PGA of America Offers Home Library


The PGA of America, which marks its 90th anniversary this month, is presenting the PGA Home Library. The collection of golf books celebrates the game’s rich history and unique position within the literature of sport.

Each volume in the PGA Home Library has been painstakingly reproduced from an original, often very rare, edition. The series’ first volume is “Picture Analysis of Golf Strokes: A Complete Book of Instruction” by Jim Barnes, one of the best players in the game when golf was first developing in America in the early 1900s.

Originally published in 1919, the book was one of the first written in America on how to play the game, and is today a treasured volume by golf collectors. In 1925, Barnes authored another popular instructional book, “A Guide to Good Golf.”

"The PGA of America is proud to offer the PGA Home Library, a tremendous opportunity that enables golf enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy some of the rarest and most treasured literature in the game," said PGA of America President Roger Warren. "We believe that the PGA Home Library will be an invaluable resource for golf historians and upholds a PGA tradition of being a leader in growing the game."

Barnes, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, won the inaugural PGA Championship in 1916 and, following the conclusion of World War I, repeated as champion in 1919. He went on to win two other Grand Slam events, capturing the 1921 U.S. Open and the 1925 British Open.

“Picture Analysis of Golf Strokes: A Complete Book of Instruction” gives readers a rare opportunity to view some of the first photographs of the golf swing, as well as Barnes’ own commentary to enable amateur golfers to simplify the game.

The edition also features a foreword by PGA Director of Instruction Rick Martino, one of the foremost instructors in golf. Barnes’ book will be sold through leading book retailers and offered directly to PGA professionals, beginning this spring. The PGA Home Library is published by Sports Media Group, based in Ann Arbor, Mich.