Product Description

It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most gruelling competitions of any sport. Every autumn, veterans and talented hopefuls alike sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school as it is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the slots available. The grim reality: if you don't make it through Q school, you're not on the PGA tour. You are out. And those who make it to the sixth day are the truly lucky ones. Hundreds of players fail to get through the equally gruelling first two rounds. John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for those coveted PGA positions in the 2005 Q school as only he can. With arresting accounts from the players - established winners, rising stars, the defeated and the endlessly hopeful - America's favourite sports writer unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour's most brutal all-or-nothing competitions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322383 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
'10/10 ... highly recommended ... a real page-turner for those like me passionate about the game' GolfMagic.com 'Revealing insights ... it will certainly make you laugh' Irish Times 'This book has a brilliant beermat proposition at its core: what is it like to have your financial future entirely dependent on hitting a ball into a hole with a stick from three feet away. That is what faces those participating in Q School' Daily Telegraph 'I recommend Tales From Q School to devoted golfers' National Club Golfer

IRISH TIMES
'Revealing insights . . . it will certainly make you laugh'

DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Brilliant '

Customer Reviews

Can You Play Without Thinking About the Number? -- A Confused Concept for This Book Destroys Most of Its Value
Tales from Q School has a fundamental flaw that steals most of its potential charm: Mr. Feinstein thinks he is writing Open all over again. That book was horribly flawed by lots of names and mini-biographies about people that few other than their relatives would want to read about. Tales from Q School has the same flaw . . . along with a new one: Mr. Feinstein decides to teach you everything you never wanted to know about how the format and rules have changed over the years (and repeats the key points ad nauseam throughout the text). Argh!

Q School isn't really Q School any more. It's just a series of annual golf tournaments with qualifying rounds. Depending on where you finish in the field in each round, you may or not be able to advance to the next round or to various professional tours (including the PGA tour).

Mr. Feinstein is fond of proclaiming that almost everyone had to go through Q School to make it to the PGA Tour and that everyone has a great Q School story. So why didn't he just interview 300 players from the past and present and share with us the best 100 or so stories? That would have been a great book.

Instead, he decided to write a history of the 2005 Q School. In the book, he includes a few of the older classic stories. There were also a few compelling stories that occurred during the 2005 Q School. But in between the good stories, Tales from Q School is a yawn.

So why write about Q School? First, few people other than professional golfers know much about it. Second, it's a horrible experience that causes a lot of happy and sad moments. Third, there's a lot of drama involving those who come close to qualifying as they near the end of their rounds.

Basically, Q School tests pros for their ability to play well consistently while under pressure. Most good golfers can score when there's no pressure and no gallery. But the PGA Tour has lots of pressure and enormous galleries. So it's not a bad test in that sense. Those who can stay relaxed and just play golf seem to do fine in Q School . . . but that's hardly anyone.

I would have rated the book lower if it weren't about golf. Even enjoying a few new golf stories is worth trudging through an unfortunately conceived and executed book.

Can You Play Without Thinking About the Number? -- A Confused Concept for This Book Destroys Most of Its Value
Tales from Q School has a fundamental flaw that steals most of its potential charm: Mr. Feinstein thinks he is writing Open all over again. That book was horribly flawed by lots of names and mini-biographies about people that few other than their relatives would want to read about. Tales from Q School has the same flaw . . . along with a new one: Mr. Feinstein decides to teach you everything you never wanted to know about how the format and rules have changed over the years (and repeats the key points ad nauseam throughout the text). Argh!

Q School isn't really Q School any more. It's just a series of annual golf tournaments with qualifying rounds. Depending on where you finish in the field in each round, you may or not be able to advance to the next round or to various professional tours (including the PGA tour).

Mr. Feinstein is fond of proclaiming that almost everyone had to go through Q School to make it to the PGA Tour and that everyone has a great Q School story. So why didn't he just interview 300 players from the past and present and share with us the best 100 or so stories? That would have been a great book.

Instead, he decided to write a history of the 2005 Q School. In the book, he includes a few of the older classic stories. There were also a few compelling stories that occurred during the 2005 Q School. But in between the good stories, Tales from Q School is a yawn.

So why write about Q School? First, few people other than professional golfers know much about it. Second, it's a horrible experience that causes a lot of happy and sad moments. Third, there's a lot of drama involving those who come close to qualifying as they near the end of their rounds.

Basically, Q School tests pros for their ability to play well consistently while under pressure. Most good golfers can score when there's no pressure and no gallery. But the PGA Tour has lots of pressure and enormous galleries. So it's not a bad test in that sense. Those who can stay relaxed and just play golf seem to do fine in Q School . . . but that's hardly anyone.

I would have rated the book lower if it weren't about golf. Even enjoying a few new golf stories is worth trudging through an unfortunately conceived and executed book.

Can You Play Without Thinking About the Number? -- A Confused Concept for This Book Destroys Most of Its Value
Tales from Q School has a fundamental flaw that steals most of its potential charm: Mr. Feinstein thinks he is writing Open all over again. That book was horribly flawed by lots of names and mini-biographies about people that few other than their relatives would want to read about. Tales from Q School has the same flaw . . . along with a new one: Mr. Feinstein decides to teach you everything you never wanted to know about how the format and rules have changed over the years (and repeats the key points ad nauseam throughout the text). Argh!

Q School isn't really Q School any more. It's just a series of annual golf tournaments with qualifying rounds. Depending on where you finish in the field in each round, you may or not be able to advance to the next round or to various professional tours (including the PGA tour).

Mr. Feinstein is fond of proclaiming that almost everyone had to go through Q School to make it to the PGA Tour and that everyone has a great Q School story. So why didn't he just interview 300 players from the past and present and share with us the best 100 or so stories? That would have been a great book.

Instead, he decided to write a history of the 2005 Q School. In the book, he includes a few of the older classic stories. There were also a few compelling stories that occurred during the 2005 Q School. But in between the good stories, Tales from Q School is a yawn.

So why write about Q School? First, few people other than professional golfers know much about it. Second, it's a horrible experience that causes a lot of happy and sad moments. Third, there's a lot of drama involving those who come close to qualifying as they near the end of their rounds.

Basically, Q School tests pros for their ability to play well consistently while under pressure. Most good golfers can score when there's no pressure and no gallery. But the PGA Tour has lots of pressure and enormous galleries. So it's not a bad test in that sense. Those who can stay relaxed and just play golf seem to do fine in Q School . . . but that's hardly anyone.

I would have rated the book lower if it weren't about golf. Even enjoying a few new golf stories is worth trudging through an unfortunately conceived and executed book.