Gary Player's Black Book: 60 Tips on Golf, Business, and Life from the Black Knight

by Gary Player, Lee Trevino (Foreword)

Gary Player's Black Book contains fifty questions and detailed responses from eighteen-time major winner Gary Player. The book, divided into three parts, focuses on specific scenarios and problems that arise in golf, life, and business. In the first section on golf, topics include putting, scoring, etiquette, the mental side of the game, and fitness and nutrition. In the section on life, Player, the father of six and grandfather to twenty-two, addresses issues such as parenting, who to turn to when in need of advice, and more. Finally, in the section on business, he details how to deal with competition, among other topics. Player responds to questions such as: Golf: How do I play a bunker shot from a plugged lie? Life: I feel like I've lost the passion for what I do. How do I get that back? Business: When people criticize my work I take it very personally. How do you handle criticism? Player draws from both on and off the course experiences dealing with competitors, businesspeople, and family. In doing so, he offers a unique glimpse into handling adversity with regard to these relationships. The advice that he offers is invaluable to fans of all ages.

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2017

About the author

Gary Player, The Black Knight

Gary Player has won 167 professional golf tournaments worldwide and is one of only five men to capture golf’s coveted career Grand Slam. He won nine Major championships on the PGA Tour and nine Major championships on the Senior Tour, and is the only player in history to complete the career Grand Slam on both Tours. Off the course, Player has raised more than $62 million for underprivileged children’s education globally through the efforts of The Player Foundation; he has designed nearly 400 golf courses worldwide; he has bred more than 2000 winning racehorses on the Gary Player Stud Farm in South Africa; and in recognition of his achievements in golf as well as his dedication to charity, Player has received many awards including the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and the PGA Tour's Lifetime Achievement Award. He currently serves as the Global Ambassador to the World Golf Hall of Fame and has been dubbed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, and The World’s Most Traveled Athlete™ having travelled more than 25 million kilometers. In 2015, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his career Grand Slam achievement and his 80th birthday. In 2016 he captained the South African Olympic Golf Team in Rio de Janeiro at the Summer Olympics.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this review and more on my blog, uncovered-books.

I received a free copy of Gary Player's Black Book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Well this was a first for me. I have never before brought a book after being given a copy of it, but Gary Players Black Book is just that great. I can already tell that it is going to be very well worn from me rereading it as the advice that Player gives.

I wanted to read this book because Gary Player was an amazing golf professional, I did not pick it up thinking that I would get anything out of it; but whilst I was reading it I actually made some changes to how I approach not just my golf but life. Some of the golf advice is so simple but yet so effective that I feel stupid for not thinking of it.

For golf, my favourite suggestion was to swing with a weighted club about 100 times both left handed and right handed to build up your muscles in the way that they will be used during the swing. As soon as I read this, I instantly went to grab one of my old golf clubs and put a half kg weight on it, duct-taped it so that it would hit me and did some swings with it. It is crazy how different it is to swing like that extra weight but I can see the benefit that I will gain from doing that regularly.

For most people, they will think that the golf questions will not have any good advice for them as they do not play, or are not interested in golf. What surprised me, and will surprise you is how Player manages to make specific questions in something that anyone from any walk of life can take on board.

I could spend hours talking about the advice that Gary Player give in this book, but the best way to take it in is to read it in its entirety and understand that these are suggestions and advice from his own personal experience. Just because he has a different background to you does not mean that you are unable to adjust how he went about not just his golf but his business and life.

This is for everyone, whether you enjoy golf or not. Gary Player has some amazing advice and lessons that anyone can learn from.

[Malcolm Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has been involved with sports my whole life it's cool to learn about how someone became as successful as Gary through sheer perseverance and hard work. I think the advice found in this book is very applicable to everyone. One thing, that in my opinion, would make this book better (but I suppose it is to be expected for someone who has played golf as a career his entire life) would be if for on the life and business advice, if it didn't all have to be brought back to the golf course and more of Gary's life and business experiences outside of golf were brought into the fold. There were little tidbits that started out that way, but it always went back to something on the golf course.

[Phillip Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE Great GARY PLAYER

Great book from a great golfer!
Gary Player gives life, business, and yes golf tips, mostly centered from his own life and business experiences, and he’s from his golf experiences.
The game of life is like the game of golf.
Some of the tips are a little general, but all are good advice.
Hindsight is 20 and 20 and life and change happens (Player stresses this in the book), but it is interesting that Gary and his business manager son have had serious issues since the publication of the book, and Player now reps PXG instead of Calloway.
Highly recommend.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author mixes a walk through his life and a recollection of the lessons he learned along the way. He resists making this purely a golf book full of swing lessons or retelling his grandest exploits. Instead, he is genuinely reflective of the life he’s led (mistakes included) with a gratitude for the blessings he’s received and a perspective for the twists and turns the decades have taken.

[CherylR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is organized in a question and answer type format. The first two parts were good and went fast. The last section dragged s little for me. I thought some of the answers were long winded.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook