A Beginner's Guide to Golf by Larry Dennis - Booked by the Cover

Welcome to the Book by the Cover Blog(cast), a spin on a podcast I'm currently able to record again! Please look forward to new podcasts this month-find the older ones on YouTube.

Today's book is: A Beginner's Guide to Golf by Larry Dennis.

This week I am in New York City, NY. When I left for this leg of the tour, I brought along a CD player. So, I plan on walking around and checking out some CD stores. I figure that's a good fit for a golf-themed week since there's-you know-a hole in one of those things. I'm jumping ahead of myself though. Let's get into the description of the book and how it'll inspire some travel. 

The cover of this book has a green background with the title in larger yellow text. The text of the title is in all caps as is a caption at the bottom of the title that states: "How to get started... and have fun doing it." The text of the title has a thin black stroke around it; the white text at the bottom does not. Close to the title, in the top left corner of the cover, there is a yellow banner arranged diagonally advertising the author of the forward, Arnold Palmer.

The cover is sprinkled with people illustrating different happenings around a golf course-some, hopefully, more common than others. One guy hangs off the side of the letter G. Another is somehow hitting a golf ball out of water, and another guy is nearly shoulder deep in sand. Is that why golfing often takes all day? Other illustrations depict more of what's expected to happen: standing by a golf cart and speeding by in a golf cart.

["It hadn't been this clear in years. It hadn't been so blatantly obvious in 2,742 days. Yet again I was being baited into being irritated. It starts small. Any slight reaction or acknowledgement turns into an intensification and before you know it, all you can focus on is not giving in to the manifestation of other people giving up on themselves so hard they agree to irk another for a living. 

At least, it was that way until I read about how the feeling of irritation can be channeled just like any other. You know how it's impressive to juggle and unicycle at the same time? The same is true for being annoyed and being productive. Next thing you know, the irkers have pushed you into an area of being immune to irritation and super-powered in the realm of productivity. Then they start following you not to annoy you, but to learn and steal from you. They know no one will ever think the ideas came from the person they irk. Or at least, they know others-especially the ones who hired them-will be more than willing to pretend they don't all know where such lusciously productive and odd ideas came from originally.

Today it was different though. Unlike the typical coughing and dragging of the feet, this guy was pushing while typing as though he wasn't purposefully jiggling the table to the nth degree. He was very good at it; it would have been undetectable if it weren't for the fact his movements were just a little too rhythmic. Plus he looked way more on task than anyone I'd ever seen at a library-working too hard to cover up his true intentions. 

The sweet thing about it is: the ones who over do it are always the ones who have the most heart. They are the ones who truly have to act out the bullying because it's not really in their nature. So, I just let them do their thing and hope another job opportunity presents itself soon for everyone's sake."

This is another excerpt from the book I'm writing. It's taking longer than I imagined to get pages written, but I hope to have it done by the end of the year. ]

Now for an NYC itinerary inspired by the book. 

Researching golf courses.

Van Cortlandt Park Golf in Manhattan is the oldest public golf course in the United States-perfect for a beginner's guide. 

Now, we'll focus on the surprising illustrations. First: the guy climbing the letter. 

Searching.

City Climb is the winner here. This unique experience allows you to hang off the edge of one of the tallest buildings in the world. I guess that's what it feels like to get a hole-in-one (on top of the world). Honestly, I feel great after a par 3. 

Next, those golf carts.

Midtown New York Sightseeing Tours offers luxury carts paired with a tour around the city.

I didn't mention this earlier, but I'm now noticing a bird on the cover that looks like it's nearly being hit with a golf ball. Let's look into that.

Looking up target shooting in New York City.

Apparently this type of target shooting sport is called Skeeting. Instead of real birds, clay disks are propelled into the air to simulate birds. Mountain Valley Farm in Millerton, NY offers 50 disks and is a good option for newbies.

Finally, there's the guy in the sand.

Sands Point Preserve Conservancy and the Coney Island Sand-sculpting competition are solid options. The 33rd, 2025 competition was this past weekend. With that in mind, the ideal time of this full itinerary is mid August to allow attendance of the competition along with everything else. In addition to the competition-or for other times of year, the conservancy offers a wide array of events and activities for families, singles, and any group dynamic in-between. 

And that's it for this New York City-focused itinerary inspired by the book, A Beginner's Guide to Golf.

Start by playing golf at the oldest public golf course in the country. Climb to the top of the world to make up for golf balls that didn't make it in the hole after one swing or in search of pesky lost golf balls. Take a luxurious golf cart tour around town in style-skerrt, skerrt. Skeet. Get sandy in one or two castle ways. Consider sipping an Arnold Palmer while listening to a Walkman CD player to bring it all full circle. 

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