The Edict: A Novel from the Beginnings of Golf

By Bob Cupp

Book Overview

In this colorful tale set in 1457--the year the Scottish Parliament banned golf (in the first recorded reference to the game)--renowned golf architect Bob Cupp brings to life the origins of a pastime... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307266451
• ISBN13: 9780307266453
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Knopf
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Starter Book for a Golf Library

If you play the game, you should enjoy this book. It's the best interpretation of the origins of golf that I've read. You will enjoy how the author subtly interplay's the characters of the past with present. It's a book, that once started, I didn't want to read cover to cover, but planed to ration it out over enjoyable, enlightening evening readings and the plan was successful. You don't have a golf library unless this books in it.

Such an interesting read

The word `golf' first appeared in a 1457 Scottish Edict banning the Scots from playing in order to turn their focus to archery and defend their realm from the English. And so The Edict is a fanciful tale by Bob Cupp about how such a law could have found its way out of the parliament. In the community of Fife a structure was built to honor St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, brother to Peter and an apostle to Jesus. This would become the ecclesiastic cornerstone to pilgrims and golf tournaments, increasing the community population exponentially. It is in this backdrop that Cupp writes about a famed tournament that caused the King to outlaw golf on March 6, 1457. The Edict is the story about a shepherd with a natural talent, who could win the event and be the next celebrated hero of the games. However there are two evil ruffians who go out of their way to cause him to fall short of his dream. A nobleman with a major betting problem realizes he has seriously placed himself in jeopardy by making an ill-advised bet, and an evil lender who plays innocent people against each other, creating a community of distrust, who use skullduggery to prevent the dark horse from winning. In a Foreword written by Jack Nicklaus, he describes Bob Cupp as one of the most talented golf course designers who has the ability to turn red clay into brilliant fairways. In addition to his vivid imagination, Bob has a healthy sense of humor and the gift of gab. Hence, Jack believes The Edict is important to golf in that it brings to life the possibilities of golf's rudiment beginnings. Whether you are a casual or serious golfer, The Edict will inspire greater passion and a reverence for the game. I don't believe any reader can honestly read this book and not want to pick up a set a clubs. As a casual golfer that is exactly what I did and I felt a new understanding for the nuances of golf. Thanks Bob! Armchair Interviews says: You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy.

Magnificent Spin or Yarn on Golf's Scottish Origins

What a marvelous read Cupp has given us! From his prose (whom he graciously acknowledges he had help with) to his research into Scotland and the line drawings, the total product is to be fully inhaled, exhaled, re-inhaled and given away as presents. This book is soooo good! The romp through history and shepherds boredom to the course designer and the final edict is truly captivating and delightful reading. Golfers will adore it, and even the non-golfer would likely enjoy this read through time. Aficionados will find the likes of Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus in here as well as USGA, etc. By all means, buy this book and read it. Anybody else wonder if this could be made into movie?

ME THINKS THIS IS A BONNY BOOK!

Edicts are meant to be broken, and a novel about how golf might have began, got stopped, and begun again, was meant to be written by a real live golf course maker, writer, artist, social observer, and bon vivant. Bob Cupp, who's designed fair ways and fair greens all over the earth, has published a novel so deep in historical fact and useable information that it's enjoyable on loads of levels. In other words, do you know why we play golf with a hole? Really? You know, sausages are linked ... some crimes are linked ... but finally we get the explanation from a man who knows: Cupp's narrator tells us, in golf, what "links" really means. Cupp's narrator gives us a review of grasses ... and a review of ancient equipment. In The Edict, you get the best golf lessons. All you have to do is crack this handsome book open and start ... grinning. The story is about a young shepherd, Caeril Patersone, who's a natural golfer and plays in matches here and there, governed by the United Golf Honours Society, against golfers who make cameo appearances under ancient names and descriptions. Cupp pays quirky tributes to memorable characters very much like Nicklaus, Hagen, Hogan, Palmer, Snead, and Jones. Caeril's handsomely crafted, too, but there's always got to be jealous character lurking around to make the story even more interesting ... and violent ... and it's the local money lender and outright grumpy fart, Mordiac Domni. In Caeril's quest to win the championship, goons get ventilated with arrows and gutted with knives ... a local bonny gal, Eta, bares it all in hopes of distracting our hero and it damn well works ... and the most unlikely creeps turn into real gentlemen. All because of this pesky sport called golf. Look closely in The Edict ... literally: look closely ... and also enjoy something unique to any modern golf novel: Cupp's own drawings accentuate the entire book. Who is that modern golfer in ancient leggings on page vii? Could that be the great golfer from Latrobe on page 63 ... sporting a bushy beard? Could be ... sure is. And that's part of the fun of this book. The author's clever hand and mind is all over ... and in ... the pages. The Edict is a novel ... it's fictional entertainment ... but it's a truthful book. You can feel the affection the author has for the sport and the towns and topography on which we play it ... and you can feel the affection for how he thinks golf might have started six hundred or so years ago. I say let's make a new edict up: let's make this special book the official golfer's Bible. In the King James version we're supposed to believe a dead man ... can come alive? Then let's believe a simple man ... a humble shepherd ... can play golf, a lot, and that his woman will still love him, too. And who's to say their children became the famous ancient club makers and golf professionals we learn about in coffee table books ... those old Grey Beards whose old photographs we gaze at and wonder if

delightful sports historical thriller

In the fifteenth century, golf has become the national pastime of Scotland with only raiding matching it with intensity. So popular is the sport, raiding is halted during the annual tournament at St. Andrews while betting on the players is hot. The favorite to win the St. Andrews tourney in 1457 is shepherd Caeril Patersone. However, a noble panics when he realizes he made a stupid bet. To insure that Caeril fails to win the event, he writes off a debt in exchange for beautiful Eta to distract the favorite. If that fails, he still has his ace in the hole of appealing to King James II to ban the sport and consequently the tournament because he has proof too many soldiers hit the links instead of the archery range. THE EDICT is a delightful sports historical thriller based on a real event that occurred in Scotland when the King outlawed golf on March 4, 1457. Readers will root for Caeril, who in spite of being the best golfer in the tournament, is a decided underdog because the fix is in. Historical readers and golf aficionados will believe that Bob Cupp is a masterful author as he makes birdies and eagles with this ace of a fifteenth century sports saga. Harriet Klausner