The Long and the Short of It

The Autobiography of Britain's Greatest Amateur Golfer

Gary Wolstenholme is a sporting legend, and the last of a dying breed-the career amateur golfer. A tall man and a short hitter, Gary had always kept the ball in play and relied on his magical short game. It is a style that has paid off. He has played in the Walker Cup six times, represented England on no less that 218 occasions, won the Amateur Championship twice, and has been head to head with Tiger Woods-and beaten him. He has won on every continent and played with legends of the game-such as Palmer, Nicklaus, and Ballesteros-but it has not always been easy. While many of the amateurs he played with came from wealthy families, Gary did not. They drove to tournaments in expensive new cars and stayed in five-star hotels; he got the bus or walked miles to the venue with his clubs on his back, staying at the cheapest bed and breakfast. If there was free food available at the clubhouse, Gary would try to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on site so that he wouldn't have to worry about paying for a meal. In this honest and revealing autobiography, Gary reveals everything about his long and successful career. From the highs of playing in the Masters in the early 1990s, to the lows of not being selected for the Home International series in 2008-even though he was still playing some of the best golf of his career. Now in his fifties, Gary Wolstenholme still wows the crowds whenever he plays.