Michael Bamberger’s latest book is “The Playing Lesson: A Duffer’s Year Among the Pros.”
You are cordially invited to join Michael Bamberger on a year-long golfing adventure—playing alongside the pros of the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, LIV Golf, and more—as he seeks to unlock golf’s most stubborn secrets in various and surprising ways, all in the name of…improvement!
Nearly fifty years after taking up the game, Michael Bamberger made a pair of startling discoveries: golf had never meant more to him, and he knew almost nothing about it. He decided to cover himself in green in a whole new way. He spent a year inside the ropes of professional golf—playing, caddying, competing, volunteering, and interviewing—looking for a door into the sport’s sanctum sanctorum.
In The Playing Lesson: A Duffer’s Year Among the Pros, Bamberger goes on the ultimate golfing bender. You’ve read about St. Andrews before, but here you will experience the home of golf in a whole new way. You’ll join the author as he volunteers in one tournament, caddies in others, plays in men’s and women’s pro-ams, and conducts intimate interviews with elite figures in the game. You’ll mooch off the lessons Bamberger takes from instructors, famous and obscure, who teach golf in novel ways. You’ll learn how to buy a better golf game.
Maybe you’ve had club fittings, but not like the one Bamberger experiences in various tour trailers. In a pro-am, Bamberger gets driving tips from one of the tour’s longest hitters, Jake Knapp. He receives a putting lesson from Brad Faxon. He learns how to hit hook wedges from Gary Player. He lives through the intense pain of Rory McIlroy’s misses and rejoices at Lydia Ko’s triumphs. He plays Pebble Beach and Royal Oak, a down-home nine-hole public course in Detroit with perfect greens. He receives an unexpected hug from Greg Norman at a LIV Golf event in Miami, along with the words, “Come on in here, you asshole.” He spends a lot of time at driving ranges, some of it productive.
What Bamberger has done here, when you get right down to it, is create his own tour. The Playing Lesson is a report on a real-life golfing safari, with stops inside the heads of the game’s high priests, his own—and yours.Michael Bamberger writes for GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. Before that, he spent nearly 23 years as senior writer for Sports Illustrated. After college, he worked as a newspaper reporter, first for the (Martha’s) Vineyard Gazette, later for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has written a variety of books about golf and other subjects, the most recent of which is The Second Life of Tiger Woods. His magazine work has been featured in multiple editions of The Best American Sports Writing. He holds a U.S. patent on The E-Club, a utility golf club. In 2016, he was given the Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the organization’s highest honor.
In this episode, Kevin and Michael Bamberger share anecdotes from his career as an author and discuss his new book. They also delve into valuable golf tips and the joys of golfing. This golf podcast is packed with stories about golf life and experiences.
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Hey everyone, you’re listening to Party Time, my golf story with Kevin Walsh and whatever special guest he has today. You can check me out on episode nine of the podcast. Today I’m wearing Grayson clothes while I’m out practicing cuz I believe in look good, play good, and follow me on Instagram, Sophia Warren Golf. And hope you enjoy the rest of the show. It’s Party Time, my golf story, brought to you by Party Drinks. Classically designed golf drinks for golfers by golfers and the golf real estate pros Jean Walsh and Vince Vizicaro for your Southwest Florida real estate needs. Check them out at Sunco.com. Now, here’s your host, Kevin Walsh. Hey everyone, welcome to the show. I’ve been looking forward to this recording for a long time. Noted golf writer Michael Bamberger is our guest. Michael is a native New Yorker, lives in the Philadelphia area. He just released his latest book, The Playing Lesson, a Duffer’s Year Among the Pros. It is absolutely fabulous. I think you should read it because if if you’re a golfer, it’s going to sink to your heart. And I think I finally got out of my old friend something that I wanted all along. And that was more of his personal story. We’ll get into that with Michael in just a minute. He’s also the author of several other books. We’ll get into that as well. So, uh, sit back and just enjoy a conversation with somebody that I consider America’s golfing conscience. Somebody that knows the game inside out, absolutely loves it, and it absolutely screams through the pages and into your heart. Before we go any further, would you um, if you uh, are following us on YouTube, would you leave a review, give a fivestar review, subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t done it already? All that stuff matters for the algorithms and the rankings of stuff and that makes a big difference to our sponsors. Speaking of our sponsors, big thanks to Party Drinks. If you’re looking for a drink alternative on the golf course, try a Parti. Much better than those hard seltzers and much better than a beer which makes you feel fat when you’re swinging. Anyway, Paradise Craft Distributors is the exclusive distributor of Parti across the state of Florida and also available in New England. If you’re looking to own a home in a golf real estate community like Lakewood National Golf Club in the greater Sarasota area, check out sunostdreams.com. Vince Vizicaro, Jean Walsh, and Samantha Walsh got you set. It’s a great time to buy. The weather’s cooling off. People are coming from the north, and there’s no better place in Florida than Lakewood National Golf Club. And if all that golf has got you tuckered out and you want to take a cold water plunge, a hot tub, red light therapy, or whatever, BioLit Spa in downtown Sarasota has got you covered. All right, let’s bring my friend Michael Bamber. