The Back Nine (a novel)

by: Billy Mott

Published by: Vintage

Reviewed by Bob Pike CSP, CPAE-Speakers Hall of Fame

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.