Golf's Greatest Eighteen : Today's Top Golf Writers Debate and Rank the Sport's Greatest Champions

There is endless animated debate in famous clubhouses—at Augusta during the Masters, St. Andrews during Royal and Ancient Golf Club meetings, indeed at all major championship venues: if a foursome of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods were to play today, who would be the champion of champions? The proposition would be even more intriguing were they to compete on the same terms of modern, wonderfully conditioned courses, using the latest aerodynamic golf balls and rocket-shafted titanium clubs.
A fantasy, of course, but David Mackintosh has come close to answering this intriguing question with actuarial acumen. Indeed, the intrepid compiler of this book has gone much further than just one match, pitting the best of the twentieth century, all against all, in the most fascinating analysis ever. Applying a logic that the most constant factor in professional golf over the years has been competition for prize money, David has given every great player in his Golf’s Greatest Eighteen a fascinating opportunity—playing on today’s world tour for the same rewards to see who comes out on top. This remarkable feat of accurately balancing many thousands of events over ninety years reveals some remarkable and previously unconsidered aspects of the game’s all-time heroes. So who really was the greatest of all time? In the spirit of the challenge, the author simply provides the facts,many thousands of them, neatly arranged to put these glorious champions
in perspective, each reader then the final judge. 
Additionally, chapter after chapter, vivid word portraits capture these great figures at the pinnacle of their time on center stage—their spirits as well as their crucial swings. James Dodson on Sam Snead in southern hillbilly
vernacular is splendidly authentic; Stanford man John Garrity on Stanford champion Tom Watson, both with midwestern values, is arrow-straight. Kay Kessler has the ultimate inside track on Jack Nicklaus, following his
every footstep from schoolboy Ohio days to the present. Jaime Diaz on the determined, disciplined, and shot-making perfectionist Ben Hogan is splendid stuff as indeed is each and every contribution. I have had the great privilege to play with some of the men portrayed here or at least stood in awe in the presence of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and others. And I know all these writers and admire their passion for our game’s great history—passion obvious in each turn of phrase, each word of praise. No false flattery here. The authors of the eighteen essays here know their men and their times. Past greatness simply flows from their pens, chapter after chapter, leaving the warm afterglow of having met excellence, in its own time.
I hope you will savor the treats presented within the covers of this outstanding compilation as much as I did.
Enjoy!


Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
Palo Alto, California, March 2003


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Getting a Loan By Dianne Mylenbusch

Getting a loan means getting credit. That seems easy enough to understand, especially when you’re looking for a car loan, boat loan, or home loan. However, to completely understand credit, you need to look at credit as a way of life. You live in a “cashless” society, where plastic credit cards are more common in wallets than paper money. Learning about credit is a journey toward building one of the most important financial tools you can use — not only to make purchases, but also to enhance your reputation and standard of living. Does it matter how you handle your credit? You bet! The manner in which you establish, develop, and maintain your
credit is a direct reflection of your credibility, trustworthiness, and ability to repay your debt. It can affect your future employment and credit-seeking opportunities. Your focus is to make credit work for you, not for credit to overwhelm you in excessive debt. In this book, I share my knowledge of credit from both sides of the desk: as a loan administrator and as a credit-using consumer. Here you learn how to establish and properly maintain your credit. You explore the variety of avenues where credit is available: store charge cards and bank credit cards, as well as loans for your home, car, higher education, and major appliances. Finally, you identify the early warning signs of credit trouble, its unfortunate consequences, and how to seek counseling and fix your situation.

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DECODING THE NEW MORTGAGE MARKET

TO THE CONSUMER, it may seem like a mortgage is a mortgage is a mortgage. Find a house, put some money down, and move in. But the mortgage industry has gone through some major changes that affect absolutely everyone who wants to obtain financing to buy a home. Everyone. Understanding and interpreting these changes is critical to properly planning for the right financing. Make a mistake, and you’ll get the wrong loan. A mistake on a 30-year mortgage means a potential reminder of that mistake for the next 360 months. It can even mean the difference between getting approved or not getting approved. What used to be a complex mess of literally hundreds of different loan types has now been broken down into two basic categories: conventional and government. But those loans have also taken on their own twists and turns like never before.
For a 30-year fixed-rate loan, there are now literally 54 permutations to calculate not only the rate and terms but the literal approval itself. Loan programs have vanished. Credit guidelines have been restored to their original roots and in some cases made more onerous. Still others provide financing options not available before. It used to be that simply applying for a mortgage loan meant an approval of some type, somewhere. No longer. It also used to mean that almost anyone could be in the mortgage business and become a ‘‘loan officer.’’ No longer. This is the first book that lays out the new rules, why they’re there and how to get approved in the new mortgage market. Or perhaps ‘‘new’’ isn’t the best descriptor. Perhaps it’s simply a reversion to original lending guidelines. In reality, both statements are correct. But to understand where we are now, we have to understand how we got here.