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That was a lot there. First off, what is Part T? I’ve never heard of the product. Well, I gotta get you some. And well, you don’t strike me as a drinker on the golf course, Michael. And I’m definitely not a drinker on the golf course. barely a drinker in any other setting. I don’t drink on the How alcoholic is this part D? It’s 5.9. So, it’s a little on the stronger side. You You Well, I I get drunk when I uh read your books. Not literally, not on alcohol, but I just um you know, when you have a nice glass of wine, you kind of fall in love with it. And uh I’m not trying to butter you up here. I mean it, Michael. Is it is it a beer type product? No, it it’s an actual cocktail. It’s in a can. And well, you would be interested in this. Our number one seller is Transfusion, which to me, Michael, I used to drink this stuff in high school when I was trying to be sneaky. And it turns out I wasn’t fooling anybody and nobody cared. And then and now it’s the number one golf drink in America. But I think what you’ll be interested in, it was a very parochial drink. It was only known to private clubs in Philadelphia and the Washington DC area and here we are. And that is that is true. Snapper Soup much the same. Now what about Susan Walsh? Apherment mentioned Susan Walsh. Is she s I’m guessing she’s a relation of yours? Is she selling real estate in Sarasota? That’s my wife. That’s Jean and Samantha Walsh. Samantha, pardon me. Jean and Samantha. Okay. Now, who is that? You’re who are they? They Well, Gina is my wife. Samantha is my daughter. So, they’re on they’re on the Sun Coast Dreams real estate team based at Lakewood National Golf Club where I live. So, for folks, I mean, the whole point of the podcast, Michael, is to introduce people to interesting people, but it’s also to promote some real estate and the party product, but you got to have content. So, you’re content today. But Kevin, let me ask you a very pointed question. Why do I always associate you with Fenway Park and Boston? When did you become a Fidian? I’m really surprised by this development. Well, I I was in Boston from 2009 to 2020. I was working for NBC Sports Boston, right? Was one of the uh sports anchors and reporters and uh co turned the broadcast world upside down. NBC had massive layoffs. So, we just kind of picked ourselves up by the bootstraps and we’re living a totally new life in Florida on the golf side. And you know, my love of golf, I I’ve had golf in my life for 50 plus years. Yeah. And now I serve the game as a full-time caddy, as a as a podcaster, and I hustle these golf drinks. And not that I wanted all this to happen. I mean, if I could unwind time and go back, co never would have happened. I still would have been a broadcaster in Boston. But, you know, you you take what life gives you and you make the best of it. And I just couldn’t imagine anything different. Life in Florida is absolutely great. And you should come down sometime. All right. Well, I’m down a lot. Where Where are you doing your cattying? Catty at a major resort in Central Florida and also at a very high-end private club. So, I’m getting a lot of people. I never imagined at 55 catting would be full-time. Um, but I love it. I love the grind of it. And this would sing to you. I I’m playing golf. I’m just not hitting the shots. Do you feel me on that one? Do you know what I’m saying? Yes, I do. Because you’re you’re in on every shot and you have an emotional investment on every shot. And if you give the guy a read and it’s the wrong read or it’s the right read, but he perceives it’s the wrong read, you kind of got to absorb it and find a way to make it work so that the next so it’s not lingering still when you play the next shot or when your guy plays the next shot. So yeah, I can I can totally see that. Um, I think catting is really a great experience for everybody because part of the quality of the caddy is to lose yourself in your players play and that requires whatever the opposite of self-absorption is. You got to really lose yourself for the player’s benefit and that’s a skill that you can apply to anything. Well, you’ve done it before. I have you done it on the club level or just when you were looking for good writing material like I remember you catting for Peter Terrain and him saying never put your ball in your pocket in his thick uh mass hole accent. Um but did you do it in any other way other than just Yeah, I did. I ced in high school. not probably not a lot like uh a lot of guys did, but I cattied for my high school principal and some others at a golf course that didn’t really have a caddy program, but I found a way to uh to caddy there. Uh so I did I did get a sense of it. My high school principal would pick me up in my parents’ driveway um you know probably oh not that early, maybe 6:30 on a Sunday morning, maybe Saturday morning and Sunday morning uh some weekends. And uh yeah, I loved it. I love being part of the game and and I think as a kid and any kids who are listening who are caddies will know what we’re talking about. Uh you learn really how adult behavior works and how crass it can be and how funny it can be and adult insights into things. So I think it’s just one of the great kid professions anywhere and as Kevin as you’re showing in your own life um it can sustain people way way beyond high school and college years as well and you see a lot of people are in their 50s and 60s and older sometimes cing well tell me this was your high school principal different