In The King of Swings: Johnny Goodman, the Last Amateur to Beat the Pros at Their Own Game (Houghton Mifflin, $26), Michael Blaine offers not only a well-crafted biography of a resilient athlete but also a honed sociological portrait of Midwestern life in the 1920s and '30s. "The Omaha Field Club," Blaine writes, "must have seemed like a glorious oasis to Johnny Goodman. The city's most distinguished and affluent citizens drifted in and out of the lavish clubhouse. Johnny also caught glimpses of holiday activities, charity affairs, and tea parties for women who flounced around in the latest fashions. Among themselves, the caddies gossiped about the faster, younger women who sneaked a smoke or had a taste for strong spirits or didn't mind flashing an ankle."
Blaine dug into varied archives to capture the flavor of the 1920s, when hickory shafts, plus fours and hardpan fairways were the rule. He traces Goodman's first hint of greatness to his victory in the Omaha caddy championship. The same year, playing with cast-off clubs, he won the city title. Four years later, after scores of days spent hauling rich people's golf clubs and practicing on caddys' day, he rode a grubby mail train to the 1929 U.S. Amateur tournament at Pebble Beach. In the first round, the 19-year-old kid from the servant class bested Bobby Jones, a country club boy and darling of the upper class. Four years later, Goodman won the U.S. Open against a field that included Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Tommy Armour. In 1937, Goodman won the U.S. Amateur. No one since has won both tournaments, and no other amateur has won the U.S. Open.
It's been a while since I have so relished a biography of an athlete. Always refusing to compete for prize money, Goodman chose not to cash in on his fame. Blaine explains it well: "Johnny Goodman's values became a relic of a lost time. In our money-driven moment of American history, the idea that amateur athletes have an innate purity that is lacking in professionals sounds so quaint as to be incomprehensible. Today, scouts crawl all over talented junior high school basketball players, and we think nothing of it."
Goodman died in 1970, at age 60. I recently heard from a friend who served drinks at the Omaha Field Club that a favorite spot for current members is the Johnny Goodman Room.