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    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie
    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie
    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie
    Ebook199 pages2 hours

    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie

    By Harvey Penick and Bud Shrake

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    ANOTHER ROUND OF INSPIRATION AND INSTRUCTION

    When Harvey Penick signed copies of his now classic first book, Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, Bud Shrake, his coauthor, noticed that he often inscribed them with the line "To my fried and pupil." When Shrake asked him why, Penick replied "Well, if you read my book, you're my pupil, and if you play golf, you're my friend."

    Taking up where the Little Red Book left off, this is the second dose of Penick's singular brand of wit and wisdom, full of the simple and easy-to-understand lessons on golf that Penick is known and admired for. Like its predecessor, And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend is rich with Penick's great love of the game, a love that he delighted in sharing with golfers of all ages and levels of ability.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateNov 22, 2011
    ISBN9781439127674
    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie
    Author

    Harvey Penick

    Harvey Penick lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Helen. This is his first book.

    Read more from Harvey Penick

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    • 4/5
      If you love the little red book this is more of the same. Its like sitting on a porch on a summer evening and just listening to a well respected caddy's pearls of golf wisdom. A very easy read

    Book preview

    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend - Harvey Penick

    And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend: Furthur Reflections of a Grown Caddie, by Harvey Penick.

    Since the publication of Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, the world has almost literally beaten a path to Harvey Penick’s door. Hardly a day goes by without a stranger arriving at the Penick home, book in hand, hoping for more pearls of wisdom, an autograph, or just wanting to say, Thank you.

    Bud Shrake, Penick’s coauthor, noticed that Penick usually inscribes the books, To my friend and pupil. How could he do that, Shrake asked him, when he didn’t know these people?

    Well, replied Penick, if you read my book you’re my pupil, and if you play golf, you’re my friend.

    And If You Play Golf, You’re My Friend picks up where the Little Red Book left off. It features the same blend of simple wisdom, sound golfing instruction, and good common sense that has made the Little Red Book so popular with golfers of all ages and levels of ability. And, as in the previous volume, Penick’s deep love for the game and his delight in teaching shine through on every page.

    Penick tells the story of his son-in-law’s first golf lesson, a story with a twist right out of O. Henry. He relates the tale of a player from Houston who had only one flaw in his game—that his scores were too high—and who exploded with anger when Penick told him so. He gives advice to parents on how to help their children learn golf, shows how to overcome a slice by playing baseball, and shares the pride and joy he felt while watching his pupil Tom Kite win the U.S. Open.

    Warm, witty, and wise, And If You Play Golf, You’re My Friend shows why Harvey Penick has become America’s best-loved teacher of the great game of golf.

    HARVEY PENICK’S association with golf and with the Austin (Texas) Country Club dates back to 1913, when he began there as a caddie. He still lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Helen. This is his second book.

    BUD SHRAKE, a former newspaper columnist and Sports Illustrated writer, is also a novelist, screenwriter, and author of three bestselling nonfiction books. He would still rather play golf than be President.

    Jacket design by Janet Pea-

    jacket photograph courtesy of Photoworld/FPG INT’L

    Author photograph copyright © by Carrell Grigsby Photography

    Copyright © 1993 Simon & Schuster

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

    To my friends & pupils:

    I hope this book will help you to enjoy life, and the great game of golf to its’ fullest.

    Sincerely,

    Harvey Penick.

    SIMON & SCHUSTER

    Rockefeller Center

    1230 Avenue of the Americas

    New York, New York 10020

    www.SimonandSchuster.com

    Copyright © 1993 by Harvey Penick, Bud Shrake,

    and Helen Penick

    All rights reserved

    including the right of reproduction

    in whole or in part in any form.

    SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks

    of Simon & Schuster Inc.

    Manufactured in the United States of America

    11   13   15   17   19   20   18   16   14   12

    Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

    Penick, Harvey.

    And if you play golf, you’re my friend : further reflections of a

    grown caddie / Harvey Penick with Bud Shrake.

    p.      cm.

    1. Golf—United States—Anecdotes. 2. Golf—Study and teaching.

    I. Shrake, Edwin. II. Title.

    GV965.P413 1993

    796.352’973—dc20                                                              93-33056

    CIP

    ISBN: 0-671-87188-9

    ISBN 13: 978-0-6848-6733-5 (print)

    ISBN 13: 978-1-4391-2767-4 (ebook)

    Simon & Schuster books may be purchased for educational,

    business, or sales promotional use. For information

    please write to:

    Vice President of Special Markets

    Special Markets Department

    Simon & Schuster

    15 Columbus Circle

    New York, NY 10023

    If you read my books you’re my pupil, and if you play golf you’re my friend.

    HARVEY PENICK

    Golf Professional Emeritus

    Austin Country Club

    Austin, Texas, 1993

    Contents

    My Son-in-Law’s First Lesson

    Teaching Billy

    A Value of Knowledge

    Identify the Problem

    The Lawyer

    God Knows

    In the Mind’s Eye

    What Does It Mean?