when you were on the bag than he was in the hallways he treated me yes uh We were sort of uh equals on the golf course. Of course, a caddy and a player aren’t. Uh but I uh but I was very much aware that I was uh being accepted into the adult world as a caddy. Uh whereas when you’re in your high school hallway, you know, you’re another kid among kids and there’s a very clear hierarchy. Um but I think that was one of the really neat things for me also with my high school golf coach. He happened to be from Peabody M. No, excuse me. He was from Salem and um I had the same quality with him. His name was John Cifnik. Uh he was a really important figure in my life. Uh died at a tragically young age. And um but the same thing was true with with John was that uh as our as our high school golf coach, he sort of treated us as adults. And golf golf gives you uh that opportunity. And I’m sure Kevin, tell me if this is true. When when you’re catting for people much younger than you, are you aware of the age difference or does it feel sort of like you’re all the all the same age in a manner of speaking? Well, we’re I’m now the older guy in the group for so much of my caddy life, the 43 years I’ve done it with a couple of gaps in between. It it was always people older than me. Now, the majority of the people are younger than me. Yeah. But to me, it keeps me young. the physical activity, being around the younger people, hearing the music they’re listening to, and that’s something new for you and me. We didn’t grow up with music on the golf course. We didn’t go drinking on the golf course, maybe the occasional cigar. It’s all a part of the experience. and whatever whatever gets him there. But but would you mention being accepted into manhood? I had the same thing because I grew up in a profanityfree household and and I never heard really profanity when I visit my friends with their parents, but on the golf course they seem like totally different people. They were good people, but then the color started coming out in the language and Yeah. And I I loved them for it because they treated me like a man before I was. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve had that same experience. What now? You said that you you do uh country club catting, private club catting, and resort catting. What’s the difference between the two things? Well, I I think more than anything with um with the resort, the people are only there for a couple of days. And uh they come in, they want to get a lot in a little. The country club experience, it it’s always there for them. And um uh you know, it’s definitely their place. That’s that’s the difference. Um, so I I would say I do it all the same, but I know that the people that belong at the club, they’re more in charge because they’re there all the time. Right. Right. And but to me, it’s it it’s really easy to behave well on a golf course because I mean, what could you possibly do to get yourself in trouble and you know, there’s a sense of decorum even with like the the ball busting and maybe the language gets a little bit colorful. I mean, you never forget they’re in charge and and all you’re trying to do is give them the information, enhance the experience, and hope hopefully they ask you back. I don’t I don’t think that it’s the ultimate service job. Now, when you caddy at the resort, are are the guys driving a cart and you’re you’re running ahead with clubs and rakes and the rest? Sometimes. Sometime I I I like to call it like you’re riding on the back like fireman style. Uh, so we’ll do some of that, but also double bags, bags on the shoulders, and I actually prefer the carrying part because I feel more connected to the earth, right? And then I I have two guys that I’m taking care of. And like riding on the back of the cart, even though it seems like cart surfing and that would be easier, I have 55. So like those carts are designed to cushion the okles or the people that are riding in them, not so much the caddy that’s on the back and his knees and his hips. I much I much prefer to caddy. Right. Right. How do you how do how do you handle a bad read like I just admit it. I mean, why not? Because we’re not going to get them all right. And um I mean I mess up my own reads when I’m playing. So it’s uh I think people appreciate that that honesty and cander like, “Hey man, I over that a little bit. That’s that that’s on me.” You know, you hit the butt I told you to. didn’t go. I’m surprised how often uh how seldom people work on their green reading ability because like you have so much opportunity to do it because guys are putting all the time. You can always pretend like oh I wish what would I do if this were my putt? I try I’ve gotten very very bad at reading greens have gotten worse way worse over the years of reading greens. And it’s not so much left to right and right to left it. I can’t sense uphill and downhill very readily anymore. Um and uh that’s very problematic. So the one thing I will ask a caddy and or my playing partner for that matter and sometimes my opponent, which of course is illegal, um is this uphill or downhill? Uh like I just really want to know like right now as I’m standing over this ball, is it higher than the hole or lower than the hole? I know it may do some things in between, but overall is this putt uphill or overall is this putt downhill? And um of course part of the joy of this conversation is like Warren Buffett uh once he once said uh bring me an investment idea I can understand like this conversation that we’re having you can understand it anybody can understand it it’s not complicated and sometimes like when I listen to you know if I’m on driving range at a PJ tour event or hear guys on Golf Channel talking about the swing it’s like I literally have no idea what they’re talking about