Golf's Iron Horse: The Astonishing, Record-Breaking Life of Ralph Kennedy

Most true golfers do a lot of reading about golf. This could be magazines, blogs, on-line sites and, of course, books. We've all read the pretty picture books, the top 10 rankings, club equipment reviews and the most notable names in the sport. While this is fine and normal, it's a bit played. How many more pictures of Pebble Beach can look at? How many more top 10 ranking categories are left? This book is a much needed and refreshing revelation in the written words of golf. Whoever heard of Ralph Kennedy before? Sounds like a bus driver. Or neighborhood bartender. But his story and journey around thousands of golf courses is a story us golfer rarely, if ever, read about before. We are fortunate that John Sabino brought this character to our attention. We are fortunate we were able to live through the travel challenges and life/times of another era. So well written and interesting with each passing page. A very highly recommended gift/present for the golfer who needs and wants something different ... and is a bit tired of paging through the usual golf centerfold pictorials.

How could it be that such a cool and intriguing story hasn’t been told before? An amateur golfer who was a viral media sensation of his day (albeit through newspapers) and a man of extraordinary stamina. Sabino did his homework and the book is well researched and well written. Bravo for bringing the story of Ralph Kennedy back to life. I would love to play the Old Course at St. Andrews as the 3,000th course of my playing career. And Pebble Beach as the 2,500th isn’t too bad either. I also enjoyed the non-golf historical references sprinkled in each chapter which really helped to set the context and almost had me want to ride the rails to find new golf courses.

I read Sabino's first book on traveling to play modern golf courses so I bought Golf's Iron Horse. I enjoyed his story telling in his first book and he makes the transition to a biographical book seamlessly. I was always under the impression that trying to travel and play a lot of golf courses was a modern phenomena aided by the internet and golf magazines ranking. Who knew this has been going on for generations. I was particularly impressed with the chapter on Ralph's epic journey to play in the Western US and Canada and,like in Sabino's first book, his engaging and breezy style is well suited here.

What a great story. Do pencil salesman still exist; If so I want to be one. It was fun to live vicariously through the life of a traveling salesman in Golf’s Iron Horse. I love golf history and enjoy reading about it. This book provides a new twist by recreating the record of an early twentieth century golf nut. This guy met a lot of people in his travels and among the most influential were O.B. Keeler and Bobby Jones. What better way to play Augusta National than to be invited be invited before the first Masters tournament? Yikes. Ralph Kennedy is a man for the ages.

First of all, when you stop and really think about the time in history, mode of available transportation etc, after reading this book you absolutely come away with total reverence for the accomplishment. But for me, the true delight was the way in which the author wove in current events of the day while following Ralph's journey. A must read for the golfer who is also a history buff!

still reading it and enjoying the stories.

fun

Golf's Iron Horse presents the journey of Ralph Kennedy, a long-time New York resident and pencil salesperson, as he played an almost unbelievable number of golf courses in the United States and throughout the world. In addition to providing amazing details about Mr. Kennedy's travels, the author traces the rise of golf from a time in which the country had very few golf courses and players utilized clubs called mashies and brassies, rather than irons and woods. Ralph Kennedy's odyssey lasted approximately fifty years and coincided with the founding of such legendary golf clubs as Augusta National, Pine Valley and Winged Foot, Ralph's home course. Golf's Iron Horse would be a worthy addition to any golfer's library.