Rating: 
Summary: desperation on the tour
Review: shipnuck has captured a sense of desperation, grit, and 'let's go for it' that is missing from much of the media regarding golf. it's a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Walk on the Wild Side
Review: Shipnuck knows golf....but seems as though he wants to take an edgier tone in this book. While golf aficianados will appreciate the insight to daily golf professionals who struggle to stay inside the Top 125, and thus on the tour, much of this book is devoted to who is going to try to sleep with whom. This, for those of us that want to read a book about golf, can be dismissed. Otherwise, it's a fine read about an atypical young golfer on Tour. Jealousy may creep in as Shipnuck describes the finances (incentives, rewards just for doing well while wearing a certain hat!), but the book shouldn't leave you quitting your job to run onto the tour.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick and enjoyable read.
Review: Some reviewers get awfully critical--if you're looking for the Great American Golf Book, this isn't it--but it is an entertaining little story that, if you love golf and follow the PGA tour, you'll enjoy. There are no startling revelations here, but it does give you a glimpse of what it's like on tour. I recommend it when you want a quick and easy golf story.
Rating:
Summary: Two idiots on tour
Review: The book is very well detailed when it come to talking about tournament golf and settiing up the hole to give you a clear understanding. But when it comes the behind the ropes stuff, it wasnt that great. Good but not great. All they really tell you is about the personal problems with women and getting drunk. If your a serious golfer. This book will make you shake your head on how these two are blowing it all away.
Rating:
Summary: Too much non-golf gossip
Review: The book was actually better than I expected. I must admit that I am not a big fan of the author's column in SI. However, I am a golf junkie and, consequently, had to buy the book. The book follows a rookie pro, his caddie, their girlfriends, groupies and posse members through a year on tour. The author does a great job of bringing out just how screwed-up a pro or caddie can be on tour and still be successful. My only complaint is that too much of the book is focused on the groupies, ex-wives and posse members. I just do not care at all about these people. It would have been great to see more gossipy stuff about other golf pros instead...
Rating:
Summary: Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour
Review: The greatest book I have ever read, hands down! I couldn't put it down, and it is easy reading as well. Alan Shipnuck captured everything I've always wanted to hear aboout the tour. All golfers that like to partake in a little extracuricular activities after a round of golf will appreciate this. I hope this opens the door for more books of the like to follow.
Rating: 
Summary: Bud, Sweat and Tease
Review: The subtitle of this book, "A Walk On the Wild Side of the PGA Tour", may encourage you to buy this book. Unfortunately, it is more titillation than information. Basically, this is a book about two guys, Tour rookie Rich Beem and Tour caddie Steve Duplantis, that asks the question "Will they ever grow up?" Duplantis was fired by Jim Furyk for being chronically late. Beem won an upset victory in the 1998 Kemper Open. The book deals with how each dealt with those events, mostly by drinking beer and failing with their romantic relationships. I don't whether the publisher, Simon and Schuster, eliminated all the editors from their staff or whether they merely tried to make the author look bad but there are so many errors that one or the other has to be the case. In referring to Western Avenue golf course in Los Angeles, the suburb is called "Gardenia", not Gardena. The exclusive golf club in Fort Worth is called "Preston Trails" several times, not its correct name, Preston Trail. John Belushi's character is "Animal House" is called "Blutkowsky" not Blutarsky. Most beginning writers know that the parts comprise the whole, not this: "The Sun Section of the PGA comprises El Paso and the whole of New Mexico," when it should be El Paso and New Mexico comprise the Sun Section of the PGA. This would have been a better book had it been written by Danielle Steele so much of it is spent describing the heartbreaks of Beem and Duplantis.
Rating:
Summary: Odysseus Light
Review: There is an ancient story of a man and his journey, this is the modern equivalent. In this book you get the story of Rich Beem [before he won a major] and his caddy Steve Duplantis. This has to be the most entertaining story I???ve seen in a long time, and it???s all true. We see the Rich Beem, former cell phone salesman and well-traveled golfer, shoot for his dream. In his quest he finds a companion in the form of Steve Duplantis, a love torn caddy that has problems in his personal life.This is a great book first and foremost because it is superbly written. Alan Shipnuck has a relaxed and well-organized structure to his writing. Shipnuck, who writes for Sports Illustrated, took a gamble on writing this book, at the time Rich Beem hadn???t won a major, and stories of colorful, yet still second rate professional golfers don???t float amongst the bestseller lists all that often. At a PG-13 level we see Rich and Steve live their lives in tour, under the microscope, and learn about events that neither would be proud of. There???s an intimacy here you don???t normally get in biographies. Rich wins a PGA tour event in his rookie year on the tour, Steve Duplantis has a good job with Rich, but do they hold it together for an entire season? The book will leave you interested in finding out more about Beem and Co. Maybe a sequel Mr. Shipnuck? It???s a need to read for those interested in golf, and it???s an quick and entertaining story for those who really don???t care about golf.
Rating:
Summary: Odysseus Light
Review: There is an ancient story of a man and his journey, this is the modern equivalent. In this book you get the story of Rich Beem [before he won a major] and his caddy Steve Duplantis. This has to be the most entertaining story I've seen in a long time, and it's all true. We see the Rich Beem, former cell phone salesman and well-traveled golfer, shoot for his dream. In his quest he finds a companion in the form of Steve Duplantis, a love torn caddy that has problems in his personal life. This is a great book first and foremost because it is superbly written. Alan Shipnuck has a relaxed and well-organized structure to his writing. Shipnuck, who writes for Sports Illustrated, took a gamble on writing this book, at the time Rich Beem hadn't won a major, and stories of colorful, yet still second rate professional golfers don't float amongst the bestseller lists all that often. At a PG-13 level we see Rich and Steve live their lives in tour, under the microscope, and learn about events that neither would be proud of. There's an intimacy here you don't normally get in biographies. Rich wins a PGA tour event in his rookie year on the tour, Steve Duplantis has a good job with Rich, but do they hold it together for an entire season? The book will leave you interested in finding out more about Beem and Co. Maybe a sequel Mr. Shipnuck? It's a need to read for those interested in golf, and it's an quick and entertaining story for those who really don't care about golf.
Rating: 
Summary: "Writer trying to cash in!"
Review: This book is a terrible example of someone thinking what they have written is interesting! What a waist of my money!
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