Chapters 1-3 Summary

Ray Hart, a thirty-year-old underachiever, tells this comic tale. On the surface, Ray's goal is to win a bet worth a few thousand dollars. Below the surface, Ray struggles with much more serious and painful emotions. Ray is not alone. Every step of the way he has his group of misfit friends, the Chops.

The novel opens with the narrator's statement that a bet ruined his friendships, caused two women to leave him, and ended the happiest time of his life. That time of his life takes place at a place called Ponky, or Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Links and Deli, a golf course that has been named by a major golf magazine as "possibly the worst golf course in America."

At Ponky, besides golf, the main activity is betting. The narrator describes many games that are very different from traditional golf...