Book Review - A Course Called America by Tom Coyne

 

A Glorious Golf Journey Around America

A Course Called America by Tom Coyne

Tom Coyne’s wife, as he points out, has the patience of a saint! Not once, not twice, but three times she has endured her husband disappearing for months at a time to play golf. He insists this was the last time, but we’ll see! His first two golf adventures around Ireland and Scotland featured tall tales and were wonderful travelogues of the Celtic lands. Thanks to Tom’s book recommendation we visited extraordinary Dunaverty GC near Machrihanish on our last Scottish trip before Covid stopped the world from turning.

His third golf travel book sees him set out to find the “Great American Golf Course” as he plays in all fifty states. Does he find it, golfs nirvana? Well, I suggest you read this thoroughly enjoyable book to find out. It’s a joyous celebration of golf. The people in Tom’s stories are the stars, with the courses as co-stars  - including the one and only guy in the book who is a complete dxxx!

As golfers, we have all lived these stories, but Tom with his engaging and expressive language makes sense of it all. There was no club trophy hunting, and with his extraordinary logistical planning crossing the country it feels as though the people led the way and not the highest-ranked courses. 

Tom’s unique planning method of sending random emails, making random tee times with random people all came together beautifully and I suspect he is really an AI expert.

I found this book more personal than his previous tomes as he talked about his love for his father and the times they spent on the course together.  This had great meaning to me personally as I was fortunate to share the love of golf with my father before he passed away. Countless games around the world including playing Augusta National were the spiritual passing of the baton from father to son and I hope to do the same to my son. Rarely did my father miss the opportunity to tell people of his back-to-back pars on the eighth and ninth at Tall Pines!

I have been fortunate to play many of the courses in the book, from Cypress in the west to Shinnecock in the east and in a country obsessed by lists Tom has his - defined by the Coyne/Olympic burger dog rating - I agree with some and disagree with others, as will you - they are Tom’s sign off at the back of the book and you’ll no doubt devour it like its aforementioned halfway house snack!

Did he discover the “Great American Golf Course”? Well, you can be the judge and along the way, you’ll thoroughly enjoy his cross country adventures and the characters he meets. A Course Called America does a beautiful job of combining lessons in golf architecture, geography, and history, but mostly it explores what really makes "our game" so special - the crazy, funny, passionate people we call golfers.

And Tom, if Australia is next, I’ll see you in Melbourne!

Order your copy here on Amazon

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS GOLF GIFTS

There is still time to buy last minute golf presents!  These great gifts check the boxes on authenticity, value and are MacDuff Guaranteed! (whatever that means!)

LEE WYBRANSKI  -  GORGEOUS GOLF ART

Another stellar year for Mr. Wybranski and his prolific workload, including the cover of the November Masters Annual. Lee's work has become highly collectible and his website features his iconic posters as well as one-off originals.  www.leewybranski.com  

FLAG BAG  -  COOL BAGS

Take a look at these - Golf bags made from flown golf flags. A brilliant idea from golf superintendent, Josh Smith (he's also an extraordinary painter!). The bags are hand-made by Macdonald Leathergoods in Portland, OR. (Fair warning - your special bag may take a wee while - you'll need to collect flags and then plan how your bag will look)   www.flagbaggolfco.com

TIN CUP  -  THE BEST BALL MARKER

A golf gift you can give golfers and know they will use it. The rules of golf state that you should mark your golf ball before playing and Tin Cup has made this a simple process for hundreds of thousands of golfers since 2010. www.tin-cup.com

TWO GREAT GOLF BOOKS

I loved both of these tomes and think you will too. The first is by Jay Revell and titled The Nine Virtues of Golf. It's a short, very entertaining read and every "real" golfer will recognize themselves in Jay's prose. www.amazon.com

The next recommendation is One for the Memory Banks by Luke Reese. The book is a glorious travalogue around the courses of Great Britain and Ireland featuring tall tales from Luke and his pals. www.thememorybanks.com

Top Ten Tin Cups

You can see all of the Tin Cups, the new golf gadget that is catching on fast at www.tin-cup.com
1. Luck of the Irish
2. The Shamrock
3. The Jolly Roger
4. Trail Blazer
5. 5 O'clock Somewhere
6. Palmetto Moon
7. Dulin the Dog
8. Smiley
9. Lone Star
10. Louis the 14th

Not so Groovy

The Governing bodies in golf have once again managed to make a mess of an equipment change. Recently, the USGA and the R & A altered the rules to make the grooves on clubs smaller and therefore less able to spin the ball. As we all know the game of golf is so easy that this change was made to make the game EVEN harder. The rule is really only applicable to professional golfers and those playing in elite amateur events. The rest of us get a break for at least a decade or more. Bear in mind that the average handicap in the US has hovered around 19 forever and I don't see too many amateurs ripping the ball back off the green with their current wedges. So, the change will make literally no difference to Joe Public. All it has really achieved is cost the manufacturers millions of dollars for nothing and proved once again that the alphabet soup of golfs governing bodies are as dysfunctional as ever.

Throw in the PGA TOUR into the mix and the latest PR disaster is in full motion. Now, Phil Mickelson and 9 others on Tour are playing Ping wedges circa 1989 with square grooves that slip through the new rule cracks. Scott McCarron, who is a member of the PAC, the Tour players committee, even called Phil's actions "cheating" at a press conference the other day. Cheating is a strong accusation in golf and in this instance McCarron is 100% wrong. Phil is playing within the rules and even he is at a loss to understand what the governing bodies are trying to achieve.

The best way to change the game is the BALL - roll that back and you will see a difference.

Worst Product of The Show, so far

I took this photograph today in the New Products section of The Show. Amazing to me that the organisers would let this shoddy product slip through. The box entitled Tail of the Tiger has a dozen balls with pictures of Tiger's "girlfriends" and their names printed onto golf balls. It should be in the Poor Product in poor taste section!

The Show

It's that time of the year again. The PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is only a few days away. I have been going to O Town for "The Show" since 1988 and that's a mighty long time to be going to anything or anywhere! Once again we will be inundated with crazy golf widgets, golf ball cleaners, mad training aids and all manner of other paraphernalia that real golfers wouldn't be seen dead with. Still, that's part of the fun of The Show.
It's a time for a good solid pair of shoes to walk the 8 miles of aisles and pace yourself for the meeting frenzy. 2010 is going to be an interesting year in the golf world and The Show provides plenty of opportunities to talk about the business prospects for the year. Let's hope 2010 is the year the golf business finally wakes up and recognizes that content marketing really is a legitimate part of the 21st Century Marketing Mix.

Global Golf Post

Everyone is talking about the demise of print - today it came one step closer in the golf world. Global Golf Post officially launched today with a terrific new issue. It will be published electronically each week by leading golf editor, Jim Nugent and his first class editorial team.
The magazine is delivered electronically into your email box each Monday morning and for free. The content is well written and informed and using coverleaf's easy to use technology it should be a big hit. Jim is relying on advertising to generate the $$$ to make it work, but with his golf industry connections we are sure he will make that happen.
No doubt Golf World and GolfWeek will be watching with interest (to say the very least!). This is a great example of how content specifically targeted to the right users can work. We wish them all the best.

Josh Smith Golf Landscapes - JoshSmithart.com

Our new site for the outstanding golf landscape artist, Josh Smith is now up and running. For the first time we established a shop for Josh, whish is not quite as simple as some would have you believe. The moment Chase stepped into the picture with its Payment Tech System, you know it was going to be more complicated than pitched by Godaddy.com. I was fortunate to find an amazing representative, Lacie, who talked me through the whole process, so we are now up and running with 9 great giclees on canvas and lithographs on paper for sale. The paintings include Pacific Dunes, Pebble Beach and Royal County Down. You can see all of Josh's work at www.JoshSmithArt.com