Miracle On The 17th Green: A Novel About Life, Love, Family, Miracles ... And Golf (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
Miracle on the 17th GreenPart 1 SummaryIn the beginning of the Miracle on the 17th Green, you find out who the main character is. Travis McKinley opens the story while playing a round of golf, clearly in the zone. Round after round, he plays all 18 holes on the golf course and goes back to play it again, working on his putting. He only realizes that when he gets done with his third round on the golf course that he realizes that he is late for his Christmas dinner with his family. As a matter of fact, he is about two hours late. He drops what he is doing and speeds home.When he gets home, Travis is met by five pairs of angry eyes. None of the members of the family are happy that he decided to skip out on dinner and have a good time at the golf course. Travis and Sarah, his wife, get into a little bit of an argument and storms off. While she is away, Travis decides that it is best to clean the dishes, while his son Noah stayed behind and helped him dry them.In the next few pages, you learn that Travis and Sarah go out for a New Years Eve dinner at a French restaurant. The two really do not feel a connection at all while they are eating dinner. They feel like complete strangers to one another. Even when they dance they still feel awkward by each other’s presence. When Sarah’s beeper went off, she was forced to run Travis home and head to the hospital to help deliver a baby.Soon after that, Travis goes into work for his advertisement company, only to find out that he gets fired. He decides to go to the nearest ATM and transfer 3,000 dollars from his savings account to his checking account, all to sign up for a qualifying school to try to make it into the US Senior Tour for golf.At the end of part 1, Travis and his grandfather play a round of golf and talk about the future of his career.CharactersTravis McKinley: A man that has a job the he despises, a marriage that is not working, and is disconnected from his children. His life is slowly turning to shambles.Sarah McKinley: The wife of Travis. She does not love her husband anymore and is slowly pushing him away.Elizabeth: Eldest daughter of Travis and Sarah. She speaks her mind and is not afraid to tell people what she thinks.Simon: Travis’s closest friend and son. He is alive and honest.Noah: The youngest son of Travis and Sarah. He is a four year old genius that never fails to impress his parents.SummaryPart 2 begins with Travis packing his bags and getting ready to head to the Senior Tour Q School. He packs a lot of clothes and 1,000 dollars in traveler’s checks. Sarah drives him to the airport. While Travis is preparing for his long journey to Tampa, he thinks about the night before. For the first time in a long time, he and Sarah actually have a conversation, a REAL conversation. She tells him that he is going to make it and she is not even worried about him not making it.Six hours later when Travis finally arrives in Tampa and gets to the Q School, he immediately starts checking the place out and sees how the golf courses are set up, and to check in at his hotel. To his dismay though, even at 7:45 a.m., the parking lot to the golf course is filled with golf champion hopefuls, all after the same thing that he himself is after. After all of the waiting and going through all the competition that ranges from beginners to people to whom have been playing for years, Travis manages to shoot a very solid game, shooting a 67.Not long after arriving at the Q School, Travis meets his future caddy and friend Earl Fielder, a Vietnam vet, and no stranger to the game of golf. They would eventually pair up in a round for the qualifiers and both shoot very respectable games with each other.Travis shoots his second straight 69 and put himself 6 under for the tournament and in 9th place overall. Gaining confidence, Travis shot great on hole, after hole, after hole. He went 5 under on his first 8 holes. Later though, his confidence would fade as he drove the ball down the fairway and get it under a tree, making his highlight reel shot impossible.Game after game on that day went bad for Travis, until finally he accepted that he was out of steam, so he decided to go back and visit his family. He is greeted with open arms from his daughter and sons, but not so much his wife. She had to go help deliver a baby at the hospital.In the next chapter, Travis visits his grandfather and once again play another round of golf. They talk for a while as they play, talking once again of his future, very saddened by Sarah all of a sudden wanting a divorce. Travis did not know that he would not actually be playing golf today at all and just talk, later going to a bar and getting some drinks.Part 2 ends with Travis sitting on a street corner, telling the reader that he did something very stupid and utterly insane.CharactersTravis: Recently made it big in the Q school, but decided to go back and visit his family.Earl: Travis’s new friend and caddy. He is very blunt and likes to have fun when the time arrives.Grandfather: A very wise man that gives Travis great advice to live by. A very comical man.Miracle on the 17 part 3tPart 3 is mostly about Travis’s time at the Senior Tour. It begins with him and his Caddy Earl on a practice green; getting ready for the big game on one of the Senior Tour’s hardest courses. Both of them have came a long way from the Q School and are both very stressed out, knowing that each game could be their last.tLater on in the chapter, both men begin the game of their lives. Travis forgets almost how to walk from all of the tension and stress, knowing very well that all of his practice time and hard work could all be gone in a couple of hours if he were to miss a shot.tTravis’s family comes to his big game, to Travis’s amazement. Before he even began his game, he went straight to his wife. They talked for a moment, and then he gave her a ring that he bought back in Chicago on that street corner. Then shortly after talking with his family, he begins the game of his life against two of the most revered players on the tour, Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus.tHole after hole, the tension builds. Travis holds his own against the golf champions after 16 holes, but when he got to the hole on the 17th green, a miracle happened. As he was playing, Travis was kind of behind Jack Nickaus, but passed up Floyd after the 16th round. But when the 17th green came, things changed drastically. Nicklaus tees off first and gets inches from the hole. When he puts it in, he misses it by a mere inch, getting the ball in for par. With a huge stroke of luck, Travis tees off and surprisingly makes the ball in, getting an eagle. The crowd cheers for the underdog as he takes the first place spot away from Jack Nicklaus.tAt the end of the book, Travis is now the Senior tour reigning champion.tHe reconciles with his family, and goes in to play a practice game of golf. Only then does he realize that if he would not stop playing his practice game, he would be in the same boat like he was in the beginning of the book; missing his family Christmas dinner. He slings his bag of clubs over his shoulder, and runs home.Travis: Winner of the Senior Tour. Has finally reconciled with his family and his ife is back on track.Sarah: Finally sees that her husband is not a bad man and finds the love she once had for him.GENERAL REVIEW:Overall, I thought that The Miracle on the 17th Green was a pretty decent book. It was not the best book that i have ever read, but it was okay. I have never really that big into golf, and this story has alot of it in it, hence the name on the cover. On a 5 point scale, 5 being the best, I would give it a 3. Definatly not one of Patterson's best books, but it was a good book, don't get me wrong.
Patterson and de Jonge offer up a heartfelt story about a man looking to pursue his passion. Travis McKinley finds himself in a rut, at a job he hates, in a marriage gone stale, and with children whose connection to him appears to be fading. His one solace is on the golf course, where McKinley plays the round of his life one Christmas Day. When he loses his job, McKiney decides to chase his dream, playing on the PGA Senior Tour. After attending qualifying school, McKinley earns one year on the Tour where he finds himself rubbing elbows with the greats of the game, all while his family takes a backseat to his dream. McKinley earns the right to play in the PGA Senior Open at Pebble Beach, the most prestigious of events. McKinley's threesome on the final day includes his heroes, Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd, after three days of gruelling play. It is here, on the 17th Green, that McKinley sees the world from a new perspective, which changes things forever and helps him put it all into perspective. A quick read well-adapted for fans of the sappy side to Patterson's writing.The novella is Patterson at his sappiest, not something I tend to enjoy. That said, as I was in need of a quick read to fill a little time. The story has degrees of hokeyness that can be seen a mile away, but its central tenet is strong enough to propel the reader to forge on, knowing it will be a short journey. Catchy and at times mildly humerous, Patterson and de Jonge keep the reader at least somewhat curious, especially as they've recently penned a sequel. This golf-flavoured story seeks to motivate and keep a tear firmly housed at the edge of the reader's eye.Decent work Messrs. Patterson and de Jonge, though not likely to receive rave reviews for its content.Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at: http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
What do You think about Miracle On The 17th Green: A Novel About Life, Love, Family, Miracles ... And Golf (1999)?
