A Wee Nip at the 19th Hole

Rating:
Summary: A Wee Nip, like golf, is greater than the sum of its parts.
Review:

From the editor Marcia Julius:

Here in St Andrews, Richard and I have received e-mail, letters and phone calls from people throughout the US and Britain telling us how much they've enjoyed A Wee Nip at the 19th Hole. "It's appealing to customers from all walks of life and in all professions," a local bookstore manager told me last week, "probably because it has a nice mix of history and anecdote." But there's more to it than that. I remember watching a professional tour caddie pace the Old Course weeks before the 1995 Open, jotting down yardage and salient features in a small notebook. This was something we never saw on TV, but it was essential to his golfer's performance. It is just such unsung professionalism that this book celebrates.

Playing a round on the Old Course is a holistic experience, in which the golfer walks down the fairways not just with clubs and caddie, but with the entire history, tradition and psychology of the game. And just like golf itself, Richard Mackenzie's A Wee Nip at the 19th Hole--with its rich blend of factual history, folklore and human interest--is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Rating:
Summary: boring, unfocused, poorly written
Review: don't expect much entertainment or insight from this book. how much lore of dead caddies from the 19th century can you stand?

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing and difficult read!
Review: I found this book to be a disappointingly sparse and sometimes unintelligible history of St. Andrews and its caddies. The author unfortunately presumes that the reader is intimately familiar with both the golf course layout and the native language of it's caddies. Consequently there are no helpful maps or diagrams included and frequent referral to the glossary is an awkward but necessary expedient to reach a degree of understanding. Sadly under this burden the folksy stories lost their charm. To maximize your pleasure, I recommend that you keep a " wee nip" at your side during the reading of this very short work.

Rating:
Summary: NOT WHAT I EXPECTED- MORE LIKE A HAPHAZARD GOLF SCRAPBOOK.
Review: I WAS ANTICIPATING A FORMAT THAT IS MORE "SHORT STORYISH" AND ANECDOTE FILLED THAN WHAT MACKENZIE GIVES US. THIS IS NOTHING MORE THAN A GLORIFIED SCRAPBOOK THAT HE PUTS TOGETHER WITH VERY LITTLE PASSION. THE BOOK NEVER COMES TO LIFE. A DISAPPOINTMENT.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book contains everthing form boring truth to hilarious comedy. There is more of the later making this a documentary book that you can't pass up.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing and difficult read!
Review: This is a thoroughly enjoyable book about the caddies ofSt. Andrews Royal & Ancient Golf Club. The pictures and storiesbring back memories of my visits to St. Andrews and playing the course with a caddie, of course. Thank you my dear friend Richard for pursuing your dream & putting this book in print. Well done! Until we meet again - Lang may your lum reek.

Rating:
Summary: A DELIGHTFUL BOOK ABOUT THE CAWDIES OF ST ANDREWS
Review: This is a thoroughly enjoyable book about the caddies ofSt. Andrews Royal & Ancient Golf Club. The pictures and storiesbring back memories of my visits to St. Andrews and playing the course with a caddie, of course. Thank you my dear friend Richard for pursuing your dream & putting this book in print. Well done! Until we meet again - Lang may your lum reek.