The Caddy Who Knew Ben Hogan
by John Coyne
Thomas Dunne Books,
St. Martins Press New York -
ISBN 0-312-35523-8
www.thecaddiewhoknewbenhogan.com
[This review also appeared in the fall '06 edition of 'Wee Nip' and in the December '06 edition of the SoHG Newsletter]
I love books about golfers and the history of Golf and I love reading how great players managed a particular round; I love romances and tragedies; and I love psycological storys. This novel has all three, and taken separately two of the three are all splendid reads, but mixed as they are in this book the result is initally somewhat confusing. I was reminded of when I first read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'Love in the Time of Cholera' - it wasn't until about page 70 that I realized exactly what was going on, however from there forward the book was a page turner. The same could be said of the 'Caddy Who Knew Ben Hogan'.
My confusion arose because the author uses the literary device of the reminiscence to mix three story lines, four if you include the life of the narrator Jack Handley.
Jack Handley is invited back to a famous country club to speak about the 1946 Chicago Open where as a 14 year old he had been 'top caddy' and where he had caddied for Ben Hogan. The Assistant Pro. Matt Richardson is young and handsome, and potentially a great golfer, but makes the mistake in those class conscious times of falling in love with the Club Presidents daughter Sarah DuPree. The secondary story line takes off when Ben Hogan arrives to play a practice round for the up-coming Chicago Open. Interactions between the caddy (Jack) and Ben, and between Ben and his opponent in the practice round (Young Matt) are used to paint a picture of Hogan's game, philosophy and character. This is where the author is at his best, describing how Hogan plays his shots, thinks his way round the course and intimidates his oponent. The third story line is the account of Jack's naration, how the country club listeners react to his tale as some of the skeletons in their closets are outed, and the revalation of why Jack had been invited to tell his tale in the first place. At least the author makes things easy for us to separate the story lines here by putting this particular story line in Italics.
Looking at the Hogan story line first - in the reviewers opinion the best part of the book - Ben and Valerie Hogan arrive unexpectedly at the Fictional Country Club where the Chicago Open is to be played the following month. Fourteen year old Jack is the star caddy and jumps at the chance to carry Ben's bag. The description of how Ben plays the first nine is riveting, and includes the reasoning behind the shots he is playing. Matt joins Ben on the back nine, and Ben sets out to teach him a tough lesson. It is well known that Ben had friends, but never played a friendly golf match! This is brought out in the description of this nine holes! I will not tell you any more as this would spoil the fun, however I will tell you that Ben is as nice as can be to Jack.
Was this in character? Probably. It is known that Ben was absolutely charming, communicative and helpful to the lady professionals of his day; and having been a penurious caddie himself, he was always good to caddies, especially to those from 'the wrong side of the tracks'. It was just with potential male rivals that he would be non-communicative. Would he have imparted his philosophy so readily, and over the course of eighteen holes to a fourteen year old caddy? Probably not, but this is fiction, and an authors literary license must be allowed. What does emerge is a wonderful thumb-nail sketch of Hogan, his play making and his philosophy. The description of the course is so real one feels that the author is using a real course as his backdrop. Which course? Only the author knows, but here are three candidates The account is of course fiction although Ben in fact won three Chicago Open's, but 1946 was not one of those years. Ben won the Western Open in 1946 at the Sunset CC, St. Louis, MO. , one of his thirteen wins; he won the Chicago Victory Open the following year in 1947, and in 1948 the Chicago Open was held at the the Midlothian Country Club where the author himself caddied. (Of Ben's three Chicago Open wins,two came in the thirties and the other was in 1947.) The authors account of Ben's swing and thinking are authentic but I can't help but feel that the author is under-clubbing Ben. Sure Ben could hit a seven Iron 180 yards, but he in fact preferred to use a five iron for this distance. But this is a minor nit, and perhaps the author is right, after all the action takes place in 1946 when Ben was younger and stronger and before he had his car accident.
What of the romance of Matt and Sarah? This proceeds along traditional Romeo and Juliet lines. The Author probes in to the mores of 1946 country club life and is good at highlighting the priggishness and self-satisfaction of a certain class - those who, as it has been so aptly put, 'were born on third base and think they hit a triple'. Naturally Sarah's father, the club president, and his boozy wife try to scuttle the romance and try to enlist Jack as an ally. Will they succede? The story has at least three possible endings. Looking at the book with my 'romance reader' hat on, I was turning the pages rapidly and then was bitterly disappointed that the author tip's the ending with his tertiary story line! To me this rather detracts from the books overall pleasure. Indeed I'm not sure why the tertiary story line is there at all. It is weak, it does not add much or anything to the primary and secondary plot, indeed it detracts from the secondary plot and, even allowing for literary license, it is quite unbelievable. I don't believe that even in this day and age a lecturer would expose a family's "dirty linen" in public, and I know for certain that in my country club no one would listen to someone talk for three to four hours!
So how does this book match up?
As a Hogan fan I found this book an absolute page turner when reading about 'the Wee Ice Mon'. The writers style was clear and lucid, his knowledge of golf shone through and as a Hogan fan I appreciated the subtle facets of Hogan's character that were revealed. As a scientist I will have to test the thory that putting shadow over a hanging putt can cause a ball to drop into the hole (you will have to read the book to find out what I am talking about). As a self confessed romantic I was entranced by the 'romance novel' untill the author gave the ending away prematurely, and then it just became an interesting read. My advice to anyone who reads this book is to skip all the parts in Italics! In short all fans of Hogan should read this book, those who like a good love story can also read it but skip those italics!
F.B
John Coyne has written or edited over 20 books, including three books of golf instruction. He is best known as a horror stories and many of these have been on the the best sellers list. (And no there are no accounts of yips or socket shots in the book, although duck hooks are mentioned!). He caddied at the Midlothian Country Club south of Chicago in the early fifties, becoming the caddy master by the age of 16! He has a lifelong love of golf although this is his first golfing novel. He is preparing a second novel that features Walter Hagen!
Frank grew up worshiping Ben Hogan and attempted to learn golf from Ben's Power Golf. He also listened spell bound to the tales told by a friend of his father who actually was the marker when Ben won the Open at Carnoustie.