I was not sure if I was going to like this one. For one thing, I am not necessarily a huge fan of golf. Secondly, I haven't really liked any of the books that James Patterson has written with Peter de Jonge. This one proved to be a nice surprising exception.Travis McKinley is at a point in his life where he is starting to look back and wish that he had made some different decisions. He is a moderately successful adman. He has three children and is happily married to and OBGYN. One Christmas day, he starts things off by deciding to go play a round of golf at the club he is part of in Winnetka, Illinois. He ends up playing what seems to be the round of his dreams, mastering putts he normally would have struggled with. He is so caught up in his success that he ends up missing Christmas dinner.What is even more amazing is that this seems to be the start of a trend. Every time he plays a round, he seems to score a 69. After he is let go from his less-than-thrilling job and try to go out for the PGA Senior Tour. Travis' wife Sarah is not happy to hear the news and thinks he should grow up, which turns out to be a sign that she is not as happy in the relationship as he is. All of this does not prevent him from deciding to give his dreams a try. In this feel-good novel, readers get a chance to see that sometimes dreams can come true, particularly when it comes down to being the person your really are. Travis gets a chance to compete against some of golf's greatest players including Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and show them that even an underdog has a chance.This is definitely a fairy tale story, but that is more than OK because sometimes we want to read a story where everything turns out all right and everyone lives happily ever after.
—Aaron
A gentle side of James Patterson. For those of us who love this game of golf, or perhaps don't but wonder why some do, should read this almost intriguing trip through the mental game. This novel is about a man and his family who live in Illinois, he is a advertising executive and his wife is a doctor, they live in a well to do community called Winnetka. On a Christmas day the man goes out to a local golf course and decides to squeeze in 18 holes before Christmas dinner. He loses track of time but the reality called life intercedes. He and his wife are on the outs and approaching divorce, shortly after the holidays he loses his job due to downsizing, and his golf game has finally come together so he decides to do something he has always wanted to do. Join the Senior PGA so he qualified for Q School and wins and goes to the tournament. Well, I'll say no more but those of us who have played have had those days, perhaps not all in one day or an entire 18 holes on one day but perhaps spread over a month, or a season. The feeling is enormous, so is this book. For pure enjoyment, read it.See you on the first tee.
—Jim
Travis McKinley is just an average amateur golfer and an ordinary person. But that is all about to change in an instant. On Christmas day Travis plans to play golf at his regular old country club and he begins to play exceptionally well. When he is putting he can see the line of the putt and his game is instantly improved. He ends up playing in the cold until dark and he misses his family Christmas dinner. Travis and his wife have been drifting away for a while now and this pushes her over the ledge. Travis starts having problems at work also and he is fired from his job after working there for over 30 years. Now with problems at home and work Travis turns to his love golf. Travis decides he wants to try and qualify for the Senior PGA Tour at Q-School. Working with his grandfather Travis ends up winning Q-School and qualifying for the Senior PGA Open at Pebble Beach. Travis ends up qualifying for the final round and is playing with one of his childhood idols Jack Nicklaus. Then on the 17th green in the final round of the open a miracle happens that will change his and his families’ lives forever.Who might be interested in this book? Why?People that would be interested in this book would be people who actually play or enjoy golf. The reason I chose this book was because my dad told me I should read something that has something to do with my interest and golf is one of them. Someone who is interested in sports in general would probably be interested in this book also. James Patterson is a very well-known writer and someone that is a fan of his work might be interested to read this.Overall SatisfactionExplain…….I gave the book overall four stars because I enjoyed the book but there were a few things I didn’t like about it. One of those being that the chapters were very short, for example chapter two was only a few pages. But I enjoyed the book because I felt like I could relate Travis because I play golf and also my dad is going through the same cycle in golf as he is because of them both getting older. Also I have read a few other James Patterson books in the past like Alex Cross and I enjoyed those books. Literary Skills: (at least 3 of our keywords)Tone- “I was going to do this and nobody could stop me from chasing my dream.” (pg.40)Characterization- “She looked like she was twenty years old all over again…. She is my wife and I love her to death.” (pg.33)Theme- “And she looked at me and said, ‘Miracles do happen Travis….’” (pg. 140)
—Andrew Schmitt
