Don J. Snyder

I received this book as a gift, I’m assuming because the donor knows I play a lot of golf. And I must admit to being initially quite pleased as the story unfolded. As the book progressed, however, I gradually became less happy with it.

The story revolves around a father who has high hopes for the competitive golfing future of his talented son Jack. In the winter of 2007, the author and his son travel to Carnoustie, Scotland, one of the most difficult courses in the world, in some of the most extreme weather conditions possible. I’m not really sure why, other than to challenge themselves. Maybe the golf is super cheap in the winter. In any event, his son is struggling to obtain a D1 golf scholarship. He is finally allowed to walk on at Toledo.

The author then travels to Scotland for two summers in order to become a proficient caddy, hopefully for when his son plays on a professional golf tour. As it turns out, his first stint in Scotland was at Kingsbarns in 2008. I was part of a golf trip in the summer of 2008 that played in the St. Andrews area (including Kingsbarns and Carnoustie). I assume he was there the day we played it and could have possibly caddied for one of our foursomes. So, this part of the book was interesting to me.

Meanwhile, his son, Jack is teetering on the brink of actually getting some tournament time at Toledo when disaster strikes. His grades disqualify him and he is off the golf team. A family crisis ensues, involving monetary hardship and a loss of self-worth which triggers the author to make another caddy trip to Scotland. Jack ultimately plays enough golf to qualify as a golf professional (which must be pretty easy to do) and signs up for a winter mini-tour in Houston. He and his Dad spend about 4-5 months in Houston before it becomes apparent (at least to Jack) that he has no future in professional tour golf.

The subject of this book is of great interest to me, and as a result, should have been an enjoyable read. As the story progresses, however, the author becomes such an unsympathetic character that it becomes hard to care what happens to Jack, who actually seems to be a pretty decent kid.

The author spends much of the book whining and bellyaching about numerous subjects, from politics to religion to people he caddied for in Scotland, to events in his personal life. At one point during the Houston mini-tour, he and Jack have an argument in which Jack points out, “Dad, this is not about you!” YES!!!! The author is trying to live vicariously through his son, and instead of helping him, is dragging him down the entire time. All the while, he tries to paint himself as a martyr.

The author spends two summers caddying in Scotland. Meanwhile, he constantly complains about not having any money, largely because the mean bankers and politicians have stacked the deck against hard working, middle class families. At the end of the day, he is an abysmal caddy for his son. The trips to Scotland were a complete waste of time in that regard. An old saying goes that a good caddy should “show up, keep up and shut up”. The author shows up, but can’t keep up and certainly doesn’t shut up. His amateur pop psychology is laughable and certainly not effective. I’m pretty sure I would be a better caddy than the author, despite not having spent two summers in Scotland.

Also detracting from the book were numerous errors and exaggerations throughout the book. Early on, Jack takes a trip to Columbus, where he plays such courses as Muirfield Village, Scioto, Inverness and Pine Valley. Pine Valley is in New Jersey. He and Jack played Carnoustie in January, from the championship tees, in temperatures below freezing, in a driving rain and a 40 mph gale. He says that Jack shot 77 under those conditions. That is a lie. There is not a professional golfer on the planet that could do that, especially not a junior golfer from Maine that couldn’t win his state tournament and later, couldn’t break 80 in Houston on far easier courses under far better conditions. He alleges that Jack carried his driver over 300 yards into a 40 mph wind. Again, not possible. In an attempt to argue that the Castle Course at St. Andrews is a very difficult course, he alleges that he caddies for a golfer that shot 74 on the Old Course, then shot 117 at the Castle Course. I’ve played both courses and while the Old Course can be easy without wind, the Castle Course is not that difficult. It is just not a good course. Absent a freak occurrence, a 43 stroke swing is virtually impossible.

Jack is obviously a prodigious striker of the golf ball, according to the author, routinely hitting drives over 350 yards and reaching every par 5 in two, regardless of the conditions. He has, however, a miserable short game. He makes so many double and triple bogeys that he misses “the cut” several times, keeping in mind this is not the same “cut” as you see on the PGA tour. You only miss the cut on the mini-tour if you shoot over 85 in the first round. This is a way to weed out the absolute hackers.

Going forward, the author sets his sight on helping Jack “make the cut”. He celebrates every par as though it is an eagle. Jack four putts greens from time to time. Nevertheless, the author repeatedly fantasizes Jack playing on the PGA Tour. Jack knows he is in over his head and ultimately accepts a good job and settles down with his girlfriend. I’m not sure how the author will justify his next summer in Scotland.… (plus d'informations)

I had mixed feelings about this book. It was the story of how the author loses his job as an English professor at Colgate University and "finds his life." He is an excellent writer and describes things in a wonderful way. He sends out nearly a hundred resumes in over a two-year period and is unable to land a job. The family uses up their savings an must go on food stamps, which is daughter resents. They end up living on Prout's Neck in Maine where he gets jobs as a caretaker and painter, part of the time at the Homer Winslow house.… (plus d'informations)