The Grand Slam - Bobby Jones- America- and the Story of Golf Description:

The Grand Slam : Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf review:
5 stars (Fate, Persistance & A Slam) - Frost has done it again, a marvelous read of golf's rich history and lore. This follows his excellent work on Ouimet and the start of America's love with this game and its champions.



Frost is good at weaving the story here of Jones and the only Grand Slam to date with the surrounding cultural news. This provides necessary backdrop to the golf.



The persistance of this individual who many a time could have and felt like chucking it in, but kept on, learning and growing not by wins so much, but by the losses. Fate had its share in all this as well, as Jones and associates knew. The incidents on and off the links where it almost seemed as the script had already been written, as Pop Keeler sensed from the outset.



There are many good stories here, written with gusto and passion and solid wordscultping. Wonderful photos grace each new chapter.



Many developments leading up to the Slam never realized were revealed here: Mail Freeburg saving them from burning train bridge; skip shot across the lake; etc.



This is must reading for avid golfer, for the paths cross likes of Nicklaus, Palmer, Eisenhower, Hagan, Sarazen, etc. His legendary amateur status, then retirement, accomplishments in studies and law, and friendships abound.



Long but will hold one's attention and get one through, so that re-reads can and do happen.




4 stars (Excellent and Entertaining) - Mark Frost again shows he has his finger on the pulse of American sports history with his marvelous biography of Bobby Jones. This is the first Jones bio I have encountered that looks beyond the championships and The Slam to look at what Bobby went through to acheive such feats. It was especially interesting to see that the Grand Slam was not a series of dominating peformances, and that on at least one occasion (to paraphrase the Duke of Wellington) it was a damn close run thing.



While it is roundly recognized that Jones heyday was occured in the Golden Age of American sports, it does seem on occasion that Mr. Frost is overreaching when he starts to go off the track of Bobby Jones' career and heads off to look at the country (as noted in other reviews). I would think that the fact that he received TWO (!) ticker tape parades in NYC is testimony enough to his impact and personality.
5 stars (The Best Jones Writing Yet...) - As an avid reader and historian of Bobby Jones, I can safely say that this is the best writing on Jones since O.B. himself. With Mark Frost's suspenseful story-telling and prose as graceful as Bobby's golf swing, the reader feels that he or she is walking the fairways with the great champion. It also provides wonderful insight into Jones' relationship with O.B. Keeler. Impressive in its detail, movement and knowledge of golf history, this should be in every golfer's library.