Paper Tiger Audiobook By Tom Coyne cover art

Paper Tiger

An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Paper Tiger

By: Tom Coyne
Narrated by: Kyle Tait
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Think country-club clinic meets Navy SEALs training. I will pay any price, bear any burden, leave my home to follow the seasons, build my own swing studio in the basement, construct a practice green in my backyard.... Everything the big boys have access to, I want double.

Like most amateur golfers, Tom Coyne had often wondered whether the pros won because they were more talented or because they were more obsessed. Overweight and burdened by a 14 handicap, he decided to find out for himself what it takes to play like a pro.

Charting his journey - which included hiring top golf gurus such as Dr. Jim Suttie - Paper Tiger takes listeners from the Michelob tournament (a win for Tom) to the Australian Tour, where 40-mile-per-hour winds and a driving rain scare off his Japanese partners. With each chapter, he tracks his weight alongside his handicap, pursuing his dream with a reckless abandon that comes to involve hardcore diets, pricey technology, and even psychologists. With echoes of Dead Solid Perfect and Who's Your Caddy? Tom brings his uniquely edgy, deeply human perspective to a game that can simultaneously bring out the best and the worst in everyone who tries to master it.

©2006 Tom Coyne (P)2020 Tantor Golf Sports
Engaging Writing • Humorous Storytelling • Entertaining Story • Relatable Journey • Insightful Perspective
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I heard an interview with Tom on a podcast and then got the book. It was awesome! A non-golfer would probably not enjoy it but for the golf addicted, it’s fantastic.

Must Read for Every Golfer

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thank you so much Tom for all of your travel stories, they are truly wonderful and this is the best one of all. You’ve made it to the top of my list of people I would love to golf with, if you ever take interest in the game again ha ha, best wishes for you and your family! All of Tom’s books are absolute must reads for all serious golfers.

Bravo Tom Coyne!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
By golfer, I mean anyone who plays on the weekends, or even monthly. How far away even a good golfer, in Tom Coyne, is from being competitive on the tour level is highlighted tremendously well in this story. Every new chapter I was hoping for a regular player like me, to be able to compete with the best. So close, yet so far away. Tom nicely ties in a romantic story as well. Terrific listen.

Takes a golfer to appreciate this story (spoilers)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An eye opener for a person who hasn't played golf in half a century! Never played seriously even then. However, the book was very enjoyable!

Not a golfer

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Tom has a talent for capturing individual moments with such clarity and humor. Being a golfer, I felt I was experiencing all the ups and downs of Tom’s yearlong quest to see how good he could become. Sad the the book had to end, but it was a great ending. Golfers and non-golfers alike will enjoy this book.

Love Coyne’s Storytelling!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is one of the best golf books ever written. It is a shame the narration is so horrific. Think male Siri, but with no personality or intonation of any kind. Better yet, think about someone trying to imitate a robot talking with no personality of any kind.

Worst narration ever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love the detail he put into this. Most golfers don’t realize they are miles from even the mediocre Kornburger Ferry tour guy. Talks about all the help you need, little wins, like Mizuno giving him irons. All the way to the $15 a sleeve Titleist daily habit. Had a human vibe too. I definitely recomend.

A real story of what it takes to make it. Worth the listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story.. For anybody that loves golf! Tom really puts his heart and soul to this book!

Great Story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
While I thoroughly enjoyed both A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland, I absolutely fell in love with Paper Tiger. Best golf book ever? Maybe not to some, but it sure is for me.

Best golf book ever?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Engrossing book - Tom adeptly illustrates what every single digits handicap and lower has felt on their quest for golfing greatness

For the Serious Player

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews