Gary Moran praises an ex-musician's laconic account of a year spent ascaddy to one of the European Tour's perennial also-rans
There aren't too many golf books that will make you laugh out loud but what's rare is wonderful and Lawrence Donegan's Four Iron In The Soul falls into that category.
The raw ingredients don't sound too promising. Donegan, a former bass player with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and a chart-topper with the Bluebells (Young at Heart, 1993 re-mix), takes a job caddying for the 438th-ranked golfer in the world and writes about their experiences together. The end product is a book that succeeds on two levels. It is a witty account of a season travelling on the European Tour and an insightful examination of the life of a journeyman professional looking for a first win after 19 years of trying.
The seeds for the book were sewn when Donegan found himself on assignment for the Guardian at the 1995 Lancome Trophy near Paris. Specifically, he found himself actively researching an article on journeymen golfers by carrying the bag of Ross Drummond, who was paired with Jose Maria Olazabal in the final round.
Donegan had a smell of the big time, he liked it and during a friendly game at Turnberry that winter he persuaded Donegan to let him be his caddy for the following season.
Things didn't start well.
Donegan innocently hoped for a tournament victory, the other caddies were brutally honest and considerably more accurate in their assessment.
"You must be a good writer because if you think Ross Drummond is going to win a tournament you've got some bloody imagination," said one.
Drummond backed them up with five missed cuts and not a single round under 70 in two months. So did Donegan, whose laconic style and self-deprecating humour are major winners. If the action on the course wasn't inspiring he made a virtue of travelling with caddies who had many interesting tales to tell.
Miraculously, Drummond turned things around when the Tour reached Britain. Inspired by an Anthony Robbins motivational tape bought for £2.99 at a motorway lodge and later by sessions with Jos Vanstiphout, who was starting out as a golf "mind-guru", he finished fourth at the International Open and second to Retief Goosen at the Northumberland Challenge.
While Donegan loved being near the lead and was thrilled when Drummond fired a 63 to qualify for the British Open, he found much of the job wearisome and the caddy-player relationship deteriorated.
It reached breaking point at the Czech Open when Donegan realised that he "would rather be anywhere else in the world right then, facing anything but the prospect of caddying at Marianske Lazne Golf Club where we followed the same depressing routine every day: arrive at the course, visit the range, hit a few putts, step on the first tee and disappear off into an unpopulated (i.e., spectator-free) drizzle for five hours."
The following week Drummond disappeared off to the Lancome Trophy with a new caddy on his bag and won the biggest cheque of his career by finishing third. Donegan disappeared to put his story in print. Six years and 20 reprints later it is still in the shops, having sold 100,000 copies and won a USGA International Book of The Year award. Drummond lost his European Tour card in 1997, won it back, lost it again and now plays mostly on Scotland's Tartan Tour.
He will be eligible for the seniors in 2006.
Donegan is living in California and has completed a book about his experience as a marshall at last year's Ryder Cup. Quiet Please' will be available next autumn.