because as Curtis Strange likes to joke. When did golf become so complicated? Well, it’s not really that complicated. And part of the joy of golf, and I think we found this in the pandemic when literally hundreds of thousands of people uh found their way to the game for the first time, was that it’s really not very complicated. You know, that ball is sitting there doing nothing and you’re going to propel it forward in some fashion. Well, let me help you with the green reading thing because first of all, all all reads start with speed, okay? You’re never going to misread the brake all that much. But you could definitely mis misread the speed. And if all read started with speed, then the level of the ground. And the best thing to do, Michael, is to walk on the side of the ball and check it out sideways. That’s the true level because if you stand behind the ball and you’re looking at the hole, sometimes course designers will raise the land behind the green, which because our mind sees inconsistent patterns and what may look uphill could actually be downhill. So, always check the side. And the other thing is always watch the ball roll by the hole because it’s coming back on the same line just in reverse. See? Oh, that’s that is very good. When So, if if when you’re looking at a putt and you’re stopped midway between the ball and the hole, um does it matter to you if you’re on the upside or what you perceive to be the upside or the or the or the low side of it? I usually try to get on the low side. All right. Because then I can see like I I can see like just imagine dumping a bucket of water on the hole. Which way is it going to drain? Well, that’s which way it’s going to break and that’s always going to be the low side. But I will say this, I much prefer the reverse side of the hole to make the read because the ball will be coming toward you that way in that direction as opposed to the ball going away from you. So that’s that’s another little pro tip that is is real easy to do. It’s just most people are just not aware of it. Kevin, what what could you shoot on a good day today? Well, my handicap’s 2.3. Um, I tell most people I’ve been scratcher better most of my life. I was about scratch at 14. And through college, we didn’t worry about handicaps because there were no handicaps anyway. We were playing all stroke play. So, probably at my best, I was plus two, plus two and a half. That’s serious. Were you ever at the point of thinking about trying to make a profession out of it? Yeah, definitely. So, I I played golf at Purdue and I thought I had the game to compete at the highest level. But what I quickly found out, Michael, major division one golf is you better love it like nothing else. Okay, that that ought to be your first love, your second love, and your third love. And I was around like everybody that I played with was a champion from somewhere. Everybody was the man and we’re all standing around the first seat. It’s like, “I’m the man.” And they’re like, “No, I’m the man.” It’s like, “I’m the man.” Well, we can’t all be the man. And then the elites like Steve Stricker, Gary Nicholas, Chris Smith, who were uh the best players in the Big 10 at the time. They were the elites. They picked up the scraps. The rest of us just cannibalized each other. And so I decided, well, I’ll tell you this story. I played junior golf against Jim Furick. And Jim was late to the game and Jim burned hotter than any other golfer I’ve ever met. I mean, he played golf like the rest of us would play football. It was that intense. He was that intense. But and I assume you know him a bit. Um he wanted that burn and he needed competitive golf in his life like the Broadway actor needs the stage. Mhm. You know what I mean? I mean, who makes it to Broadway? Only the best of the best. And if they didn’t have the stage, they would die. I mean, their need to compete is that strong. I just I didn’t have that love. So, I moved to the broadcasting and turned out had a very mediocre career. No, don’t say that. You had the career you had and it got you to where you are and you got your wife and your daughter gainfully employed selling real estate in greater s greater Sarasota. Is that where you are? Yep, that’s right. Lakewood Ranch. Is that near Nick Bolitary? the tennis camps. Are they down that way? Yes, that’s in uh that’s in Bradenton. So that’s about 20 minutes down the road. Okay. And it’s now the IMG Academy. No longer Nicolitary, but uh we have some of the whippers snappers at IMG. I’ve cattied for them. Great players. They’re all they’re all dreamers. They’re trying to get to the next level. Uh the last great golfer to come out of uh IMG was Nelly Corda. I imagine you’ve heard of her. Mhm. Incredible. Just such was the Was the dad was he also a voluntary person? Uh I don’t know but the the the Cord sisters and and their brother Sebastian, he plays on the AP World Tour. He’s a professional tennis player. He’s great. Uh daughters of Peter. Interesting. Yep. He was he a hockey player as well or is he always a tennis guy? He was a tennis player and the mother was as well. And I’ve cattied for Peter and it was just before he was playing with Nelly in the uh the fatherson fatheraughter the the PNC thing in Orlando. And I cattied for him about two weeks before and he told me the only reason he was playing was because Nelly was making him play. And you’ll probably remember when Nelly met Tiger for the first time and took a picture with him and was all out. It was two weeks prior. Oh no. And and he said he wasn’t a golfer. Michael, he was he was a legit And I guess he didn’t play, but he’s such a good athlete. He struck the ball properly. He hit a couple stinger shots and he didn’t really He said, “So I moved the ball back in my stance and I kind of squeezed the ball a little