Michael F. Bamberger (born April 15, 1960) is a senior writer for Golf.com and the author of multiple books.

Early life

Bamberger was born and raised in Patchogue,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He attended its public schools (graduating from Patchogue-Medford High School in 1978), wrote for local newspapers and played golf on nearby public courses. His father was an engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory and his mother taught English in the Patchogue-Medford School District.

Career

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982, Bamberger became a reporter for the ''

Vineyard Gazette The ''Vineyard Gazette'' is one of two paid circulation newspapers on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Founded in 1846, it also circulates in many other states and countries to seasonal residents of the resort island. History The ''Gazette'' was ...

'' on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He joined ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' in 1986 and became a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1995. Bamberger is the author of eight nonfiction books and the co-author of one novel. His most recent book is ''The Ball in the Air'' (2023), about the lives of three amateur golfers, Pratima Sherpa, Ryan French and Sam Reeves. ''Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School'' (2004), chronicles the senior year of a group of high school students. The rights for the book were bought by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

, and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and

Tollin/Robbins Productions Tollin Productions (commonly known as TP and formerly known as Tollin/Robbins Productions and then Marquee/Tollin/Robbins) is an American film and television production company founded by Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins in 1994. Joe Davola was al ...

were to produce the film, which had tentatively been named ''Pennsbury''. In 2004,

Mike Tollin Michael Tollin is an American film and television producer/director who served as executive producer of the Emmy award-winning ''The Last Dance'', a 10-part documentary series on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty. The series received ...

and

Brian Robbins Brian Robbins (born Brian Levine, November 22, 1963) is an American film producer, director, and executive. He is the Co-CEO of Paramount Global; President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon; and Chief Content Offi ...

signed with Walt Disney Studios, leaving the status of the project uncertain. ''The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How

M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received vario ...

Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale'' (2006), released the same week as the writer-director-producer's film ''

Lady in the Water ''Lady in the Water'' is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Ba ...

'', profiles him as he develops it. ''The Swinger'' (2011), a novel he wrote with fellow ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Alan Shipnuck, is a satire of the

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

sex scandal. ''The Second Life of Tiger Woods'' (2020) covers Woods's win at the 2019 Masters. He is also the author of four autobiographical books on golf: ''The Green Road Home'' (1986), ''To the Linksland'' (1992), ''This Golfing Life'' (2005) and ''Men in Green'' (2015). Bamberger's play ''Bart & Fay'', about the longtime relationship between

Bart Giamatti Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti ( ; April 4, 1938 – September 1, 1989) was an American professor of English Renaissance literature, the president of Yale University, and the seventh commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti served as Co ...

and

Fay Vincent Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent Jr. (May 29, 1938 – February 1, 2025) was an American entertainment lawyer, securities regulator, and sports executive who served as the eighth commissioner of baseball from September 13, 1989, to September 7, 199 ...

, was performed in 1996 at Philadelphia's

Walnut Street Theatre Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1808 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by Walnut Str ...

Personal life

Bamberger and his wife, Christine, live in Philadelphia. They have two grown children, Ian and Alina. Bamberger's great, great-great-grandfather,

Seligman Baer Bamberger Seligman Baer (Isaac Dov) Bamberger (born Wiesenbronn, near Kitzingen, Bavaria, 6 November 1807; died Würzburg 13 October 1878) was a Talmudist and a leader of Orthodox Judaism in Germany. Between 1840 and his death he served as rabbi of Würzbu ...

, was a leading rabbi and Jewish scholar in Germany in the 19th century. Bamberger's niece, Cayla Bamberger, covers education and child welfare for the New York ''Daily News.'' In 2023, Bamberger was inducted into the Patchogue-Medford High School Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Two on Tiger Woods: Journey Back to the Leaderboard
by John Paul Newport of

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

A review of ''The Swinger''
by

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 30, 2011 *https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/opinion/fathers-day.html *

*https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-rough-charm-ruled-the-pga-tour-1427509469 *https://bera.bnl.gov/brea/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2022/04/JBambergerobit.pdf *https://pmhof.org/hall-of-fame-roster/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bamberger, Michael F. 1960 births American male non-fiction writers Living people Sportswriters from New York (state)