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Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros
The riotously funny story of one weekend golfer who lived the dream—devoting a full year to nothing but the quixotic quest to qualify at the PGA Q-School
A lifelong golfer and former caddy, Tom Coyne could drive the ball 300 yards but always struggled against stiff competition; he had often wondered whether the pros won because they were more innately talented or just because they were more obsessed. On the cusp of turning thirty, overweight, and saddled with a 14 handicap, Coyne embarked on a yearlong quest to do everything he could to lift his game—and find out if he could make it through the PGA Tour Qualifying School.
Paper Tiger takes you on a rollicking ride into the beer-gutted underbelly of semipro golf, into a world of crash diets, punishing workout regimens, high-flying sports shrinks, cutting-edge club technology, and obscure tournaments. With his girlfriend as caddy, Coyne traverses from Miami to Chicago to Toronto to see how he stacks up against the competition. Ultimately he takes his game to a new level—or at least a new continent—on the links of Australian Q-School, where amidst forty-mile-an-hour winds he must choose between the love of a fickle game and the love of the long-suffering woman who has stood by him throughout all the shanks, hooks, yips, and chili dips.
Brimming with humor and insight about the world’s most beautiful and maddening game, Paper Tiger will delight golfers and the sane people who love them.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2006
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907 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
July 17, 2022
A must-read golf memoir. Like the game itself, Paper Tiger is simultaneously devastating and enjoyable. Absolutely sets a proper perspective on just how good the best players are.
September 13, 2020
Like the author's golf game, this book is impressive off the tee most of the time, but it falters on the short game and has a lot of flubbed shots. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't deeply knowledgeable about golf and who would read just about anything on the game.
My feeling is the Tom Coyne is trying to be Bill Bryson, but on golf. However, Coyne doesn't have the sense of humor nor ability to marshal obscure facts. Furthermore, Bryson takes something that he knows very little about -- Australia, Appalachian Trail, etc. -- and brings you along as he learns. Part of the pleasure is finding surprises along with him. Coyne assumes you are golf-obsessed and know a lot about the game already, or else why would you buy this book? I think that's a mistake, and he could have dumbed it down for the less-interested, occasional player. As a person who's followed golf since Tom Watson and Hale Irwin dueled Jack Nicklaus, you'd think I could keep up. But there were times when Coyne lost me with his golf references and descriptions.
I also dislike Coyne's treatment of his girlfriend and wife-to-be Allyson. At least a half-dozen times times we're told she's a leggy blonde who likes to shop. We're also treated once to a reference to her bouncing boobs when she caddies for him. And we're told in an offhand way that the blonde, leggy, chesty shopaholic is, by the way, a rising star in an insurance company. I'm sure she feels great going into staff meetings with the description of her in this book as the image in colleagues' minds.
Meanwhile, he's dated her for 9 years and avoided a marriage discussion. Instead, he blurts out that he's going to take a year off from their relationship in order to move to Florida and work on his golf game --- that's the premise of the book.
Anyway, Coyne's premise -- which he states about 50 times -- is that he's living out the fantasy of every middle-aged male by trying to make the pro golf tour. He's taking that shot that the rest of us only talk about on the 19th hole. (And he's clear that it's only a man's fantasy, as the idea that women would like to be pro golfers is mentioned only once in passing with the observation that they're getting more athletic and accomplished. But sexy beer girls at charity tournaments are mentioned more than women golfers in this book.)
Coyne is good enough that the fantasy isn't insane, and therefore he can't play it for laughs. At the time of the book, he's 29 years old and about 8-9 years away from playing competitive golf, as a flaked out during a tryout for the Notre Dame Univ. team as a freshman. But he can whale the ball when he hits it right, and he knows how to play all the sticks in his bag, at least to some degree. So he goes on an odyssey of swing coaches, conditioning, psychology and equipment upgrades. We're along for the ride.
The book attempts to be funny, but in general that's not its aim. It is serious because, as I noted above, Coyne is good enough that his attempt isn't a joke in the way that Bill Bryson's would be. The best parts of the book (for me) are about the pressures he feels when he's playing on actual courses, either under the eye of one of his coaches or in the tournaments he starts to enter about six months into his program. I've never played a competitive round of golf in my life, and I've only been on a professional- or country club-caliber course once in my life, so I enjoyed reading about the look, the feel, the sense of entitlement that hanging out in such environments brings. Coyne is really good at maintaining his perspective that he -- and his competitors -- are privileged to have the opportunity to do what they do.
