Golf Lessons
Chips, Chunks and Cheers
Old Golfers
We are not old, we say aloud, to each other.
Laughing as we approach the first tee.
Our knees may ache, shoulders, too.
Our hips may sport titanium.
We are golfers, through and through.
Our backswings are shorter now.
Permitting us to stripe the fairway.
Occasionally.
Around the greens we have the knowledge,
But not the touch.
Our putter may betray us.
Long. Short. Wide.
No matter. It is not the game that matters.
It’s the chatter.
And while the clatter-popping of worn joints may slow us
We stay together.
We are not so old, we say aloud.
John Baldoni likes to call himself the world’s worst golfer for as much golf as he plays. His lack of talent for the game has not dimmed his ardor for the game itself and the friends he has made playing it.
Golf Lessons: Chips, Chunks and Cheers is a love letter to the game – a collection of poems about the experience of playing and camaraderie it can produce. Baldoni distills wisdom with wry insight and joy. Baldoni’s own photography makes Golf Lessons a book to read and re-read one poem or a handful at time.
Golf Lessons is a book that golfers will enjoy and those who do not play the game will want to give to loved ones who do.
Advance praise...
“John Baldoni is not afraid to the illuminate the flaws of his own game for insights and laughs. After all golf is a game that teaches humility along with good fun.”
Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford Motor Company and Boeing Commercial Airplanes
“Golf Lessons is a delightful blend of humor, wisdom, and the nuanced art of the game we love. Through these poems, John Baldoni captures not just the rhythm of golf but the deeper lessons it imparts—humility, patience, camaraderie, and the joy of a well-struck ball (or even a shank). A must-read for anyone who finds their soul on the fairway."
Garry Ridge, Chairman Emeritus, WD-40 Company
“I don’t play golf, but I live with someone who puts himself to sleep each night by going over and over his favorite shots. So I’m intimately familiar with the dread of the shank, the agony of the slump and the pressure of the birdie putt. Now John Baldoni has engaged his poetry muse to produce an ode to the game that is famously beautiful and and frustrating in equal measure. Highly recommend!”
Sally Helgesen, author of How Women Rise and Rising Together
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