
Arriving in the mail recently was a copy of A Course Called Home by Tom Coyne.
This is the latest in the A Course Called series by Coyne, which includes A Course Called Scotland, A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called America.
From the publisher:
A COURSE CALLED HOME: Adventures of an Accidental Golf Course Owner by Tom Coyne; On sale May 5. 2026; Hardcover; Avid Reader Press; 9781668030554
Tom Coyne, the New York Times bestselling author of A Course Called America and numerous other contemporary classics of golf literature, has spent his career traveling the world and playing legendary courses from St. Andrews to Shinnecock. One day, at the urging of a course superintendent who is hoping to save his local nine-hole gem from shuttering just shy of its one hundredth anniversary, Coyne pays a visit to Sullivan County Golf & Country Club in upstate New York. When he arrives, the course is buried under ice and snow; what he can see of the clubhouse is falling apart. By the time he leaves, all he can see is his next adventure: discovering how owning a course is vastly different from playing one.
A Course Called Home is Coyne’s most personal and profound book yet: a heartfelt and often humorous chronicle of restoration, resilience, and finding purpose in unexpected places. It’s a story about digging in—literally and figuratively—as Coyne trades tee times for mower hours, learning how to contour a fairway, water a green, and revive a course rich in history but fading from memory.
The Sullivan golf community that Coyne joins is unlike the pristine, manicured version of the game you see on TV, played by millionaires in matching polos. The course is run by a tight-knit crew of groundskeepers who work long hours—not for prestige but for pride. It’s frequented by lifelong regulars who pay in cash and play in jeans, and it’s welcoming to visitors and first-timers who quickly become part of the fold.
Sullivan’s crew becomes more like a family, united in their affection for this scrappy, enduring place. Yet decades of declining tourism and economic downturn have left the club struggling to survive, and fighting for its future will require an unprecedented team effort.
Coyne rallies the golfing faithful to uplift this course that represents how the game can bring generations together. Players from around the world answer the call, purchasing memberships for a tiny Catskills course they may never visit. Companies offer steeply discounted mowers and carts. Friends swoop in to help dig bunkers, plant flowers, and cut holes. And, yes, some of those helpful friends have names like Bill Murray, Jason Kelce, and Mike Madden.
In the tradition of his beloved golf travel trilogy, Coyne again taps into what makes the game timeless and transformative. But this round, he doesn’t have to travel far: just down the road from Woodstock, to a century-old nine-holer that embraces all comers. A Course Called Home is a love letter to golf, to community, and to the places that still matter.
I’ll have a full review in due course.
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