In the end, however, this book doesn't add up to much. Coyne gets a lot better at golf, and he learns a little about himself along the way, about how disciplined he can be, about how mental blocks have interfered with aspects of his life. He doesn't come close to making even the lowest run of the pro tour, but Allyson stays by his side (quite literally at times, as she caddies for him in some tournaments), and they get engaged, presumably to live happily ever.
My feeling is the Tom Coyne is trying to be Bill Bryson, but on golf. However, Coyne doesn't have the sense of humor nor ability to marshal obscure facts. Furthermore, Bryson takes something that he knows very little about -- Australia, Appalachian Trail, etc. -- and brings you along as he learns. Part of the pleasure is finding surprises along with him. Coyne assumes you are golf-obsessed and know a lot about the game already, or else why would you buy this book? I think that's a mistake, and he could have dumbed it down for the less-interested, occasional player. As a person who's followed golf since Tom Watson and Hale Irwin dueled Jack Nicklaus, you'd think I could keep up. But there were times when Coyne lost me with his golf references and descriptions.
I also dislike Coyne's treatment of his girlfriend and wife-to-be Allyson. At least a half-dozen times times we're told she's a leggy blonde who likes to shop. We're also treated once to a reference to her bouncing boobs when she caddies for him. And we're told in an offhand way that the blonde, leggy, chesty shopaholic is, by the way, a rising star in an insurance company. I'm sure she feels great going into staff meetings with the description of her in this book as the image in colleagues' minds.
Meanwhile, he's dated her for 9 years and avoided a marriage discussion. Instead, he blurts out that he's going to take a year off from their relationship in order to move to Florida and work on his golf game --- that's the premise of the book.
Anyway, Coyne's premise -- which he states about 50 times -- is that he's living out the fantasy of every middle-aged male by trying to make the pro golf tour. He's taking that shot that the rest of us only talk about on the 19th hole. (And he's clear that it's only a man's fantasy, as the idea that women would like to be pro golfers is mentioned only once in passing with the observation that they're getting more athletic and accomplished. But sexy beer girls at charity tournaments are mentioned more than women golfers in this book.)
Coyne is good enough that the fantasy isn't insane, and therefore he can't play it for laughs. At the time of the book, he's 29 years old and about 8-9 years away from playing competitive golf, as a flaked out during a tryout for the Notre Dame Univ. team as a freshman. But he can whale the ball when he hits it right, and he knows how to play all the sticks in his bag, at least to some degree. So he goes on an odyssey of swing coaches, conditioning, psychology and equipment upgrades. We're along for the ride.
The book attempts to be funny, but in general that's not its aim. It is serious because, as I noted above, Coyne is good enough that his attempt isn't a joke in the way that Bill Bryson's would be. The best parts of the book (for me) are about the pressures he feels when he's playing on actual courses, either under the eye of one of his coaches or in the tournaments he starts to enter about six months into his program. I've never played a competitive round of golf in my life, and I've only been on a professional- or country club-caliber course once in my life, so I enjoyed reading about the look, the feel, the sense of entitlement that hanging out in such environments brings. Coyne is really good at maintaining his perspective that he -- and his competitors -- are privileged to have the opportunity to do what they do.
In the end, however, this book doesn't add up to much. Coyne gets a lot better at golf, and he learns a little about himself along the way, about how disciplined he can be, about how mental blocks have interfered with aspects of his life. He doesn't come close to making even the lowest run of the pro tour, but Allyson stays by his side (quite literally at times, as she caddies for him in some tournaments), and they get engaged, presumably to live happily ever.
March 2, 2015
Well, I don't golf, and yet, I finished the book. The golf, it turns out, was the least interesting part of the book. I enjoyed most enjoyed the characters, the myopic questing, and the Voltaire-esque ending (life is perhaps best when enjoyed simply, with one's loved ones). Not amazing, but well-played.
