Golf Courses and Spirituality

[Mike_Cirba]

On the Darwinian thread concerning "which course your soul loves the most", it occurred to me that we don't talk about the spirituality of experiencing golf courses enough.  

I have two standard jokes that I use to assuage my guilty conscience, but that point out some very real truths about how golf courses can put us back in touch with our primal and spiritual selves.  

1) Yes, I go to church most every Sunday, but it's a big outdoor chapel.

2) It's either this (play golf) or spend the money on intensive psychological therapy.  

Somewhat like the marathon runners who find themselves in some endophin-induced "runners high" that approaches spiritual nirvana, I've found that same elevated feeling many times (without actively seeking it) on the golf course.  

It's a feeling of peace and serenity and even elation...as you are one with your surroundings and for a short time even become part and parcel of the golf course, its surroundings, and even the entire world and universe.  It's effortless and ephemeral, and I'm not sure that it isn't linked to what is referred to as "the zone" (although I've experienced it even when not playing particularly well), but I think it has something to do with wide open spaces and natural settings.  

I've rarely been treated to this type of feeling on courses that are constricted by housing, woods, or on courses where man's hand is overbearing.    

Has anyone else experienced this type of spiritual and emotional epiphany on the links, or should I just go back to winter hibernation and consider the whole thing some type of hallucinogenic flashback from my wilder youth?  

[wsmorrison]

Mike,
I have experienced the emotions you are speaking of although infrequently.  However, there is something about the experience of being in the town of Dornoch and especially on the links that brings me the closest thing to inner peace I have ever felt.  My son David (10 at the time), on his first trip overseas had a similar feeling and went so far as to say he wanted to move there!  We have returned ever since and I look forward to this year to get me through the daily work routine.  Is it self-induced?  I thought so until my son reacted in the exact same way and the feeling hasn't diminished over the years.

[A.G._Crockett]

Mike,
I have experienced this, and much more intensely when golfing with particular friends or with my son.  Almost overwhelming feelings of being blessed, and also the feeling the God is taking pleasure in my appreciation of the creation.  Only rarely do I play golf on Sunday mornings--I'm in church--but I feel like I'm getting the benefits that I'm supposed get from church when I walking in on summer evening or starting off on a fall morning at a course.  I think the solitude of the course does come into play, just as the quiet of a church is important.
Thanks for starting the thought process...

[THuckaby2]

You might as well call this the Huckaby thread, Mike.  Golf and spirituality are VERY intertwined to me, to an extent I am really embarrassed to say too much about here.  Let's just say I experience it all the time, but the best of which are like people have said already, with special poeple at special places.

It occurred big time at Sand Hills.

But it also occurred last week playing an urban par3 course with my daughter.

TH

[TEPaul]

MikeC:

I think everyone who comes on this site has probably felt those things at some point or another.

But look, maybe we shouldn't really open this psychic door since Dr. Katz probably couldn't handle one tenth of it. Some in golf have said it isn't recommended to get a thousand angels dancing on the head of a pin.

One time on a course I heard the people talking to me. Thing was those people hadn't been there in maybe 2,000 years!

[henrye]

Interesting that both Wayne and Tom have experienced this feeling with their kids.  For me, the feeling occurs occasionally and the following external conditions are always present.  Calm day, no wind.  Isolated hole with no other players in sight.  Sometimes it takes a few holes without any other players coming into view  and any manmade sounds for the feeling to take place.  It only occurs on 2 golf courses I play semi-regularly at.  It only occurs if I'm playing with myself or my 13 year old son.  It is more likely to occur in late afternoon or early evening.  It is the greatest feeling in golf regardless of my score (note: I have never had a hole in one).

[Stan Dodd]

Mike,
Interesting thoughts.  I to have had a couple of spiritual moments that where induced by place and company.
One of place, a solitary round at Dunbar on a glorious afternoon when I was the only person on the course.  Coming home with the view of town, red brick buildings glistening in an after rain sparkle, and coastline with an incredible blue color made me feel a pang in my heart and gut that this was a once in a lifetime moment and made me deeply appreciative and thankful for many things.
A second, though less tranquil, was as deeply moving.  I took a day off to watch my son compete in the state regional championships.  A good but not great high school player I was anxious to see how he would hold up against top competition both in the atletic area but also in the area of character.  First swing OB and I thought volcano going to blow. I saw  an inner peace and deep resolve in my son.  Temper in check he chipped in for birdie on two another birdie on three.  I saw him compete with class and dignity (compared to one of his playing companions who whined and slammed clubs and behaved like a boor) and felt proud.  Long story short he failed to qualify  for the state championship.  But when he finished he went to his coach and thanked him for all his time and efforts and then thanked me for all that I had done to help him.  At that point my epiphany  was that his mother and I  had raised a man that we could be proud of, and the great game of golf had great part in that effort.
Stan Dodd

[Scott_Burroughs]

The moment that sticks out the most to me was last May at Astoria G&CC in the NW corner of Oregon.  This was the day before I was to play 36 at Pacific Dunes.  I drove for an hour through rain from PDX, but the coast luckily was dry, with a few patches of sun here and there.  I had seen a picture of the famous 3rd hole, a narrow tunnel of a hole through the dunes, and the course was recommended by several here, and by one very enthusiastic Emperor in person.  I'd even done the AOTD of Astoria already.

