The legendary “Voice of Golf,” renowned BBC broadcaster and commentator Peter Alliss, offers up a bag of trivia treats that will appeal to all golfers, from novice to pro. Alliss’ 19th Hole covers the history of golf and the pop culture that has grown up around it, including the customs of the sport, the codes of conduct, the top courses, the world’s ten greatest holes, and much more.

From the hilarity of “When Good Golfers Go Bad” to the reasons why golfers got their nicknames (Hal Sutton and “Halimony” is a great one!), this little book packs a long drive, presenting facts, statistics and anecdotes sure to please even as they educate and inform. We learn about the players, the game itself, and the best places to play the game, but also all that interesting stuff you don’t hear about watching the big tournaments on network TV. Alliss and co-writer MacWilliam tell us about those who almost made it big and those who did, especially the greats who made it into “Alliss’ Hall of Fame” (the others are relegated to “The Great Golf Collapses”). They also show us drawings of the best courses, tell us the top five golf movies, and provide plenty of insightful commentary about everything from women in golf to animal intrusions on the course to the great battles of golf history.

Filled with as much fun as fact, Alliss’ 19th Hole is the kind of book that will inspire many trivia games among golf aficionados and will also educate those of us who know very little about the sport to the point where we can actually understand it, and maybe even come to appreciate the magic and whimsy as seen through the author’s eyes of a sport quick becoming a favorite among men and women of all ages.

Alliss’ 19th Hole is the perfect gift for the golf lover in your life - even if that means you.