The Grand Slam

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing effort
Review: I had very high hopes for this book, but was disappointed by a rather flat, mundane effort. There is nothing new here, and even Frost's idol-worship of Bobby Jones fails to make up for the gap in reporting. Having read many books on Jones (including several of his own), I was hopeful that perhaps Frost would turn up something new, an anecdote, or even some insight. I was disappointed.

Even the writing, which Frost demonstrated with such flair in The Greatest Game Ever Played, seems to sag at key moments in the second half of the book.

Avoid this one.



Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Biography and Social History
Review: I just finished reading Mr. Frost's exceptional new work, The Grand Slam. Not only does the author provide you with tremondous insight into Jones' character and personality (something he does, by the way, without engaging in the incessant psychobable that characterizes so many other modern biographies), he tells a great story. And even though you already know the outcome of the major tournaments in which Jones competed, Mr. Frost creates such suspense that you find yourself sliding forward on the edge of your chair as the players approach the 18th green of the final round. Also, Frost does an exceptional job of placing the evolution of Jones' career in the context of American and European history. His vignettes on World War I, the Jazz Age, Harding and Hoover, and the Great Depression add a great deal to his narrative. And his potrayals of Walter Hagen, the first prima dona on the American golf scene, are a joy to read. Even if you are not a golf fan, you will like this book. If you enjoy the sport, then you will love it. Well done, Mr. Frost.

Rating:
Summary: Another Gem
Review: The perfect follow-up to The Greatest Game Ever Played, Mark Frost's latest book once again demonstrates his ability to infuse dramatic narrative with meticulous research to produce an entertaining and engaging study of golf's greatest legend. The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf is the most insightful view of Jones to date and a portrait not just of the man, but of his era and the spirit of the times that produced him. This is the first account of Jones, a figure who transcended his sport, that enables us to experience and understand the human being behind the legend. A must read for lovers both of golf and of American history.

Rating:
Summary: The Tiger Woods of another Era
Review: The Tiger Woods of his day, Bobby Jones was likewise a child star, making hi snational debut at fourteen as the youngest player ever to qualify for and play in a U.S. Amateur Championship. The story of Bobby Jones is almost the story of golf in the United States. He won an outstanding 63% of the national championships that he entered. His career culminated in 1930, when he became the only player to ever win all four majors - the U.S. and British Open's and Amateur championships - in the same year. Then at the very top of his form he retired from competition.

Although he didn't miss the pressure and strain of championship golf after his retirement, Jones' love for the game never dimished. In addition to filming a series of educational golf "shorts", he designed the first set of matched golf clubs, and designed the Agusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters.

This exhaustivly researched book will be interesting to anyone interested in that time in our country. It will be absolutely fascinating to anyone interested in golf.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: This book exceeded all expectations. Knowing the story of Bobby Jones I expected this book to be boring. I have never been so glad to be wrong. The author tells the compelling story of how golf evolved and became popular in America. Mr. Jones's story is wonderfully told with vivid details. He is an inspirational figure. This is a must read for anyone who has every picked up a golf club and dared to dream!!!

Rating:
Summary: A history of American golf through an individual perspective
Review: With the publication of THE GRAND SLAM: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf, author Mark Frost has firmly established his credentials as a golf historian of great acumen and a writer of outstanding ability. In 2002, Frost detailed the beginning of modern golf in America in a critically acclaimed book, THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, the saga of then unknown American amateur Francis Ouimet and his victory over the golfing giants of Great Britain in the 1913 U.S. Open. That historical epic was a national bestseller, won the Book of the Year Award from the United States Golf Association, and was selected by Travel and Leisure magazine as one of the top 25 golf books ever. THE GRAND SLAM is a seamless extension of the Ouimet saga into the next significant era of sports history with an exhaustive portrait of golf immortal Bobby Jones, his domination of the game of golf in the Roaring Twenties, and the interaction of golf and American life in that era.

Ouimet defeated golfing giants Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in his Open upset. After the tournament was completed, Vardon and Ray began a tour of the United States before returning to their homeland. One of their stops took them to the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Eleven-year-old Bobby Jones was a spectator at that match. Several weeks later, young Jones accomplished his first milestone in his golfing career when he posted a score of 80. Three years later, at the age of fourteen, Jones became the youngest player ever to qualify for and play in a U.S. Amateur Championship. For the next seven years he struggled to overcome self-imposed feelings of inferiority and a violent temper before finally winning his first U.S. Open Championship in 1923. Until his retirement in 1930, Jones dominated the game of golf, winning thirteen of golf's major championships of that era: the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the Amateur Championships.

In 1930, Jones accomplished the grand slam of golf, winning the four Open and Amateur championships held that year. The feat has never been matched. Frost's saga of those four tournaments is the culmination of THE GRAND SLAM, covering the final one-third of the narrative. Long before the account of the 1930 championships, Frost paints an elaborate portrait of Jones, golf, and the history of post World War One America and Europe.

Viewing the life of Bobby Jones through the lens of the contemporary sporting world dominated by money, money and more money, it is difficult to imagine the truly amateur career accomplishments of Jones. In addition to dominating the game of golf, Jones found time to graduate from Georgia Tech, undertake graduate studies at Harvard University and attend law school, passing the Georgia Bar Exam after only three semesters, an extremely difficult feat. During Jones's lifetime, the rules regarding amateur golf were exacting. Unlike modern amateur athletes, Jones could not train year round. He had to maintain full-time employment in order to support his wife and children. Under those circumstances, Jones's golf accomplishments are even more remarkable to contemplate.

If THE GRAND SLAM was merely the story of Bobby Jones, it would be a worthy book. But it is far more. In addition to the life of Jones, we learn of avid presidential golfers Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding. While in the White House, the widower Wilson remarried. The President and his new wife honeymooned at a golf course. Jones's life is also set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, and the literary era represented by authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. In addition to Jones, sports heroes including Red Grange, Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey dominated the '20s. All of these legends contributed to a golden age of sports skillfully chronicled by Mark Frost.

The 1920s also saw the rise of professional golfers, including the legendary Walter Hagen, whose career intertwined and benefited from the attention paid to Jones. Beyond their confrontations in multiple U.S. and British Opens, Hagen and Jones had occasional highly publicized and well-attended exhibition battles. The two men were polar opposites in their approach to golf and life. Hagen was flamboyant and self-assured, while Jones was nervous and often wracked with self-doubt. In addition, Jones spent a substantial portion of his career battling a temper that he found difficult to control. Only as he matured both physically and emotionally did he reach his true potential.

The career of Bobby Jones and the 1930 grand slam year has been the subject of many books. THE GRAND SLAM goes far beyond the narrative of the golfing life of Bobby Jones. Mark Frost's two books effectively serve as volumes one and two of what could be a magnificent history of American golf. Avid golf historians can only await the next installment in the saga from a splendid golf writer.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman