The Old Man and His Game (Golf's Gift)

By Bob Thomas

Book Overview

Thomas presents the story of a golf collector who gets an unexpected gift from the sport late in life. Seasoned golfers will recognize a Harvey Penick-type character in the old man, and all golfers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 097176820X
• ISBN13: 9780971768208
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Bob Thomas Books
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Very Good Read and Lesson

The Old Man and His Game by Bob Thomas Whenever you see a title "the old man...." and anything behind it, you must think of The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway. Well, I did and from what I remember of the Hemingway book here are the parallels with the subject title above: they both have an old man, they both have a boy, they both have a huge obstacle in front of them- one the sea, the other the golf course; both fought nature; both labored hard to excel; both old men are men of integrity and felt that having integrity made one worthy; both old men wonder if they are too old to handle the obstacles; both old men were former champions at what they do; both old men teach a boy life's lessons and both old men are men that we would like to know and learn from. Hemingway won a Pulitzer with his book. Will Bob Thomas do the same? "I would have to say that Thomas' book is overly sentimental at times dwelling too much on the memory of the Old Man's late wife, but he can be forgiven for this as the memories of her still comfort the Old Man as he doesn't have much of a social life. He is kind of stuck in time. He doesn't have much to look forward to until the boy appears and an upcoming golf tournament stirs his juices." The Old Man teaches the boy about growing a garden, golf and life in general and he is in his element. He remembers times when he taught others. This new found energy helps get him out of his rut and he decides to enter the Best Ball Golf Tournament at the local golf club. So he practices his game and being a former champion he knows what he must do. He finds a partner who injures himself and cannot play; then someone from his past comes into view and together they decide to team up and enter the tournament. That someone, Robert, who the Old Man used to teach golf to validates the Old Man's existence, faith in friends and the integrity of the game once again for it is Robert who gives the Old Man a reward that was not sought. There is something to be said for "old school" and any reader of this novella must see that golfers and people in general today are really out of touch with what is important in life. Bob Thomas knows this and presents this point of view very accurately, in an enjoyable way. The writing is direct and easy to understand and this is a good thing. Remember, Hemingway wrote the same way. Ah, another parallel. So the lesson is that if we would just stop, slow down and reconsider everything, get back to basics, take the time to interact honestly with each other, the rewards may surprise us as the Old Man must have been surprised and delighted with what was given to him. Will this bring about World Peace? Couldn't hurt, you know and this alone may make this book worthy of a Pulitzer.