bit and I’m like, “Yeah, Michael, that’s a stinger.” I mean, it was just amazing to see Yeah. what a good athlete could do with golf. Yeah. The the you see it with the tennis players, but you really really see it with the hockey players. the hockey players can figure out golf quicker than anybody, which is kind of amazing because they play such a high speed game and course golf is, you know, so slow and contemplative. But, you know, that winding up and the clearing for a right-hander, the clearing of the left hip and the lag, it’s all very similar to hockey. Yes, it is. Michael Bamberger is our guest here on Party Time, My Golf Story, brought to you by the Golf Real Estate Pros of Jean and Samantha Walsh and Vince Vizicaro. suncoastreams.com. If your dream is to live in a golf resort community like Lakewood National Golf Club, where this podcast originates from, Jean, Samantha, and Vince are your people. If you’re tired after all, how does Vince fit in with the other with with the ladies? Is is it a Is it a good fit there? It’s a great fit because Vince is the one that brought us here. He was our realtor and then my wife joined his team and then my daughter Samantha graduated from college. She had her real estate license. uh before she graduated and then she joined the team. So So they’re all on team Vince. They’re all on team Vince. Yes. But what what do they call their team? SuncoSdreams.com. Sunco. Perfect. Dreams is a very powerful world word. Uh uh I I remember once playing years ago I was playing in these uh Philadelphia Suburban League matches and I was playing with this guy who was a truck driver and he was representing his club and I was representing mine and he said his dream was to play Pebble Beach and was like and I was really touched by that because like if you’re lucky enough you know to have the life that I’ve led you get a chance to I’ve had a chance to play Pebble Beach. I’ve had a chance to pay the green fee and I’ve had a chance to play it as a guest as well. But the idea that, you know, this guy had the dream of playing Pebble Beach and that he was going to save up for years to do it. Um, I don’t know. I just found it moving. And um, and I guess the thing that I took from that is that um, everybody can have a dream. I think it’s really useful to have a dream. and that uh your dream and somebody else’s dream could be totally different but still have that same powerful sense of motivation behind it. Well, speaking of Pebble, I’ll just tell you the story about my best friend’s parents. I mean, true Philadelphia people, uh very successful in the auto body industry and insurance industry, uh but real Philly people and you could hear it in their voices. And when I lived in Fresno, California, uh Wayne and Claudia were coming out to uh San Francisco to do some business and they were going down to Pebble and my friend’s dad naively said, “Hey, uh me and Claudia are going to be at Pebble Beach. Come meet us there.” And I’m like, “Wait, it’s not that it’s not that easy.” He’s like, “Ah, you figure it out. Figure out the tea times and I’ll pay for everything.” I’m like, “I’ll see you there.” Right? So I had to I had to pull some strings and I told them now these are people that want for nothing in life but everything they have they’ve made it themselves but I was trying to describe Pebble to them beforehand so number one they would be dressed appropriately because you know Pebble at certain times of year is very cold and central California cold is a whole different level yes and Mark Twain said the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. All true, right? So, I’m like, “Bring some warm clothes.” They brought the thinnest Florida sweaters ever. Had to go in the golf shop and buy like thousand rainsuits. And as we were walking down the first hole, my friend’s mother, uh, I just called her Claudia. And I see her like looking around and just toodling around and just looking at everything. I saw her turn her face and I saw a tear coming down her cheek. And I said, “Claudia, why are you crying?” And she, now this is Philadelphia. And you’ll get this, Michael, cuz you’re deeply immersed in Philadelphia now. She goes, “You know, Kev, when you told me this place was going to be beautiful, I knew it’d be beautiful, but I just can’t believe any place could be this beautiful.” And Casey Boy was our caddy. He looked over and he goes, “H, that’s something.” I mean, that just says it all, doesn’t it? That’s a beautiful story. Uh, and an outstanding Philadelphia accent. They they could have used you as a dialect coach on that. Uh what’s that show called? Um not Mars’s Town. You know, it’s a murder mysteries. Uh you would definitely know it if I could come up with it. Somebody of blah blah town. But anyway, you nailed the accent. Uh Casey Boys. Uh now it’s amazing that you would bring up his name. One of my favorite people. So just a quick note for the listeners in the audience about Casey Boyins. He is a lifer caddy in uh at Pebble and um he’s one of the best golfers in Northern California and has been for years. And he and I were once playing together at a place called Pacific Grove. It’s a municipal golf course they call Poor Man’s Pebble. It’s uh it’s just down the street from Pebble and about nine of the holes are on the ocean side of this piece of property. And uh they’re funky, but they’re really really good holes. It’s like you would see holes like this in Scotland to, you know, almost anywhere you go in Scotland. And we get paired with this lady um and she’s going to shoot about 128. And Casey Boy was so nice to her. And this Casey Boy is like a very legit plus4 golfer. I mean, he he can’t not break 75, you know, in that period in his life. And he can shoot a lot lower. And I just took such a lesson from that a little