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Aren’t You The Golf Guy?

Rich Lerner’s Unfiltered Journey from Allentown to The Golf Channel

A Swing, a Neighbor, and a Lifetime Obsession

Rich Lerner didn’t just pick up a golf club—he swung into destiny. Growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he spent his youth perfecting his stroke at Dorneyville Golf Center, his father’s local hub of fairways and frustration. But fate had a twist in store. At 15, a round with an older neighbor at Berkleigh Country Club planted a seed that would grow into a 30-year career.

Little did he know, that single game would shape his life—leading him to The Golf Channel, where he’d cover over 100 major tournaments, rub shoulders with legends, and absorb the sport’s wildest, most unfiltered stories.

Not Just a Memoir—The Real, Messy, and Hilarious Side of Golf

Now 65, Lerner is giving readers the book he wishes he’d had growing up. Aren’t You The Golf Guy? isn’t your typical sports biography. It’s a chaotic, heartfelt, and often laugh-out-loud dive into the people and places that made golf more than just a game.

Forget sanitized tales of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Lerner’s focus? The local characters, the quirky hangouts, and the unpolished truths that make golf feel like life itself. Berkleigh’s exclusive inner circle? His father’s Dorneyville Golf Center? These weren’t just courses—they were classrooms.

Detours, Encounters, and Golf’s Absurd Side

This isn’t a straight path. It’s a zigzag through golf’s weirdest corners:

• Samuel L. Jackson encounters that felt like scenes from a movie.
• Deep dives into modern stars like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler—because greatness isn’t just about the scoreboard.
• Self-deprecating humor ("a little bawdy," Lerner calls it) that pokes fun at the sport’s pretensions.
• 15 sections, 100+ short chapters, each with titles as quirky as "Jack and the Giraffe" and "Golf Claps with Will Ferrell."

From Tiger Woods to Shaun Micheel—The Stories That Matter

Originally, Lerner was set to write about Tiger Woods’ 50th birthday. But publishers saw something better in his personal tales. The final book weaves Woods’ legacy with his own early misadventures—including a brief, disastrous stint in his mother’s travel business.

And then there are the underdogs: players like Shaun Micheel, whose lone PGA Tour win doesn’t define his story. Lerner dedicates whole chapters to them, proving golf’s heart isn’t just in the trophies.

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Why This Book Stands Out

Because golf isn’t about perfection. It’s about the absurd, the unpredictable, and the real.

Lerner doesn’t just recount victories. He writes about vulnerability—in legends like Woods and McIlroy, yes, but also in the everyday players who make the game human. A bad shot, a lucky break, a laugh with strangers—these are the moments that define golf as much as the majors.

Aren’t You The Golf Guy? isn’t just a book about golf. It’s a book about life, told through the lens of a sport that’s as flawed, funny, and fascinating as the people who love it.

--- < Rich Lerner’s journey proves that sometimes, the best stories aren’t about the champions— they’re about the ones who fell in love with the game along the way. >