Buddha Plays 18
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Unlike many in the genre, this is a worthwhile read.

I think that it all must have started with publication of “Golf In The Kingdom ,” Michael Murphy’s 1971 book about a golfer’s encounter with a mystical golf guru in the hills of Scotland. Since that decisive moment, dozens, if not hundreds of books have been written on the metaphysics of golf. I’ve read more than I care to admit, and have found most to be either unapproachably obtuse, or just plain ludicrous.

Edward Balian’s Buddha Plays 18, on the other hand, is both approachable and somewhat sensible. It’s actually the first of the genre that I thought usable by the average golfer.

The premise of Buddha Plays has the author serving as a caddy for Buddha during a round of golf (yes, thats ridiculous, but stick with me here.). During this round, as Buddha is confronted by various golfing “situations,” he explains to his caddy/disciple the proper applications of the principles of the Eightfold Path. Thus, it’s less “be the ball” or “let the mystical energies flow through you,” than it is practical.

For example, in the pursuit of “right thinking” Buddha says he treats misfortune on the course as opportunity.

“In fact nothing here is ever really bad. I’m merely confronted with some new exciting challenges in my next shot you need to see it that way. Your journey has challenges not errors. Change the negative words you use to positive words and your brain will eventuality get the message. Then your thinking will change the same way, from negative to positive.”

To this end, he calls “sand traps,” “sand opportunities” and relishes the challenges afforded by difficult lies.

Balian also manages to relate the “Four Noble Truths” to the golf game:

1) Golf is suffering
2) Your golf desires, or attachments, continually feeds your suffering while on the course (eg. Desire for ten more yards, one putts, perfect weather)
3)Eliminate your attachments and you will alleviate your suffering
4) Practicing the Eightfold Path is the only way out of your suffering.

Great quote: “To those who have never played the game please just trust that at the international hall of fame for suffering the game of golf has a entire wing of its own built right on the premises.”

I am not normally one to subscribe to eastern mysticism, but I agree with much of what Balian writes. Indeed, I have always thought of golf misfortune as an opportunity to use creativity to solve a puzzle. It’s the puzzles that golf offers that keeps me most interested in the game. I am reminded of a line in Jonathan Livingston Seagull (not coincidentally dating to about the same time as Golf in the Kingdom - 1970): You seek problems because you need their gifts

As an aside, I wonder what golf’s Scottish fathers would have thought of the application of Eastern Philosophy to golf. Scotland is, after all, the home of Common Sense Realism, and of such philosophers as Francis Hutcheson, David Hume,  and my favorite, Adam Smith. Heh. I may have to write a book about my mystical encounter with those luminaries on a haunted course.

In the end, I found Buddha Plays 18 to be a worthwhile read. It’s light—I finished it in about an hour—and enjoyable. I think that nearly every golfer can find something in its pages to help his game.

The Timeless Swing

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Timeless advice from a seemingly timeless player

At first glance, I thought that Tom Watson’s “The Timeless Swing” was rather pedestrian.  There are no new or innovative techniques; no radical insights or closely held secrets. It’s all classic grip and stance, takeaway and transition; impact and follow through.

But upon further reflection, it occurred to me that’s exactly why Tom Watson’s swing can be called Timeless. Sound, classic fundamentals are what enabled Watson,  at age 59, to come within a stroke of winning the British Open.

So in that light, I think The Timeless Swing is a success. Unlike Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons (which I found to be somewhat obtuse with all its talk of pronation and supination) Timeless Swing is very accessible, clearly written and lavishly illustrated with photos. The Timeless Swing is a great book for beginners, and for veteran golfers who need to be reminded of the basics.

For me, The Timeless Swing was a refresher course—and a welcome one after the usual four to five months of Michigan winter layover. Before heading out to the course for the first time this year, I read through the text and studied the photos, reminding myself of all the things I already knew. Each page was met with an “ah, I remember that from my lesson with Joal (or Dennis, or Paul or Jim) … I need to pay attention that that on the course.”

One tip that was new to me was Watson’s method of visualizing his shot. Uniquely, I think, Watson visualizes a football goalpost as his target zone. Any shot that flies through that goalpost is ok with him. I’ve gave that a try on my first couple of nines this year and it works decently well.

