A Course Called Ireland

A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee

By: Tom Coyne

Narrated by: Kyle Tait

The must-listen best seller about one man's epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world's greatest round of golf

By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and paean to the world's greatest game in the tradition of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

In his 30s, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it-on foot.

A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking-averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending 16 weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland. Along the way, he searches out his family's roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs.

©2009 Tom Coyne (P)2020 Tantor

A must read for any golf fan

Fantastic writing, wonderful narration, and enough laughs along the way to keep the non golfer interested while carpooling.

Accents are insulting

Great story. The reader does a really bad cockney British accent when reading Irish characters.

Narrator is too bad to finish this!

I read the reviews that criticized the narrator's accent and chose to ignore them. HUGE mistake! I can't listen to anymore of this. It is not only an AUSTRALIAN accent, it is a BAD Australian accent.

If he couldn't do the accent, he should have just read it in his normal voice. His attempt is painful to listen to.

I do not recommend the Audible version of this book unless you have a lot of patience, or have never heard an Irish accent before, and won't know the difference.

I knowingly chose to ignore similar reviews, and deserve to lose my credit. Don't make the same mistake I made.

Entertaining all the way

TC has a writing style that no adjective could adequately describe. He’s entertaining from the mundane experiences to the once in a lifetime ~ easily my favorite golf author!

A golfer's dream!

I love Ireland and can't get enough about it. This story is so entertaining, really giving an in-depth look at Irish character, geography, customs, and culture. Oh, and everything to know about Irish links golf courses. The only flaw is the narration. Most of the times an Irish accent is tried, it sounds Australian, once in while Scots, rarely Irish. And the book is really funny but the narration energy doesn't convey that so well. Still, I highly recommend it.

Who’s the narrator

Man this has been a trial.
I’ve listened to the other titles in a “course called” series with joy and pleasure.
The narrator makes effort to pull of accents that leave you screaming at your device.
I’m glad Tom found sobriety as pickled golf albeit fun can be trying.

More than just golf

A remarkable story about persistence, self-discovery, history, and, oh yea, golf in Ireland: Tom Coyne makes you feel like you are walking your way around Ireland with him.

What an incredible adventure!

The only flaw is narrator's brogue...he makes a Dubliner sound like he is from Sidney. otherwise Tom Coynes storytelling captures the Irish people well and makes every American golfer jealous of his trip.

Just like being there

My 3rd listen of Coyne's golf travels, and I enjoyed this one the most. The narrator did a great job conveying characters and switching accents.

Coyne is such a good golf writer

Having listened to A Course Called Scotland and absolutely loving it, I jumped at the chance to listen to the predecessor. Wasn’t disappointed. Thoroughly enjoyed!