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A Zen Approach To
Playing Golf In
Scotland

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James C. Plowden-Wardlaw

James Campbell Plowden-Wardlaw hit his first golf ball into the gorse bushes at Old Prestwick -- the cradle of championship golf and site of the first British Open -- at the age of nine, during a family visit to a great aunt in Ayr, Scotland. He returned home to America impressed by the game, but waited more than fifty years to play again in Scotland...(More...)

Alex B. Pagel

Alex B. Pagel dubbed his first shot at the Maidstone Club course on Long Island in the 1940s under the Scottish eye of the club professional Jack Ross. This legendary man endeavored to teach him how to hit a ball, never a total success, and how to enjoy the game, by contrast a long and continuing success story. Old Jack also frequently implied that the true object of the game was to play in Scotland on a links course in the wind...(More...)

 
 
 

 

Hole # 2 - Letham Grange (Keeping Score? - Reflections on Yourself)

Sometimes called the ‘Augusta’ of Scotland because of its profusion of flowers and azaleas blooming from the beginning to the end on this gorgeous parkland course in Angus, the Letham Grange ‘Old Course’ requires precision and touch to keep your ball out of the ever-present burns and rugged bushes. The occasional ’Stones of Good Fortune’ placed about the course and blessed by a Zen Buddhist priest emphasize the serenity of this Tayside beauty..

Letham Grange Hotel and Golf Course (Old Course - 18 holes, Glens - 18 holes) Letham Grange Hotel, Colliston, by Arbroath, Angus DD11 4RL. Further details in our book 'A Birdie For Buddha.'

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The Letham Grange “Old Course” is an ideal spot for Zen Moments. Nature is arranged to be nonchalant, with cascading flowers, double burns, tree, rock and flower-framed vistas from the tees. It is hilly and undulating terrain. All this leads to moments of contemplation. The Zen Approach to Golf requires continuous contemplation while playing, so Letham Grange was ideal for us.

But what about "keeping score?" Can I keep my “score” and still use A Zen Approach to Golf? The answer is both “yes” and “no.” You may keep score in the Zen Approach’s special way, but not in the competitive, “every stroke counts” fashion you have been doing all your life up to now.

Zen is about being “present” in the Present - and ENJOYING EVERY SECOND OF IT. All Zen’s exercises and meditations are towards this end. Therefore, keeping score is unzenlike because it drags the focus into the future - the 18th Hole and the numerical result of the entire round. As we shall learn, “good results” are, in Zen terms, something else.

When you learn to distance yourself from the concept of keeping score, ironically your scores will almost immediately improve! But, dear reader, we must warn you that in the philosophy of A Zen Approach to Golf, even this improvement shouldn’t make any difference to you. Master this idea, and you will have taken a major step forward.

You can read the entire chapter in our book "A Birdie for Buddha"
  

 
Letham Grange Hotel
1st Green – Rocks Placed by Zen Buddhist Monks

In this new philosophy we are not (and neither should you) looking for a final “result” - the ‘Satori’, the ‘Awakening’, the ‘Great Enlightenment’ at the end of the tunnel in traditional Zen Buddhism. Rather, we look to the “process” of getting in the right frame of mind to appreciate what you and your body are doing.

“Doing it” is much more important than “getting it done,” if you see what we mean. This concept is the key to your new approach to what will now become your favorite “pastime” rather than your favorite “sport.” This is the key to the Zen Approach to Golf.

It has been written that, “…Zen… being fundamentally nonjudgmental, …allows you to choose your own level of practice without the burden of feeling guilty or sinful.”

This is precisely why you, our readers, can never “fail” at the Zen Approach to Golf. You will get as far along the path as you can each time out, and that is just fine - for that day. Remember, it is “the voyage” and not “the getting there” that is essential for you to master. The Zen Approach to Golf builds up your self-esteem, it never tears it down, because in truth there is nothing you can do wrong while trying it out.

 
     

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