Golf In The Kingdom

[CCC]

This book by Michael Murphy has always had a big influence on me. Whether, you believe in Shivas Irons or not, this is a good read for every one who plays golf. IMHO.

Yes, I'm a 'witness' to the magical things that are a part of this game.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/649598.Golf_in_the_Kingdom

https://shivas.org/

 

 

[iacas]

I could never really get into it. I've read it twice, at different times in my life.

And… joining now makes little sense as it's through 2016, not based on a year from the date of joining?

https://shivas.org/support2016/#!form/SUPPORT2016

What drew you to this whole "world," @CCC?

[CCC]

I relate to the magic that can happen while playing golf. A hole in one? Really? Finding and being in the 'zone'. Some amazing things happen while playing golf. Shivas Irons explains why this happens. And I'm a believer.

It's a book about playing golf that I think everyone should read. I'm very glad to hear that you, too have read it.

[Rainmaker]

I'm definitely going to give this a read . .I recently got on this lame project and I'm spending an inordinate amount of time in hotel rooms.

I have to say, though, just from the excerpts . .A Scottish Pro golfer called Shivas Irons and his mentor is Shamus McDuff?   I thought writers were supposed to be more imaginative than that, lol.  

I'm going to write a book about a pro golfer named Scratch McBirdie and his caddy,  Cary A Bagsworth.  

[ScouseJohnny]

On 11/16/2016 at 0:36 AM, CCC said:

This book by Michael Murphy has always had a big influence on me. Whether, you believe in Shivas Irons or not, this is a good read for every one who plays golf. IMHO.

Yes, I'm a 'witness' to the magical things that are a part of this game.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/649598.Golf_in_the_Kingdom

https://shivas.org/

 

 

It has been a huge influence on me, too. In fact, I'd go so far as to list it in a very select bibliography of philosophical works that have impacted my life and how I live it, whether those books are ostensibly secular or supernatural in nature. No reason to bring organized religion (or lack, thereof) into a secular forum, but the Pagan in me acknowledges magic - if magic is a useful term by which to describe the directed focus of energy. In other words, I know what you're talking about.

Anyway, heavy stuff, I know. But on those days when you just feel it in you, and watch the ball as it leaves the face of your pitching wedge and stops on the lip of the cup... Well, Shivas Irons would likely understand, provided you were playing by the rules of the game.

Note to anyone who hasn't read it, and might be curious: do not waste your time with the incoherent and incomprehensible movie. Pick up the book on ebay or ABE for a couple of bucks - either it'll speak to you and you'll keep it forever, or you'll say, "What the **** is this?" and put it back on ebay or donate it to Goodwill, pronto. Either attitude is equally cool, by the way.

[Ernest Jones]

Great book. 

[CCC]

1 hour ago, ScouseJohnny said:

Note to anyone who hasn't read it, and might be curious: do not waste your time with the incoherent and incomprehensible movie. Pick up the book on ebay or ABE for a couple of bucks - either it'll speak to you and you'll keep it forever, or you'll say, "What the **** is this?" and put it back on ebay or donate it to Goodwill, pronto. Either attitude is equally cool, by the way.

I did not know that there was finally a movie from this book. I have heard, for many years, that one was "in the works". But, I've never heard anything about the movie. I would watch the movie - whether good or bad. It would be difficult to 'flesh out' a movie script for this book. That was always the problem.

[CCC]

Here are just a few excerpts from the book that stay with me today.

“An eleven”. “Put down your score, it will do you good”.

“Donna worry about the score so much, it’s not the important thing.”

“Play it like it lies. It’ll come out.”

"Replacing the divot is an exercise in public good."

Visualizing the Ball’s Flight:
How Images Become Irresistible Paths:

Nothing new here, if you play the golf in a serious manner. These are just a few of the laws that lead to the path of achieving 'True Gravity'.

The good thing about 'Golf In The Kingdom' is that it is a quick read. Only 202 pages. The book is more about the mind vs. body part of the game. It's not technical in any way. For me, it's more of a reference book for when I get lost.

 

 

[Piz]

I enjoyed the Golf on Witch Mountain first part; but lost interest in the California Hot Tub second part.

