My favorite Ken Bowden book

On the different levels of influence of people who have been instrumental in Jack Nicklaus’ career, there is  Barbara and family members way at the top, and on a level right below would be Ken Bowden, who died Sunday at age 86.

As a golf literary figure, Bowden ranks as one of the greats but someone who was involved in books you’ve likely seen but not noticed his name because Jack was the main attraction. The pair worked together on a dozen books, among them Golf My Way in 1974 and at the back end of their work together, the bio My Story and instruction book My Golden Lessons.

3 versions of the Aultman-Bowden "masters of golf" book

But Bowden, American-born to British parents but who grew up in Australia and England, was a collaborator with the late John Jacobs on the classic Practical Golf. And he also teamed up with Sam Snead. Longtime periodical readers will recall he was editor of Golf World-UK and for a few years in the early 1970s led the Golf Digest editorial team.

Nicklaus spoke highly of his friend in an extended tweet: “The Nicklaus family, along with the golf world, lost a great friend Sunday with the passing of my longtime biographer Ken Bowden. … Beyond writing all my instructional contributions, Kenny was a close adviser and a confidante. He was a very good player, very good writer, and, most important, a very good friend. Barbara and I will miss Kenny and his friendship, and our hearts and prayers go out to his wife Jean.”

For all of his good work with the Bear, however, the Bowden book that is my favorite--and is one of the most underrated golf books ever--was done with a Golf Digest colleague, Dick Aultman. They came out with The Methods of Golf's Masters in 1975 by publisher Coward, McLaun and Geoghegan, and numerous revisions since with the title The Methods of Golf’s Masters or The Masters of Golf. The book, which also utilized legendary artist Tony Ravielli, analyzed the swings of around 20 golf greats. You would give your golf library an upgrade by getting the latest copy, which is likely in paperback.

The last time I got to connect with Bowden was when he came to the Golf Digest office to talk about, among other things, another possible edition of the book. His enthusiasm was infectious, even for a book he’d already done several times. It was the sign of a man in love with his subject and in love with golf writing.