Spirit Of Golf

Discusses what golf can teach about some of life's most important lessons, including how to work through anger, accept the gift of humility, and change ingrained behavior.

Golfers the world over know their game is a microcosm of life. Both golf and life require patience and courage, persistence and honesty, focus and self-belief. They present similar challenges, involve the weighing up of risk and the making of hard decisions. In both golf and life, we must learn to deal with triumph and disaster. Golf teaches us about ego and resilience. It implores us to meet challenges and put disappointments into perspective. Crucially, we realise we should not take the gameandmdash;or lifeandmdash;too seriously. The Spirit of Golf and How It Applies to Life delves into the rich folklore of the world's greatest game, and recounts inspirational stories from around the world.

Deepak Chopra has discovered the delights—and frustrations—of golf, and he is passionate about the game. Confronted by the wild ups and downs of his own play, he consulted with golf professionals and developed a new approach to the game that any golfer can follow—from the novice to the expert. The results can be measured not only in increased enjoyment and skill, but also in greater wisdom about life beyond the 18th hole. Chopra’s own game has improved dramatically since incorporating the elements of his program. Instead of focusing on the mechanics of a “perfect” swing, Chopra reveals how golf can be mastered through mindfulness, a form of awareness that combines sharp focus and relaxation at the same time. Expanded awareness, he tells us, can accomplish much more than external mechanics to improve one’s game. But Golf for Enlightenment is also an engrossing story about Adam, an Everyman who is playing a terrible round of golf when he meets a mysterious young teaching pro named Leela. In seven short but profound lessons detailing spiritual strategies, she teaches Adam the essence of a game that has much to explain about life itself. Chopra has spent the last year taking the unique message in Golf for Enlightenment nationwide, teaching the essential tenets of his program at lectures and seminars to golfers everywhere. His message continues to help players turn an obsession into a positive life path.

Alister MacKenzie was one of golf's greatest architects. He designed his courses so that players of all skill levels could enjoy the game while still creating fantastic challenges for the most experienced players. Several of MacKenzie's courses, such as Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Pasatiempo, remain in the top 100 today. In his "lost" 1933 manuscript, published for the first time in 1995 and now finally available in paperback, MacKenzie leads you through the evolution of golf--from St. Andrews to the modern-day golf course--and shares his insight on great golf holes, the swing, technology and equipment, putting tips, the USGA, the Royal & Ancient, and more. With fascinating stories about Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, and many others, The Spirit of St. Andrews gives valuable lessons for all golfers as well as an intimate portrait of Alister MacKenzie, a true legend of the game.

A spiritual journey, a lush travelogue, a parable of sports and philosophy—John Updike called this unique novel “a golf classic if any exists in our day.” When an American traveler on his way to India stops to play a round on one of the most beautiful and legendary golf courses in Scotland, he doesn’t know that his game—and his life—are about to change forever. He is introduced to Shivas Irons, a mysterious golf pro whose sublime insights stick with him long after the eighteenth hole. From the first swing of the Scotsman’s club, he realizes he is in for a most extraordinary day. By turns comic, existential, and semiautobiographical, Michael Murphy’s tale traces the arc of twenty-four hours, from a round of golf on the Links of Burningbush to a night fueled by whiskey, wisdom, and wandering—even a sighting of Seamus MacDuff, the holy man who haunts the hole they call Lucifer’s Rug. “Murphy’s book is going to alter many visions,” The New York Times Book Review declared. More than an unforgettable approach to one of the world’s most popular sports, Golf in the Kingdom is a meditation on the power of a game to transform the self.

Collects fifty valuable lessons about golf and life, including anecdotes about perseverance, courage, perspective, patience, self-belief, and not taking the game--or life--too seriously.

Abiding deep within every golfer's spirit is a unique swing. This intriguing page-turner unravels the mystery and confusion surrounding playing great golf!

God brought passion into Jon's life at an early age when he saw his very first golf club. This passion turned to love and gave birth to a dream. Fueled by this dream, he worked diligently to one day be a PGA Tour player. However, God's plan for his life did not include professional golf as a participant. Led by the hand of God to a path not foreseen in his childhood dreams, Jon became a teaching professional, teaching the game that he loves. The game of golf has allowed Jon to play and teach the game while moving in career and social circles unimaginable by a boy who grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This book contains amazing stories and life-changing occurrences in a journey among some of golf's greatest players, world-class athletes, and Hall of Fame coaches. These include: PGA Tour players Tiger Woods Arnold Palmer Payne Stewart Seve Ballesteros Paul Azinger Phil Rodgers Bob Sowards Helen Alfredsson Top 100 Teacher Fred Griffin College Basketball Coaches Roy Williams Bobby Cremins Jim Valvano NFL Players Brad Johnson Gale Sayers NBA Player Brad Daugherty Television and movie star Bill Murray Chief Communications Officer LPGA/Former host of Golf Channel Kraig Kann The pages of this book represent more than the story of Jon's journey and experiences teaching the game. This book was inspired by a supernatural dream that occurred in his life as a teenage boy where he heard the audible voice of God, spoke with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and felt the power and fury of the Holy Spirit. His wonderful stories around the game and the unique personal stories of these great players and athletes, along with scripture are all woven into a book that will not only grow the game of golf but more importantly glorify God and His son Jesus Christ

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “One of the best golf books this century.” —Golf Digest Tom Coyne’s A Course Called Scotland is a heartfelt and humorous celebration of his quest to play golf on every links course in Scotland, the birthplace of the game he loves. For much of his adult life, bestselling author Tom Coyne has been chasing a golf ball around the globe. When he was in college, studying abroad in London, he entered the lottery for a prized tee time in Scotland, grabbing his clubs and jumping the train to St. Andrews as his friends partied in Amsterdam; later, he golfed the entirety of Ireland’s coastline, chased pros through the mini-tours, and attended grueling Qualifying Schools in Australia, Canada, and Latin America. Yet, as he watched the greats compete, he felt something was missing. Then one day a friend suggested he attempt to play every links course in Scotland and qualify for the greatest championship in golf. The result is A Course Called Scotland, “a fast-moving, insightful, often funny travelogue encompassing the width of much of the British Isles” (GolfWeek), including St. Andrews, Turnberry, Dornoch, Prestwick, Troon, and Carnoustie. With his signature blend of storytelling, humor, history, and insight, Coyne weaves together his “witty and charming” (Publishers Weekly) journey to more than 100 legendary courses in Scotland with compelling threads of golf history and insights into the contemporary home of golf. As he journeys Scotland in search of the game’s secrets, he discovers new and old friends, rediscovers the peace and power of the sport, and, most importantly, reaffirms the ultimate connection between the game and the soul. It is “a must-read” (Golf Advisor) rollicking love letter to Scotland and golf as no one has attempted it before.