May 28, 2021
Every time I read a Tom Coyne book, my appreciation for the game, its history and the maddening amount of skill it requires increases. This is my third Tom Coyne book, and I am glad I came back to check out Paper Tiger. It is clear that over the past two decades Coyne's writing style has been refined, while his wit and humorous approach to his books have only gotten better.
As a newly golf-inclined wife to a golf-obsessed husband, I also feel like Coyne's books are approachable to people with little knowledge of the game. It is a mistake to think you won't understand them if you aren't a golf fanatic. Occasionally I do need to look up a golf term, but I generally feel there is enough context provided to help me understand the nuances being discussed. I appreciate that the author takes time to break things like Q-school and other structures of golf and the PGA down. I like the underlying story about his budding (or stagnant, depending on how you look at it) relationship. And I see a lot of myself in Allyson, who popped up as a welcome relief throughout the book.
4 stars here, but 4.5 if I had the choice. I just got my copy of A Course Called America: Fifty States, Five Thousand Fairways, and the Search for the Great American Golf Course, so onto the next!
As a newly golf-inclined wife to a golf-obsessed husband, I also feel like Coyne's books are approachable to people with little knowledge of the game. It is a mistake to think you won't understand them if you aren't a golf fanatic. Occasionally I do need to look up a golf term, but I generally feel there is enough context provided to help me understand the nuances being discussed. I appreciate that the author takes time to break things like Q-school and other structures of golf and the PGA down. I like the underlying story about his budding (or stagnant, depending on how you look at it) relationship. And I see a lot of myself in Allyson, who popped up as a welcome relief throughout the book.
4 stars here, but 4.5 if I had the choice. I just got my copy of A Course Called America: Fifty States, Five Thousand Fairways, and the Search for the Great American Golf Course, so onto the next!
June 20, 2023
Paper Tiger is a fun read which does a great job of showing the commitment required to become a PGA Tour Pro. It also does a great job of highlighting how difficult it is for the average Joe to breach the walls of this exclusive club.
However, I would say in the many years since the release of this book, others have tackled this similar journey with a bit more groundeness and character. If you're interested in following the journey of the better-than-average golfer who is on a quest to become great, I'd suggest the podcast Chasing Scratch. It's essentially a more relatable journey than the one Coyne ventures, since very few can put their entire life on hold to chase this dream, which is exactly what Coyne does.
Nonetheless, I still would recommend this book. Coyne does an incredible job of going behind the curtain to reveal the nearly impossible requirements to cross over into the realm of being a PGA card holder.
However, I would say in the many years since the release of this book, others have tackled this similar journey with a bit more groundeness and character. If you're interested in following the journey of the better-than-average golfer who is on a quest to become great, I'd suggest the podcast Chasing Scratch. It's essentially a more relatable journey than the one Coyne ventures, since very few can put their entire life on hold to chase this dream, which is exactly what Coyne does.
Nonetheless, I still would recommend this book. Coyne does an incredible job of going behind the curtain to reveal the nearly impossible requirements to cross over into the realm of being a PGA card holder.
August 20, 2018
This book did an incredible job of capturing the quirks that go with being a professional golfer. The mannerisms, the unspoken rules, the way that we read each other on the range. Coyne is a great writer - I laughed out loud repeatedly.
May 19, 2021
This is the best book I've ever read. Period. I got hooked on survival stories about 10 years ago and although this is not a survival story per se, it is! What this guy went through for a solid year to make the PGA tour and still "freeze to death" will make every golfer realize that the PGA tour is the best of the best of the best.
Despite the gratuitous profanity, I would highly recommend this book to every golfer. This is the only book I've ever read that I wish was longer. I got a few LOL's from the humor but this is a dead serious book about a game that will crush the hardiest soul.
Despite the gratuitous profanity, I would highly recommend this book to every golfer. This is the only book I've ever read that I wish was longer. I got a few LOL's from the humor but this is a dead serious book about a game that will crush the hardiest soul.
January 10, 2022
A golf writer takes one year to see how good of a player he can become and take his shot at earning a spot on the PGA Tour. Coyne spends a full year focused only on training, coaching, and practicing day after day to see if he can earn his way through Q-School. It's an entertaining ride, though having read Coyne's first three "A Course Called..." books before this one, you can see how his writing style has matured and progressed. I prefer the writing of the later 3 books to this one, as this one may focus a bit more on the actual golf mechanics and play-by-play as opposed to the characters and experiences of his later books. Still, a fun read for any golf fan.