I was alone as when I play a majority of my golf and I had the course to myself and a few of the local HS boys.

But actually seeing that hole, knowing that a hole like that existed in this country, seeing the actual size of the dunes above your head in person, I was giddy.  I literally giggled with joy.  The rest of the course didn't disappoint either, more holes through the dunes, from atop the dunes down to the bottom through them, it was plain fun.

The 2nd hole is a tempting drivable par 4 with trouble around and a nasty green.

#5 is a good longish par 4 Cape hole.

Many of the greens are small but tilted and tough.  If you miss, chipping and putting abound from around the greens.

The course isn't without faults.  The dunes have been grassed over for years, so you don't actually see any sand.  There's even a cart path down the narrow chute of #3.  Several of these holes are painfully narrow and natural bowls kick balls back to the middle.  Some people call this containment.  This is natural though.

Astoria couldn't even be built today I doubt.  Not only would permitting be a b!tch, but if any architect built it, they would be out of business for building something so "weird" and different.

But it's fun.  And get yourself there if you can, as there's nothing else like in the U.S.

[Dan Kelly]

Somewhat like the marathon runners who find themselves in some endophin-induced "runners high" that approaches spiritual nirvana, I've found that same elevated feeling many times (without actively seeking it) on the golf course.  

It's a feeling of peace and serenity and even elation...as you are one with your surroundings and for a short time even become part and parcel of the golf course, its surroundings, and even the entire world and universe.  It's effortless and ephemeral, and I'm not sure that it isn't linked to what is referred to as "the zone" (although I've experienced it even when not playing particularly well), but I think it has something to do with wide open spaces and natural settings.  

Mike -- Beautifully put.

I think it has everything to do with wide-open spaces and natural settings -- and, at least in my case, being on a mostly-empty golf course, alone with my thoughts, or being in the company of my wife (who doesn't play, but loves to walk), or my daughter, or with partners I know well enough that we can say more or less nothing and enjoy the quiet. For me, clutter and chatter (and caring too much about performance) banish enchantment.

The spiritual moments you describe haven't happened nearly often enough to suit me -- but hope springs eternal in golf (which, I'm sorry to say, I cannot say about the churches my family and I attend, sporadically).

I'll keep looking for my God, out in the open. He's elusive, but He's not hiding.

[TEPaul]

"I'll keep looking for my God, out in the open. He's elusive, but He's not hiding."

DanK:

Look within! He could be in there.

[A_Clay_Man]

Scott- I really like the idea of a Giddy Meter.

You are in touch with your feelings and when the cup runeth over you do what? Gid( )

So, whether it be a 45 mph gale on one of the first holes of either obscure Nebraska venues {my most recent gid factor overload} or an evening light and shade show at your local concrete muni, the Gidmeter reading is one that never ceases to be broken. Thank god!

[THuckaby2]

I too love the giddy meter!

It also occurred for me at both of those obscure NE venues, but at the Mullen one, I think I phrased it like this:  Gene and I crossed paths during one of the rounds (he was playing in another group) and he asked me how I was doing... all I could say was "I'm in a purple haze of joy."  Inelegant, I know... but it was true!

TH

[Craig_Dex]

Mike -

It's good to see that I'm not the only person who might start chanting "cum bya" (sp?) when discussing the spiritual side of golf.  As good a read as Golf In The Kingdom is, I think it overdid this point so much that it had the opposite effect on people, making them say "hooey" to the spirituality of golf.

While I have experienced euphoria on the golf course, it is especially intense for me at night.  My parents have a time share condo in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Our unit is right on the tenth fairway of Sea Scape Golf Links.  For some reason I can't explain, whenever I go for a walk at night on the course, all my senses are heightened to the point where I can actually hear the waves of the Atlantic two blocks away, and I can smell the salt air (even though I can't during the day).  And the sky always seems crystal clear with the stars as brilliant as I've ever seen.

No other course, be it during the day or at night, has ever had the same effect on me as Sea Scape, and I'm sure it's due to the points mentioned earlier about wide open space, far away from commercial development (excess lighting), etc.

