A wonderful book came across my desk recently, one that every fan of women's golf should read. By the time you finish Dave Andrews' book, Pops and Sunshine (June 2007), you'll realize the importance of the Futures Tour's season-ending event, when the top five money winners of the year clinch their fully-exempt LPGA Tour cards.

Pops and Sunshine is a fictional story that takes place at Beaver Meadow Golf Club, the author's home course in Concord, New Hampshire. The book chronicles the tale of Lisa Nelson, an imaginary Futures Tour player who has to grind it out and win the final tournament of the season to receive LPGA playing privileges.

Rarely have I begun to read a book with such uncertainty. I honestly didn’t think I’d be interested in a fictional account of a woman’s experience in a season-ending Futures Tour event. But I was hooked after the first 10 pages, and I finished the book in less than a day (a personal record). It’s not only a story about the young women striving to make a living in professional golf; it’s also a story about love, triumph, anger and loss. As Andrews says, "it’s a combination of Tin Cup and Love Story."

After driving from her hometown near Nashville, Tennessee to Concord, N.H. to play in the tournament, Lisa meets Dave Johnston, a local golfer in his early 50s, who ends up caddying for her. The two quickly learn they have something in common: Lisa lost her father the previous year; Dave had lost his wife and daughter in a fatal car accident. A strong father-daughter connection ensues and they draw on each other for strength, not only on the course, but to help each other through their losses. When Dave’s nephew, 21-year-old Harvard student Rob Johnston, becomes Lisa's romantic interest, the threads of love, loss and anger come together in the novel, making the story appeal to golfers and non-golfers alike.

I do have one bone to pick with Andrews. His fictional story grossly exaggerates certain events. The relationship between Rob and Lisa heats up extremely quickly and, for me, became a little unnecessarily sexually explicit. And Shelly’s character, a successful but mean-spirited Futures Tour player, makes it seem as though deep conflict among the players exists on Tour. From my experience with the players,  there's much more camaraderie than hatred or jealousy on Tour.

LPGA Tour pro Tracy Hanson e-mailed Andrews, informing him that although she enjoyed reading the novel, she didn't think Shelly's portrayal and the rivalry between Shelly and Lisa accurately represented the way women professional golfers deal with each other. Andrews, who admits the relationship between Shelly and Lisa was a stretch, says he created Shelly as the ongoing conflict within the story to keep the reader's interest. "I'll plead artistic license," Andrews told me. "I thought the story would be too bland if I didn't include these elements. You don’t know if Shelly or Lisa will win in the end."

Currently, Andrews' self-published book is sold exclusively through his website. He doesn't have a credit card processor yet, so he often sends people the book and they send a check in the mail (very quaint). "So far, every single person has sent the money," he says. "I've been stunned."

This novel struck a chord with me because it's more than a golf story; it's a book about relationships and the way people are drawn together by loss, joy and tragedy. It also reminds me that there's more to life than merely satisfying myself or thinking about my own problems. Life can be most rewarding when you try to help others. As in golf, in life you've got to stay focused and you've got to know how to handle the bad things that happen unexpectedly.

As the dog days of summer wind down, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate and settle down on the couch with Pops and Sunshine. And when you’re finished, wait for its sequel, Goodbye, Pops, which will be published next year.