This is a decent story about a golfer who, thanks to a mysterious person who walks the course with him during a round, is good in spots and dreadful in others. The insight the guest process to the golfer is at times profound and at times head scratching but the golfer continues to work on his round. The golf writing is ggod and it shows the author is an avid player. The story just felt too choppy at times and didn’t flow together nicely despite the author’s best intentions. Any book in which I can at least get to the finish will get three stars from me as okay, and that’s the case for this one.

Every time I find a golf book, I am always interested. Whether it is a biography about a golfer or tips / instruction, I am always eager to see what is inside. No One Playing is surprisingly neither of these. Instead we get a combination of a story and a mental game lesson.

No One Playing has 18 chapters, one for each hole on this course; as well as a 19th chapter that takes place a few weeks after this round of golf. We find ourselves following this round of a man who ends up allowing a person who has never played golf before joining him to walk around the course while he plays. During the course of his round, he is given inspirational talks about the self, life, how to let go of things, and also how he notices that golf is a great example of life.

No One Playing was a very easy read, much easier than other psychology books about golf that I have. Unfortunately, that was all that it had going for it. I found both of the characters to be frustrating. This made it very hard to get the psychological points that Wells is trying to get across not taken as they are intended. The actual underlying ideas and concepts behind what he is trying to get across are perfectly good, and plenty of golfer would do better to benefit from giving them a try; but getting these across in this form of fiction is no easy feat, which seems to have been too far beyond Wells skillset.

While this may benefit quite a few golfers in how it is such a different way to approach the mental game of golf, personally this was nothing ground-breakingly new but just told in a different that I am used to.

No One Playing
Martin Wells has provided us with a wonderful book whose setting takes place through a round of golf. We are all shown the beauty that golf allows us if we allow ourselves stop and smell the proverbial roses. Having just read a how-to book on the super mechanical side of golf it is nice to follow up with a relaxing read that helps see the harm stress and tension do to the mechanics of the game. Of course, all of this translates into our day to day life. I found myself smiling thinking back at the feelings I had during stress free rounds while everything went well. I remember things — the beauty of the day, the surroundings, etc. This book make me wonder which was the result of the other. Or does it really matter?
A most enjoyable read. Definitely a gift book for my golfer friends.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.