    Take Pleasure in It

    Flavor That Lasts

    The Oracle Speaks

    A Story by Helen

    Another Call

    Toss It

    An Irony

    The First Choice

    A Strange World

    Look Here First

    Toward a Stronger Grip

    All You Need to Know About the Wrist Cock

    Higher Aspects

    A Method for Madness

    Making a Comeback

    A Distinction

    Preacher Mann

    The Reason for It

    From the Fringe

    South of the Border

    The Lay Up

    Tommy Wins the Open

    A Story by Christy Kite

    Make Up Your Mind

    The California Woman

    The Judge

    Keep It Moving

    The Learning Game

    A Story by Tom Kite

    The True Way

    Club Selection

    A Special Club

    A Golfer’s Prayer

    Give Luck a Chance

    The Bench

    A Teacher’s Guide

    Musings on Rulings

    Wilmer’s Woes

    The Power of Negative Thinking

    The Champion

    Practice It First

    Wrongheaded Husbands

    Children

    Crosshanders

    The Left Arm

    The Secret of the Golf Swing

    Hit It Hard

    Brand-Name Aiming

    Slices and Hooks

    Pressure

    The Erratics

    How to Stop the Bleeding

    The Dashing Demaret

    Luck

    Sweet but Incomplete

    Paula Granoff’s Story

    Indoor Teaching

    Masters Manners

    A Golfer’s Poem

    Wasting Your Time

    Mr. Connerly

    Fate Takes a Hand

    Unfair to Ben

    Made in Heaven

    Chipping

    What Do You Look At?

    Telephone Lesson

    Still the Most Dreaded Shot

    Reassurance

    A Future in Golf

    The Sweet Spot

    Playing Hurt

    The Feeling of Far

    In the Eyes

    In the Mind

    Old Familiar

    Governor Hobby

    Life in the Mind

    My First Lesson

    A Soft Wedge

    The Examination

    Club Fitting

    The Best Hands

    A Hard Job

    Mr. Aminex

    An Inexhaustible Subject

    A Tip

    The Fee

    Timing

    Time to Move

    Mr. Roberts

    Randy’s Driver

    Jack Did It

    The Downhill Lie

    Haunted

    Hogan Whiffs It

    Caddie-Yard Psychology

    Where Is He?

    My Prayer

    Training Aids

    Necessity

    Summing Up

    Game of Honor

    And If You Play Golf, You’re My Friend

    My Son-in-Law’s First Lesson

    MY SON-IN-LAW, Billy Powell, was captain of the University of Texas basketball team. When my daughter, Kathryn, married him, Billy’s pals accused him of trying to improve his golf game.

    Everybody knew that was meant as humor, because Billy had never touched a golf club. Basketball was Billy’s idea of a real game, not golf.

    After college, Billy and Kathryn served a tour in the Air Force. They were stationed at Clovis, New Mexico. Billy tried golf for the first time in Clovis. Playing with a friend who had a 2 handicap, Billy learned what a thrilling experience golf can be. He was hooked.

    Billy phoned me that night. He was so excited, he could hardly catch his breath.

    Harvey, I’m on my way to Austin to take a lesson, he said. How soon can you fit me in?

    I said, Billy, I will send you a set of golf clubs. Play golf for six months. Then we’ll talk about lessons.

    Six months later, Billy and I went to the practice range at Austin Country Club.

    I have to ask you a question, Billy said. I’ve had an awful struggle for six months. Why did you make me wait so long for this first lesson?

    This is the second lesson, I said. Your first lesson was six months of struggle on your own.

    But why?

    I said, Athletes like you, who have had success in other sports, need to be humbled before they can learn the game of golf.

    There’s an old saying: The student must be ready for the teacher to appear.

    Teaching Billy

    I WATCHED MY son-in-law swing at the ball on the practice range for a while without comment. I could tell he wanted me to say something.

    Finally I said, Billy, if you handled your fork the way you do that 7-iron, you would starve to death.

    We set the ball on a low tee.

    Now take a swing and just clip off that tee, I said.

    He hit behind it. He topped it. He hit it sideways.

    I said, You’re a good athlete. Learn to clip off that tee. We can go no further until you do.

    I left him alone on the range.

    He swung his 7-iron for two days before he learned to clip off the tee.

    As our lessons progressed, Billy was eager to reach for the driver. Like everyone, he wanted to boom that ball 250 yards down the fairway. But try as he might, every drive was a slice.

    You’ll never get the full enjoyment out of this game hitting a slice, I said. The only thing that can happen to a slice is, it will get worse.

    I took away all his wooden clubs and his long irons. I told him to hit a 4-iron off the tee when he played golf. As soon as he learned to hit a consistent hook off the tee with his 4-iron, we would think about using the wooden clubs.

    Months passed. At last Billy’s hook was pronounced. He was certain he was ready for the driver. I can hook my driver now, I believe, he said.

    He showed me he could hook it all the way into the trees.

    I reminded him that the rough on the left of the fairway is as bad as the rough on the right.

    By the way, I said, only use your 1-iron when you are in the woods either right or left.

    Why is that, pro?

    Because you might break it, and then you won’t be tempted to use it anymore. I want you to lock your driver, 1-iron, and 2-iron in the closet. Hit your 3-wood off the tee. The more loft you use, the better you will keep the ball in play.

    Billy didn’t want to hear this, and he didn’t obey. He kept trying

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