POLAND, Ohio – Fishing and golf have a lot in common.
Both move at a leisurely pace and take place in a serene setting.
Most of the time, there isn’t much action.
But there is always the understanding that something great could be around the corner. And that is the thing that keeps fishermen and golfers hooked.
Jack Wollitz has spent much of his life with either a fishing rod or a golf club in his hands.
The Poland, Ohio, resident examined his love for fishing in his 2021 book, “The Common Angler.”
He is now doing the same for golf.
His newest book, “The Common Golfer,” will be published in paperback on April 7 (Tucker DS Press, 166 pages, $15.99). It will be available at TuckerDSPress.com and several local retail stores.
The book has 47 chapters, each one a vignette that characterizes the people, places and intangible elements of golf.
He delves into the game’s culture with stories that take place on the green or off the course.
The short chapters have titles like “I Should Have Paid Attention in College Physics” and “Mark Your Balls and Stay Out of My Line.” They might sound flippant, but they introduce the people and circumstances that are part of the game.
“I really had a lot of fun with the topics,” Wollitz says during a phone interview from his winter home in southern Florida. “If I wasn’t interested in a particular aspect, I wouldn’t write about it. But there are things that I found interesting, like the music, some of the personalities, the different aspects of the game, the technology… even the clothes.”
There is, of course, a chapter on the real or imagined golf course dress code.
“There are a million different opinions,” Wollitz says. “Some people say you should never wear blue jeans, flannel shirts, untucked shirts or backwards caps, because you have to fit into the country club mode.”
Because each chapter stands alone and there is no running plot line, the book can be picked up at any time for a short read. People who ordered the hardback version, which was shipped a few weeks ago, love that aspect of it.
“They say, ‘this is perfect, because I can pick it up in the evening and just read a chapter or two,’ which is all they want to read,” Wollitz says. “And they can pick it up the next day and don’t have to remember what happened in [the previous chapter].”
Now retired, Wollitz started his career as a reporter and editor at a Mahoning Valley newspaper. He later became a public relations executive.
Wollitz continues to write a weekly fishing column for local newspapers. He brings his journalistic approach into his books.
“It fits my style of writing a column,” he says. “My column is a five-minute read, and most of my chapters are a five-minute read.”
“The Common Golfer” has some local angles. There’s a chapter on the Mill Creek Golf Courses, and another one on the Greatest Golfer tournament, which has become a local tradition.
Wollitz will schedule book signings at Mill Creek’s pro shop and at local book stores.
He will also do signings at the golf course community where he and his wife spend winters in southern Florida.
Storytelling
Diane Laney Fitzpatrick, a writer who has known Wollitz her entire professional life, says it’s the storytelling that makes his new book so accessible.
“‘The Common Golfer,’ like golf itself, spans the technical, the emotional, and the philosophical,” she says in a comment printed on the book’s jacket. “And, like golf, it ultimately is about the stories that we tell ourselves and others. Jack has a talent for making the game accessible and relatable to every reader through his stories.”
Fitzpatrick worked under Wollitz early in her career when she was a newspaper reporter and he was an editor.
A Hubbard native who has lived in seven states and now lives in Shaker Heights, she is the author of “Home Sweet Homes” and “Great Grandma Is on Twitter and Other Signs the Rapture Is Now.” She is also executive director of the Youngstown Press Club.
Although Fitzpatrick is not a golfer or an angler, she enjoys both of Wollitz’ books.
“He can write about a subject and even if you don’t know anything about it, you are drawn into it and can enjoy it,” she says in a phone interview. “A lot of sportwriting is insider-ish. It’s written for an insider-type group. When Jack writes, it’s for everybody. You don’t have to know a thing about fishing or golf to enjoy it and learn something.”
For that reason, Wollitz can capture an audience that is well beyond the devotees of the sport, Fitzpatrick says.
“He reveals the zen of golf, and combines it with interesting stories about the people, and also how personal it is for him,” she says.
Pictured at top: Jack Wollitz holds a copy of his 2021 book “The Common Angler” at his favorite golf course in Florida. He recently published his newest book, “The Common Golfer.”
