The Green Road Home: Adventures and Misadventures as a Caddie on the PGA Tour

by Michael Bamberger, Nick Price (Foreword)

Today Michael Bamberger is one of the top sportswriters in the world, but twenty years ago, at the tender age of twenty-four, he reached the summit of another field -- professional golf. He set no course records, made no monstrous putts, and no television cameras followed him around. But the writer received a golf education most fans only dream about: He spent six months caddying on the PGA Tour. Part sports book, part travel-adventure, The Green Road Home is the book that launched Bamberger's career. For six months he carried the bags of some of the game's finest, most promising, and most colorful characters -- from legends such as Al Geiberger ("Mr. 59") and George Archer, to up-and-comers like Brad Faxon and Steve Elkington -- in tournaments ranging from the Byron Nelson Classic to the British Open to the PGA Championship. The Green Road Home is an entertaining and insightful behind-the-scenes account of days and nights on the PGA Tour; a true classic of sports writing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Michael F. Bamberger is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and the author of multiple books.

Reviews

[David Jonescu]

Sport stories from the 70s-90s are always fascinating to me so was glad to read this. Overall a fun read and interesting journey. In 2026 it would be fun for someone to “reenact” this.

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Bryan McCullick]

Fantastic

Solid writing and great memories of names from my childhood. Wish I could have done something like this back in the day.

[Paul McCormack]

Really enjoyed this book. Really well written and a great insight life on tour in the 80s

[Elizabeth Sims]

I appreciated Bamberger's frankness and perceptiveness.

[Kevin]

Been a while since I read this, but I do remember liking it. It was written right before caddying on the PGA tour became a profession, in the pre-Tiger era. Back then, the purses weren't big enough for very many caddies to make the kind of living they do now. Bamburger did it for the experience of doing it and had to hustle his way onto some bags by showing up early the week of golf tournaments. It was a fun read and interesting to hear about the lifestyle of guys loping on the tour.

[Edward Zitvogel]

P-18.75/0.00 (060926) Illinois