The book also has an interesting feature: it’s Smartphone-enabled. On pages throughout the book, there are Microsoft Meta Tags—little colored boxes—that you can photograph with your smart phone (assuming you have the free app installed) and which will take you to an online video lesson with Tom Watson. Nice touch.

Simon and Schuster also has a contest where readers can win an autographed copy of the book.

How To Line Up Your Fourth Putt and When To Regrip Your Ball Retriever
by Bobby Rusher

Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: A nice holiday gift

How To Line Up Your Fourth Putt and When To Regrip Your Ball Retriever are two of the funniest book titles I’ve ever read, and for the most part the contents live up to the billing.

Presented as overly large instruction manuals, complete with spiral binding on top, each page contains a short and mostly funny “lesson” on golf. Mostly funny. A few are genuinely side splitting; a majority were amusing; a few left me utterly indifferent. But while the lessons themselves were for me a mixed lot, the titles are consistently entertaining and well worth the price of admission. A few gems:

“How To Hit a Dunlop 2 From the Rough On Your Second Shot When You Hit A Titleist 1 From The Tee.”

“How To Duck Hook From The Bunker And Still Get Home In 10”

“How To Feel Good About Yourself When Your Biggest Lifetime Drive Was 117”

“What To Do When You’ve Parred The Course By The 11th Hole”

“How To Find A Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go In The Water”

Now that’s funny stuff.

Overall, I’d recommend these books for the golfer on your holiday gift list. They’re just $18 each—a nice price for a gift.

There’s just one caveat. I didn’t really care for the format. I’m no tree hugger, but I thought the fact that the text was printed on just one side of each page was a waste of trees. Worse, the text on some of those pages consumed less than a quarter of the space. I would really have liked to see the 8x10 format of the book shrunk to a more reasonable pocket size. That would also have made more plausible the joke that they’re actually instruction manuals.

Magic Driver Review

The Magic Driver Print Edition

The Magic Driver Kindle Edition

Grade: A (for the preteen set)
Teacher’s Comments: a wholesome magical adventure with a golf theme

The Magic Driver is the first in a forthcoming series of books about the adventures of Justice and Gigi, a brother-sister team of junior golfers. It’s aimed squarely at the younger reader, and in that I think it succeeds admirably.

The MacGuffin in this story is a driver that the kids receive from an old man on a course after treating him with kindness.  Although unprepossessing, the driver turns out to have magical qualities, for when it is used, it suddenly transports them halfway across the world to Thailand.

Such a turn of events would send rational adults over the edge, but in true kid’s adventure story fashion, the pair takes it in stride. They make friends, travel the country and engage in a series of whimsical golf competitions in an attempt to return home. And along the way, they manage to learn quite a bit about the geography and culture of Thailand.

The story is light hearted and written in a breezy, simple style. The ebook review copy I got had some nicely done illustrations—I assume the print version does, too.

There’s not a lot here for the adult reader. The golf is more than a little silly, and the plot ridiculous. But kids, I think, will like it a lot. Parents will too. It’s completely wholesome and devoid of the dark—and sometimes mean—streaks that seem to characterize much current children’s literature.

Recommended for kids.

Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock ‘n’ Roller’s 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A literary first. The autobiography of a rock star and how golf saves his life.

I have never been a fan of Alice Cooper’s music (in fact, I wouldn’t recognize it if it came on the radio). When I was in high school,—and he in his heyday – I was listening to an eclectic list of artists that included Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and the Allman Brothers. My friends listened to Cooper, though, and thought my tastes just more evidence of my oddness.

That said, it’s a tribute to the book that – after reading it – I want to go back and listen to some of his “classic” works.

In many ways, Golf Monster is a standard autobiography. Cooper begins with his birth and childhood in Detroit, and takes the reader through several family moves which resulted in his high school years in Arizona, where he became a track star and began his musical career.

At that point, it becomes the story of the rise of a rock star. The early years are lean, but “romantic”, as Cooper and his band live a hand-to-mouth existence. Then come the breaks, the rise to stardom, depravities and addiction. Finally, Cooper checks into a treatment center (one of the first big names to do so), dries out and recovers his life. Ultimately, he becomes a Christian and refocuses his art (still a shock rocker, but now a shock rocker for Christ).

Much of the fun of the book is in the stories that Cooper tells about people he has met: Salvador Dali, Frank Sinatra, the Doors, George Burns, Tiger Woods, John Daly, Arnold Palmer, and many more.

