Passion for Golf: In Pursuit of the Innermost Game
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Most avid golfers believe that there is a profound connection between the joys and challenges of golf and the joys and challenges of living — that the more devoted we are to the game, the more we learn about ourselves. In Passion for Golf, Roland Merullo looks carefully at those connections and at the reasons why people find themselves irresistibly attracted to golf. Drawing on the triumphs and travails of playing partners, friends, and family members, and mixing in anecdotes from his own adventures on and off the course, Merullo explores the notion of a 'true goal of golf,' a hidden attraction that, ultimately, has more to do with deep peace and satisfaction than with the dream of playing on the PGA tour. He finds connections between fairway lessons and the mystical wisdom of Lao Tzu, Theresa of Avila, Thoreau, Jesus, Buddha, and Walt Whitman, among many others, and looks into the role of ego, anger, and silence in golf and life. More than anything else, Passion for Golf is a celebration of the game, an examination of the roots of our passion for it, and a meditation on the lessons every golfer carries away from the course and into his or her life.
Publishers Weekly wrote, “For average hackers who struggle weekly to lower their scores, this slender, accessible guide offers insight into the emotional stumbling blocks that get in the way of improvement and, most importantly, enjoyment of the game… Readers who enjoyed Michael Murphy's Zen of golf classic, Golf in the Kingdom, should have room for this spiritual journey in their Christmas stocking.
And, The Washington Post stated “…Merullo provides more than enough food for thought for even the most contemplative golfer.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
For "average hackers" who struggle weekly to lower their scores, this slender, accessible guide offers insight into the emotional stumbling blocks that get in the way of improvement and, most importantly, enjoyment of the game. Merullo is not a professional golfer. He is a fiction writer whose books have explored the legacy of family relationships (Revere Beach Boulevard) and the juxtaposition of personal and national drama (A Russian Requiem). In his first nonfiction title, he continues his theme of relationships, using the lessons of golf that reach beyond the swing plane into our personal life. With quotations from such poets and mystics as Thoreau, Lao Tzu and Theresa of Avila, Merullo reveals how the mental game of golf affects the physical one. The chapter on ego is particularly pertinent. "Ego is the absence of true knowledge of who we really are...." Perhaps Sogyal Rinpoche did not have the average golfer in mind, but anyone who has attempted to hit a ball 180 yards out of the rough from under the spreading branches of two trees lurking eight feet apart knows the meaning of those words. Similar chapters on anger, fear, etiquette and humility feature personal anecdotes as well as tales of fallible professionals. A poignant observation, "No one begins a round thinking he will shoot his worst score, just as no one gets married thinking she will be miserable," sums up the innermost game of golf: "Without a certain amount of hope... we would not put the tee in the ground." Readers who enjoyed Michael Murphy's Zen of golf classic, Golf in the Kingdom, should have room for this slender, spiritual journey in their Christmas stocking.
