Dream Shot. A Novel

by Robert C.S. Downs

Dream Shot follows Pete Collins, a 70-year-old retired teacher chasing a long-held dream—to pass the PGA’s Playing Ability Test and become a teaching professional. On the surface, it’s a story about golf, but at its core, it’s about confronting aging, revisiting buried passions, reconciling with one’s past, and redefining purpose.

As Pete plays his make-or-break round, he reflects on love, loss, ambition, and the complexities of life through the metaphors the game so poetically offers. With moments of humor, humility, and triumph, Dream Shot is a richly layered narrative about perseverance, grace, and the transformative power of following a dream—no matter when.

What people are saying:

"DREAM SHOT is spellbinding, a moving story about a golfer and his ultimate quest to become a teaching professional." —Dave Hollinger, University of Waterloo Men's Golf Coach, Canada's University/College Golf Coach of the Year 2011

"Robert C. S. Downs delivers a masterful blend of memoir-style fiction and sports narrative in Dream Shot, a novel that transcends the game of golf. With lyrical prose and deeply reflective insights, Downs paints an authentic portrait of a man grappling with aging, legacy, and the desire for a final personal victory. Readers don't need to know the difference between a fade and a draw to be swept up in Pete Collins’s journey—one that’s as emotionally resonant as it is technically grounded. The book captures the internal battles we all face and shows how the quiet pursuit of a goal can become the most meaningful game of all. It's not just a story about golf—it's about life, one swing at a time." John F. 

"If you have ever played golf or wanted to, Dream Shots is for you.  Novelist Robert Downs, who has plenty of writing credits on his resumé, tells of a golfer, Pete Collins, who wants to pass his Player Ability Test (PAT) of the Professional Golf Association to become a certified teaching professional.  As a retired English teacher with a passion for golf, the protagonist and aspiring golf teacher must score slightly above par as part of achieving his goal.  Collins and author Downs take the reader through 36 agonizing as well as exhilarating holes to reach the desired score while playing with two young golfers and another nearly as old as Collins, who are hoping to reach the acceptable standard.

Along the way, the reader becomes engrossed in the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat along with learning something more about how the game is played and subtle ways in which one’s game can be improved. Downs knows golf, and so does Collins if only he would allow his psychological and physical abilities to emerge.  But Collins also knows the effects of “double cut greens” and the impact of Bermuda grass as well as not placing one’s feet too close to each other when driving the ball or allowing random thoughts on the golf course which “will almost always lead to a double bogey.”

You too, can follow Pete Collins as he moves to that day’s 36 holes and a chance to score low enough to become a PGA teaching pro.  Dreams sometime come true as one battles aging, character flaws, and the power of following one’s passion--or observes it in others desiring to achieve a similar goal.  Dream Shots is a splendid read." Ronald A. Smith, Sports History Professor Emeritus, Penn State University