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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 #6 - Royal Dornoch
(How the Zen Approach Makes Bunkers Fun, and the Importance of Caddies)

The most northerly of Scotland’s famous Highland championship courses, this windswept links has everything a golfer of any caliber could hope for. We tried to perfect two very useful Zen techniques here.

Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Golf Road, Dornoch, IV25 3LW. Further details in our book 'A Birdie For Buddha.'

Royal Dornoch joins St. Andrews and Leith, both near Edinburgh, as one of the earliest places golf was played (1616). The Earl of Sutherland reputedly ordered up “cleeks and balls” at this time to take up the game that was becoming popular further south. It has, within itself, all the characteristics of the Great Scottish Golf Course. It also sets the standard for all bunkers (sandtraps) the world over, and boasts some of the greatest caddies, who are often Club members acting as Bodhisatvas - guardian angels - ready to guide you on the proper path to the hole.

Over the past several hundred years the Scots have made some improvements to the original, all-natural bunkers. Today the front and sides are constructed with rectangular sod “bricks” into walls that can be over your head. Regularly the groundskeepers water the bricks by hand to keep them solid, and most days one of them clips away any weeds or grass growing between them so that they retain their shape. The ubiquitous groundskeepers also trim the edges and mow the fairway leading into the bunker. In other words, the Scottish Bunker is a thing of beauty! And a wonderful opportunity to apply the Zen Approach to Golf!

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

 
JP-W in 6th Hole Bunker
ABP, Club Manager J Duncan & JP-W

As we were taught by a Highland professional at Turnberry, no bunker should ever be a problem. Easy to say, but as we shall see, there is much truth to this, especially if you can remember to remember the fundamentals of the Zen Approach. First, as with every shot, take a few slow, deep breaths. Then … follow through, finishing with your clubface high above your head. If you get a face full of sand at the end of your swing, you’ve done as well as you can, and you can then look up to see where your ball lies. Most of the time you will be delighted.

The only important point is to enjoy yourself enjoying what you are doing - a major objective of our Zen Approach to Golf, or maybe anything. The bunker shot may give you more possibilities to explore your progress than any other. A secret: some rather good players have been seen kicking their ball into a bunker just to have this pleasure, and that’s all right too.

 
     

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