A couple of things about Cooper’s story stood out for me. First, he was not nearly as depraved as I would have imagined. In many ways, he was – and is – astoundingly normal. I have known people in my life who are much further out in left field. (There apparently is nothing to the biting a head off a bat chicken story).

Second, I found myself liking him. As this is an autobiography, you have to consider the source, but Cooper comes across as a genuinely caring guy. His relationship with the aging – and declining – Groucho Marx is touching. His friendships with other people whose lives have crossed his seem quite rich.

Still, the short version of the book is no different from a lot of rock biographies. What makes it different – and relevant to this blog— is that Cooper seriously credits golf with having saved him. Apparently possessed of an addictive personality, he refocused that addiction from alcohol to golf. (I actually suspect that golf attracts a great many addictive personalities). Cooper says that he plays 36 holes a day and carries a five handicap.

The book actually begins with Coopers’ account of his trip to the legendary Pine Valley golf club. And between chapters, he offers advice on the game – a great deal of which I found useful. At the end is an appendix with golf instruction.

I can recommend this book for a lot of reasons. But in the end, I’ll say this. In spite of not particularly liking Cooper’s brand of music, he’s now on my short list of people I’d like to meet. And maybe even play a round of golf.

Pabby’s Score
by James Ross

I had the opportunity to read and review the pre-release form of James Ross’ Pabby’s Score. The published version may be different.

In Pabby’s Score, author James Ross returns his fans to Prairie Winds and the eclectic cast of characters who inhabit that mythical course’s clubhouse.

This time around, though, Ross has not written a golf novel, per se, but rather a novel set in and around a golf course. The plot encompasses not a single round of golf (that we observe). Instead, it’s hard boiled fiction that includes crooked lawyers, corrupt politicians (but I repeat myself), insurance fraud, murder, gambling, secret societies, Indian rituals, autism, Alzheimers’ child abuse, internet porn and dating, infidelity, incest and biker gangs. Think Mickey Spillane, James Ellroy or Elmore Leonard (all of whom I enjoy). At times it all seems a bit much, but Ross manages to pull it back together in the end.

Given the subject matters, Pabby’s Score is no lighthearted stroll from tee to green. It’s serious, edgy, grim, and at times wince-inducing. Ross pulls no punches. Pabby’s Score was hard for me to read at some points (a function of the content, not the writing). If books carried a movie rating, this one would be an R—or maybe an NC-17.

Still, in the end, Ross rewards the reader by doing what he does best—creating memorable, well realized characters. In some ways, this novel is as much character study as thriller. By the end, the characters are real enough to occupy a corner of your own clubhouse. And if you have read any of Ross’ previous novels, the recurring characters will make you feel as though it is a bit of a homecoming.

I don’t know if I can recommend this novel for the general golf audience. There’s just a little too much “edge” and not very much golf. But if you’re a fan of Ross’ earlier novels—which are very much golf stories—I think you’ll like this one.

The Foursome: A Novel

Grade: B
Teacher’s Comments: An interesting character study.

Troon McAllister’s The Foursome is less golf story than character study or psychological thriller. As one reviewer put it, The Foursome is a golf story in the same way Moby Dick is a story about a whale. It’s less Moby Dick, though, than it is Lord of the Flies.

The main characters—a doctor, an ad man, an investment banker and an engineer— are part of a regular group with rotating responsibilities for planning the annual golf trip. Responding to a mysterious invitation, the engineer books them on a trip that bills itself as the “Most memorable golf vacation you’ve ever had or you don’t pay. No money up front.” Destination unknown.

That unknown destination is an exclusive tropical golfing paradise, run by mysterious owners for unknown purposes. The outing starts wonderfully, but begins to fall apart when the foursome becomes obsessed with playing a money game with the resort’s owners. A perfect vacation then becomes a nightmare for the foursome as greed and suspicion expose their character flaws.

Overall, The Foursome is a pretty good afternoon’s entertainment. However, as as the group falls apart, I found it sometimes difficult to read in the same way I find it difficult to watch when a character in television or in the movies is about to make a total ass of themselves.

The Foursome is one of several McAllister novels featuring the world’s greatest gambling golfer, Eddie Caminetti. I’ve not read the others yet, but based on my experience with The Foursome, I’m going to look for them.