[CCC]

What you visualize before you swing your golf club...maybe different than what I see.

[CCC]

I hear you Piz. 'Golf In The Kingdom' is about playing Golf and exploring your inner game. You like it, or you don't. No harm, no foul. :)

[Piz]

There is a mystic quality to the game at times...as if you know exactly what is about to happen and all you have to do is initiate the event.  Sometimes you don't even have to do that.  Someone you are playing with starts to swing and you think..."that's going in"...and it does.  The score is the furthest thing from my mind on those occasions - which probably accounts for the sensation.  That is the mystic part: the ability to see everything as one thing.   Thanks for the reminder.

[ScouseJohnny]

8 hours ago, CCC said:

I did not know that there was finally a movie from this book. I have heard, for many years, that one was "in the works". But, I've never heard anything about the movie. I would watch the movie - whether good or bad. It would be difficult to 'flesh out' a movie script for this book. That was always the problem.

The movie came out in 2010, I think it disappeared fairly quickly: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1448497/

You can still get it on DVD, of course. I'd recommend picking up a cheap, used copy on ebay if you really want to see it, because, honestly, it isn't very good.

The problem isn't the acting. The cinematography is excellent - Oregon doesn't exactly stand in for the east coast of Scotland, but at least it's beautiful. No, the difficulty is that the film is utterly directionless. The book, after all has a clear narrative: he gets off the train, goes to the links, rents clubs, meets Shivas Irons, plays a round with Shivas and his student, goes to the clubhouse bar, goes to dinner with Shivas's friends, etc, etc, etc. The movie doesn't have a narrative, it's like a montage of scenes from the book, filmed and then shown in a random order, interspersed with images of the wilderness in which the links is located. If (as the movie viewer) you've read the book, you can just about piece it together, and then you'll find yourself thinking, "Why on earth did they present it like this? But if, as the movie viewer, you haven't read the book, your reaction will likely be: "What the **** is going on?" and "This is crap."

 

[BristolGolf]

What is happening in this thread? I read every post but still don't have a Jimmy Choo.

Edited December 5, 2016 by BristolGolf

[ScouseJohnny]

2 hours ago, BristolGolf said:

What is happening in this thread? I read every post but still don't have a Jimmy Choo.

A book, first published in 1972:

[Rainmaker]

On 12/4/2016 at 1:29 PM, Rainmaker said:

I'm definitely going to give this a read . .I recently got on this lame project and I'm spending an inordinate amount of time in hotel rooms.

I have to say, though, just from the excerpts . .A Scottish Pro golfer called Shivas Irons and his mentor is Shamus McDuff?   I thought writers were supposed to be more imaginative than that, lol.  

I'm going to write a book about a pro golfer named Scratch McBirdie and his caddy,  Cary A Bagsworth.  

Ok . .I read it.  Here's what I think . . . 

It's definitely a good read and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anybody interested in golf.  I think the whole spritual/mystical aspect of it is interesting.  What it makes me think, though, is not that the book is accurate and there is really a mystical component to the golf swing.  It makes me think that technology has driven the mysticism from the game.  

Before we had high speed video, trackman and all the other cool stuff we have now . . .the golf swing really was much more of a mystery.  It's fast enough that you can't see everything with your naked eye.  It's counter-intuitive for most people.  Even the good players often can not explain, accurately, what makes them good.  The mind plays 2 kinds of tricks on us with regard to the golf swing . .the first is that what we think we saw is not what we saw . .and the second is that what we think we're doing is not what we're doing.  

We also know that the more technically "off" a golfer's swing is, the more he needs to "be in tune with his inner self" . .and stuff like that . .to have a good day on the course.  So that stuff . .and the lack of evidence to the contrary . .is where the mysticism in golf comes from.  IMO . .but this book made me think all these things so I'd definitely consider it a good book.  

 

[CCC]

Rainmaker.

I hear you. Loud and clear.

 

[MarvChamp]

Great book. Shows me golf will never be tamed, regardless of technology.

Also, Play It As It Lies: Golf and the Spiritual Life, by Mike Linder; and Golf and the Spirit, by Scott Peck.