Holes Still to Play

R.N.A. Smith tees up 18 additional short stories in this fourth golf book to his credit. The fare ranges from his early to latest output, arranged in thematic pairs, thus creating nine chapters of increasingly edgy material, according to the author's viewpoint. You may not agree with his assessment, but you will be intrigued by the return of R.N.A.'s many notable characters in this collection, including golf pundit Professor Norman Birdbaum, course superintendent Christopher Larken, and that luscious lawyeress Leslie Overton Brentel. Darker, more complex works reign here, in comparison with his Classy Divots volume. Still, Smith's trademark of aligning golf's joys in close conjunction to its pricks and stabs is hardly absent within.