Fairway Dreams

"The game," writes Michael Arkush, "is a rite of passage for the father sharing his expertise with the child he is training for the future--the same child who, almost inevitably, will dethrone him at the first opportunity." All of the 25 professional golfers who relate their tales of golf life with Dad eventually did out-drive, out-chip, and out-putt their old men, but all acknowledge appreciatively the essential roles their fathers played in the journey, and it is to them that they offer homage. Interestingly, the lasting legacies go beyond the essentials on grip and stance: it is the intangibles that fly the course from tee to green here. Jack Nicklaus thanks his father for instilling self-confidence; Arnold Palmer praises his father for teaching him how to lose; Amy Alcott is grateful that her father let her know the only barriers in her way were those of her own making; Calvin Peete extols his father's insistence that he be a leader, not a follower. If Fairways and Dreams fairly overdoses on its own inspiration and sweetness, that's its intention; you'll find testimonials worth respecting, and lessons worth learning and remembering. --Jeff Silverman