Golf for Dummies by Gary McCord
the Book
Don’t know the difference between a lob wedge and a lemon wedge? Check out Golf for Dummies, by Gary McCord – a most colorful and knowledgeable character.
CBS commentator presents a wonderful, often hilarious, never boring introduction to the game.
Don’t let the foreword by Kevin Costner or the afterword by Hootie and the Blowfish confuse the issue.
This is a terrifically sound, easy-to-follow primer.
McCord’s potato-chip drill – yes, potato-chip drill–will revolutionize your swing. It will also improve your thinking. And bring overtones that could spill right into off-the-course existence, as well.
the Author
Gary Dennis McCord (05/23/1948) is an American professional golfer, commentator, author, and actor.
McCord was born in San Gabriel, California and raised in southern California.
He was a two-time Division II All-American at UC Riverside. He won the NCAA Division II individual championship in 1970. McCord turned professional in 1971.
McCord’s best two finishes on the PGA Tour were at the Greater Milwaukee Open. He placed second in both 1975 and 1977.
During his years on the PGA Tour, he had almost two dozen top-10 finishes.
He credits Brad Britton for showing him the secrets of the golfing swing and, in particular, the mental game.
At age 37 in 1986, McCord joined CBS Sports as a golf analyst, a capacity in which he still serves.
He is recognized for his outspokenness. That has caused some minor trouble in his TV career. At the same time, it seems to be his connection with the public.
Aside from his CBS commentary duties, McCord also plays on the Champions Tour.
McCord has also written two books, Just a Range Ball in a Box of Titleists and Golf for Dummies.
In 1996, he appeared as himself in the Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup.
He and Peter Kostis are partners in the Kostis/McCord Learning Center in Scottsdale, Arizona.
He is also a co-announcer on the EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA Tour series along with David Feherty.
Review
I received my first golf clubs as a gift from my dearest friend Alexey. He patiently tried to make me learn how to play golf.
In order not to disappoint him, I tried to improve my swing. This book was a big factor, contributing with detailed description and photos on how to swing.
The style of the author makes this book an easy reading. His humor is appropriate under the circumstances.
He first suggests which golf clubs are appropriate for you and what else you need to play this game.
He mentions the importance of being in shape, where to play, how to swing and improve your move. He also talks about other secrets that will ease you way through learning and playing.
This is an outstanding result as an to introduce the most important topics for beginners in this game.
The book was published Dummies in March 2011.
I recommend this book for adults, teenagers, and kids that are serious about learning and improving in golf. Its is also a curious way to face new facts, stories, and history of this fantastic game.
Amazon was kind enough to provide this work for an uncompromised book review through their Vine Program.
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Our personal rating
Summary
Master tips for developing your play skills in golfing!
Get on track
Choose your armament
Get into the motion
Conquest the field
Boost you mind
User Review
( votes)
We appreciate your opinion, please, leave a comment!
[cta id=’1972′]
Hi Caito,
Being a golf enthusiast for well over two decades, I am quite familiar with the author of the book you are promoting in this review Gary McCord.
Indeed he is an interesting character, part of the CBS broadcasting team. Unfortuantely based on something he said years ago regarding the greens at Augusta National the guys who run the Masters have never forgiven McCord for his joking remarks about their esteemed course. McCord has not been part of the CBS broadcast of one of the 4 top yearly tournaments for decades – which I think is a shame.Before he left, David Feherty, (going to a rival network earlier this year) and McCord together on CBS greatly enlived their broadcasts, making them better than any other network coverage, (NBC, Fox) that routinely covers the sport of golf.
McCord is also a very knowledgable individual regarding golf. One can easily hear this if they were to listen to McCord’s analysis during televised CBS tournaments.
Along with his humor and deep knowledge of the game without doubt this book would offer a great deal of educational knowledge to the individual attempting how to play the game – and most importantly how to develop a consistent swing regarding golf.
The book is probably better than some of the dry, boring over-analytical material put out by other authors -and seen in the golf magazine to which I have long subscribed to.
Jeff
Hello, Jeff,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It really is a great asset to us. I look forward to seeing you around.
Cheers!
Thanks Caito for your honest review of Golf For Dummies by Gary McCord. I could definitely see myself picking this up for a read as I both watch and play golf and am familiar with McCord. I do appreciate the guy’s quirkiness, humour and also how knowledgeable he is about the game. I will check out your links. Thanks again.
Hello, Paul,
Thank you so much for sharing you experience about the matter.
Cheers!
Hi Caito,
Thank you for the review. In fact, I have never played golf before. Therefore, I qualify to be a dummy. It’s not that Golf does not interest me, but somehow I have always thought it is a sport for the wealthy. I feel that the gear is expensive and playing costs tons of money, etc. That has prevented me from doing the first step. So what do you recommend to me (and others who are sitting on the fence)?
Thankfully,
Egon
Hello, Egon,
If your are curious about the sport of golf and don’t want to start by investing before you find out (I’d act the same way, by the way), try finding a golf club where they give out experimenting (free) classes. If you can’t find one of those, I guess your best bet is finding a teacher (or caddie) that would do it, or at least let you pay for one, or 2, classes with a borrowed golf club before you decided to go on. Good luck!
Thanks for sharing your impressions. Cheers!