October 11, 2024
What if? It's a question I think we've all asked ourselves at some point about some decision we could have made or life path we could have taken. For Tom Coyne, that What if was about his golf career: if he spent every day, for one year, doing everything he could to improve, could he become a professional golfer?
What follows is a entertaining and well written story that dives into the guts of how the 'real' side of professional sports works (when the cameras are off), what advice from the best coaches and psychologists in the world looks like, and just how absurdly good top professional athletes are at their respective sports.
What follows is a entertaining and well written story that dives into the guts of how the 'real' side of professional sports works (when the cameras are off), what advice from the best coaches and psychologists in the world looks like, and just how absurdly good top professional athletes are at their respective sports.
May 8, 2008
Marginal. This guy tries to make the PGA tour...and fails. But he proposes to his girlfriend at the end as if you are supposed to feel like you didn't waste your time reading this book. Another thing I didn't like was that he slips in that his girlfriend is hot numerous times. That seemed to annoy me for some reason. It seemed like he was saying, "Yeah, I didn't make the PGA tour...I didn't even do anything of note for the past year except waste peoples money...but I have a girlfriend - and she is hot."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2018
Wonder how good the guys on the PGA Tour are? Not to mention the guys actually winning tournaments and majors? Insanely and freakishly good. The author, a former junior club champion at a very well regarded course outside Philadelphia, rededicates himself to the game and tells the story in this book. Spoiler alert: there are a lot of good golfers out there and more are being manufactured every day. Good luck to you if you want to pursue this path.
May 31, 2019
Reads Like a Golf Round
This book is certainly enjoyable... about as enjoyable as an average around of golf for an average player. There are high points and low points and you find yourself hoping that the author will have great success but he never does. I guess there is some deep analogy for life here, that even though your expectations may be very high, it’s relationships and love that matter the most in the end.
This book is certainly enjoyable... about as enjoyable as an average around of golf for an average player. There are high points and low points and you find yourself hoping that the author will have great success but he never does. I guess there is some deep analogy for life here, that even though your expectations may be very high, it’s relationships and love that matter the most in the end.
February 12, 2025
As I neared the end, I realized I was gritting out the last few pages and ready to be done with it.
I got a couple laughs, a couple interesting insights into the insane level of competitive golf (which made me imagine how much more insane it must be today, 20 years later), but not much else.
It’s 300 pages of long-winded descriptions that fall flat for the casual golfer (many, many references and descriptions went over my head entirely).
I got a couple laughs, a couple interesting insights into the insane level of competitive golf (which made me imagine how much more insane it must be today, 20 years later), but not much else.
It’s 300 pages of long-winded descriptions that fall flat for the casual golfer (many, many references and descriptions went over my head entirely).
March 12, 2025
What a fantastic book! I've been hunting for this for awhile, refusing to purchase online. When I finally came upon it in a local B&N, I started reading it later that night and was hooked from the start. Tom Coyne writes a captivating memoir of his year-ish of dreaming of professional golf. It proves why so many of us love the game despite it being one of the hardest to learn and play, especially at the highest level.
February 15, 2019
The golf part is interesting, it's nice to have the perspective of an everyday golfer, albeit a really good one, to demonstrate just how good the pros really are. But as most autobiographical works go, you could easily shave 50 pages out of this and not miss a beat. Despite the homage, it doesn't compare to the works of George Plimpton.
June 1, 2019
Golf like it really is
Well-written, descriptive, and encompassing of the trials and tribulations for those who ever aspired to be professional golfers and wanted to know what it really meant to make that dream a reality. Tom's openness and capture of the finer points makes for a worthwhile read.
Well-written, descriptive, and encompassing of the trials and tribulations for those who ever aspired to be professional golfers and wanted to know what it really meant to make that dream a reality. Tom's openness and capture of the finer points makes for a worthwhile read.
July 15, 2021
A Quest Indeed
Tom Coyne feels like a buddy after reading this story of much failure, but ultimate success. If you are obsessed with golf (as my buddy Tom and I are) you will have a hard time putting this book down. I played 18 earlier today, slapped it around for a 93, but I may hit the driving range tomorrow. Thanks, Coyne. Good read.
