Introducing Shooting For Tiger

The 2009 golf season is about to tee off.

My book Shooting For Tiger: How an Obsessed Generation is Transforming a Country Club Sport will be published in two months. My teenage son Samuel inspired the project. He surprised me by becoming a passionate golfer.

When I plunged into the research about the passionate teens aiming to be next Tiger Woods, Samuel was only 14 years old. He was a nine handicapper, ambitious to be sure, but just starting out on his fairway journey.

Today, Samuel just has turned 16, a 1.1 handicapper, and ranked number 17 of all ages in Belgium. He played last December in the prestigious Dixie Amateur in Florida (where the above photo was snapped), where he failed to make the cut even though he shot 72 in his second round and learned how far he has come as a golfer - and how far he still needs to go.

My book research represented a great break from my day job and my adopted home of Belgium. Like the characters in my book, Samuel, a high school junior, is counting on this upcoming junior golf season to attract college coaches. His goals for the season are straightforward: rise to the top three for his age in Belgium, represent Belgium in the July European team championship, and play in the British boys in mid August, which is taking place on the British Open course Royal St. Georges.

I hope you will follow him (and me, the chauffeur and writer) along on his journey.

I’ll also be writing about my adventures in launching my book and the progress of my characters during the 2009 season. To be completely honest, I’ll be writing about anything about teenage sports and life that hits my mind.