Getting Up and Down: My Half Century in Golf

Known as the Walter Cronkite of golf, Ken Venturi has broadcast the game for a record-setting 34 years; his autobiography shares his perspective of the game on many topics and comes out in the 40th anniversary of his stunning upset victory in the 1964 U.S. Open.

Getting Up and Down:, S04
On the 40th anniversary of his 1964 U.S. Open Championship victory at Congressional Country Club, Ken Venturi is opening up with stories that he has never spoken about publicly before regarding his involvement in golf history.
Venturi, who is best known to generations of golf fans as the long-time voice of CBS Sports' golf, speaks about the disappointing finishes at The Masters in 1956, 1958 and 1960 before his rebound victory at the 1964 U.S. Open.

Getting Up and Down: My 60 Years in Golf by Ken Venturi with Michael Arkush (Foreword by Jim Nantz) is an amazing story for golf fans who thought they knew their sports history.

Venturi became the talk of the golfing world with his stunning victory at the U.S. Open. Reporters across the country had referred to Venturi's finishes at The Masters as "choking" and the public's perception was equally negative. Venturi shares how he battled through such personal attacks to stand atop the golfing world.

But it is Venturi's experiences during and after The Masters in 1956, 1958 and 1960 that sports fans will be compelled to learn more about. Venturi has never shared with the public the reality of what happened during that time and sports fans everywhere will be shocked at what they read.

In 1956, Venturi, then just a 24-year-old amateur, carded a 66 at The Masters (still a course record for an amateur) and was atop the leaderboard after three rounds. A score of 80 during the final round resulted in a second-place finish. Comments incorrectly taken out of context by the media ended up adversely affecting his reputation with both the public and officials at The Masters in the wake of his disappointing finish.

But that loss was nothing compared to what he suffered two years later. At the 1958 Masters, questionable actions by course officials resulted in Arnold Palmer winning his first major and Venturi, who was one shot back with seven holes left to play, finishing fourth. After that day, Venturi's personal relationship and respect for certain key figures in the sport was never the same again.

The details will shock sports fans everywhere and will make golf enthusiasts rethink their allegiances.

Getting Up and Down is not like any other golf book ever published. Retired from a sports commentating career that had prevented him from easily sharing his stories before, Venturi sets the record straight about many subjects that the general public has not known about for decades.

About the Authors
Ken Venturi is most remembered for battling heat exhaustion on the 36-hole final day to win the 1964 U.S. Open (Congressional Country Club, Washington, D.C.). That same year he was named the PGA Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. In 1956 as just and 24-year-old amateur, he led The Masters after three rounds. Venturi won 14 tournaments despite having a career cut drastically short by carpal tunnel syndrome and severe hand problems after just 10 ½ years on the tour. Venturi soon became a commentator for CBS Sports' coverage of golf and became a mainstay of the network for a record-setting 35 years. In 1998, he was awarded the Old Tom Morris Award and the Ambassador of Golf award. In 2000, Venturi was the captain of the victorious U.S. team in the Presidents Cup. In June 2002, Venturi retired from his broadcasting career. He and his wife Kathleen live in California.

Michael Arkush has written seven books, including Rush!, a New York Times best-selling unauthorized biography of Rush Limbaugh. Arkush lives in Oak View, California, with his wife, Pauletta, and daughter, Jade.