Four Iron In the Soul

[Tin Pot]

Not so much a book review as how the book has provoked my thoughts.  A proper review and I wouldn't be able to help myself from spoiling the funniest parts of the story. I'll say no more than that portaloos within sight of the greens would be a good investment for any golf club expecting out of town caddies come Thursday.

After my good friend Tomba went to all the effort of sending it over, it's the least I can do.




Headline?  A great book and a funny read.

It came well recommended but even so, the prospect of a book about a guy who tries out caddying wasn't exactly setting my literary nerves alight. Yet, it grabbed me immediately immersing me in the author's world not so unlike many of us: dreaming of what life would be like on tour...Then takes the reader through that dream into the reality, from elation to drudgery, from heartbreak to glory with some great anecdotes and laugh-out-loud moments on the way.

On Tour as it is in Golf
What really struck me about the tale was not the reality of life on Tour itself, but the people that inhabit this world and that, crazily, it's not so unlike the characters I've met in the amateur world of golf at all.  I'm truly amazed at the utter disdain in which the Pro's are held by the caddying fraternity, as negative and derogatory as any clubhouse gossip and side sniping I've ever heard - if not worse.  True enough the players themselves are characterised as polite and respectable, but I can't help feel the insinuation that it is in fact indicative for all concerned on Tour if to a greater or lesser extent.  And I guess this is not something I should be surprised about, after all Tour golf is just another field of human endeavour, and inevitably the weaknesses of our kind show through.

Over Par
On a similar, but distinct vein, was the realisation of the breadth of scoring on Tour.  Consistency has been a watchword, or a goal if you like, of mine and many others on these forums we frequent, and in my mind I had the idea that as an 18 handicapper - or thereabouts - my aim was to be regularly shooting in the 84-89 range. Not so unrealistic I hear you say?  Well, perhaps it is.  As you might have expected as the story unfolds we learn the highs and lows and the final scores of the Pros, and what struck me was the regularity of scores in the 75-81 range...with the odd 65 thrown in at a random moment.  Tour golf is just like amateur golf, round after round of 'crap' then it all comes together out of the blue, and just as suddenly returns to 'crap'.  This could be significantly different to how a Tour Pro see's it, given this is written from the caddy's point of view but I can't see how it could be any other way. And that's a range of fifteen strokes - hardly the Consistency of that I dreamed.

Happily Ever After?
The book concludes well, never going to be a rags to riches yarn but it avoids the dead, anaesthetise ending that so many other authors seem to plump for.  Very much upbeat, and leaves this reader...happy.

Lawrence Donegan himself is probably the least likely author to provide such an inspiring and entertaining read, certainly it's not a name that would have stopped me in my tracks at Waterstone's, but that has changed.  For a man who at the time had no books to his name, 1998, this was a great start and perhaps even has the tingle of a man who might have greater works in store.

Thanks to Mr Donegan for writing it, and thanks to Tomba for sending it over.  The commuter train in to work won't be the same now I've finished it...but I do have the sequel to get on with

[Scottt]

He used to play with Lloyd Cole in Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, didn't he?

[mattyarse]

I thought it was a great book.  What's the sequel Joseph?

[theoracle66]

He used to play with Lloyd Cole in Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, didn't he?

That's the one.

I remember the name, but not the tunes. AD catching up!

Nothing to do with chewing gum and flavour though!

[3puttwizard]

Got it never opened it... Yet

[Tin Pot]

Sorry, just remembered I'd left the beef on the BBQ. Five hours ago. Don't worry, the gas ran out before the fence caught fire.

@Scottt
Yes, a musician and journalist at a big newspaper...know him?

@Mattyarse
The 'sequel' is Quiet Please, set in the run up to the Ryder Cup - so topical too

@3puttwizard
It beats playing with your phone on the train to work.

[Sam the Eagle]

I read 'Quiet please!' a few years back, about his experience as a steward at the Ryder Cup at the Belfry. Not bad at all. The story about the cover picture is quite funny (have a look and see if you can guess what's wrong before you read it).
His golf reporting in the Guardian is quite good too.

[Tomba]

Great review of a cracking book, glad you enjoyed it

Is the sequel Quiet Please? If so, I dont see it as a sequel but another look at Pro golf from a different perspective. Not as good as 4 iron but the way he writes as an avid obsessed golfer I can totally identify with or could at the time I read it.

[Tomba]

He used to play with Lloyd Cole in Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, didn't he?

He's also a crazy obsessed golfer. Sure I read sometime ago that he is single figures. And that he was in Florida to play Sawgrass but refused to take a buggy and wanted to walk, they wouldnt let him and he walked off the course on a matter of principal.

[mattyarse]

Agree that quiet please isn't really a sequal.  I found it a bit dissapointing as I was hoping for more of the same.

[Hodgy10]

Agree that quiet please isn't really a sequal.  I found it a bit dissapointing as I was hoping for more of the same.

I found it dissapointing too, very short if I remember rightly.  You'll probarbly rattle it off in one sitting on the train.  Have a look at the two Tom Cox books, Nice Jumper and Bring me the Head of Sergio Garcia.  Nice Jumper is good, Sergio would be the more golf book of the two and Nice Jumper more a coming of age centered around golf

[BigJim]

He's also a crazy obsessed golfer. Sure I read sometime ago that he is single figures. And that he was in Florida to play Sawgrass but refused to take a buggy and wanted to walk, they wouldnt let him and he walked off the course on a matter of principal.

If you read Lloyd's blog on his website, you'll see that he not only is an obsessed golfer, but he is a regular poster on some golf forums too...

Have to say that I find it quite funny, having frequented the same pubs and clubs as these guys through the 80s, that golf is their thing, since surely it involves getting your hair out of place sometimes, and doesn't generally require the use of over worked pretentious words....

(Having said that, I was a big fan of the Commotions, and of much of Lloyd's solo stuff)

[Ged]

I loved the caddies humour in 4 iron, (the argentinian contingent among them were called the corned beef inspectors...)

Didn't know he had written another... need to get a swatch at that...

[wuuki456]

I found it dissapointing too, very short if I remember rightly.  You'll probarbly rattle it off in one sitting on the train.  Have a look at the two Tom Cox books, Nice Jumper and Bring me the Head of Sergio Garcia.  Nice Jumper is good, Sergio would be the more golf book of the two and Nice Jumper more a coming of age centered around golf

I would recommend the two Tom cox books as well I actually read them the wrong way round but enjoyed them both

[Scottt]

Lloyd Cole wrote this great article about a visit to the Melbourne sandbelt.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/golf-melbourne-mackenzie-and-me/1