11 Best Golf Books of All Time: Must-reads for every golfer

Around The DIY Golfer, golf books are foundational to my teaching. I am an avid student of this game and have formed many of my opinions from a combination of personal, competitive golf experience and my deep study of the game through books.

I've read a lot more books than the ones mentioned here, but these are the best golf books for all types of golfers in my opinion.

Be sure to bookmark this post as I often add to this list!

As a web developer by profession, when I saw a golf book that talked about "dynamic programming" I was all ears.

And boy did it deliver. Every Shot Counts is probably the single most influential book in the past couple of decades and introduced the strokes gained methodology that is used on tour today.

While this book is geared towards someone who enjoys looking at statistics and data, I think the conclusions we can draw from it apply to anyone who steps foot on a golf course.

If you're a statistics nerd, buy this book now. If not, don't worry, I cover all of the findings of this book across The DIY Golfer website in qualitative terms, so you'll surely stumble on it at some point!

This book is full of actionable strategies for lowering your scores. For years, I have used several of the tips I read in this book during competitions.

If you play in your club championship, the amateur tour, or even skins games with your friends, this book will have you shooting lower scores in no time.

It would be irresponsible of me to not put this legendary text at the top of my list. It's short, concise, has excellent visuals, and covers all the basics of the game. While arguably not the most "beginner friendly", it can be read by golfers of all skill levels.

I think every golfer should read this at least once, but there are 2 sections of the book I'd take with a grain of salt:

1. Ball position - Hogan talks about placing the ball position off the inside of the left foot and adjusting the width of the stance depending on the club. In general, this is good advice, but don't get too prescriptive with it. Different lies and shot shapes will require slight adjustments to ball position.
2. Right elbow - Lots of amateurs will look at how Hogan tucks his right elbow into his side and try to replicate it. This is NOT good for many golfers. Everyone is built differently and Hogan was able to tuck his right elbow more than most of us can. It's okay to have a slight "chicken wing" in the backswing, so long as the left arm is adequately supported.

This is a totally underrated book. You won't see this recommended on many golf sites, yet it is an INCREDIBLE story of Gary Player's career. Gary gives a behind-the-scenes look at what a tour player thinks about leading up to, during, and after winning a major championship.

While you won't get a bunch of tactical tips from this book, you'll learn how to compete from one of the best in the game.

Golf My Way by Jack Nicklaus is one of my favorite books because he not only teaches the fundamentals of golf but also sprinkles in some of that 18-time major champion wisdom and strategy.

This is a great book to "read between the lines" and soak up everything the Golden Bear has to say!

Similar to Golf My Way, you'll find all sorts of golden nuggets in this book.

In addition to fundamentals, Tiger talks about things like the mental game, course management, and why he plays like he does.

If there is any book I'd recommend buying a physical copy of, it's this one. With lots of great pictures, it's both a beginner and expert-friendly guide to the game of golf. There's something in this for every golfer.

While I can't say I'd recommend this book to most golfers (it is VERY difficult and confusing to read), I'd be leaving out a piece of golf history by excluding it.

After studying this book deeply, it has become the most influential book for my own understanding of the golf swing. Furthermore, the concepts in this book lay the foundation for nearly every teaching methodology you see across the golf industry today (whether the instructor accepts/understands this fact or not).

If you truly want a challenge and are looking to deeply understand the golf swing, I recommend following my Golfing Machine reading guide.

This is a collection of bite-sized stories from Harvey Penick's teaching days that offer a dose of entertainment followed by some actionable strategies for shooting lower scores and improving your golf swing.

Harvey Penick was the golf coach at The University of Texas from 1931 to 1963 and more famously coached great players such as Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw.

This book is full of wisdom and has something for every golfer.

Seeking a way to calm the mind and perform better in tournaments, I found mindfulness and meditation to be one of the most effective ways to do that. I started a daily practice years ago and have kept up the habit to this day.

Zen Golf provides a gentle introduction to mindfulness and how you can apply it to golf.

If you're looking for a way to lower your scores while also getting more enjoyment out of your rounds, this is a great place to start.