Golf books cover nearly every corner of the game, from the mechanics of Ben Hogan’s swing to the pressure of PGA Tour competition, the history of Augusta National, and the complicated world surrounding Tiger Woods. Some of the best are instructional. Others put readers inside tournaments, locker rooms, caddie conversations, and famous matches.
Here are 20 of the best golf books to read this season and beyond.
1. A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour — John Feinstein
First published in 1995, John Feinstein’s A Good Walk Spoiled remains a classic account of life on the PGA Tour. Feinstein follows professional golfers through the highs and lows of competition, showing how careers, money, confidence, and reputations can turn on a handful of shots. It is particularly valuable for readers interested in what professional golf looked like during the 1990s.
2. Who’s Your Caddy?: Looping for the Great, Near Great, and Reprobates of Golf — Rick Reilly
Sportswriter Rick Reilly found an unusual way to get close to famous golfers and personalities: He carried their bags. Reilly convinced 11 people, including Jack Nicklaus, David Duval, Deepak Chopra, and Donald Trump, to let him caddie for them. The arrangement gave him plenty of material for observations, stories, and comedy. One Amazon reviewer claimed the book delivers “at least one laugh per page.”
3. Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf — Ben Hogan
Few instructional golf books have lasted quite like Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons. Hogan breaks the golf swing into fundamental components and explains his approach step by step. It gives grip, posture, foot positioning, swing mechanics, and other essentials detailed attention. It remains a straightforward choice for golfers who want to understand the mechanics behind consistent ball striking.
4. Making the Masters: Bobby Jones and the Birth of America’s Greatest Golf Tournament — David Barrett
Every April, attention turns to Augusta National and the Masters. David Barrett goes back to the tournament’s beginnings in Making the Masters, examining how retired golfer Bobby Jones helped create the event during the 1930s. It is a history of the Masters before the green jacket and Sunday drama became familiar parts of the golf calendar.
5. The Golf 100: A Spirited Ranking of the Greatest Players of All Time — Michael Arkush
Who is the greatest golfer ever? Michael Arkush takes on an argument golfers have had for generations. The Golf 100 ranks the game’s greatest players while using a collection of essays to explore their careers and places in golf history. Readers may not agree with every position, which is part of the fun.
6. Golf Is Not a Game of Perfection — Dr. Bob Rotella
Golfers can spend years adjusting grips and rebuilding swings while overlooking what happens between their ears. Performance consultant Dr. Bob Rotella concentrates on that part of the game. Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect examines confidence, decision-making, expectations, and the mental habits golfers bring onto the course. For players whose best swing occasionally disappears as soon as the score starts to matter, Rotella offers another way to approach improvement.
7. A Course Called America: Fifty States, Five Thousand Fairways, and the Search for the Great American Golf Course — Tom Coyne
Tom Coyne had already played golf around the world when he decided to tackle a particularly ambitious American journey: playing in every state while searching for the country’s best golf course. A Course Called America follows that trip across 50 states, mixing golf with encounters involving the people, places, history, and humor Coyne discovered along the way.
8. A Life Well Played: My Stories — Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer became one of the defining figures of American golf, and A Life Well Played gives readers his version of the journey. The memoir combines stories from Palmer’s career and life with lessons and advice accumulated along the way. A commemorative edition released by St. Martin’s Press in 2020 also includes a foreword from Jack Nicklaus.
9. Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump — Rick Reilly
Rick Reilly turns his attention to Donald Trump, an avid golfer whose relationship with the game has generated plenty of stories. Reilly uses accounts from playing partners, caddies, and former Trump employees to examine Trump’s conduct and claims on the course. The book mixes golf reporting with Reilly’s familiar humor and criticism.
10. Together We Roared: Alongside Tiger for His Epic Twelve-Year, Thirteen-Majors Run — Steve Williams with Evin Priest
Steve Williams had one of the closest views imaginable of Tiger Woods at his competitive peak. Williams caddied for Woods for 12 years, a period that included 13 major victories. Written with journalist Evin Priest, Together We Roared revisits their partnership and offers readers the perspective of the man carrying the bag while Woods made golf history.
