"The Back Nine" is an inspiring golf documentary

Jon Fitzgerald, film-festival organizer and 12-handicap golfer, turns 40 and decides to try to turn pro. He’s going to chase the dream all avid golfers have dreamt, and he’s going to take us all along for the ride.

That’s the premise for “The Back Nine,” a golf documentary that is as much about Fitzgerald himself as it is about golf.

To be fair, however, in order to understand Fitzgerald’s quixotic journey, one must understand the man who decides to mount up on his donkey, driver in hand, and tilt at golf courses.

Being a film-festival organizer, Fitzgerald knows what it takes to produce both a slick film and a compelling story. The conundrum he faces, though, in the making of his film is the same as that faced by golf authors and story-tellers in any medium: How do you make a story about golf also be about more? In other words, how do you appeal to a larger audience?

I watched “The Back Nine” with my brother-in-law, and we both had the same response at the end: “I would have liked to have seen more of the golf.”

According to Fitzgerald, though, he has received very positive feedback from golfers and non-golfers alike on the “chasing the dream” theme of the film.

“While we certainly wanted to appeal to golfers as our core audience,” wrote Fitzgerald in a recent e-mail, “what it seems we’ve ended up with is a story that crosses over to general audiences - similar to ‘Hoop Dreams.’”

It turns out that for Fitzgerald, the game of golf is intertwined with his relationship with his father, his step-father, his day job, and his own lovely family. Through the course of the film, viewers are shown how his various relationships are tested and ultimately strengthened by golf. This is sometimes quite moving, for example when he visits Scotland with his biological father, or when he says good-bye to his daughter before leaving for a tournament.

Golfers watching this film will be impressed by Fitzgerald’s improvement. He lowers his12-handicap by 11 strokes and qualifies for the Amateur Tour National Championship in just 18 months, thanks to hard work…and to elite swing-training, a tailored fitness program, and all the technological advantages available to PGA Tour pros.

It seems that golfers in the audience cannot help but be inspired by his progress, and by the dedication and guts he shows.

To be honest, though, my brother-in-law and I wanted to see more of these details: Did he get fit for clubs? How did his launch monitor stats change over time? What drills did he find especially useful? What sort of strength training did he do?

However, for people who might not be so into the intricacies of the game, perhaps the self-reflection about his father(s) and family and work is more interesting. For us, well, we sort of felt that there might be something to be said for not thinking too much (or at least not sharing so much of it on film).

In the end, we truly enjoyed the excellent camera work, the flashes of insight into serious game-improvement, and the evocative scenes from Scotland and Ireland. We also acknowledged, along with Fitzgerald, that, yes, indeed, golf is like life. (But we knew this.) And yes, sure enough, life gets in the way of golf. I mean, instead of teeing it up on this gorgeous day, I’m writing this review.

But I’m not making a film about it.

(To get your own copy of “The Back Nine,” try Golfsmith or GSI outlets.)