Customer Reviews

The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love golf, you will love this book. If you're a caddy, you love this book. If you love characters rich in wisdom, life, and love, you'll love this book. If you love a good story, you'll love this book. In other words there is no way you won't love this book. Coyne's prose is as smooth and powerful as Hogan's swing and much like the Hawk himself, Coyne hits his target with precision and ease while always leading the reader to the next shot. With this novel Coyne just might have birdied every hole too. Buy this book, it's the story about life you've always wanted to read. Read it, you won't regret it.

A masterful fiction writer whose story telling and intimate Hogan truths and legends make this an exciting novel for all readers...Golf aside, an intriguing love story and interesting take on country club mores. Read it!

This is an excellent, truly wonderful novel. For an author known more for Gothic horror stories, this is a major shift to the golf course, a game he obviously plays and loves. He must also have been a caddie, for he knows all of the lingo. The reader does not have to be a golfer, for all such terms are defined in the text. Structurally it is built around two tense matches between Ben Hogan and the assistant club pro, Matt Richardson. The point of view is the caddie, Jack Handley. The first match is Hogan's practice match, the second the first round of the Chicago Open (in which Richardson somehow makes the cut). Another device Mr. Coyne uses is dual narrative structures--the first (which dominates) is Jack telling, decades later, his story of the Hogan-Richardson matches when he was 14 years old. I might add that it does not ring true that an audience could sit through 250 pages worth of this. The third-person narrative is set years later when Jack returns to his former club to recount the Chicago Open after having become a professor who's written a famous book on golf.
There is an air of tension throughout because Jack tells the reader early, almost between the lines, that the story will end in tragedy. One assumes it will be a lost tournament, but it is a real tragedy in which a central character dies. Besides telling a story that locks the reader's interest, Mr. Coyne is a true master of his craft: metaphors ("Matt gave me a grin as if he had just won the lottery, the Open, and the girl of his dreams. I [was] feeling as I had just robbed a bank"); speaks directly to the reader ("On a humid day, as you players know, the ball will carry farther"); humor, as when two characters have to go French Lick, Indiana, because there was no blood test required nor a three-day waiting period ("'Even I, a fourteen-year-old, knew about French Lick, which was named, I might add, for the salt springs in the area and not lascivious behavior.'") There is also continual contrast between the post-War equipment golfers were forced to use--factories had been converted for wartime--and the clubs most people now see on TV. 1946 to 2006 does not seem to have improved professional scores very much.
But Mr. Coyne's strong suit is constant tension, both hole-by-hole and by the tragedy that will conclude the novel. If Jack the caddie is the main character, the source of the book's wisdom is Ben Hogan. Jack Handley is a different man because of his brief meetings with him. The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan is a truly rewarding book for golfer and non-golfer alike.

Whether or not you're attracted to the vintage country-club scene (I was), Coyne effortlessly seduces you with a timeless coming of age story about a fatherless teenager who--partly by chance and partly by being a whiz at judging subtleties of the course--gets the chance of a lifetime: to caddie for two tournament rivals. It's a story to read, love, and pass along.

I'm too young to have any personal memories of Hogan, but Coyne does a superb job of bringing him to life. I have never read a more compelling description of 9 holes of golf competition. I also learned some things about the early years of the tour, like the Calcuttas held prior to each event where patrons bet on their favorite competitor.

It is obvious that Mr. Coyne did his research. This is a sweet and charming story. A must read.

John Coyne's "The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan" is a book of beautifully detailed, bitingly deep, and generous revelations. I just read it in two sittings. And one at 3 am.

Structurally, Coyne has long been a novelist able to plot a real story through tight chapters (credit his horror genre writing for that). But the use of an anniversary speech to tell a dramatic story grabs the reader from the first paragraphs. This is because a public speech is accountable, with an immediate requirement to satisfy an audience. Thus this plotting trick allows the reader to comfortably settle back and just listen as a tale neatly unfolds, both then and now. You won't leave your seat.

Beyond plot, can Coyne write? I actually read the following line to a friend of mine at a nearby table at the Great Pacific caf?/pub the other night here in Pendleton Oregon: "When Hogan hit the ball off thirteen fairway it seemed indeed as if all the air was sucked out of the day. It was frightening and compelling, as if a dangerous animal had gotten loose on the course." Damn, that's writing.

Because I don't like golf, I naturally agreed with this on the next page, "When I think about golf, and why people play the silly game-and it is silly as we all must admit....." But despite Coyne's awesome devotion to the technical, this isn't exactly a sports novel-more a coming-of-age novel I suppose. In the best sense, this is a family novel.

That said, for a horseman like me, Coyne's theme and Ben Hogan's mantra, "What's important is the next shot, not the one you have just played," is mirrored in cross-country riding and jumping, where the novice rider has a tendency to look down as they go up and over. "Keep your head up, always look to the next jump, not the one you're in." Reading the book, most readers will-like me- wonder if they have kept their mind's eye on the Next Shot. In life, that is.

Anyway, I suspect that this book will be the best one Coyne will ever write. And adding to his triumph, perhaps the ghosts of Coyne's own personal Midlothian Country Club- which he has clearly lived with and which occasionally stir through the scenes- are quieted now. A fine book.

This is a great story for people who love golf and enjoy reading about the Ben Hogan mystique. It's also a strong relationship story, as told by a young caddy who "loops" not only for the local pro but also the visiting Ben Hogan. I've read a lot about "The Hawk" and the way he's portrayed in this book feels accurate. There are some moving scenes as the great Hogan interacts with the young caddy who has recently lost his father in the war. Hogan is gruff but offers the boy good advice about the game and about life.

The book is simple yet moving. The story revolves around the local pro who falls in love with the daughter of the country club's president. The president doesn't want his daughter dating a golfer and tries to keep them separate. But like Romeo and Juliet, love finds a way...almost. All this is told from the point of view of a 14-year-old farm boy who is also a great caddy.

The story is told as a speech delivered to the modern day country club. There is a subplot where club members try to pressure the speaker not to air the dirty linen of the past. This is okay, but distracts from the movement of the main story.

Over all, there is a sadness to the story (it is a tragedy). But along the way there are well observed characters and some great holes of golf. The author knows the game well and it feels a bit like playing the best round of your life.

With very, very few exceptions, golf novels are notoriously bad, full of mystical nonsense and clichés. Pelham, NY, author John Coyne has written an exception to that rule, The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan, a fast-paced page-turner that hinges on a dramatic golf match between the legendary Ben Hogan and a local golf pro whose shot at fame is complicated by a secret love affair. While the plot is rather predictable, Coyne's descriptions of the game resonate with authenticity. He's masterfully woven fact, fiction, and a little mystery into a story that rings true.
As a Westchester golfer myself (and a member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers' Association), I particularly found Coyne's take on how the game is played at the highest levels to be highly faithful to the sport.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Coyne does a great job bringing the post WWII era to life as well as the insights on the pro tour back then. Could not tell you how accurate his portrayal of Ben Hogan was, but he is a terrific character in the book, as is the caddie. Was not sure I was going to like this book (wife bought it for me) but after a few pages I was hooked. Great book, fast and pleasant read. Well done John Coyne!