Al Barkow

Al Barkow was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1932. He came to golf as a boy caddying at Tam O'Shanter, the Chicago club that hosted some of the biggest professional events of the era.

He attended Western Illinois University for three years and was a member of its golf team that won the NAIA national championship in 1959. He then completed his studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago, earning a bachelor's degree in 1960. Barkow remained a capable competitor throughout his life and qualified for the 1971 U.S. Amateur at Merion, which he later described as one of his biggest thrills. Golfweek also noted a stint with Chicago's Second City.

Barkow began his golf career in 1963 as a writer on Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, the Emmy winning television series that staged matches between leading players at famous courses around the world. His first assignment was the celebrated Hogan versus Snead match at Houston Country Club. He was the series' chief writer and associate producer from 1963 to 1969 and later a co-producer, and before Shell matches he often played fast rounds with Gene Sarazen, the show's host.

He was editor in chief of Golf Magazine from about 1970 to 1972 and of Golf Illustrated from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1994 to 1996. He published his own newsletter, Al Barkow's Golf Report, in 1991 and 1992, and edited the journal of the Shivas Irons Society from 2005 to 2007. His articles appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, Golf Digest, Golf World, Golf Monthly and the USGA's Golf Journal, among many others. From 1986 to 1999 he worked as an on-camera commentator for Inside the PGA Tour and senior tour programmes, and he called tournaments on radio.

Barkow wrote 12 books. Golf's Golden Grind, first published in 1974, became one of the definitive histories of the PGA Tour, and Gettin' to the Dance Floor won the USGA's first golf book of the year award in 1986. He also wrote The History of the PGA Tour, The Golden Era of Golf, a book on Gene Sarazen and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, Sam: The One and Only Sam Snead and The Upset, about Jack Fleck's 1955 U.S. Open victory over Ben Hogan. His instruction books were written with Billy Casper, Ken Venturi, George Low, Phil Rodgers, Carl Lohren and Dave Stockton.

After moving to Oakland in 2002 he spent much of his last decade writing for NCGA Golf magazine, the publication of the Northern California Golf Association, profiling Bay Area courses and professionals and writing about figures such as Lucius Bateman and the major champion Olin Dutra.

Barkow lived for many years in the New York area before moving to Oakland, California, in 2002. His son, Adam Barkow, was born in New York City in 1988 and became a talented amateur golfer. In July 2026 Barkow wrote a personal essay for the NCGA about Adam's recovery from alcoholism and his return to competitive golf, including qualifying for the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Colleagues said the piece showed he had lost none of his curiosity or warmth in his nineties.

Al Barkow died on Sunday 1 November 2026 at the age of 93. His death was reported by Golfweek on 2 November. The place and cause of death were not given in the initial reports. Paying tribute, the golf writer Jaime Diaz said Barkow had led a tremendously full golf life and knew the game as well as any golf writer who ever lived.

Barkow is remembered as one of the most important historians of American professional golf. Golf's Golden Grind remains an essential chronicle of the PGA Tour's development, and Gettin' to the Dance Floor is regarded by many as the game's greatest oral history. His long conversations with Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson gave his portraits of them unusual intimacy, and his reporting helped secure belated recognition for Lucius Bateman.