There is a lot of talk about the role of golf in business deal making, but how does anyone actually close a deal before the last hole is played?
By Vincent Pane

Most business people who are golfers are familiar with the 1901 golf course deal between Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan at St. Andrew’s Golf Club that led to the formation of U.S. Steel, worth about $13 billion in today’s terms.

To make a long story short, the deal only happened because Carnegie’s wife got her husband and the president of Carnegie Steel Company, Charles M. Schwab, together for a golf game. Schwab planted the idea of selling Carnegie Steel in Carnegie’s ear. The next day, Ca....