The undying friendship and fierce loyalty between Boudreaux James and Johnny Frye was forged in the depths of despair during their years spent together in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. This stirring tale of survival and hope chronicles their journey from the horrors of war, through their eventual liberation, to their triumphant return to the Hill Country of central Texas.
Believing God spared them for greater things, Boudreaux decides to make the most of his natural, athletic talents by embarking on a quest. With Johnny by his side, he will spend the next few years honing his skills, then taking the golf world by storm by qualifying for the 1949 U.S. Open Golf Championship.
Despite his determination to put the war behind him and focus on his golfing dream, Boudreaux finds his efforts hampered by uncontrollable feelings of bitterness and hatred for the Japanese. Deep down inside, part of him has never left the wretched confines of a prison cell.
Salvation and the capacity to forgive come from the unlikeliest of places: chance meetings with a beautiful Japanese woman and two famous professional golfers, as well as the discovery of an obscure, antique golf club found in a dusty storeroom in the back of a golf shop.
Golf changes the lives of Boudreaux and Johnny, but some might say their acts of perseverance and personal sacrifice had a more profound effect on the world of golf than anyone realized at the time. In the late 1940s, professional baseball was close to taking over golf as the national pastime, but events were about to unfold to change all that. Did golf save Boudreaux and Johnny, or did they save modern golf?