Tom Coyne feels like a buddy after reading this story of much failure, but ultimate success. If you are obsessed with golf (as my buddy Tom and I are) you will have a hard time putting this book down. I played 18 earlier today, slapped it around for a 93, but I may hit the driving range tomorrow. Thanks, Coyne. Good read.
April 6, 2024
Favorite read of the year so far. Coyne tells stories in delightfully authentic ways. A series of really charming vignettes that paint candid pictures of loneliness, love, and taking the big leap to do cool things. If you’re not a golf person, som chapters won’t be super accessible, but the story itself is still delightful.
June 14, 2025
Paper Tiger
A very nice golf read.
Shades of George Plimpton but with the pursuant more skilled at the pursuit.
Nice play on words for the title as well also going back to Plimpton (look up his his most famous title).
My only complaint is that the author’s extreme golf obsession ended somewhat abruptly.
A very nice golf read.
Shades of George Plimpton but with the pursuant more skilled at the pursuit.
Nice play on words for the title as well also going back to Plimpton (look up his his most famous title).
My only complaint is that the author’s extreme golf obsession ended somewhat abruptly.
June 23, 2025
The perfect book for a golfer or anyone who seeks to improve themself in a craft or trade.
While a simple summary might be that the author's labor does not pay off in achieving his goal, I think anyone who has ever tried to get the most out of themselves will appreciate that there is supreme joy in doing the work and discovering what their best looks like.
While a simple summary might be that the author's labor does not pay off in achieving his goal, I think anyone who has ever tried to get the most out of themselves will appreciate that there is supreme joy in doing the work and discovering what their best looks like.
November 26, 2018
Terrific "non-fiction" story of an average Joe type golfer who tries to get as good at golf as he can by living like a pro golfer for 15 months. Every average golfer's dream story played out and told in very well written prose.
January 1, 2019
Started and finished this over break, inherently interesting because of the topic to me but well written, exploring how deep the level of competition is at the pro level and how there is far more to life than golf.
April 5, 2019
Enjoyable!
This book was particularly enjoyable for all those hackers who dream about how much better they would need to play to make it to the pros. It also helps you appreciate the level of talent and dedication to play in the PGA.
This book was particularly enjoyable for all those hackers who dream about how much better they would need to play to make it to the pros. It also helps you appreciate the level of talent and dedication to play in the PGA.
December 16, 2019
I really enjoy Tom Coyne's books on golf adventures and this one is one of his best. I felt like I was living his dream ans he prepared for Q school.
I recommend it especially for all those golfers out there who still think that maybe they can play at another level
I recommend it especially for all those golfers out there who still think that maybe they can play at another level
July 2, 2021
Alyson is a saint to allow Tom to make this quest for a year. My favorite chapter was with Bob Winters, particularly around using the rubber band trick on the wrist in golf. Make sure your shoulders are square as well in your driver setup. Great story most of us wish we could do but for life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2025
As a golfer this was a great book that explores what happens if you decided to give this game your all. I found his tone both honest and refreshing. He doesn't try to oversell himself and does a good job explaining the ups and downs of golf. I have recommended this to many of my golf buddies.
January 7, 2026
Tom Coyne’s exploration of what it takes to make it to the PGA tour through the famous Q-School is an intriguing premise for everyone, but I found it largely to be a book that will most aptly appeal to the avid golfer. Going pro in any sport is a real challenge, it takes time and it takes effort and it takes money, and following Coyne as he hemorrhages all of these factors in an effort to chase a dream is fascinating and an interesting look into the training of professional athletes in golf. From the swing coach to the nutritionist to the family and the friends that support along the way, it is a difficult journey, as Coyne makes clear, and his reflections on the challenges that come with this effort stand as both a solid warning and a beacon of hope for those who wish to chase the same dream. I think any reader’s reaction to this book will hinge heavily upon the way in which they view the conclusion of the book, and where Coyne ends up. All in all, this is an enjoyable book for any fan of golf, and I encourage golf fans to give it a chance.
September 18, 2017
Enjoyed this book. Nice ending.
October 2, 2018
Fun read.
April 22, 2019
Very enjoyable and insightful read. I learned a lot about the world of golf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews