Tom Coyne

The town of Dornoch, Scotland, is a bit too small and remote to host a British Open, it has hardly diminished Royal Dornoch's mystique or renown. In an influential piece for The New Yorker in 1964 (and now included in this edition), Herbert Warren Wind wrote, "It is the most natural course in the world. No golfer has completed his education until he has played and studied Royal Dornoch." Lorne Rubenstein spent a summer in Dornoch to rediscover the natural charms of the game he loves. But in the Highlands he also found a people shaped by the harshness of the land and the difficulty of drawing a living from it. Rubenstein met people of great thoughtfulness and spirit, eager to share their life stories and a wee dram or two. He came to understand how golf reflects the values, character, and history of the people who brought it into the world. A Season in Dornoch is both the story of one man's immersion in the game of golf and an exploration of the world from which it emerged. Part travelogue, part portraiture, part good old-fashioned tale of matches played and friendships made, it takes us on an unforgettable journey to a marvelous, moody, mystical place. WHAT'S NEW IN THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: A FULL UPDATE FROM LORNE: Lorne has written a 20-page update, sharing what's happened in Dornoch over the past 25 years, while chronicling the life of the book. He shares his recent experience of being made a Honorary Life Member of Royal Dornoch. A LIVELY ESSAY BY STEPHEN PROCTOR: This noted golf writer explains the magic of A Season in Dornoch, why readers keep coming back to it, and why it should be on everyone's bookshelf. PHOTOS OF ROYAL DORNOCH AND TOWN: The first edition regrettably lacked photographs. We're adding a section of color photos from Lorne's visits to Dornoch. The golf course and town come to life in the professional photographs included as well. TOM COYNE PUTS IT TOGETHER: Coyne helps to contextualize the importance of A Season in Dornoch and its influence on golf literature over the past 25 years. A REPRINT OF HERBERT WARREN WIND: His important essay, "North to the Links of Dornoch" (1964), which put Dornoch on the world golf map and has inspired many books, including Lorne's. PRAISE FOR A SEASON IN DORNOCH"Lorne Rubenstein gives the reader a feel for what makes the appeal of the Highlands so enduring. He brings the place and its people to life, and his descriptions and images of Dornoch show how golf is but a part of the town's extraordinary fabric, though its strongest and most visible thread."-Tom Watson"Rubenstein's tone is what matters: breezy, anecdotal, impressionistic, and easy on the metaphors. He wants golf to help him understand his life, not provide a substitute for it."-New York Times Book Review"It is the village life even more than the golf that imbues this memoir with its seductive tranquility: that elusive quality we search for but rarely find in either our daily lives or our vacations. ... the prose breathes a kind of atmospheric calm that works on the reader like a mild summer breeze."-Booklist starred review"Rubenstein has done every fan of the game a great and entertaining service by taking us with him on a magical mystery tour of Royal Dornoch, ... revealing far more than the area's soulful landscape and unforgettable local characters. Part sporting travelogue, part memoir of a summer magnificently spent, this tale of discovery will linger in the mind."-James Dodson, author of Final Rounds

