As a golfer, have you ever wished that you could go back to the early 20th century, and play the game as it was played then? Does the smell of hickory and balata put you in mind of Ouimet, Vardon, Ray and Jones? What is it about golf that creates in its adherents a love for the game bordering on obsession? Settle down of an evening with Arnold Haultain's "The Mystery of Golf" and you shall have a very pleassant evening indeed. The book will make you long for those halcyon days of golf, from 1890 to 1930, when the golfiong heroes bestrode America and Britain like Titans. Read it, and then consider: Where is Haultain now, when we need him most?

This little book, written in 1908, says everything that"Golf in the Kingdom" had to say 70 years later, but it saysit more clearly and succinctly. It is basically a love letter to golf -- don't look for instruction or anything like that. It captures the essence of golf without becoming as incomprehensible as a zen koan. The author was a Canadian scholar who took up golf in middle age and pondered why the game had become such an obsession. Despite the dissimilarity between the game in 1908 and the game today, it is amazing how many of the author's insights still hold true (virtually all of them, with the notable exception of his misguided belief that the game would never descend to the level of crass profesionalism). Even though he was not an accomplished player, he had a real understanding of and feel for the game... This has been compared to Izaak Walton's "The Compleat Angler," and you should be forewarned that the prose is sometimes archaic and demands careful reading. Anyway, if you've played golf for any length of time, you'll surely find this more worthwhile and enjoyable than the latest book of tips from some PGA nonentity.