bit like with the truck driver thing that I was talking about earlier where it’s like here’s Casey Bones Bo is one of the best golfers in California, one of the best amateur golfers in California being so nice to this lady who’s new to the game and it’s like everybody’s been new to the game at some point and just try to bear that in mind and try to be welcoming because there’s a lot of barriers into getting into golf in the first place. you know, the expense, the clubs, how to use the clubs, how to hold the clubs, all sorts of etiquette things, and uh people need a helping hand. Yeah, they sure do. I mean, patience is a virtue, especially with Gadding. I think for me, it’s just I know the game doesn’t come easily to people and uh it doesn’t bother me at all if they play bad golf. As long as they’re showing a love and a happiness to be out there, that that’s enough for me. Michael, we h we haven’t even talked about your book. Um well but I want to okay for this reason because after I read your last book the ball in the air a golfing adventure in which you told the stories about very interesting people went to Nepal uh who was the girl in Nepal that that you wrote about Pratima Sherpa is your name right Sherpa and and I love that because you got so off the beaten path to talk about how golf is in different places and impacts people differently but I wrote you an email afterwards and and I do this with a lot of authors after I read their books. I said, “Michael, there’s going to come a time I really want a book about you and just what golf really means to you and I I want the author’s side of everything.” And I think I think we got it with the playing lesson and Duffer’s year among the pros. Now, I’m not saying I planted a seed, but I I imagine it was there all along. What was the genesis behind writing the book? Well, I think you planted it a seed in the sense that um you know, you’ve been playing golf for more than 50 years. I I kind of just turned 50 maybe about a year or two ago of being being around the game for 50 years and I realized like you the game has enriched every aspect of my life. So many of my greatest friendships uh come out of golf. So much of my professional life comes out of golf. So much of the mystery of life for me is rooted in trying to get better at golf, trying to be a better golf partner. And like once you go down those roads, you really can apply them to other aspects of your life. Like, you know, can I be a better father? Can I be a better husband? Can I be a better friend? Can I be a better writer? Can I I be just better really because I think part of the goal of golf is getting better. uh even as you’re getting worse and acknowledging you’re getting worse, you still try to find areas where you can get better. Um so um having written a bunch of books now uh about golf and a few books about other things um I realized in my mid60s it was probably time to try to take stock and take you up on the very thing that you were talking about. So yeah, there’s a lot more me in this book than than maybe some of the others. And um you know without uh getting too high flutin about it, but I think I did I think I was able to say pretty much everything I wanted to say about what the game means to me uh in this book. It definitely came out. I mean, your love for the game was just dripping off the pages and uh and I thank you for that and I I wasn’t surprised to see I just I just needed to see it and so you could memorialize it, you know, at at some point. Do you mind talking about the other books too? Because I have a couple books. Whatever you wish. Sure. The Second Life of Tiger Woods. You open with the scene that you went to the police department and sat in the back of the police car that he sat in after he was arrested. I thought that was crazy out of the box thinking. I loved it. I felt like I was sitting there with you. I have been in the back of a police car before. I don’t know if you have other than uh you know for that moment but but why start there and what was the thinking? I I’m I’m incredibly incur curious about it. I think the thinking was that here you have literally one of the most famous people in the world. Um and to be a famous person in the world it’s to have doors open for you wherever you go. And then at that moment in his life, the doors were closing in on him literally in every other way. And I wanted to try to get us convey that to the reader. Uh how how powerful an emotion that is and what an unlikely emotion it is. Um and I felt like I could feel it. I could convey it better if I if I felt it more. I’ve done that kind of thing before. Um, Jennifer Capriyotti was arrested in a Sidi motel room in uh, South Florida on some fairly minor drug charge as I recall it now. For those that don’t remember, she was a tennis phenom. Probably what, Kevin? Mid 80s. Was that late 80s? Yeah, it was late 80s. She was 14, had an overbearing father, uh, was really good, was really pretty, and then it just all seemed to fall apart. and and I rented her motel room where the arrest happened and and wrote the story that I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquir from that from that very motel room uh just to get closer to the experience like you know even when I’m covering a golf tournament without being in their physical space. I try to get as close to the golfer that I’m writing about as I physically can again without you know being weird about it for sure. Um uh but I think that was that was a that was just such a powerful moment in Tiger’s life to um but then anyway just to go down that road for just one little bit there. Tiger really turned things around after this arrest. Um that arrest was in um let me think here. I think Kevin do do you recall when that arrest was? Would that have been in the winter, the