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kwonkal's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25
hank_greene's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
One of my favorite books ever. Golf fan or not, this book is sensational
zapereles's review
5.0
This is the first book I’ve ever reviewed and it’s well worth it. Tom Coyne says the only bad hole on a good golf course is the last one, because you’re sad it’s over. The same is true for the final page of this book. Though Coyne does trek across the US playing courses all over the place, the book is more about the golf experience and less about specific holes or shots, and the humor and history brought a smile to my face. Really enjoyable — a book that will make you appreciate the sport in a new light (and make you want to get to your nearest golf course).
aggerj's review
5.0
This was my favorite “Course Called” trilogy (Ireland and Scotland came first and second in the series).
As always, Tom takes something that would seem it would only appeal to golf nuts and makes it fascinating.
Most will never play the “bucket list” golf courses Tom writes about, but the fun is reading about it through Tom’s journeys. And some really great golf experiences in the U.S. are more accessible than one would think!
He also writes about the “soul” of golf, which isn’t always found behind a fancy club logo.
***** Highly recommended *****
As always, Tom takes something that would seem it would only appeal to golf nuts and makes it fascinating.
Most will never play the “bucket list” golf courses Tom writes about, but the fun is reading about it through Tom’s journeys. And some really great golf experiences in the U.S. are more accessible than one would think!
He also writes about the “soul” of golf, which isn’t always found behind a fancy club logo.
***** Highly recommended *****
emilykathleenwrites's review
3.0
This book was a book club selection for my "Adventure Memoir Book Club" and it was not for me. I like the idea of traveling across America with a purpose in mind, but I couldn't get into the golf.
I preferred the sections where he focused on the people he met and the landscape and had no interest in the central question of the book, "What is the best golf course in America?" At times he comes off as smug (Alaska, "I wondered how many types of hepatitis you could get in one setting.") and other times humble, (Navajo Nation... even though he left trash on the course and made someone else pick it up) I really liked the reverence he held for the land in the Nebraska section, "It's really about that sense of place that makes a golf course feel like it belongs... The mystery of why sometimes a nine-hole muni felt perfect while an elite ranking topper sometimes felt incomplete."
I preferred the sections where he focused on the people he met and the landscape and had no interest in the central question of the book, "What is the best golf course in America?" At times he comes off as smug (Alaska, "I wondered how many types of hepatitis you could get in one setting.") and other times humble, (Navajo Nation... even though he left trash on the course and made someone else pick it up) I really liked the reverence he held for the land in the Nebraska section, "It's really about that sense of place that makes a golf course feel like it belongs... The mystery of why sometimes a nine-hole muni felt perfect while an elite ranking topper sometimes felt incomplete."
sjwhokie's review
4.0
I mostly enjoyed this look at golf all across the country. It's a tough task because the author goes to so many courses and it's hard to cover as many as you can without getting repetitive. So this book ebbed and flowed for me - there would be parts that were tougher to get through, but then you'd get to a section like when he played with Bill Murray, and it picked up. I haven't read any of Tom Coyne's other books, but I've heard the Scotland and Ireland ones are better. I'll have to check them out.
greebytime's review
5.0
Man, I love Tom Coyne's books. From [b:Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros|1469955|Paper Tiger An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros|Tom Coyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309287642l/1469955._SY75_.jpg|1460901] where he tries to make a professional tour, to his travel books ([b:A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee|6049192|A Course Called Ireland A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee|Tom Coyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442911726l/6049192._SY75_.jpg|6224817] and [b:A Course Called Scotland: Searching the Home of Golf for the Secret to Its Game|36373652|A Course Called Scotland Searching the Home of Golf for the Secret to Its Game|Tom Coyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530433585l/36373652._SY75_.jpg|58060895]) I gobble up whatever he writes. He doesn't bore you with his shot-by-shot recaps of the rounds he plays, but talks about the journey, what each course feels like and whatever he's going through during his travel. For a golf nut like myself, this is like crack cocaine. (I assume.)
