Greetings Golfers,

Recently, two American cultural icons passed away. Both had ambitions of playing professional baseball – one became a writer and the other became a golfer.

Tom Wolfe died last week at 88 years old. He was known for his New Journalism that allowed the author to be part of the story. Wolfe loved to attack pretentiousness in both status seekers and intellectuals. His early books: “The Electric Kool-Aid Test” and “Radical Chic”  were great exposes of the 60s counter-culture. Wolfe’s later book “Bonfire of the Vanities” really nailed the 80s Wall Street scene. He wore white suits like Mark Twain and had an attitude like H.L. Mencken. Wolfe knew what it was to be American … a common-sense that much of the world and even much of America doesn’t seem to understand or appreciate. R.I.P.

Doug Ford died about 10 days ago at 95 years old. Ford grew up in a tough neighborhood in New York. Of the 10 guys he hung around with “Six went into the FBI, the other four went with the mob. I’m the only one who didn’t end up carrying a gun.” Ford was a great pool player and believed his pool skills translated to his legendary short game. He was slow to go on Tour because he made so much money playing rich guys for high stakes. This quote is classic Ford “If you want to be a Tournament player, you have to handle the heat. The way to learn is play for your own dough.” Ford learned well. He won two majors – the PGA Championship and the Masters and is in the Golf Hall of Fame. R.I.P.

I’m not surprised that both guys were baseball players – the most American of games. Their Americanism was good for writing and good for golf.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM and Head Golf Professional

tabts@deerrungolf.com