The Women's Guide to Golf: A Handbook for Beginners

Kellie Stenzel Garvin, a PGA and LPGA class-A teaching professional, has been golfing since she was 3 years old. In her book, The Women's Guide to Golf, she attempts to teach the woman golfer who has not. Assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of the game, she explains everything. The chapters are set up as lessons, the first ones covering the course, the ball, the hole, and the equipment. The simplicity of these first lessons may seem a little insulting--after all, a beginning golfer is not the same as a beginning reader. But when she discusses grip in lesson 5, pay attention--that's when Stenzel Garvin starts to shine. With the aid of 75 black-and-white photos, she takes the novice golfer through the basic points of putting and the short game before moving on to the full swing. Two of the most valuable lessons aimed at helping the beginner avoid the pitfalls that would make her stand out: step-by-step instructions for going to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls and playing a round of golf. "Fake it 'til you make it" is her mantra. Left-handed golfers be warned, this book is written strictly from a right-handed perspective, so all instructions will have to be translated. --Suzanne Sexton