early winter of 18 and then that’s about right. Yeah. And then he won the Masters in 19. Um I may not have the timing exactly right. He definitely won the Masters in 19. But the point is uh there was a year-long plus period where the whole world knew here’s this most private person, this extremely proud person uh who no longer could hide because uh the arrest tape was available for all to see. Um and you knew without knowing, without prying, you knew things were not right in his life or he would never be in that position in the first place. Um, so the ability to, it takes a lot. It takes more than just sobriety to to to win a masters. Um, I mean, you’ve got to have your head on straight. It’s so hard to win a masters. So hard so hard to win any golf tournament, but especially that golf tournament. Um, so I thought by by starting at the lowest of the lows and understand and trying to understand really where he was, it would help the reader appreciate where he got to, you know, roughly 18 months later. I I thought that was great. Now, I want to ask you about Men in Green in which you drove around in your Subaru uh station wagon with Mike Donald. I thought it was great. Uh I felt like I was riding in the in the back seat with a six-pack, although that’d be illegal, but you know, I mean, it it would have been a lot of fun listening to you guys and visiting the games great. But the one thing that stood out to me more than anything was when you talked about Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer and how much time they spent in the air together with Arnold at the controls and and Jack kind of sort of flying co-pilot and I think your estimate was like they spent like a thousand hours in the air together with with the headphones on just looking forward. Um and I think you even said like some husbands and wives don’t spend that much time together. I mean that that was just amazing. Uh Just imagine what they talked about. Yeah. You know, and uh you know, people often speak of this greatest generation. Um people, you know, men especially born in the United States in the 20s, early 20s and served in World War II and then came out of World War II. But for golf, there was the greatest generations that’s just about 10 years younger than that generation. and Arnold was definitely part of it and Jack was the the tail part of it and they grew up in the in the the opportunity and the warmth and the ease of the Eisenhower years. And I think the thing I took most Kevin from what you just described was here’s Arnold in this prop plane picking up just like I’ll fly into town. I’ll pick up I’ll fly into Columbus, Ohio. I’ll pick up Jack. He’ll put his clubs. We’ll get back up in the air. We’ll fly. we’ll we’ll we’ll do some exhibition, they’ll give us, you know, bags of cash and uh we’ll do it again next week. And that’s how they made money and that’s how they developed their friendship. And uh I just found that very, you know, endearing and really kind of uh romantic. And what a great way to forge a friendship for these two icons of the game who are totally different in personality, separated by 10 years, but had this um underlying love for for one another. And also the description, I think it was in the book, unless I’m cross-pollinating with other sources, like Barbara didn’t know that Arnold actually was flying the plane for a number of years. She She knew Arnold owned the plane, but thought there was another pilot. Bar Barbara or Winnie. Mrs. Nicholas or Mrs. Palmer? M. Mrs. Nicholas. Winnie, of course, knew Arnold was was flying. Right. Right. I never I I don’t think that’s for me. I think that’s from one of your other sources. Okay. That’s funny. I will ask Mrs. Nicholas that if I get to see her at the Masters this year, I will report back to you the answer. Okay, sounds good. And and the book, not golf related, but I love this because it made me feel like I was in high school again and I interviewed you on TV when the book came out. Wonderland. So nice to do that. Is that when we first met? I think that’s when we first met in person. And the premise of the book was uh a good question to ask anybody is tell me about your high school prom because everybody has a memory of it and you went to well why don’t you tell the story like selecting Pensbury High School and all that’s involved in it. Do you have like an astonishingly good memory because I don’t know how you’re pulling all these questions out of thin air. You haven’t seen these books presumably in a lot of years. Uh well that’s going that’s going back probably 20 years. Okay. So, I’ll refresh your memory because this is how memory works. I remember. I’m just amazed. So, you remember uh right. Uh I mean that’s it’s great of you to remember. I’m extremely uh uh flattered that you do. Um so I I know your your listeners would not know this part of Philadelphia necessarily, but uh in lower Bucks County there’s a big big public high school called Pennyberry High and it draws from all these diverse communities. There’s a very wealthy enclave in Yardley and uh there’s a middle class enclave much near the class and much nearer to the school and then there’s a there are um trailer parks with workingclass families and working poor and the whole school comes together to put on this prom on an annual basis which they have in the gym. Um and I followed around this one kid. Um, I got myself embedded in school to write a non-fiction book about it. And this kid named Bob Casa becomes um almost obsessed with the idea of could I get this young singer, John Mayer, who nobody would have ever really heard of at early in his Bob’s junior year to play my senior year prom. And um and over the course of the year, he makes inroads to get uh to try to convince Mary to play the prom. And in that year, Mayor