This month’s pick is John Feinstein’s “Tales from Q School: Inside Golf’s Fifth Major.” Published over a decade ago, it’s a popular read in golf circles and one of numerous golf-themed books by the prolific Feinstein. The book is dated in the sense that Q School no longer feeds directly into the PGA Tour, but it’s a phenomenal read about truly pressure-packed, high stakes golf. Additionally, Q School is still alive and well as a feeder into the Korn Ferry Tour. As the 2018-19 golf season just concluded and there was heartbreak and elation in Evansville, IN at the Korn Ferry Finals, this book will help put into perspective what many of those guys face in the coming months. If you haven’t read this book yet, I recommend it and this this time of year is perfect to do so.
The description reads as follows:
It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling competitions in any sport. Every fall, veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school, as the tournament is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the 30 slots available. The grim reality: if you don’t make it through Q school, you’re not on the PGA tour. You’re out. And those who make it to the six day finals are the lucky ones: Hundreds more players fail to get through the equally grueling first two stages of the event. John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for these coveted positions in the 2005 Q school as only he can. With arresting accounts from the players, established winners, rising stars, the defeated and the endlessly hopeful, America’s favorite sportswriter unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour’s brutal all-or-nothing competition.
Hope you enjoy!