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Globe-trotting golfer Tom Coyne has finally come home. And he’s ready to play all of it. After playing hundreds of courses overseas in the birthplace of golf,? Coyne, the bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland, returns to his own birthplace and delivers a “heartfelt, rollicking ode to golf…[as he] describes playing golf in every state of the union, including Alaska: 295 courses, 5,182 holes, 1.7 million total yards” (The Wall Street Journal). In the span of one unforgettable year, Coyne crisscrosses the country in search of its greatest golf experience, playing every course to ever host a US Open, along with more than two hundred hidden gems and heavyweights, visiting all fifty states to find a better understanding of his home country and countrymen. Coyne’s journey begins where the US Open and US Amateur got their start, historic Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. As he travels from the oldest and most elite of links to the newest and most democratic, Coyne finagles his way onto coveted first tees (Shinnecock, Oakmont, Chicago GC) between rounds at off-the-map revelations, like ranch golf in Eastern Oregon and homemade golf in the Navajo Nation. He marvels at the golf miracle hidden in the sand hills of Nebraska and plays an unforgettable midnight game under bright sunshine on the summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska. More than just a tour of the best golf the United States has to offer, Coyne’s quest connects him with hundreds of American golfers, each from a different background but all with one thing in common: pride in welcoming Coyne to their course. Trading stories and swing tips with caddies, pros, and golf buddies for the day, Coyne adopts the wisdom of one of his hosts in Minnesota: the best courses are the ones you play with the best people. But, in the end, only one stop on Coyne’s journey can be ranked the Great American Golf Course. Throughout his travels, he invites golfers to debate and help shape his criteria for judging the quintessential American course. Should it be charmingly traditional or daringly experimental? An architectural showpiece or a natural wonder? Countless conversations and gut instinct lead him to seek out a course that feels bold and idealistic, welcoming yet imperfect, with a little revolutionary spirit and a damn good hot dog at the turn. He discovers his long-awaited answer in the most unlikely of places. Packed with fascinating tales from American golf history, comic road misadventures, illuminating insights into course design, and many a memorable round with local golfers and celebrity guests alike, A Course Called America is “a delightful, entertaining book even nongolfers can enjoy” (Kirkus Reviews).

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “One of the best golf books this century.” —Golf Digest Tom Coyne’s A Course Called Scotland is a heartfelt and humorous celebration of his quest to play golf on every links course in Scotland, the birthplace of the game he loves. For much of his adult life, bestselling author Tom Coyne has been chasing a golf ball around the globe. When he was in college, studying abroad in London, he entered the lottery for a prized tee time in Scotland, grabbing his clubs and jumping the train to St. Andrews as his friends partied in Amsterdam; later, he golfed the entirety of Ireland’s coastline, chased pros through the mini-tours, and attended grueling Qualifying Schools in Australia, Canada, and Latin America. Yet, as he watched the greats compete, he felt something was missing. Then one day a friend suggested he attempt to play every links course in Scotland and qualify for the greatest championship in golf. The result is A Course Called Scotland, “a fast-moving, insightful, often funny travelogue encompassing the width of much of the British Isles” (GolfWeek), including St. Andrews, Turnberry, Dornoch, Prestwick, Troon, and Carnoustie. With his signature blend of storytelling, humor, history, and insight, Coyne weaves together his “witty and charming” (Publishers Weekly) journey to more than 100 legendary courses in Scotland with compelling threads of golf history and insights into the contemporary home of golf. As he journeys Scotland in search of the game’s secrets, he discovers new and old friends, rediscovers the peace and power of the sport, and, most importantly, reaffirms the ultimate connection between the game and the soul. It is “a must-read” (Golf Advisor) rollicking love letter to Scotland and golf as no one has attempted it before.

"Think country-club clinic meets Navy Seals training. I will pay any price, bear any burden, leave my home to follow the seasons, build my own swing studio in the basement, construct a practice green in my backyard. . . . Everything the big boys have access to, I want double." Like most amateur golfers, Tom Coyne had often wondered whether the pros won because they were more talented or because they were more obsessed. Overweight and burdened by a 14 handicap, he decided to find out for himself what it takes to play like a pro. Charting his journey, which included hiring top golf gurus such as Dr. Jim Suttie--Paper Tiger takes readers from the Michelob tournament (a win for Tom) to the Australian Tour--where forty-mile-per-hour winds and a driving rain scare off his Japanese partners. With each chapter, he tracks his weight alongside his handicap, pursuing his dream with a reckless abandon that comes to involve hardcore diets, pricey technology, even psychologists. With echoes of Dead Solid Perfect and Who's Your Caddy? Tom brings his uniquely edgy, deeply human perspective to a game that can simultaneously bring out the best and the worst in everyone who tries to master it.