As we all know the offseason for golf in Canada is a long and cold one. While we will be dreaming of warm summer days and green fairways, we can pass this bleak time with a good book that can be both a time-passer and a wonderful escape from the world at large.

Here are nine great books that every golfer and fan of the game should have on his or her shelf.

A Good Walk Spoiled

By: John Feinstein

Feinstein spent most of 1993 and 1994 on the PGA Tour giving readers an in-depth look at both the stars of the game at the time like Nick Price and Greg Norman but also some up-and-comers. It’s an in-depth, well-researched, intimate storytelling at its finest.

Slaying The Tiger

By: Shane Ryan

About 20 years after Feinstein’s book was released comes the same kind of in-depth storytelling, but this time for the Tiger era. Ryan goes inside the ropes (and beyond) with the stars of the modern game – and those still trying to make it big – who have joined the professional golf world thanks to Tiger Woods.

Mike Weir: The Road to the Masters

By: Lorne Rubenstein

The Canadian golf hall of fame member (Rubenstein, in this case) was talking to Weir about doing a book on his chase for a first major championship since he was a top-ranked golfer in the world at the time, early-2003, and had won a handful of times on the PGA Tour. Could he take the next step? Rubenstein needed only to wait until April to find out. When Weir won the Masters that year, he found Rubenstein in the crowd of the press centre at Augusta National and said, “this will be good for the book eh Lorne?”

The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods

By: Hank Haney

Released in 2013, this book remains a go-to text for most other books written about Tiger Woods almost a decade later. The insights and the no-fear attitude Haney had with divulging all kinds of details about Woods’ training regime and personal interactions are impressive.

The Match: Hogan, Nelson, Venturi, Ward, and the day golf changed forever

By: Mark Frost

In the mid-1950s Eddie Lowery (who once caddied for Francis Ouimet, who won the U.S. Open as an amateur) is now a wealthy car dealer. He pulls together a match for the ages featuring the biggest names in golf at the time to play at the iconic Cypress Point. The story is more than just about the on-course action; it’s rich in cultural history and writes on a sport that is transitioning from its amateur roots.

Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf

By: Ben Hogan

The book was written in 1957 and remains one of, if not the, most iconic golf instruction books ever published. It’s all about the fundamentals of golf, from one of its masters. There’s a reason why there are more than one million copies in print.

The Second Life of Tiger Woods

By: Michael Bamberger

It’s Memorial Day, 2017. Tiger Woods has been arrested for a DUI in Florida and his mug shot – plus jail video – has been released to the masses. This is also the start of the second life of Woods, according to author Michael Bamberger. A fine exploration through Woods’ life as a father and his return to the PGA Tour winner circle – first at The Tour Championship in 2018 and then the Masters in 2019. A deeply reported book on how Woods returned to the top.

Seven Days in Augusta

By: Mark Cannizzaro

Cannizzaro, a columnist for the New York Post, has attended the Masters for more than a quarter of a century and it shows in this book – released in 2020 – about the most iconic week in golf. The book has behind-the-curtain storytelling not just on the tournament, but the cast of characters (not just golfers) who make up the week – plus all aspects of Augusta, Georgia itself that are worth knowing about.

Dead Solid Perfect

By: Dan Jenkins

The incomparable Jenkins wrote a roaring comedic masterpiece in 1974 about life on the PGA Tour. It was turned into a movie in 1988 and focuses not just on golf but has some laugh-out-loud moments on life and death, marriages, and the lighter side of the game.