Two Years in St. Andrews

Two Years at Home on the Old Course

By: George Peper

Narrated by: Fleet Cooper

The Old Course at St. Andrews is to golfers what St. Peter's is to Catholics or the Western Wall is to Jews: hallowed ground, the course every golfer longs to play - and master. In 1983 George Peper was playing the Old Course when he hit a slice so hideous that he never found the ball. But in looking for it, he came across a For Sale sign on a stone town house alongside the famed eighteenth hole. Two months later he and his wife, Libby, became the proud owners of 9A Gibson Place.

In 2003 Peper retired after twenty-five years as the editor in chief of Golf magazine. With the younger of their two sons off to college, the Pepers decided to sell their house in the United States and relocate temporarily to the town house in St. Andrews. And so they left for the land of golf - and single malt scotch, haggis, bagpipes, television licenses, and accents thicker than a North Sea fog. While Libby struggled with renovating an apartment that for years had been rented to students at the local university, George began his quest to break par on the Old Course.

Their new neighbors were friendly, helpful, charmingly eccentric, and always serious about golf. In no time George was welcomed into the local golf crowd, joining the likes of Gordon Murray, the man who knows everyone; Sir Michael Bonallack, Britain's premier amateur golfer of the last century; and Wee Raymond Gatherum, a magnificent shotmaker whose diminutive stature belies his skills.For anyone who has ever dreamed of playing the Old Course - and what golfer hasn't? - this book is the next best thing. And for those who have had that privilege, Two Years in St. Andrews will revive old memories and confirm Bobby Jones's tribute, "If I were to set down to play on one golf course for the remainder of my life, I should choose the Old Course at St. Andrews."

©2006 Kevin Pappas (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great golf book

Any additional comments?

There are so few good golf books. It's almost like authors think golfers will buy anything about golf. Most just insult our intelligence. This one is great. George Peper actually lived at St. Andrews and gives us an incredible inside look into the Holy Grail! Thanks George! I loved your book.

Enjoyable story and narration

Certainly makes one want to visit St Andrews and surrounds with or without the golf.
Excellent narration.

For golfers, worth a listen

I listened to this because I have a golf trip to St. Andrews coming soon. It was useful from that perspective since it gave the author’s opinions and insights on several of the courses in the area (Old, New, Himalayas putting course, Jubilee). The local characters in the story are fun, as are the stories about the R&A and other golf clubs in the area. If you’re looking to develop a “what to do in St. Andrews” list for things besides golf, this is not the best book for you.

By the way, the reader is great, even when he mispronounces Furyk, Anika, Stableford, Medinah, and Elin!

Very well written and informative book on St. Andrews

The author did a fantastic job describing the culture in St Andrews and shared many funny and thoughtful views.

New title: I'm George Peper, and I'm Sooooo Important

The first third of this book was good, because it was all about St Andrews and the life they were experience. Then it turns into George Peper telling us just how important he is, how all the clubs want him, all the people he knows, how he stayed in Jack Nicklaus' home. Real letdown.