After reading The Caddie who played with Hickory, I have more respect for the game of golf. I loved this story, not just for the golf lessons, but for the well-written characters and look into life post-WWII. Though this is well-written fiction, the real facts in the story drew me in. A non-golfer might skip over some of the technical golf scenes, but will be enthralled with the story of a young man dealing with his lot in life and working to build a future for himself.
My Dad was an avid golf, so I recognized the non-fictional golfers’ names of that era: Chick Evans, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones. I grew up near the featured Midlothian Country club, where my Dad played many times, but I’d been there only once visiting high school friends. I dated a boy who caddied at Midlothian and won the Chick Evans award in the late sixties, but until reading this book, I had no idea what that was all about.
The story captured the snootiness of country club life, (actually the few bad apples that generated that haughtiness). My parents were members of a club near Midlothian and my siblings and I felt the sting of that attitude many times. The story captured it well. The caddie triumphs, not only on the golf course, but in life through hard work, talent, and persistence. A good life lesson.
Jeanne Meeks ~ Fiction Author 