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Rating: 
Summary: The Masters: The real story
Review: Author Curt Sampson captures the birth and life of one of the most famous sporting events in the world, The Masters golf tournament. Played annually in Augusta, Georgia, this prestigious golf tournament has become the new face of golf. Mr. Sampson shows us how this once unknown place, turned into a sanctuary for some of the greatest golfers of all time. He gets deep into how it was started by a group of New York business men, only 68 years after the Civil War. He shows us how although, one of the most famed golf course in the world has always been dampered by the reputation for being a racist society. He explains how that when Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997, Augusta and the Masters had come full swing from what it once was. This book goes well into detail about things the common person would have never known or been able to find out. Although, occasionally drags on about the birth of this event. this book has solid content and gives information that you would have never known otherwise. I recommend this book to any golf enthusist.
Rating:
Summary: The Masters: The real story
Review: Author Curt Sampson captures the birth and life of one of the most famous sporting events in the world, The Masters golf tournament. Played annually in Augusta, Georgia, this prestigious golf tournament has become the new face of golf. Mr. Sampson shows us how this once unknown place, turned into a sanctuary for some of the greatest golfers of all time. He gets deep into how it was started by a group of New York business men, only 68 years after the Civil War. He shows us how although, one of the most famed golf course in the world has always been dampered by the reputation for being a racist society. He explains how that when Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997, Augusta and the Masters had come full swing from what it once was. This book goes well into detail about things the common person would have never known or been able to find out. Although, occasionally drags on about the birth of this event. this book has solid content and gives information that you would have never known otherwise. I recommend this book to any golf enthusist.
Rating: 
Summary: Easily the best book ever on The Masters
Review: For years I have read nothing but positive things about Augusta National and The Masters. Like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Augusta rules with an iron fist. While the author often jumps to some conclusions that may be out of line - it is important to read discriminately - the book is nevertheless a valuable look at the underbelly of The Masters, and it is a refreshing break from the toe-the-line approach that Clifford Roberts et al have made journalists take since the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: HAVING READ MR SAMPSON'S EARLIER ACCOUNT OF BEN HOGAN'S LIFE AND TIMES,AND LOVING EVERY PAGE OF IT, YOU CAN IMAGINE MY EXCITEMENT WHEN I GOT HOLD OF HIS LATEST BOOK "THE MASTERS...".THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS TAKES THE READER ON A BRIEF HISTORY TRIP TO THE "FRUITLANDS NURSERY" AND INTODUCES BOBBY JONES (A THOUGHLY NICE MAN BY ALL ACCOUNTS) AND CLIFF (SON OF SATAN) ROBERTS. THE MIDDLE CHAPTERS EXPAND ON THE EARLY ONES, i.e. "BOBBY GOOD" "CLIFFY BAD".AND EVENTUALLY THE BOOK ENDS WITH BOB AND CLIFF HAVING A FALL OUT, BOB DYING AND EVERY ONE BEING UPSET, WHILST CLIFF SHOOTS HIMSELF AND MANY PEOPLE (MR SAMPSON INCLUDED) PROBABLY BELIEVING IT WAS A WASTE OF A GOOD BULLET. CURT, I ASK YOU, DID CLIFF ROBERTS WRONG YOU IN A FORMER LIFE?
Rating:
Summary: fascinating, entertaining look at golf's greatest tournament
Review: I don't think there's a better golf writer, or for that matter sports writer, in today's book world than Mr. Sampson. He can turn a phrase as well as John Updike, and he's the kind of writer who could write about paint drying and make it fascinating. His profiles of the men involved in making the Masters what it is today--weirdo Cliff Roberts, tragic golf great Bobby Jones, and even Dwight Eisenhower--are great. There's a good balance of behind-the-scenes power broking and great golf throughout the years. But what makes this book even better, what raises it to a higher level, is its examination of the relationship of the town of Augusta to the elitist Augusta National Club. It's fascinating to read about what the townspeople think of the club, and how some of them--like singer James Brown, and boxer Beau Jack--have interacted and been affected by the racist Club. There's a tremendous amount of texture in Sampson's descriptions, enough to justify the comparisons to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.Sampson also, by the way, wrote another classic golf book entitled The Eternal Summer: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960, Golf's Golden Year. It's out of print but one of the most enjoyable golf books I've ever read. Someone should also reprint Sampson's insightful book on pro basketball, Full Court Pressure (a lousy title for the best book on the NBA since The Breaks of the Game). It came and went a few years ago and deserves to be more widely read.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative Insights into The Club and Tournamet
Review: If Sampson's probe is anywhere near the truth, it surely smudges the high place we give to Augusta and The Masters. Certainly, it still revolves around Jones, and it always has. The legend of this amateur and supposed gentleman is tarnished by his association with Roberts and his seizure of power and control of what has become golfing legend. Without the champion's name and backing and tournament, The Masters and Augusta would be just another club and tour stop. But from the outset it was Bobby who kept it together. Then the illness and pulling away, and the inroads of Cliff and the rest is history, here well documented by one of the great golf writers. Sampson again weaves his literary magic with different piercing vignettes of the personalities and events which have led to Augusta lore and legend. Story upon story from various facets permeate this fluid read--from club caddie to townfolk to neglected member and player -- one is given much to contemplate. The tales are superb, sampling but a few: the caddie deliberately overclubbing Robert's opponent on a Par 3 course contest; Dave Marr's respone to Arnie that even his divot cleared Rae's Creek on 15; the asst. pro's wife being offered big money for the rope marker that only quandred off souvenir sales. Augusta appears to be the premier "ole boys" club. If you want scoop about it's past and insights possibly into its present, this read will begin that path.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative Insights into The Club and Tournamet
Review: If Sampson's probe is anywhere near the truth, it surely smudges the high place we give to Augusta and The Masters. Certainly, it still revolves around Jones, and it always has. The legend of this amateur and supposed gentleman is tarnished by his association with Roberts and his seizure of power and control of what has become golfing legend. Without the champion's name and backing and tournament, The Masters and Augusta would be just another club and tour stop. But from the outset it was Bobby who kept it together. Then the illness and pulling away, and the inroads of Cliff and the rest is history, here well documented by one of the great golf writers. Sampson again weaves his literary magic with different piercing vignettes of the personalities and events which have led to Augusta lore and legend. Story upon story from various facets permeate this fluid read--from club caddie to townfolk to neglected member and player -- one is given much to contemplate. The tales are superb, sampling but a few: the caddie deliberately overclubbing Robert's opponent on a Par 3 course contest; Dave Marr's respone to Arnie that even his divot cleared Rae's Creek on 15; the asst. pro's wife being offered big money for the rope marker that only quandred off souvenir sales. Augusta appears to be the premier "ole boys" club. If you want scoop about it's past and insights possibly into its present, this read will begin that path.
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