie’s book, ‘Every Shot Counts’, is exactly that. As we moved into the ‘shotlink’ era from 2004, it shows the true power of data in the modern game and how it provides clearer insight and better management of the game for tour professionals, but also the amateur golfer. The concept of strokes gained is known to most golfers, but what it truly means is not always clear. Our guest of the pod, Lou Stagner put it best, when he said that it’s like asking someone how far they live from work. People usually answer with time taken, as opposed to kilometres or miles, and therefore if they take a 15 minute drive and it actually takes 20, there is a negative impact. That same thought process can be used with strokes [...]

I’ll start this review with a few caveats – firstly this is not a golf book. It is a series of quarterly golfing publications that arrive every season. Secondly, it’s certainly not a magazine. That would be a complete insult to the work Golfers Journal do and the quality of the journals themselves, or perhaps an undeserved compliment for the glossy magazines that are littered with adverts for swing training aids, discounted green fee’s at overpriced corporate golfing locations and articles written by people who think The Belfry is the finest example of inland golf in the UK. Finally, I must confess I did not initially purchase The Golfers Journal for the quality of their articles (although I had heard they were fantastic). I purchased the back catalogue and took a year’s subscription with them for the artwork (how shallow of me…I know!). They not only look absolutely stunning [...]

I first came across this book by chance on Twitter, and quite quickly pulled the trigger on Amazon, and it’s become a firm favourite on the bookshelf. Tony’s Twitter profile states he is an Englishman in the US, and this book is a great account of golf across both sides of the Atlantic. Tony also writes for the links magazine as well as Golf World, making the book a very easy read, broken into small bitesize chapters. This is a beautiful narration of the holes and courses that have shaped the game of golf throughout time, from where it all began at places, St Andrews Prestwick and Rathbo Farm (google it), through the golden age designs, products of post war architecture such as Torrey Pines and The Belfry, and into the new age designs like Bandon Dunes. This is superbly researched, and walks the fine line, balancing between course [...]

Dr Gio Valiante burst onto the scene after writing his masters thesis on psychology in golf that spread around the professional circuit like wildfire. After reading his thesis players were applying his principles and winning - a lot! After the success of his thesis, Gio sat down to create Fearless Golf, a book that documents the motivations of people who play golf. After reading the different characterisations of player I quickly established what camp I as in, and it was truly an eye opener into the world of my own golf psychology. Dr Gio goes through the classic characteristics of the winners in golf and mechanisms for coping with your own psychological motivations. He chronicles stories from past champions and how they approached the game from differing points of view, from training to winning on the big stage. The mechanisms taught here will certainly be of use to nearly [...]

Sequel to his much celebrated book ‘A Course Called Ireland’, Coyne takes another adventure to the shores of the British Isles with this epic journey in search of the greatest links in Scotland, the essence of Golf, and qualification to The Open among much else. While this book sees Tom take a breather from walking between courses and electing to drive (to which no one can criticise him), the purpose of book is very different in a number of ways, with the trip culminating in a shot at qualification for The Open, requiring him to hone his skills back in Philly before heading over requiring a handicap of scratch to secure a tee time in Scotland several months later. The adventure begins with an ethereal friend (Robert) pitching to trip to Tom, and once planning and preparation is complete they begin on the south coast at courses like Royal [...]

The legend of Bobby Jones and his accomplishment in 1930; winning all four major tournaments of his generation in the same year is unquestionably one of the greatest achievements in sports history. This biographical book follows the life of Bobby Jones on the lead up to 1930 and culminates with his final win at Merion in September with the U.S. Amateur. Frost begins by spending time uncovering Jones’ background and introduction to golf at East Lake CC in Atlanta, his progress as a junior and moves into his trials and tribulations along the way, including his withdrawal from the 1921 Open at St Andrews where Bobby imploded on the short hole 11th in a greenside bunker. Of course, it was not all plain sailing for Bobby who had to educate himself on the challenges of links golf, adapt his playing style and refine his attitude towards the game to [...]

Bob Rotella is without a doubt the authority on all aspects of the mental golf game, gaining notoriety for his work with Professional players throughout the years and his writings which amateur golfers consume worldwide on their quest to achieving lower scores! The book itself is short, with regular chapters and follows a helpful sequence of tips and areas of the mental game to help the amateur player. It is easy to apply some of the processes and techniques he teaches his students into their weekend games thanks to the simplicity of the book. This makes the book relevant, and easy to read without needing to shut yourself in a dark room and study for hours on end, in turn making it very accessible for golfers of all standards. Despite playing amateur golf, Rotella is a student of the psychology of sports first and foremost and uses contrasts with [...]