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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 # 7 - Boat of Garten (The Approach Shot, and Why Not Try Using Fewer Clubs?)

This heathland course, 30 miles south of Inverness, is known for its spectacular views (on a clear day) of the Cairngorm Mountains and the River Spey. It was designed by James Braid and requires carefully thinking out your shots before hitting them, as do most of the great architect’s courses.

Boat of Garten Golf Club, Boat of Garten, PH24 3BQ. Further details in our book 'A Birdie For Buddha.'

One of your authors played a 'Buddhist' round, using only a 5-iron and his putter, and using a 'Zen Shot' (toss out) whenever a 5-iron was impossible or bound to lead to frustration. This worked like a charm! It takes practice and discipline to relax in the moment, but if you are able to do it the result is an effortless shot...and usually a good one, often with lucky bounces. Also, not worrying about the ultimate destination of your shot leads to better 'touch' with the ground. This may be the perfect time to talk about the Approach Shot, and two “Scotland Specials”.

In Scotland, because the winds, and the brown, hard-packed seaside grasses on the sculpted, undulating fairways are conducive to long rolls, and because, with the exception of the narrow “burns”, or, creeks, and the sea itself, there is a total absence of water hazards, two special kinds of approach shots are liable to present themselves to the Zen Golfer.

The first, and most unusual for the non-Scottish golfer, is a rather whimsical shot called “the Saint Andrews Roll”. Invented, we suppose, on the famous golf course that gives it the name, this technique can be extraordinarily accurate from 20 - 120 yards away from the green. Essentially a sharp, hard, but very low chip shot, this is a Zen Golfer’s dream, because it possesses the unique combination of a golf stroke with the excitement of a pinball machine. …We prefer a 5 iron, but probably a 3 or 4 would work equally as well. The ball will race along just above the ground, bouncing from hillock to hillock and onto the green. Maybe only those using the Zen Approach can bear the unpredictability of the Saint Andrews Roll, but secure in your Zen “emptiness”, you know the result will usually be pretty good, and besides, it is fun to hit.

…we first used this shot ourselves on the 1st hole of the Boat in Garten course. There was a shallow bunker on the left side of the narrow fairway, just short of the green and gorse on the right - a straight-forward shot if we could keep it on line. So, with the 5 iron in our hands, and feeling the rain, and feeling the fairway under our feet, we settled into the emptiness of the Zen zone, feeling only the club and focusing on the ball. A short, straight back swing, wrists firm, a hard “punch” into the ball and a very short, straight follow through down the target line - and the ball rocketed forward, a foot or so above the ground. It hit one hillock, and then another, and then skidded sideways - towards the bunker. And then, a Scottish miracle! Our ball hit yet another bump, hopped into the air and over the edge of the bunker and onto the green. We were forever believers! As time went on we learned that there were frequently Scottish miracles when using the Saint Andrews Roll.

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

 
ABP Drives Into the Scottish Mist
Boat of Garten Scorecard
JP-W’s Round With 5-Iron

The other particularly Scottish approach shot with special appeal to the Zen Golfer has some of the same inherent characteristics as the Saint Andrews Roll. This is the long, off-the-green putt, sometimes from as far as 20 yards, and sometimes uphill. Here again you will feel at home because of the haphazard nature of the rolls.

Just as hitting a Saint Andrews Roll feels different to your body (it kind of sends shock waves up your forearms), so too the long off-the-green putt requires a slightly different stroke, firmer and with a hard, straight follow through towards the target area that produces a unique sensation in your hands. Enjoy these different sensations - they are an interesting part of your voyage.
     

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