11. Golf Beneath the Surface: The New Science of Golf Psychology — Raymond Prior
Raymond Prior examines golf through sports psychology rather than traditional swing instruction. Golf Beneath the Surface considers how players think, practice, compete, and deal with the mental obstacles that can interfere with performance. It targets golfers who already know another bucket of range balls will not necessarily solve every problem.
12. Seven Days in Augusta: Behind the Scenes at the Masters — Mark Cannizzaro
The Masters is famous for what television viewers see, but Mark Cannizzaro focuses on what happens beyond the broadcast. Seven Days in Augusta takes readers behind the scenes during Masters week and explores traditions and stories surrounding Augusta National, including the green jacket and the Crow’s Nest.
13. Tales from Q School: Inside Golf’s Fifth Major — John Feinstein
Long before golfers can worry about winning major championships, many have to fight simply for the opportunity to compete at the highest level. Feinstein’s Tales from Q School focuses on the 2005 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, where limited opportunities were available, and careers could change dramatically over the course of the competition. The stakes make Q School a natural subject for Feinstein’s detailed reporting.
14. Golf in the Kingdom — Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy’s 1971 novel is unlike almost anything else on this list. Golf in the Kingdom follows a fictionalized Michael Murphy who encounters the mysterious golfing expert Shivas Irons in Scotland. Golf, philosophy, and mysticism become intertwined as the story progresses. The novel eventually developed such a dedicated following that it inspired the Shivas Irons Society.
15. The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National: Inside Stories from Golf’s Greatest Stage — Ward Clayton
Augusta National’s caddies occupy an important place in Masters history, and Ward Clayton focuses specifically on the Black caddies who worked at the club and tournament. The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National recounts their experiences, their roles alongside famous golfers, and the racial discrimination they faced within the sport and society.
16. The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods — Hank Haney
Hank Haney coached Tiger Woods from 2004 through 2010, putting him inside one of sports’ most closely watched careers. The Big Miss recounts those years from Haney’s perspective, offering details about Woods’ golf game, training, preparation, and their working relationship. For readers interested in how Woods approached the game during that period, Haney provides an unusually close view.
17. Searching in St. Andrews: Finding the Meaning of Golf During the Game’s Most Turbulent Summer — Sean Zak
Golf journalist Sean Zak traveled to St. Andrews during the summer of the 150th Open Championship in 2022. The timing proved significant. As Zak explored the history and culture surrounding one of golf’s most famous locations, LIV Golf was creating a major disruption in the professional game. Searching in St. Andrews puts those two worlds alongside one another: golf’s deep past and a professional sport undergoing rapid change.
18. Rainmaker: Superagent Hughes Norton and the Money-Grab Explosion of Golf from Tiger to LIV and Beyond — Hughes Norton
Hughes Norton saw professional golf from the negotiating table. The sports agent represented major golfers, including Tiger Woods, and Rainmaker recounts his experiences in the business. The book looks at sports management, contracts, money, and the relationships between agents and elite players. CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz called it an extraordinary “behind the curtain” account of sports management.
19. The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever — Mark Frost
It started with a bet. In 1956, Eddie Lowery and George Coleman debated whether Lowery’s employees, amateur golfers Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, could defeat any two golfers Coleman selected. Coleman’s choices were formidable: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. The resulting showdown at Cypress Point became the subject of Mark Frost’s The Match, an account of an extraordinary private contest involving four accomplished golfers.
20. Men in Green — Michael Bamberger
Longtime sportswriter Michael Bamberger looks back at an earlier generation of golf in Men in Green. The book features figures including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Curtis Strange, Fred Couples, and Ken Venturi while exploring a question golfers still enjoy debating: Was the game better back in the day? Bamberger approaches that question through the players and personalities who helped define those years rather than simply relying on nostalgia.
These 20 books provide plenty of choices depending on what part of golf keeps you interested. Hogan, Rotella, and Prior concentrate on playing better. Feinstein takes readers into the pressure of professional competition. Barrett, Cannizzaro, and Clayton explore Augusta National from very different perspectives, while Williams and Haney provide firsthand accounts of working closely with Tiger Woods. And when real-life golf is not quite strange enough, Golf in the Kingdom is waiting.
