Troon Mcallister

This novel, detailing the highly unorthodox strategy of recruiting a golf hustler to participate in the Ryder Cup, was at times brilliant, every bit the equal of some of Dan Jenkins' best work. At times, however, there were glaring mistakes in the description of some of the Ryder Cup matches and the shot selection of many of the players.

For example, in one set of matches, it was stated that one group was playing number twelve, while the two previous matches had ended in ties. Not likely the third group would have fallen six holes behind the group in front of it. The author also messed up the shot sequence in one of the alternating shot matches. He has virtually every player hitting shots that land in front of the green and run up, a strategy not called for at PGA West and rarely seen anywhere other than British Links courses.

These instances, while relatively minor, were frequent enough to detract from the flow of the novel and prevented me from awarding a fifth star. The author is supposedly a golfer, but you'd have to wonder, given many of the mistakes that should have been caught by the most casual golf fan. A well written, highly amusing novel, that could have been much better with just a little editing by a knowledgable golfer.… (altro)