I haven't anticipated a book as much as A Course Called America in quite some time. Through social media I was aware of his travels - and like many, unsuccessfully tried to play a round with him on those trips - and wondered how it would roll up into a book. Little did I know he'd finish his travels just before COVID-19 hit, which adds a whole other wrinkle to this.
So much of what Tom Coyne writes is relatable to me. I'm not in recovery, and my golf game has never been as good as his is even when his game is in the tank, but he writes so well it feels totally relatable. Having seen him interviewed and in videos like the No Laying Up Tourist Sauce series, he also comes across as a just incredibly nice, thoughtful guy.
And here's one of the earliest parts of the book that just floored me (just after saying his father calls him "Tom boy" which hit home as my father, and only my father, calls me "Matt boy"):
Sheesh. That feels entirely right.
As far as him traveling and discovering new courses, I love that Coyne LOVED the North Carolina course Tobacco Road as much as I did, and like me favored Pinehurst #4 over Pinehurst #2. And I loved that while he didn't rip apart any courses for being overrated, etc., and many of his favorites were ragged 9-hole affairs, he expressed almost my exact thoughts about some of the type of golf courses I hate (in this case, "The Judge" in Alabama):
Part of the conceit of the book is his goal to find the truly American golf course, and I won't spoil what he selects but it's pretty damn wonderful for every possible reason.
Tom Coyne is a great writer and this book completely delivered. Moments that were truly moving, a few very funny moments and I raced through it. I'm a bit worried that this is the last of his "A Course Called" books since his wife can't possibly have the patience to let him do this nonsense again.
Can she?
I haven't anticipated a book as much as A Course Called America in quite some time. Through social media I was aware of his travels - and like many, unsuccessfully tried to play a round with him on those trips - and wondered how it would roll up into a book. Little did I know he'd finish his travels just before COVID-19 hit, which adds a whole other wrinkle to this.
So much of what Tom Coyne writes is relatable to me. I'm not in recovery, and my golf game has never been as good as his is even when his game is in the tank, but he writes so well it feels totally relatable. Having seen him interviewed and in videos like the No Laying Up Tourist Sauce series, he also comes across as a just incredibly nice, thoughtful guy.
And here's one of the earliest parts of the book that just floored me (just after saying his father calls him "Tom boy" which hit home as my father, and only my father, calls me "Matt boy"):
People who don't play golf grow to envy their golfing neighbors, admiring it as a nifty game you can play to a ripe old age. What they don't understand is that we don't keep playing because we can; we play because we don't know how to stop. It lands in our hands for just a moment before slipping through our fingers, and we grab for it again and again. It's a shell game, a music man, a three-card monte from which we can't walk away. Once in a while it glances back at us, and it is achingly beautiful. A siren? Perhaps. But those sailors at least got the closure of wrecking on the rocks. Golfers find the rocks and just drop another ball.
Sheesh. That feels entirely right.
As far as him traveling and discovering new courses, I love that Coyne LOVED the North Carolina course Tobacco Road as much as I did, and like me favored Pinehurst #4 over Pinehurst #2. And I loved that while he didn't rip apart any courses for being overrated, etc., and many of his favorites were ragged 9-hole affairs, he expressed almost my exact thoughts about some of the type of golf courses I hate (in this case, "The Judge" in Alabama):
I woke up early the next morning, ready to lose golf balls at a Robert Trent Jones course called The Judge. It was an anchor on the RTJ Trail of courses that stretched across 'Bama, and a plaque by its first tee read PREPARE TO BE JUDGED. It was an absurd opening golf-shot, from a vaulted tee down to a sliver of fairway enveloped by bass-rich waters, and though I found dry ground, I quickly decided I wasn't in the mood to be judged. Hard for hard's sake was not only boring but idle architecture. Any novice with a pencil could draw an impossible golf hole, so I checked it off the list and moved on to Mississippi...
Part of the conceit of the book is his goal to find the truly American golf course, and I won't spoil what he selects but it's pretty damn wonderful for every possible reason.
Tom Coyne is a great writer and this book completely delivered. Moments that were truly moving, a few very funny moments and I raced through it. I'm a bit worried that this is the last of his "A Course Called" books since his wife can't possibly have the patience to let him do this nonsense again.
Can she?