P.G. Wodehouse's Golf Classic THE HEART OF A GOOF in Newsday

In honor of today's opening round of the U.S. Open, Allen Barra rounds-up classic books on golf in Long Island's Newsday. Making the cut is P.G. Wodehouse's The Heart of a Goof, available in Overlook's beautiful Collector's Wodehouse series: "You don't necessarily have to be a lover of his Jeeves and Wooster novels to enjoy Wodehouse's golf stories. In fact, you don't even have to love golf. This collection of nine stories told by "The Oldest Member" from his comfy chair on the terrace of the ninth hole, includes such laugh-making characters as Evangeline (described as a "golfing giggler"), Rollo Podmarsh (who, even though he thinks he's been poisoned, still doggedly finishes his round) and Rodney Spelvin (who finds new inspiration for his verse when he discovers "the Scottish game"). Sample quote from the opening story: "It was a morning when all nature shouted 'Fore!' The breeze, as it blew gently up from the valley, seemed to bring hope and cheer, whispering of chip shots holed and brassies landing squarely on the meat."