Just as Michael Lewis's Moneyball captured baseball at a
technological turning point, Brett Cyrgalis's Golf's Holy War takes us
inside golf's clash between its beloved artistic tradition and its
analytic future.
The world of golf is at a crossroads. As tech-nological innovations
displace traditional philosophies, the golfing community has splintered
into two deeply combative factions: the old-school teachers and players
who believe in feel, artistry, and imagination, and the technical minded
who want to remake the game around data. In Golf's Holy War, Brett
Cyrgalis takes readers inside the heated battle playing out from weekend
hackers to PGA Tour pros.
At the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, California, golfers
clad in full-body sensors target weaknesses in their biomechanics, while
others take part in mental exercises designed to test their brain's
psychological resilience. Meanwhile, coaches like Michael Hebron purge
golfers of all technical infor-mation, tapping into the power of
intuitive physical learning by playing rudimentary games. From historic
St. Andrews to manicured Augusta, experimental com-munes in California
to corporatized conferences in Orlando, William James to Ben Hogan to
theoretical physics, the factions of the spiritual and technical push to
redefine the boundaries of the game. And yet what does it say that Tiger
Woods has orchestrated one of the greatest comebacks in sports history
without the aid of a formal coach?
But Golf's Holy War is more than just a book about golf--it's a story
about modern life and how we are torn between resisting and embracing
the changes brought about by the advancements of science and technology.
It's also an exploration of historical legacies, the enriching bonds of
education, and the many interpretations of reality.
