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Golf in the Kingdom, Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy is a "consciousness raising guru," having founded one of the world's most famous centers dedicated to the art, The Esalen Institute on
the California coast. To this  day, many famous
psychologists, spiritualists, and researchers of the mind hang out at the center discussing and probing for a deeper understanding of enhanced human performance. Michael Murphy moves easily in this esteemed company.
Golf in the Kingdom is a fictional account of a trip Murphy makes to The Old Course at St. Andrews Scotland where he meets Shivas Irons, an old Scottish teaching
professional. The turns and twists in the story are about another part of ourselves, a part not visible to us in our ordinary realities. And it delves deeply into the reverence
the Scots have for this most beguiling of games. It is an exciting read, and belongs in the library of any true lover of the game.
We highly recommend Golf in the Kingdom to all of you who really love golf. The view of the game in
Scotland, as seen through Murphy's mind's eye, may cause a shift in your reality. It has impressed so many others that there is now, a Shivas Irons Society that has grown out of this deliciously strange,
and unusual work.
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Extraordinary Golf, Fred Shoemaker with Pete Shoemaker
Extraordinary Golf could as easily been listed on the swing instruction page, or the mental side page.
This unusual book covers both of these specific topics, leaning heavily on the  mental side. Shoemaker's ideas follow in the same vein as Michael Murphy's, the author of Golf in the Kingdom. To Fred, good golf is about raising our consciousness of the
surroundings, and getting our minds off of our score, and our body motion. It's about enhancing our performance by reconnecting with our love for the game. It's also
about "getting one's self to the golf course," or "being here now," as it is said in that world.
On the swing side, Fred has some interesting ideas about people "getting" the golf
swing. He has students throw the golf club down the range in a manner that leads them to sensing the proper motion of the swing. We have tried this exercise, and recommend it.
We like this book and recommend it to people who have an affinity for working on the mind. The ideas for "being here now" come from eastern philosophy, and have been around for a long, long time. They
can be very effective, but take a lot of patience, and practice. The upside is, if you can keep your mind focused on the beauty of the course, and your love of the game, you really can have more fun, and
improve your performance.
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The Spirit of St. Andrews, The Lost Manuscript, Alister MacKenzie
Alister MacKenzie was a doctor in Scotland before giving up his medical practice to become a golf
course architect. The monumental change in direction came about when he suggested to the old men hanging around his office, "why don't you go out and play some golf." And although they had been
complaining about an endless number of ailments, once they started playing golf, they never came back. With that, Dr. MacKenzie figured he could do more for the world by designing golf courses than by being a doctor.
And what an architect he became. On Golf Magazine's list of The Top 100 Courses in the World, Alister MacKenzie is the leading architect with nine to his credit. His most well known are Cypress
Point in Monterey, California (number 2), Augusta National, home of the Masters, (number 4), and Royal Melbourne in Australia, (number 5).
In his book, The Spirit of St. Andrews, Dr. MacKenzie talks about golf, golf courses, and the golf swing. And it is a very interesting read. He gives you things to think about on the course from an architect's
perspective. He shows how a hole may be laid out to give the player a number of different playing strategies with wholly different risk/ reward decisions, for example, a safe route with little downside,
verses a higher risk route with the possibility of a greater reward. He also talks about his military work in camouflage, and how he used this experience to make elements of a course look different than they
really are, fooling the player's eyes. Since reading this book, we have found it more fun playing as we look over a hole, and see it from the designer's point of view.
As far as his discussion of the golf swing, it is as simple, and understandable as anything we have seen. It seems that he hung around Bobby Jones, the famed amateur, and Ernest Jones, the world's
best teacher by MacKenzie's account, and he worked on his golf swing using the ideas of these two well recognized masters. In the chapter, In the 70s at 60, he describes what he learned, and how he
applied it to gain a good golf swing so late in life.
We do not consider this primarily a golf swing book, but we believe it is an interesting addition to books
by the Jones', Swing the Clubhead, and Bobby Jones On Golf. In a simple way, it gives additional insight into these particularly fine teachings. The book is primarily about golf lore, famous courses,
world class players, and master teachers. The anecdotes are truly treasures for lovers of the game. We
recommend this book wholeheartedly to those of you who really love the game and the lore associated with it. This is one recommendation that we believe you will thank us for.
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