The Spirit Of Golf And How It Applies To Life

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.

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.

Golf. It's the ultimate head game. And when nothing but the best advice will do, along comes M. Scott Peck, M.D., the celebrated psychiatrist and author of the best-selling self-help book of all time, The Road Less Traveled. In Golf and the Spirit, M. Scott Peck writes a book for beginners and masters alike--and even for nongolfers. It goes beyond mechanics to explore the deeper issues, ways of successfully managing the emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of this most wonderful, maddening, deflating, and inspiring game. Playing side by side with M. Scott Peck on an imaginary course of his own design--complete with illustrations of each hole--you will come to see the profound truths in this seemingly simple game. Appreciate that life is not linear. Come to understand your own anger and how to heal that which gets in your way. Accept the gifts of humility. Appreciate kenosis, the process by which the self empties itself of self. Benefit from teachers. Know that in weakness often there is strength. Realize that to experience the blessings of golf and life fully, you must accept the divinity that underlies all things. Like the best-selling volumes of Harvey Penick and Michael Murphy, Golf and the Spirit makes a unique contribution to the literature of golf and life. It goes beyond the body to address the heart and soul of the game, creating a rare opportunity for transformation in the lives of its readers, both on and off the fairway. It seems to me the human condition is most basically that we are willful creatures living in a world that, much of the time, doesn't behave the way we want it to. We live in the tension between our will and reality. Sometimes with great effort and expertise, we can change reality or bend it to our will. At other times--also with great effort and expertise--it is we who must change by coming to accept the limitations of the world and of ourselves. How we do this--how we deal with the hazards of life--is quite akin to how we deal with the hazards of a golf course. Sooner or later golfers who stick with the game long enough will almost always come to see it as a metaphor for life. But the word metaphor fails to do justice to all that golf has to teach us. I would go even further and say that, in its own way, golf is life and, not only that, life condensed. If we choose to use it as such, I believe that golf, next to marriage and parenthood, can routinely be the greatest of life's learning opportunities.

Zachary Tobias finds himself on a special golf course where the best within each player is brought forth, and golf legends past and present gather for the greatest tournament ever played

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

As just about every top teaching professional will agree, rarely is it from a lack of physical talent and hard work that most golfers hold themselves back (many know all too well how to struggle and grind with seemingly little progress in relation to effort and try). Instead, it is impatience, frustration, anxiety, and doubt that limit results and hold us back; emotional energies that create tension and resistance inside the body and sabotage states of peak performance time and again. With the introduction of Skills and Drills, international peak performance coach and Spirit of Golf president and founder Tim N. Kremer, M.A., takes mental and emotional training to a powerful new level, offering golfers and athletes everywhere a host of innovative skills and techniques related to improvement through the power of the mind. A practical "how to" book that is heralded as "the first of its kind," Skills and Drills contains dozens of leading-edge practices for anyone who is serious about improvement and taking performance to incredible new heights.

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.

Find God on the green through this devotional! Readers will be able to combine their time with Him with their interest in golf. Dan Bolin helps men discover God's perspectives on life through under ten minutes of daily reading. Each section highlights an element of golf, applying a spiritual truth and lesson for life. Readers will learn to deepen their walk with God through personal stories, questions to check their scorecard, and Scripture reading. Men will discover how God relates to every aspect of their life -- even their favorite sport! Whether they want to read and discuss this book with a group or friends, read a chapter consistently for thirty-one days, or read every time they think about golfing, this book will inspire readers to be men of God. Great for gift giving.