Golf Books #42 (Dream On: One Hack Golfer’s Challenge to Break Par in a Year)

Meet John Richardson. A typical weekend golfer who enjoyed the game but couldn’t break 100. Married. One seven-year-old daughter. Full-time job. But he differed from the average 24-handicapper in one crucial way: He was determined to break par within a year at the local golf course, while working a demanding full-time job and trying his best to remain a good husband and father.

Virtually everyone he came across told him that it wasn’t possible. Famed Scottish golfer/commentator Sam Torrance advised John to “dream on,” and PGA Tour pro Darren Clarke told him that three years would be a more realistic time frame. Add to the mix a range of golfing injuries, family responsibilities, and a rigorous work schedule, and you can understand why there were so many doubters.

Dream On is the hilarious and inspiring story of how John achieved the seemingly impossible—from how the initial challenge took shape and the methods he used to dramatically improve his game, to that glorious day, less than one year later, when he broke par and played the best round of his life.

“A great, heart-warming story . . . Read it and see how you can turn your golfing dreams into reality.” (Irish Independent)

“Whether you are a golfer or not, John’s story is a lesson for life.” (GolfWorld )

“For golfers [John’s] achievement is already being marveled at and studiously picked over for any nugget of information that will help them improve. But whether you are a golfer or not, John’s story is a lesson for life.” (Irish News )

John Richardson is a writer, speaker and entrepreneur from Northern Ireland. Following an eclectic career in the hospitality industry, where he owned a large variety of businesses (coffee shops, sandwich bars, restaurants, bars, garden centres), he set about a seemingly “impossible” golf challenge in 2005.

The resulting book “Dream On” has been a huge commercial and critical hit on both sides of the Atlantic and is soon to be made into a major motion picture. This despite the fact that he had a total of 83 rejections from publishers for it.
John has written two highly successful books on the coffee shop industry and regularly speaks to large audiences on this topic. These books are widely regarded as being the essential reads on the topic.

Additionally he has a forged a highly successful speaking career discussing challenges and how to change your life in a one year period. (source)