Book Review: Feinstein Provides a Sampling from the Sea of Stories Told at Q-School

If you're a fan of golf and haven't been hiding out under a rock for the better part of a week, you've undoubtedly heard a feel-good story or two emerging from Orlando, Fla., and La Quinta, Calif.

Those two locations were the host cities for the LPGA and PGA Tour's qualifying schools, which concluded Monday when the men's Tour handed out 28 cards. 

Perhaps the most inspiring story is that of Brian Vranesh, a 31-year-old from Los Angeles who has never made a start on the PGA Tour but hasn't given up on his dream. He's worked a variety of odd jobs while pursuing golf and his persistence finally paid off this year. Vranesh fired a 7-under-par 65 Monday to make the tour on the number at 19-under-par. PGA Tour.com's Helen Ross details his story here .

The wonderful thing about Q-School, at least from a fan's perspective, is the sheer human emotion on display all week. For a majority of the players competing, the six-day grind is in some way a turning point in their lives. Everyone has a story to tell.

John Feinstein's "Tales From Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major", is a collection of stories from throughout the qualifying process for the PGA Tour in 2005. Feinstein chronicles the heartbreak and jubilation by simply giving the audience glimpses into how particular players have arrived at this moment, why it means so much and how the result will impact their lives.

In the book's opening pages Tour veteran Steve Pate is quoted posing a question, "Have you ever encountered any player who told you he didn't have a Q School story?"

In response, Feinstein writes: The answer to that is no, unless you count Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, and more recently, Ryan Moore, all current players who were so good coming out of college that they managed to avoid Q School. But just about everyone else who has joined the tour since 1965 has been there, and they all have stories to tell - some funny, some sad, many both.

It's very intriguing to come across names like John Holmes (now J.B.) and Steve Stricker who were both there at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla. , for the finals of Q-School in 2005. This year, they were both at Valhalla in Kentucky representing the United States in the Ryder Cup.

But for every Holmes and Stricker, there is a Johnson Wagner. Wagner shot a final round 78 at Q-School that year, dropping himself from inside the number to a tie for 70^th. Feinsten said that for Wagner, it had come down to one bad day.

"I still believe I'm going to be on the tour someday," Wagner told Feinstein. "I guess this wasn't my time. No one hands this to you. You have to take it. I didn't."

Wagner would eventually earn his Tour card by finishing 2^nd on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2006. Then, in 2008, he got his big break. Wagner picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the Shell Houston Open and earned an invitation to Augusta National and a two-year PGA Tour exemption in the process. In the span of three years, he'd gone from failure at Q-School to the Masters.

If anything, Feinstein's collection of stories takes you inside the trials and tribulations of the lesser known or emerging players on the PGA Tour. If you read the book and then watched Wagner pick up his first win and earn a trip to Augusta, it had to give you a better appreciation for his accomplishment.

It also gives you a sense of just how alone a player feels on the golf course, and how crushing a single shot can be. As one player was quoted by Feinstein, "When you're one shot short with the next year of your life riding on the result, it makes you want to cry."

Feinstein has written a number of books on golf including "A Good Walk Spoiled" and "The Majors". Tales from Q School is a must read. Hurry up and get it now. You've got 365 days to earn an appreciation for what those 28 men just accomplished in La Quinta.

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