The Golf Explorer

This book chronicles the adventures of Hal Gevertz, who traveled the world playing and writing about golf courses and golf resorts.

This book is a compilation of Hal Gevertz's golf articles from 1971- 1983 and 1987-2009, comprising 357 articles, which were originally written for the San Mateo Times Group Newspapers and later for Northern California’s Golf Today. Interspersed are a collection of photos that demonstrate his golf travels and great moments with family and friends. The contents lists the articles in chronological order and the index lists the articles in alphabetical order. The articles have a general structure to them; in the original articles Hal talks of the starter, the condition of the course including the fairways and the greens, history of the course, specific holes, the recrea-tion and amenities of resorts, his better shots, review of the city, then finishes the articles with a quirky sentence summizing the total experience. Pay attention to the phrases contained by single quotation marks; they’ll make you laugh. Hal makes up some words and often describes courses as ‘the beauty and the beast’. His reviews are well-researched and honest, and this makes for good reading, reading that contributes to the historical knowledge of the reader, especially related to the course design, investment and development of the course acreage and surrounding land. The articles are written about exceptional golfing territories. Ireland, Myrtle Beach, the Dominican Republic, Scottsdale, Wales, South Africa, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada’s Muskoka region, Scotland the Al-garve in Portugal, are just some of the regions that Grandpa played and wrote multiple articles. He also played golf off the grid on a cruiseship called ResidenSea, written in the 2003 article.

Hal Gevertz was born in 1924. His love for the game of golf began as a teenager in his first job as a caddy at the Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco. He became a player when a greenskeeper gifted him three wooden-shafted clubs. He took a break from Golf for 4 ½ years at the age of 18 when he joined the Coast Guard during World War II. In his early adult years, he joined the dawn patrol every Sunday at Lincoln Park Club. Years later he opened a Children's Furniture and Clothing Store in San Bruno, called Lullaby Lane. He then joined the Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae. Hal worked 5-7 days a week alongside his wife Rosalie. They had 3 children. He was an avid fisherman and golfer. During his work years he played golf every Sunday morning. In 1968, he invented a golf-putting trainer known as Wonder Putt. In 1971, bored with the sameness of the same golf course every Sunday and with his adventurous spirit, he had an idea. Hal decided to play a different course every Tuesday as far as he could drive that could get him back home by Tuesday night. This was the beginning of his 38-year golf writing career. This weekly adventure turned into travels across the country and around the world. He published in the San Mateo Times Group Newspapers and later for Northern California's Golf Today. His good friend and 6 decade San Francisco Chronicle Sports Writer Art Rosenbaum was his mentor and helped him navigate the world of gold writers. Hal was happy to play alone, with his friends, sons and grandchildren.