Charlie McLeod is the middle-aged anti-hero

books:


	• The Back Nine (Vintage Contemporaries) Billy Mott Vintage, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Charlie golfs his way to redemption

Charlie McLeod shows up at a famous San Francisco golf club to work as a caddy. At this club the caddies are men, most often with a past, a taste for cards and liquor, and occasionally woman - and they understand the game of golf. Drunk or sober they can put the right club in their player's hands. And they often bet more on their players, than the players themselves do. They also have long memories - of matches won and lost, the money that changed hands, and who couldn't make the grade in the prime of life.

Charlie fits right in. He can caddie with the best of them, though no one knows why. Then one day he swings a club, something he hasn't done in over 25 years. And the magic swing that won a state high school golf championship at age fifteen with his father's guidance - and that was ruined with one swing of the club - has returned. Whatever anyone has ever been able to do with a golf ball and club, Charlie can do - and better.

And when word of that gets around the club - the conflict begins. For Charlie the game has always been about the perfect swing, playing the course and the next shot, not the recognition or the money. But that's not the case at the club. Charlie's skill is seen as a way to redeem a match lost long ago by men - both caddies and members, still at the club.

So Charlie must play a high stakes match on a course he has never seen against a pro who has never lost - and play on the pro's home course. And his job and the jobs of his caddie friends are at stake, along with a suitcase full of money, and who knows what else.

Mott is a master storyteller who will have you enjoying every moment of Charlie's journey to redemption. The golfer will recognize the characters as people at their own club. You will recognize the team spirit that can exist in what is often seen as a solitary sport - and you'll enjoy the humor that often crops up in unexpected places.

Armchair Interviews says: You'll cheer as Charlie finally finds his place in the sun.

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Easy now, its ficion

I enjoyed this book. Í agree with the last reviewer in that it was not believable but hey, its fiction. You have to turn your suspicion off and not be too critical of what the writer is trying to ask you to believe. Charlie is a likable character and that is part of your (mine,anyway) willingness to believe what was written about his golf skills. For a real life version of a talented golfer who also quit for a long time, I really enjoyed "Striking it Rich" about the doctor who got on the pro tour after not playing for 30 years. He is the same age of Charlie McCleod and there are some interesting paralels there.

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Should be the next great golf movie

Great read that you cannot put down, especially if you love the game. Lot's of interesting characters that are easy to envision.

Charlie McLeod is the middle-aged anti-hero

Writing a good sports novel requires an author who can traverse the delicate path between constructing a book for the rabid fan and one that appeals to the reader who simply appreciates fine writing. On occasion they successfully accomplish that task, and books such as SHOELESS JOE by William Kinsella and THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO NEVER LIVED by J. Michael Veron are the result. But more often than not, writers have difficulty maintaining that fine balance. This doesn't mean that the novels produced are not worthwhile; indeed my shelves are lined with many sports books that were simply enjoyable and entertaining reading experiences.

THE BACK NINE by Billy Mott comes a long way towards attaining that precise balance, though in the end, Mott tells his readers a little too much about golf and not quite enough about life.

Charlie McLeod is the middle-aged anti-hero searching for the lost glory of his youth. A quarter of a century ago the young man was a golfing prodigy, bringing the legendary Oakmont Country Club golf course (the site of the 2007 U.S. Open) to its knees. We meet Charlie as he arrives in San Francisco deciding that he can earn some money toiling as a caddy at an exclusive country club.

Mott is a part-time actor and full-time caddy, and his writing establishes both his respect for those who tote golf bags and his knowledge of the work involved. Through his eyes and pen we meet some veteran caddies and country club golfers, all of whom perfectly fit the stereotype of the social milieu they occupy.

We learn about Charlie and the events that shaped his life, but Mott tells readers very little about what life has done to the enigmatic main character. Charlie's father made him a golfer and a freak injury destroyed his career before it really began, but that's about all the pedigree we learn. You can't appreciate what a man accomplishes unless you know a bit more about the adversity that shapes his life. That history is missing from THE BACK NINE.

A sports novel requires as its bete noir, the ultimate contest, the climatic battle between teams or individuals that capture for readers the struggle that is life. Here, the contest is an 18-hole golf match between Charlie and the legendary Larry Siegel, a golf hustler who certainly would have been portrayed by the late Jackie Gleason in the movie version of this book. Before the match, however, Charlie must rekindle his skill and love for golf, and find some romance and tragedy to hone his character for the novel's denouement.

The match itself is spectacularly chronicled. Mott shows his love of golf and appreciation of what the game entails. Readers, even non-golfers, will appreciate the drama of the titanic struggle between golfers of great skill. It is eerily reminiscent of the battle between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus at the 1977 British Open Championship in Turnberry, Scotland.

Golf fans will appreciate and hopefully understand many of Mott's subliminal historical golf references. But non-golfers also will appreciate a well-written and endearing novel that mixes elements of Rocky, Hoosiers and Field of Dreams. I am neither an entertainment authority nor a gambler, but I am willing to place a small wager that we will see THE BACK NINE at a movie theater near us in very short order.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

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reviews: page 1, 2

Charlie McLeod was a golf prodigy. His father taught him the game and then injury took it away. Twenty-five years after his last swing, McLeod is finally back on the course, working as a caddy in San Francisco.

Though he is older and slightly disheveled, he can still drive the ball as straight and as far as the best players in the world. When his extraordinary skills are discovered, he quickly becomes embroiled in a high stakes game between his wealthy employers and a ferocious pro. What ensues is the hilarious and touching story of an underdog and the joys and life lessons found in the great game of golf.

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