book
beat
New book is just fore! fun
SOMETIMES IT’S good to
indulge in an obsession. This
month Chronicle Books is
introducing a new title to its
Obsessed With trivia-based
series: Obsessed with Golf.
All of the books in the
series have an embedded,
computerized quiz module
that lets readers play alone or
challenge a friend in either
random or select-a-question
mode. The quiz module also keeps track of
how many questions each player gets right.
The Connection spoke with the new book’s
authors, Costco members Dave Shedloski and
Alex Miceli, to learn what it means to truly be
obsessed with golf.
Shedloski, for instance, has been covering golf tournaments for more than 40 years
for newspapers and golf magazines and has
written two books about Jack Nicklaus. Yet,
when asked by one of his book’s editors if
he’d be interested in working on Obsessed
with Golf, he says he knew from the number
of questions and the subject
“that I would probably not be
able to do it on my own.” So,
he enlisted the help of his
friend Miceli, founder of
Golf.com and president of
the Golf Press Association.
After coming up with a
list of subjects to turn into
chapters, such as players, the
Masters Tournament and
women’s golf, the two spent
roughly a year compiling the 2,500 questions
that comprise this book, and took advantage
of covering various tournaments to talk to
people who helped them craft and answer
questions. Although both men could be called
golf experts, each says he
learned a lot while working
on the book.
“Golf is all we do. We
cover 20 to 25 events a year,”
says Miceli. “We’re never
away from golf, but we were
glad to get it done.”
Both agree that even those who know a
lot about golf will find that much of the
book’s material is new to them. “This isn’t for
the faint of heart,” laughs Miceli.
On the other hand, the authors don’t
want to scare off anyone who considers him-or herself a casual fan.
“There are questions for everyone who is
interested in the game,” says Shedloski, such
as the origin of the word golf, which tour
player introduced Michael Jordan to golf and
which town in Indiana sent approximately
6,500 golf balls to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Shedloski adds, “The book is far from the
stodgy element of golf.”
—Stephanie E. Ponder
The Costco Connection
Obsessed with Golf,
Obsessed with Hollywood and
Obsessed with Baseball are
available midmonth at most
Costco warehouses and at
costco.com.
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