Hacked Off

Tony Lawrence had never been much good at golf and, once married and with a small daughter, the prospects of ever improving to a respectable standard seemed to have receded for good. Defeat by his 13-year-old nephew seemed the last straw. But then he was made redundant. Suddenly he could justify to himself one final year - a whole year - to try everything he could to master the damn game once and for all. Everything. Hacked Off is the story of that year. Lawrence goes to see a putting coach, a short-game coach, a golf physiotherapist, a nutritionist, a hypnotherapist and a professor of sports science. He spends a fortune on new clubs. Somehow along the way his marriage survives, despite the gouges in the furniture and the holes in the carpet. And at the end of the year, when he has promised himself a showdown match against his three brothers and that pesky nephew with the teeth braces - will he beat them, as he has to do? This is a hilarious and touching book about the game of golf, by a seasoned sports journalist who really knows how to write. Several years ago Aurum's My Baby Got the Yips was a critical and sales success shortlisted for the Best New Sportswriter award: Hacked Off is equally as good. Tony Lawrence was a sports journalist for many years. This is his first book.