James Dobson's new book " A Son of the Game" is a wonderful read for anyone who loves golf. Set in the Village of Pinehurst, this rambling assortment of stories paints a marvelous picture of life in the Sandhills. Mr. Dodson chonicles his mid life crisis dealing with career and family issues in a manner which will amuse and touch your heart. Filled with history and characters who have shaped the community, this story explains the magic of Pinehurst and why so many people love the area. He discovers the " Pinehurst Cure".
The following review is from Golfweek.com
Book review: A Son of the Game
A town founded as a sanctuary for tuberculosis sufferers now serves as a haven for golfers facing a midlife crisis. Welcome to Pinehurst, N.C., created in 1895 by an undercapitalized visionary, James Tufts, and built to look like a small New England town. Tufts didn’t play golf, but he had enough sense to find someone who knew the game well: recent Scottish émigré Donald Ross. More than a century later, the town is the American counterpart to St. Andrews as a spiritual home to the game.As told by veteran golf writer James Dodson, Pinehurst and the adjoining town of Southern Pines work because of their small-town neighborliness, with golf serving as the language and practice of everyday existence. Everyone in town, it seems, is a golf pilgrim. Tom Stewart, who operates a museum-like golf shop in town, is a former PGA club professional who played the Asian Tour, spent three weeks with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, ran (unsuccessfully) for Congress, and speaks in epigrams about golf and life. “A good golf buddy,” he says, “is nature’s compensation for being unable to pick your relatives.”Dodson makes his own early-50s malaise the basis of this rambling, conversational narrative. It’s less a plot line than a series of musings about his life as writer-in-residence with a highly regarded community newspaper, The Pilot (circ. 25,000). Dodson’s status is no fall from grace; it’s a voluntary excursion down the back roads of a region he has known since his childhood. After decades of writing for major dailies and magazines, he now has the time to relax with his family and to share the game with his teenage son, Jack.This is a very Southern set of stories, with the emphasis on people. No tale comes off sadder or more disappointing than Harvie Ward’s, whose early promise as an amateur golfer got ambushed by bitterness and alcohol. And yet in later life, before his death in 2004, Ward returned to Pinehurst and redeemed himself, if only partially.Dodson’s vision of golf and of small-town life is entirely mythic and traditional. He has never met a sentence that couldn’t be made more complicated with a subordinate clause or two. A close reader of the text might wonder whether the game can sustain itself on the basis of rocking-chair bonhomie. Maybe it can’t. But Dodson has tried hard to make the case.
Bob Barmore
http://www.bobbarmore.com
http://www.laroseandcompany.com
http://uskids2009worldchampionship.blogspot.com
About Me
- Bob Barmore
- I fell in love with Pinehurst 20 years ago. I visited the Country Club through New York Athletic Club (NYAC) golf outing. Everything about Pinehurst celebrates the history and traditions of American golf. It was in love at first sight. I found reasons to entertain my clients at Pinehurst. There is nothing grander than strolling the fairways of Pinehurst No. 2 with a guest in the name of business. Later my wife joined me in a NYAC outing, we both competed in a tournament on Pinehurst No. 2, played through a March rainstorm. She actually won a “putterboy” for her efforts and my undying admiration. She also became infatuated, encouraging my affair with beautiful Pinehurst. My love for Pinehurst only grew stronger. My wife and I were blessed with a daughter, at age three she began golfing. We vacationed at many fine resorts. Nowhere did we find a club and a community as gracious and special as Pinehurst. In 2001 I consummated my relationship with Pinehurst, buying a home and becoming a member. Not only did Pinehurst provide me with a great golf club, but also a wonderful club for my entire family. I consider myself very lucky to have found Pinehurst.