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The Rough Guide to Montenegro 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Boasting one of the most dramatic stretches of coastline in all of Europe, as well as some of the continent’s wildest and most beautiful mountains, tiny Montenegro is likely to confound most visitors’ expectations. Nearly 300km long, its stunning Adriatic coastline is liberally sprinkled with historic towns, lively beach resorts, secluded coves and comely white-stone fishing villages, all punctuated by strips of fine sand and pebble beaches. The remote, often inhospitable interior, meanwhile, displays an outstanding array of snowdusted peaks, crystalclear lakes and rivers and deep forests and canyons. The whole adds up to a diverse landscape quite extraordinary for such asmall country.


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Fit for Golf : How a Personalized Conditioning Routine Can Help You Improve Your Score, Hit the Ball Further, and E

Several years ago someone told me that once you hit thirty-five you have to work harder just to keep playing golf at the same level. I want to play until I’m fifty-five, and I don’t want to be one of those guys just barely clinging to the PGA Tour. I want to keep getting better and I want to win. So when I turned thirty-five, I hired Boris Kuzmic as my personal trainer and started working out. I liked Boris’s background as both a professional golfer and fitness expert, and with the workout plan he designed for me, my torso strength and flexibility improved and my clubhead speed increased, which allowed me to hit the ball farther. 
Before long, working out became such a part of my routine that I regarded it as essential as hitting balls and practicing putting. I built a gym in my house and put a stair-climber in the TV room. Most people don’t know this, but on the final Sunday of the 2000 Masters I had to go out early to finish my third round before playing the final round. Boris and I met at 5:45 a.m. to spend a half hour in the gym getting warm and loose. I played twenty-two holes that day and wound up winning the tournament, which gives you some idea of how important fitness had become to me and my game. That’s an extreme situation, but whether you’re a weekend golfer, an aspiring junior player, or just someone who’s trying to get better, working out can help you, too. You can’t hire Boris, like I did, but he has put everything he knows about exercise for golfers into this book, which is almost sure to help. Although Boris has moved back to Sweden, I continue to work out harder than ever and I never miss a day. In fact, when I’m at home I often work out twice a day—in the morning before practice and then again afterward. Last year, at the age of forty, I won four times on the PGA Tour, recorded eighteen top ten finishes, and ended up first on the money list, so I think it’s safe to say that adding physical fitness to my golf routine has certainly worked out for me. I’m sure it can help you, too.

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The Metal Life Car The Inventor, the Impostor, and the Business of Lifesaving

I thank Susan Buker, my daughter- in- law, for her critique of my early draft. My thanks also go to John Arrison of the Penobscot Marine Museum Library, Jean Vickey of the Erie County Public Library, Cynthia Ploucher of the National Parks Service, Outer Banks Group, and Frances Hayden of the North Carolina Maritime Museum for the information they supplied. I would be remiss if I did not thank the Jacksonville University personnel, especially Anna Large, research librarian; Margaret Dixon, from interlibrary loan department; and Peggy Rickey of duplicating.
Also, I thank the following organizations for their permission to publish a photograph from their archives: the Smithsonian Institution for the photograph of the Francis metallic lifeboat; the Erie County Historical Society, Erie, Pennsylvania, for the print of Douglass Ottinger, Cutter Service; and the Bangor Public Library, Bangor, Maine, for the photograph of the Penobscot Lumberjack’s Batteau

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Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician

There’s an ancient story of a martial arts master who attempts to give one of his students, the “chosen one,” the secret to harnessing the power of the universe. But the two of them discover that the sacred scroll containing the secret is nothing but a blank reflective surface. Eventually, the student realizes the true meaning of the scroll, that the power of the universe is already inside of him. Armed with this newfound knowledge, the student becomes the master and defeats the evil warrior.

You may recognize this ancient story as the plot of the movie Kung Fu Panda. Yes, I realize that it’s a children’s animated movie about a noodlemaking panda bear with no formal martial arts training who is chosen over five highly skilled experts to fulfill a prophecy by defeating the villain. And I do realize that the movie is designed to appeal more to the funny bone than to the think muscle. But as I was in the process of writing the final chapter of this book, I took my 11-year-old daughter to see this movie. I couldn’t help thinking that its message, that the greatest power is inside of us all, is exactly the message that I want to convey to you, the reader, about this book. The “sacred scroll” that you now hold in your hands is nothing more than a highly reflective surface. It merely reflects the incredible power of your mind to visualize, analyze, and comprehend. That power is inside of you, and my hope is that this book will help you bring it out.

But before you undertake the journey through these pages, take some time to reflect on what it might take to reach your goals. How much effort are you willing to put forth? How much time can you spend each day working to achieve your desires? Someone once said that if you’re interested in something you’ll do what’s convenient, but if you’re passionate about something you’ll do whatever it takes. No student has ever mastered a subject without making great sacrifices. It takes time, dedication, hard work, contemplation, and concerted effort. It’s no different whether we’re talking about the martial arts, theatre arts, performing arts, or the art of mastering electricity.

