Alun Evans

From Old Tom to the Tiger: the Golf Majors, 1860-2010: the First 150 Years Alun Evans

Publisher Marketing: This is the story of golf's Major Championships which began in the mid-19th century, before the formation of almost all international sport as we know it today. The (British) Open Championship was born, as an afterthought really, in 1860 when just eight odd-bods played the Prestwick links. It tells the tale of golf's struggle to grow in Scotland; of the proto-professional eking out a living from playing (and wagering) and doubling as a caddie, or greenkeeping and repairing equipment. It marks the early supremacy of 'Old Tom' Morris and then the Englishmen, Harry Vardon and JH Taylor, before recounting the evangelical enthusiasm by which America converted itself to golf. It tells of an inaugural US Open as early as 1895, within a decade of the first Club being formed, and the (US) PGA Championship following in 1916. With the Great War over, the story of Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones, one the slick pro, the other the classy amateur, is recalled as they carved up the 1920s between them, before an invitational sideshow by Jones for his chums developed into the 'The Masters Tournament'. It relates how Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead fought for hegemony through the global tumult of the 1940s to segue seamlessly into the next generation, and modern times. It shows us how 'The Big Three' Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player - then assumed the mantle; how Palmer, possessing all the pizzazz made for such an age, was generally attributed with coining the term 'Majors', just as golf became big in the booming TV age around the turn of the 1960s. It goes on to tell how Arnie and his cohorts delivered golf to the world as a major sport; and through them, the Golf Majors of The Open, US Open, PGA Championship and Masters Tournament, as an entity, became real. The story is brought up to date, after introducing new superstars like Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Seve Ballesteros, with the Golf Majors hitting the 21st century and the wonder that is (maybe was?) 'Tiger' Woods. Here, 150 years of the phenomenon that is golf is encapsulated through its greatest events. Alun Evans' consummate one volume chronicle of golf's greatest Championships - the so-called MAJORS - is an encyclopedic package on the subject: indeed, it has no peers. From Old Tom to the Tiger is a deliberate retrospective to celebrate 150 years of Majors golf, not just a stat pack for the nerdy and needy. It is unique in its scope; nothing can compare with it in golf, indeed in sport, for its detail and accuracy. But it is as much about storytelling as facts and figures; yet it's statistically more detailed than anything seen before. The author tells the story through an engaging, lively narrative, and, not forsaking the anoraks, backs it up with complete results; a results CV for every player who started a Major; and enough records to shake a stick at. Even jam-packed with anecdotes and facts, it is still portable enough to tote around the fairways and greens of Major Championships - and just as much a stand-by in the home, next to the TV, of course. Contributor Bio:  Evans, Alun Alun Evans was born on the last day of 1949 in the historic Welsh coal-mining valley of the Rhondda. He attended the Rhondda (Porth) County Grammar School, and represented it in rugby, cricket, athletics and diving, before going on to Bedford College, University of London in 1968, to gain colours in football (he captained the college team for two years), cricket and rugby. Three years later, armed with a BA honours degree in Geography, Alun married long-time girlfriend Caryl, and they would go on to have two great daughters, Joanne and Katy. He only began writing when his 20-year career in financial services ended abruptly after two ankle operations went wrong. His Golf Majors odyssey began in the early 90s when his recuperation coincided with a Welshman, Ian Woosnam, winning the Masters in 1991. Alun had rarely played golf he was just getting into it when the ankle problems started; and although pretty mad about most sports, golf and its history were of no particular interest to him at the time. But that would change in the aftermath of that Masters Tournament. Alun felt he needed to know more about the significance of Woosnam's achievement. But the more he tried to put it into perspective, the more frustrated he became. The Masters, of course, is one of golf's four 'Majors', a term kindled around 1960 by Arnold Palmer; but nowhere could he find anything which conceptualized the Majors as a collective. All he found were writings concentrating on the individual events. So, eventually, in this absence any published documentation of note, he decided to put all four Majors together through his own research hopefully one day in a book, but initially for his own satisfaction. His voyage of discovery had begun. Nearly 20 years on, this is his eighth book on golf, and the Majors are either the subject of these, or feature very strongly in them. Alun is also a crossword setter and his puzzles have appeared in the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent and Observer, among many others, often under his pen-name, Axe. Today Alun and Caryl still live happily together in Milton Keynes. Both daughters are now married: Joanne after spells at the LSE and Sorbonne, is a successful political lobbyist, whilst still bringing up our first two grandchildren, Eva and Tom; Katy graduated at Sheffield, and not to be outdone by her sister, she doubled the grandchildren count in one day...and what a day. Jackson and Billy Friday were born on a Friday 11/11/11!