THE BALL IN THE AIR is not your typical golf book. It doesn’t revolve around tour players, exotic trips to majestic courses, or the majors. Instead, Michael Bamberger introduces us to three individuals who love playing golf for the joy it brings them.

Hall of Famers Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Paul Runyan and others began their iconic careers working as caddies or in other endeavors associated with golf courses. Bamberger chronicles a female version of that early connection to the game. Pratima Sherpa grew up in a maintenance shed at the Royal Nepal Golf Club in Kathmandu, and her story was featured in Golf Digest. She eventually would earn a scholarship from a California college and become the first amateur golfer from her native Nepal to achieve world recognition.

"You don’t need to love the sport to be drawn to the characters who come to life on the pages of this enthralling book."

Ryan French came from a family of golfers and played on a collegiate team. He focused on the nuts and bolts of the game and recognized that there was a story behind every score. A coach of his once said, “Too bad you can’t make a living from all this random stuff you know.” It was a prescient observation considering where Ryan ended up following a major detour.

Finally, we meet Sam Reeves, a self-made millionaire in the cotton industry. Sammy, as he was known, was the son of a cotton mill owner. In 1943, at the age of eight, he began working in his father’s mill earning 10 cents for each piece of cotton remnant he stitched together. At the end of the summer he made $124, the proceeds of which went to purchasing stock in AT&T and Chrysler. Sammy also caddied at the local golf course. All the caddies there were African American, except for him. He learned how to properly grip a golf club. As Bamberger notes, “A good grip was a mark of class, like a pressed suit on Sundays.”

There is a fourth subject here: Michael Bamberger himself. Being a writer and a caddy has deeply affected his view of the game and the relationships developed through it. As he can attest, sharing a round of golf with a stranger can be a rewarding and enriching experience. An impressive supporting cast includes such greats as Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus.

You don’t need to love the sport to be drawn to the characters who come to life on the pages of this enthralling book.