The information contained in this book is not difficult, but it can be challenging. Some of the concepts can challenge your ability to straddle the line between abstract thought and real-world application. But if you love the production arts as much as Po, the kung fu panda, loves food and the martial arts, then you too are capable of impressive feats of artistry. All it takes now is for you to see your reflection in these pages. So I challenge you to dive into this book with the same enthusiasm as a panda bear fighting for a dumpling.
Namaste.
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Semi-Markov Risk Models for Finance, Insurance and Reliability


This book aims to give a complete and self-contained presentation of semi- Markov models with finitely many states, in view of solving real life problems of risk management in three main fields: Finance, Insurance and Reliability providing a useful complement to our first book (Janssen and Manca (2006))
which gives a theoretical presentation of semi-Markov theory. However, to help assure the book is self-contained, the first three chapters provide a summary of the basic tools on semi-Markov theory that the reader will need to understand our presentation. For more details, we refer the reader to our first book (Janssen and Manca (2006)) whose notations, definitions and results have been used in these four first chapters.
Nowadays, the potential for theoretical models to be used on real-life problems is severely limited if there are no good computer programs to process the relevant data. We therefore systematically propose the basic algorithms so that effective numerical results can be obtained. Another important feature of this book is its presentation of both homogeneous and non-homogeneous models. It is well known that the fundamental structure of many real-life problems is nonhomogeneous in time, and the application of homogeneous models to such problems gives, in the best case, only approximated results or, in the worst case, nonsense results.
This book addresses a very large public as it includes undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and applied mathematics, in economics and business studies, actuaries, financial intermediaries, engineers and operation researchers, but also researchers in universities and rd departments of banking, insurance and industry.
Readers who have mastered the material in this book will see how the classical models in our three fields of application can be extended in a semi-Markov environment to provide better new models, more general and able to solve problems in a more adapted way. They will indeed have a new approach giving a
more competitive knowledge related to the complexity of real-life problems.
Let us now give some comments on the contents of the book. As we start from the fact that the semi-Markov processes are the children of a successful marriage between renewal theory and Markov chains, these two topics are presented in Chapter 2. The full presentation of Markov renewal theory, Markov random walks and semi-Markov processes, functionals of (J-X) processes and semi-Markov random
walks is given in Chapter 3 along with a short presentation of non-homogeneous Markov and semi-Markov processes.

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National Law in WTO Law

This book examines how national law is treated in WTO law -- both in the WTO treaty and dispute settlement cases. The WTO treaty contains a set of far-reaching obligations establishing a systemic and
constitutional framework of interaction between WTO law and national law. WTO dispute settlement operates as an international layer of judicial review of national laws and administrative, judicial or
quasi-judicial measures. Consequently, many of the WTO dispute settlement decisions and rulings relate in different ways to Members’ national laws. Yet, there is no systematic analysis of this vastly
important subject. This book provides the first thorough map of an increasingly complex field. In doing so, it extends the enquiry beyond well-known formulas and combines practical analysis with principled
discussion of how the treatment of national law in international law can -- and indeed should -- ensure effectiveness of international rules and promote good governance within nation-states.
Sharif Bhuiyan is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He received LL.B. (Hons.) and LL.M. degrees from Dhaka University and LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Cambridge University, where he was a Commonwealth scholar. He is a member of the law chambers of Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates. He teaches a course on Structure, Process and Laws of International Governance and Cooperation at the Centre for Governance Studies, BRAC University.
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Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy

After just three years since the publication of the first edition of our book it is rewarding that favorable reception and interest prompted our publisher to suggest an updated edition. The concept of our proposed ‘‘Methanol Economy’’ in the intervening time has made progress from extended research to practical development in countries around the world. From smaller demonstration plants to full-scale
methanol and derived dimethyl ether (DME) plants, practical industrial applications are growing in this field. These include carbon dioxide to methanol (and DME) conversion plants but also large million metric tonnes per year, coal or natural gas based mega-plants using still available large coal and natural gas resources.
The full potential of the Methanol Economy will be realized, however, when the chemical
recycling of natural and industrial carbon dioxide sources into methanol and its derived products are widely implemented, making their use environmentally carbon neutral and regenerative. This will allow us to mitigate the grave environmental problems linked to global warming. At the same time chemical carbon dioxide recycling, eventually from the air itself, will provide humankind with an inexhaustible
carbon source available everywhere on earth. The needed hydrogen for the conversion of CO2 into methanol can be produced from water using any renewable or atomic energy source. This conversion will allow the continued production of convenient transportation and household fuels, and synthetic hydrocarbons and their products on which we all so much depend on. It should be emphasized that
methanol is not an energy source but only a convenient way to store, transport and use any form of energy.We are not suggesting that this approach is necessarily in all aspects the only solution for the future. The Methanol Economy, however, is a new feasible and realistic approach, warranting further development and increasing practical application.

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