Not only did I laugh out loud, but on many occasions I almost choked on the laugh ... you know ... when something unexpected and side-splitting occurs right in front of you, and your response is more like a seizure than a laugh, an involuntary event, like a sudden sneeze... I loved this book, and, like a good joke -- and a good golf swing -- the timing is flawless. As Tom's story unfolds, you giggle, you snicker, you cackle, you guffaw and you cry. Tom and his wife are just wonderful characters and I do hope that this book becomes a film ASAP.

                                                          ~R. Paul Bobby Rusher

                                                                     author of HOW TO LINE UP YOUR FOURTH PUTT 

                                                                     and WHEN TO REGRIP YOUR BALL RETRIEVER

 

     If you’re crazy about golf or you’re a golf widow, then you have to put the book Sweetspot, Confessions of a Golfaholic by John O’Hern on your must-read list. Illuminating what happens in any addiction, this compelling story takes the reader on a rollicking ride through the stages of the main character, Tom’s obsession with golf and how it pushes his life and marriage out of bounds.

     Tom and Carol appear to have the perfect life; until one day Tom decides to listen to his father-in-law’s (also his boss of the family-owned business) repeated suggestions that he take up golf as a business networking tool.  His first time at the driving range is an awful experience until he gains the attention of four-time married golf pro, Marty, who entraps Tom with endless lessons, praises his potential talents and hooks him up with his mainstay foursome of compulsive companions.

     Encouraged by his golfing buddies, Tom descends onto the dark road of addiction.  Like any full-blown addiction all he can think about is his next fix.  Thus, begins his outrageous, despicable behaviors– lies, stolen rounds, secret golf lessons, foursome liaisons and forbidden fairways. Obsessed by his quest for the perfect swing, Tom creates his golf “man cave” at home where he escapes into an unrealistic world of delusions and hallucinations. Conversations with the ghost of the great one, Ben Hogan, becomes more commonplace as he believes he’s his spirit guide, his mentor, egging on his bad behavior in his quest to discover the secret of the “Hogan Swing”.

     If you’re a golf widow then reading this book will be no laughing matter. A bible for the golf widow, it will open your eyes to the devious, outrageous behaviors that can occur with a golf addiction. Will Tom and Carol’s not-so-happy crumbling marriage come to an end?  Will Tom find that “perfect swing”? This story starts out slow but when Tom’s addiction takes hold his inconceivable, unscrupulous actions build suspense leading to the riveting ending.

 

~Pam Borges

NEW ENGLAND GOLF MONTHLY

 

Here is a novel written for the game’s true addict.... [Tom] becomes bitten by the golf bug to the degree that he deserts his wife, children and business in search of the perfect swing and possibly a chance to play on the Champions Tour. (If your response to that is "What's the problem?" you may have a problem too.)  …An imaginative author with an off-Broadway credit, O'Hern offers some strong medicine for golfaholics but also many identifiable moments to entertain the more casual golfers too.                                                                   

-Les Schupak

                                                                            book review, THE MET GOLFER

 

        Golf is a sport, a gentle pastime, an innocent game. But for Tom, the protagonist of John O'Hern's novel Sweetspot: Confessions of a Golfaholic, golf is an obsession, a sickness, a life-altering addiction that wrecks his career and nearly destroys his marriage--all in a comedic way. Those of us immersed in the game will recognize the symptoms. Hopefully, like O'Hern, we can laugh at them.

        Sweetspot is an outrageous take on all things golf, from the way an accidentally perfect shot makes us go weak in the knees to the ridiculous lies we tell our wives and bosses to cover up the quick nine we played that afternoon when we were supposed to be visiting customers. There's a sleazy womanizing club pro, a bunch of play-at-every-opportunity obsessives, and several long-suffering golf widows including especially Tom's wife Carol. Golfers will recognize them and get a laugh or two out of their shenanigans on and off the course....

        Sweetspot is a fun, easy read that should appeal to non-golfers as well as those of us obsessed with the game.

                                                                    

~Dave Donelson, author of WEIRD GOLF

                                                                       davedonelsonteetogreen.blogspot.com