How Golf Can Save Your Life

Book excerpt: Golf saved Drew Millard’s life, and he wants it to save yours, too. “Drew Millard’s How Golf Can Save Your Life is a lot of things—smart, insightful, funny, moving, in-the-know enough for serious golfers but accessible enough for newbies—but I think its most impressive quality is that it always manages to cut left when you expect it to cut right. Much like a golf shot, I suppose.” —SHEA SERRANO, #1 New York Times bestselling author “How Golf Can Save Your Life is a humble, honest, and frequently hilarious book that demystifies—and transcends—its subject. I’m not a golfer. But after reading it, I can say for sure that there’s nobody I’d rather suck with for eighteen holes than Drew Millard.” —ERIC NUSBAUM, author of Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between “With ceaseless humor and unyielding honesty, Drew Millard has created a unique look at the power a game can have on life. By tapping the vein of his own personal pain, Millard found that golf can be as fulfilling as frustrating. And by embracing the struggle, success can be measured in incremental increases in happiness, not in strokes.” —BRETT CYRGALIS, author of Golf’s Holy War: The Battle for the Soul of a Game in an Age of Science Drew Millard loves golf. We’re talking climbing a mountain, jumping over the moon, standing outside golf’s window holding a boom box levels of love. As a kid, he’d enjoyed the game, but since college, his clubs had been gathering dust in his parents’ basement. And then, a bout with depression led him back home to haul them out of the unfinished storage area under the stairs. It was what the doctor had ordered. In addition to medication and therapy, Drew needed to exercise. Exercise was not something he did. But golf? Sure, why not? As Drew fumbled his way through his first round in years, he discovered that sucking at golf was his new calling, one that helped him find a sense of balance and rhythm—both on the course and in his own mind. Drew’s deep emotional connection to the game inspired him to write this book, and his passion is infectious. Combining great storytelling with fascinating historical tidbits and moving personal insights, he writes about everything from how golf taught him to be a better listener, son, and friend, to how to slow down, appreciate what he has, and keep fighting the good fight. Along the way, he demystifies the customs, history, and rules of the game. Brimming with personality, accessibility, and a freewheeling spirit, How Golf Can Save Your Life is a celebration of the sport and an examination of all it offers. Read it and fall in love with golf—for the first time or all over again.