Final Rounds: A Father, a Son, the Golf Journey of a Lifetime

This is not a "how-to" book but rather a story about the writer and his father who took a trip to play golf along the way. It is as much a story about a father and a son that uses golf to weave the story and to keep it together. For anyone who has a "golf relationship" with a parent, this is a must read.

As a son of depression/WWII era parents, I often consider how the times affected my parents attitudes in life, compared to my own (born in the 60s) times. Now as a parent of two young teens, I also ponder how they will see those comparisons with my times. More importantly, I look for ways to take the eternal "life lessons" that I learned from depression era parents, and communicate those lessons to my Nintendo & Harry Potter generation kids. This book gives the answer -- it's in time and activities shared together.My own father, a WWII B-17 navigator and POW, like Brax Dodson, had experiences that I simply can't fathom, that shaped his attitude and outlook on life. I could FEEL this book -- I grew up with my own "Opti". We golfed together, and he taught me about life. Unfortunately, like James Dodson, I was often too stubborn, too headstrong, or just too stupid to listen. Sometimes the wisdom of the prior generation is not so timeless. Sometimes the ways of our elders just don't fit the newer times. And sometimes they do, and us younger folks aren't smart enough to see it.Dodson does a solid job of recognizing all of that, in a style that is self-effacing and self-deprecating enough to show that he honestly appreciates the wisdom of the ages. As I read, I kept yelling at the book "you ass, shut up and listen to the old man!" And then I would recall one of the many times when *I* should have shut up and listened to the wise words of my father, in a similar situation.I *SO* wanted my dad to love this book, but he didn't particularly care one way or another. I still want my kids to read and love this book, though I've yet to inspire them to set Harry Potter down long enough to pick this up. I suspect that while Final Rounds tells me a great parallel story for my life, that it won't necessarily do so for my kids. But I will continue with finding some one place, maybe not a golf course, where we can always have a heart-to-heart.For Lance Armstrong, "It's Not About The Bike"; for James Dodson, it's not really about the golf.

A wonderful account of a father and son coming to grips with the father's impending death. The father and son achieve a relationship not often sought by a parent and child. Without over-romanticizing the point, the book also nicely describes the unique and intimate experience that comes with spending time with someone on a golf course. Unfortunately, because "golf" is included in the subtitle, this book will be read almost exclusively by golfers. What a pity, because the real story is so much more. A touchy-feely book for sure, but one of the best "autobiographical" stories I have read in a long time. Makes me wish my father played golf.

This is, without exception one of the finest books I have ever read. Mr. Dodson and his father share an exceptional tie that every father and son should strive for. I continue to watch my relationship with my own father grow, and now know that I will have something to pass on to my children as well. Congratulations, Mr. Dodson on a wonderful literary work. I would reccomend this to anyone who has ever been a father or a son.

James Dodson has thrown his golf bag over his shoulder and written a magnificent love story. This is not about golf, but all about a passion for life taught to the author by a hero of a father. I completely enjoyed reading this book and feeling so many of the same emotions so eloquently described. It is a book for everyone in the family.

This is a wonderful and touching story about a father and his middle-aged son who share some two weeks of the father's last months of life on a golfing pilgrimage to Scotland. The trip is an occasion for both to reflect on what seems to have been the central relationship in their lives. Dodson's account is, by turns, funny, wistful, sad and, in all instances, warm. His father's observation that "The game ends too soon" is as applicable to this tale as it is to the life which is so richly celebrated here. This book deserves a wide audience of both golfers and non-golfers alike