How I Played the Game: An Autobiography

by Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer (Foreword)

Byron Nelson was one of golf's greatest legends. He was one of the finest golfers ever to pick up a putter, and the man who had the most magnificent year any golfer has ever had—1945, when he won an incredible eighteen PGA tournaments, including eleven in a row, and finished second in seven others.

How I Played the Game is the beautifully told tale, in his own words, of a man determined to be the best his hardscrabble rural Texas upbringing and his near-death experience with typhoid fever; his early years as a caddie at Fort Worth's Glen Garden Country Club (where as a 15-year-old he beat another young caddie named Ben Hogan in the Caddie Championship); the lean years as an amateur and as a young pro during the Depression; and the golden years of the 1940s, when he invented the modern golf swing and forged the legend of "Lord Byron."

Even after his sudden retirement (the real reason for which is finally revealed here) his impact on the game never lessened. Besides his many years as an insightful TV golf commentator, he was mentor to several future golf champions, Ken Venturi and Tom Watson among them. And he continued to play top-caliber golf with the greats of the game, like Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, and some who were less than great—President Eisenhower, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and a host of others.

Laced throughout with scores of priceless stories, anecdotes, opinions, and even golf tips, and with an in-depth, event-by-event recreation of his golden year, 1945, How I Played the Game is golf writing and remembrance of the highest order—irresistible reading for every golfer and fan.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Ted Barringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never really a fan of Byron Nelson or Ben Hogan, both long, long before my time. I am glad I read this book, I learned quite a lot about Nelson. He seems to be the "real thing." I was a long time member of HVCC in Durham, Nc so I was well aware of the 11 tournament win streak which HVCC was a part of. I read with great interest the stress and competitiveness with which he endured during the streak.

It is amazing that he was able to achieve all that he did over the course of his life, he retired from Major Golf as a 34 year-old. Good grief! I am sure he was everything he says he was, I know he was admired by everybody from Palmer, to Nicklaus, to Woods.

If you are looking for smut, smears, and tales out-of-school on the "rocking" 1940's, you will not find it here. This book is all about hard work, working hard, poverty, purity, and family and friends. In these days of debauchery a little goodness from yesteryear is not a bad thing.

If you like golf, read it - if not......

[D.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dad knew Nelson, so I met him as a child and saw him a number of times over the years. Maybe that's why the book didn't resonate with me much. It dragged in places, but that may be because I already knew much of his story.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love to play Golf, this autobiography was a very dry retelling of all the events of his career. I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get through it.

[Bill Fairchild · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not think the writing was that great but the story was.