blew up. He had this big hit, Your Body is a Wonderland. That’s why the book is called Wonderland. And of course, Mayor didn’t come and play the prom. Um, but they still had a great prom. And I wrote about the year about the year. All these years later, the kid who tried to convince John Mayer to come and play the prom is now Robert Costa of CBS News. Kevin, have we talked about this? I’d be surprised if we haven’t. No, we haven’t. But I remember you said almost predicting this kid’s going to be president someday. haven’t even he uh but were you aware that he’s now at CBS News? I didn’t know that he he’s Robert Costa CBS News. He covers the White House. He covers the president. He wrote a bestseller with Bob Woodward about Trump. Um and uh he goes, you know, he’s really really a very substantial reporter for anybody who’s ever seen him on TV. Um, he’s got a bit and the bit is perfect because is exactly who he is and the bit is the following. Well, according to my sources, uh, my reporting tells me, um, everything I’ve learned, it’s it, uh, my understanding is, in other words, he is your classic old school leather shoe reporter. Of course, a lot of it’s done on the phone and the computer now, but it’s like, this is what the sources are saying, and now I’m telling you. Um, so he’s like playing it really straight down the middle. And the reason he’s become such an iconic reporter is that uh he’s not interpreting everything. He’s telling you what he knows. You can interpret it. Um uh but he’s he’s a great young man and we have a really wonderful lively fun friendship and um and it’s terrific to see him doing so well. But that’s the kid. So, just to put a bow on it, um, if you Google John Mayer, Bob Costa, and Pensbury, you’ll see on YouTube these videotapes of John Mayer playing the Pensbury prom. Now, you might say, “Hold it.” Bam just told this long story where he didn’t play the prom. But what happened was the book came out. Mayor’s father said to to Mayor, “Hey, this guy wrote a whole book about this kid trying to get you to play your prom, and you blew him off.” So he sort of got guilted into playing the prom. So on the one year on on the one-year anniversary of mayor not playing the prom, he actually showed up and played the prom. At this point he was a big star. Rising star would probably be more accurate. And he and he played three songs. And the kids, if you watch it on the YouTube video, kids are shrieking. They’re going crazy. Uh because this icon’s come to this, you know, middle class high school u in Fairless Hills, PA. Oh, that that is that is so cool. Well, you were very nice, Kevin, to to remember that book and to have me on all those years ago and you know then the interest in golf uh as well. So, it’s just lovely of you to uh to keep in touch with my writing life. I appreciate it greatly. Well, I get plenty out of it and uh it it’s always good to catch up with you because the nice thing about golf, even though I haven’t seen you for years, um is we just pick right right back up. And that’s that’s what golf does. And I say it all the time. I say it on this podcast. I say it anywhere. If you golf, you’re my friend. So, we are friends and we will we will stay that way. And uh I hope we can keep in touch. Michael high school. I went to Abington High School and you a Philadelphia first and foremost. Oh, I’m a I’m a Philly boy. Absolutely. You could take the boy out of Philly, but you can’t take Philly out of the boy. I still argue with people about the Eagles. Uh I love arguing about cheese stakes where the best ones are. And what do you think it’s going to be like for that kid um who bobbled that uh that you know grounder the the 11th inning of the Dodger Phillies game? Like what do you think the recovery process is going to be for him? It’s it’s going to be tough, but his body language just showed how sorry and distraught he was. And as tough as Billy fans can be to pile on like people piled on um uh Bill Mitch Mitch Williams giving up the home run in in the World Series. Uh but Mitch has owned that and people make fun of him for that and he’s made a career because if you don’t know Mitch personally, you realize he could take something like that. But but what happened at the end of that game is is devastating and I think anybody with a half decent soul will realize that and they won’t pile on and and if they do, shame on them and that would be embarrassing. But uh I do love the Philly sports fans. I love the attitude. I think it’s it’s uniquely Philly. It it’s like the old Miami football teams. It’s a cane thing you wouldn’t understand, right? You know exactly what I’m talking about. Just apply that to Philadelphia, right? Yeah, that’s true. Kevin, thank you for having me. Thank you for your interest in my typing life. I really appreciate it. Michael Bamberger has been our guest here on Party Time, My Golf Story. His recent book, The Playing Lesson, a Duffer’s Year among the pros, is a must readad. Can’t speak highly enough and his other books as well. Big thanks to our title sponsor, Party Drinks. If you’re looking for a drink alternative on the golf course, try a Parti. Golf Real Estate Pros, Gene Walsh, Samantha Walsh, and Vince Vizaro. Sunco.com. Greater Sarasota area and BioLit Spa in downtown Sarasota. If you need to unwind from everything, check out BioLit Spa. For Michael Bamberger, I’m Kevin Walsh. We’ll see you again next time on Party Time, My Golf Story. You’ve been listening to It’s Party Time, My Golf Story, brought to you by Party Drinks. Classically designed golf drinks for golfers by golfers and the golf real estate pros Jean Walsh and Vince Vizicaro. for your Southwest Florida real estate needs. Check them out at sununkdreams.com or call 941-2204000. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat.
