Golf Books #89 (Out of the Bunker and into the Trees…

… or The Secret of High-Tension Golf)

One of Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time

For less expense than a lost bet on the links, you can learn how to get “out of the bunker and into the trees.” Rex Lardner, a unique stylist who hit his best shots when in a towering rage, reveals the secrets every golfer needs to know, including how to loft a ball out of your own trouser cuff; how to properly grip the 2-wood when smashing it against a tree; and how to hit special “trick” shots—the fade, the slice, the yip—without a club if necessary.

Out of the Bunker and into the Trees is essential reading for those looking to correct typical golfing faults. If you are an inconsistent putter, Lardner demonstrates how you never need to take more than six putts to hole out on any green. Too much reliance on advice from strangers? Lardner presents an object lesson with his traumatic experiences teaching pros.

Originally published in 1960, Out of the Bunker and into the Trees is so funny that various chapters have been widely reprinted in sports magazines. Readers today continue to enjoy this delightful parody of golf and golfers by a humorist who claimed to have discovered the reason people play golf: “to destroy themselves.”

Publication Date: April 1, 2013 (source)

About the Author

Rex Lardner (1918–98) is the author of fifteen books, including The Lardner Report, Downhill Lies and Other Falsehoods, and Ali. He was also a journalist and the chief writer for Ernie Kovacs on radio and television shows. Burt Owen was a photographer for publications such as Living for Young Homemakers and Sports Illustrated.