Seven Days at the Links of Utopia

Last week, a friend of mine, Henry, gave me a little book to read called "Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days At The Links Of Utopia" by Dr. David L.Cook. My friend and his wife work together to help Dr. Cook promote his book. He oversees the the website and business aspects and she the promotions. Like a good friend, I said I would read the book. I mean, after all, it was free and I like to read, especially free books. Not a large book, this was. 157 pages to be exact. But what a brilliant little this book was. Brilliant, entertaining and profound. For many reasons and on many levels. I read it in almost one setting. It captured my attention, imagination and heart. It is primarily about golf, with some fishing, art and relationship mixed in. It is a fictional story about a fictional golfer who meets Johnny, a fictional golf course owner, a Renaissance man of sorts. One week at the Links of Utopia. Yet the implications for me, a real person, were profound and palatable.

At face value, it is a tome about golf, what it takes out of you and what you have to put in to become a great golfer and to find your game. Not just mechanically but intellectually and mentally. Learning to master the game instead of the game mastering you. But on a more profound level, this book is about the deeper truths of life and spirituality. That what you do in life matters, how you live life counts and who you serve reflects who you are. When we come to the end of ourselves, what will we find? As Johnny said, "What will your epitaph say?" I felt challenged and stirred, thrilled and chastised, humbled and blessed. It's funny what the written word on a page can do to you.

First about Golf. Although I don't do much golfing these days, I did play a lot a few years back. I related to the highs of the game and to it's lows. There is nothing quite like hitting the ball perfectly. The sound of the ball striking the club face, the song of the shaft as it whistles in the air, the effortlessness of the swing, the flight path to the green. The book says it like this, "Finding the sweet spot is akin to finding religion or the taste of an aged cabernet......that's what keeps us coming back....the sweet spot is an addictive force." One of the reasons I quit playing so much was because I hit a plateau, that place I just couldn't get over. I knew I was a better golfer than what I was playing or what my score indicated, but I just couldn't get over the hump. Maybe I'll pick up the sticks again and head to the course with much of this book in mind.

This next paragraph will be a little long but bear with me. Remember, this is my blog and I am king! One of the places in the book that just thrilled me to no end and made me laugh with joy was when they talked about Face-On putting. I know I risk a bit by telling you parts of the book, but for me it was the next logical step in my revelation about putting. It started a number of years ago when my dad gave me a nice Ping blade putter for Christmas. While I should have been thrilled, I felt very disappointed. I had been having lots of trouble with my putting and just couldn't seem to strike the ball well or control it. I had been wanting to try something different. I did not want this type of putter. Hoping to not offend my dad, I hesitantly asked him if he would be offended if I traded it for a different style of putter. I could not make the blade work. To my surprise, he had no objections and was not offended. He, being a lifelong golfer, said that the game was very personal and each player had different styles and needs. He gave me the receipt and said to pick out what I really wanted. I ended up with an Odyssey Rossie I, a mallet-style of putter. I really liked it and loved the way it struck the ball. While I want to say that the choice of putter dramatically helped my putting game, it didn't. Oh, it did help somewhat in my control but not enough to make a real or sustained difference. I needed something more.
One day, I happened to be watching the Skins Game, a golf tournament held, i think, around Thanksgiving in Palm Springs, CA. And up onto the green strode the great Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. He got the lay of the green and sized up his putt. He then stepped to his ball. But instead of taking the normal putting position with his left side towards the hole and feet pointed away from the hole, he positioned his toes pointing directly at the hole and turned his body to face the hole. "What an awkward position," I thought. Then, using the standard putting grip, he, from the side of his body, struck the ball with a pendulum-type stroke and sank the putt. "Brilliant!" I exclaimed. "If it's good enough for the Bear on national TV, I determined to give it try. I felt desperate and was willing to try anything. It felt awkward at first, but soon I got the hang of it. It gave me the balance I had been missing and steadied my hands and swing. Surprise of surprises, it worked. I was able to sink many more putts than before. However, I did have to endure a lot of ribbing from my fellow golfers, because the stance is certainly unorthodox and goes against tradition. However, once I told my story and invoked the great Nicklaus name, the jibs and jabs largely stopped. But no one copied my style. This long winded passage brings me to this: the Face-On putting style. As I read this passage in the book, I was blown away! "Why hadn't I thought about that before!" This was major improvement on my style. It involves completely facing the hole and using a special putter, using a pendulum stoke to propel the ball to the hole. All while watching the hole with both eyes instead of out of the corner of one eye. Brilliant, absolutely Brilliant! I can't wait to get a hold of that putter and try it out for myself!

Secondly, back to the story. While the previous passage was long and winding and may not mean much to you, it was like revelation to me. Concrete answers to some of golf's mysteries. Yet the focus of the book, while it is about golf, was about playing on a bigger, more important course: Life. And playing in the Game of Life without The Giver of Life is like playing golf with broken clubs. It cannot be done well or successfully. This fictional tale struck a cord deep within me, all the way to the foundations of my life. Over the last 3or 4 years, the Lord has been rebuilding the foundations of my life, recasting the deep pillars on which my faith has rested. And like any building under construction, there is lots of reshaping, refinishing and rebuilding, sanding and chiseling and hammering. Lots of hammering!
Adding a wing here, taking down a wall there and this little book has served to sand off a few of the rough edges I still have and confirm that some of the pillars I have are still good and usable. I don't know what my life will look like 10 or 20 years down the road but I do know this: whatever it looks like or wherever I am, it will be because the Hand of The Almighty has seen fit to shape me and make me into vessel, fit for His service. Thanks, Henry, for getting into my hands a guide book for the front and back nine of life! You can check out the website, www.linksofutopia.com for information about this precious book and the ministry of Dr.David Cook.

Blessings,
Traveler