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Teed Off in the USA, Justin Brown
Random House
Reviewed by James O'Sullivan (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Global warming has been the cause of many unfortunate occurrences lately. One of them was the cancellation of a golf tournament 400 miles north of the arctic circle in Greenland because of "poor ice conditions". Justin Brown, a New Zealand radio personality, was gutted. He had been looking forward to the tournament all year.

But being a man of action he quickly planned an alternative challenge; travel the southern states of America trying to find people to play golf with. The catch was he had to locate people who featured on the front page of the local newspaper.

Obviously this could mean tracking down Harry the Strangler in C Block for a few holes around the prison compound. Brown, however, decided to pick on people from the human interest side of the front page news.

Brown's first stop was New York where he met a deli owner who had wrestled with a wild crocodile, albeit a small one. But he didn't play golf. Not an encouraging start. From there Brown took the train south into the sweltering temperatures of a southern summer. Unlike the heat, the regular, down-to-earth Americans Brown met were hospitable and friendly.

In a time when we are becoming increasingly attached to our home comforts and technologies, it is refreshing to read about a man who can go out of his comfort zone and meet new people.

Teed Off in the USA is ideal for a light, interesting book that doesn't make you think too much. It's not a pondering, philosophical read; Brown doesn't delve too deeply into the human condition while harassing Americans for a round of golf. Nor is it funny enough to be a true comedy classic. But if you like to put your feet up and let someone else do the walking, then this could be for you.