The Dewsweepers

by James Dodson

One of the great golf journalists introduces readers to the "Dewsweepers," a dedicated group of golfers who tee off every weekend morning at an old club in upstate New York, while he searches for the simple joys contained in the game. Reprint.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

James Dodson is the author of seven books, including Final Rounds and Ben Hogan: An American Life. He lives with his family in Southern Pines, North Carolina."

Reviews

[Steven Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Dodson has written another book which will find a way to connect to many readers even if they do not play golf. It shows that life is not so different not matter what your financial status might be. If you don't know anything about golf, information is provided to help with these parts. If you're a golfer or ever had an difficult family issue arise, this book will speak to you.

[Martin Braunton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“...Stirk entertained us with tales of a village surgeon’s life and left us smiling with an account of a club secretary who’d recently caught a pair of lovers copulating in a bunker while he was attempting to make an important pitch shot.

“You can’t do that here!” the secretary thundered at the trespassing lovers.

“Why ever not?” the young man demanded, scarcely pausing in his exertions.

The club secretary thought for only a moment and indignantly replied, “Because you’re not members!”

The Dewsweepers is full of charming and witty tales involving a group of friends that have fallen in love with the game of golf. It is a book that any golf nut would appreciate especially those who have enjoyed some time playing the game. It is a book of friendship and cameraderie.

James Dodson writes his account of his own personal love for the game and there is much humour along the way.

[Len Boselovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. But "dewsweepers" seems too inappropriate a term for a group of well-heeled country clubbers who spend too much time crossing state lines or large bodies of water to play some of the world's best golf courses. And who complain about the horrendous 78 they carded. And who could pay someone to sweep the dew for them. To paraphrase what Bobby Jones said of Jack Nicklaus, the dewsweepers play a game with which I am not familiar. That said, Dodson included enough reminders of why golf is such a great game to make it worth the slog even for a muni course hacker like me.

[Rick Fifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A golf book told about how friendships are started and blossom through playing golf. A story that looks at friends who get together to be the first ones on the golf course and sweep the dew off the course. It also looks at life long friendships who care about each other off the golf course and the importance of these friendships.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Dodson delivers an excellent, thoughtful, genuine story about life and the friends that help us get through it. The references to Syracuse and upstate New York resonate with me of course, but his wide travels for the game of golf are also very interesting. Thoroughly (and a little surprisingly) enjoyed this book.

[Craig Vroom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of life experiences - during one extraordinary season of golf. Many anecdotes, about friendships, gamesmanship, history, and the beauty of a well-designed course, make this a very enjoyable read for anyone who loves the game.

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a golfer, I enjoyed the insights that Dodson shared about his life in golf. His relationships with his golfing pals, known as the Dewsweepers, make up the heart of this book. Their good-natured banter on and off the golf course brought some much needed humor to a book that could have gotten mired in the problems that arose in the author's life and the lives of his friends. He touched on many of the experiences that are common to life in an effort to show that the Dewsweepers had more going on than just where they were going to play golf. For them, golf and their relationships with their special friends was good therapy. This was an enjoyable read for any golfer and would make a good read for a non-golfer just for the study of personal relationships.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was sappy and corny and pointless. I hated it.