Cum bya, my Lord...

[MBL]

When first stumbling upon GCA almost two years ago, I realized that I had found a site built by potential brethren.

Upon rolling back the boulder (i.e. clicking the link) to the DG, I recognized that the world really was full of individuals as -- if not more -- passionate about the game as I.  

Reading this link has truly brought shivers to my spine (then again, I *potentially* tear-up during sappy movies)....I also  experienced the euphoria referenced two summers ago at Pebble Beach.  The feeling climbed throughout my five day stay, but truly reached a climax our final night there when - cocktail in hand - I walked along the sea wall on 18 then just sat down to soak in the clear night (yes CLEAR night) and full moon illuminating Still Water Cove.  I've had difficulty, and been reticent about, explaining the feeling(s) to anyone lest I be labeled a Michael Murphy wannabe.  But I swear, that evening - and that trip - were like nothing I've ever experienced.  

And yet I know that I will achieve the feeling again: but only on a golf course.

[Rick Shefchik]

The spirit has moments when it soars on a golf course, I believe, partly because of the multitude of moments when the spirit sinks.

I keep thinking of Hogan's comment that, during a typical round, he might hit no more than two or three shots exactly as he meant to. What are our chances? And more importantly, how does our spirit endure so many failures packed into a 4-hour experience that always starts out with so much promise?

Add to that these typical events from a typical round: The bev cart roaring over the hill and across your fairway as you're about to swing, the five-minute waits on the tee and in the fairway for the slowpokes in front of you; the foursome in the adjoining fairway braying f-bombs back and forth at each other; the guy urinating in the proximity of a tree just a few feet from a homesite; the guy who takes a cell phone call when it's his turn to play; the drunks in their golf carts who ignore the ropes, signs and arrows; the corporate outing types who spend more time in your fairway than in their own, and always assume it's their turn; or the guys who hit into you all day because they're too impatient to wait for you to replace a divot or fix a ball mark.

Sorry to drag down the idyllic tone of this thread, but I don't find it surprising at all that we've had spiritual moments on the golf course. The occasional absence of the aforementioned irritants is reason enough to feel blessed.

[Dan King]

I'm not a religious person. I figure there is bound to be a god or two or three, but I'm not out looking for them.

But once I found where they hang out.

In 1996, I took my first trip to Dornoch. The golf pro said I could go ahead and play the course as early as I wanted. So it being mid-summer, I figured 4:00 seemed like a good starting time. I'd get up that early, head out to the course with only 5-6 clubs and play a quick 18. On the second day of doing this, I walked up the hill from the 6th green (Whinney Brae) to the 7th tee (Pier) and looked out to the north east. The sun was a couple fists above the horizon, but was just breaking through some storm clouds in the North Sea. The rays of light breaking through the wonderful colors of the clouds was amazing. I figured if I were a god and looking for a place to hang out, that would be it.

Most of the better spiritual moments for me on the course have come when I've been alone and early in the morning. Something about being out there with nothing but your clubs, watching nature get ready for the day ahead, just makes you think profound thoughts.

Dan King

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wratch are stored."
 --Julia Ward Howe

[THuckaby2]

Very cool, Dan.  Man I can picture that perfectly re Dornoch.  That makes me freakin' ache to get back there!   Thanks.

I know it is now sounding trite to keep using this example, but people say these same things a lot about Sand Hills... in fact it's somewhat of a custom (as it was explained to me, both by our host and others later) that one ought to go off either very early or very late, just like you did at Dornoch, all alone and play at least 9 holes (typically the front nine).  They call this "going to church."  Kinda hits the nail on the head....

TH

[Steve Lang]

For some reason I've gotten close to that spirit on the second tee at Southern Pines CC, in NC, in the spring time, about 16 times now since 1980..  

In the beginning it was more chemically aided, the beginning of an annual pure week of golf, 2 rounds+ aday, but in recent years its been a feeling of golf connection, knowledge without thought, purpose melded with objective, facing the first semi-blind shot of the round, slightly uphill, over the bulging ridge, knowing that the second shot must set up the first of many uphill approach challenges on this hidden (?) Ross gem of a course.  We normally reserve our vacation Sunday to attend church there for 36 and then get out on the roughish Cardinal nine and wonder if this wasn't one of Ross's true field experiments..  

[Phil]

I was brought up on the Orinda Country Club course over the hills from Berkeley and Oakland. From the age of 10, I must have played it 1,000 times. It's an old Willy Watson design that meanders through the East Bay foothills with Greak Oaks for sentinals. I am now - God, can it be? - 65 and I still find refuge on that course although I'm 2,500 miles away, living in Hawaii. Still, the 7th, 8th and 9th holes make up my personal mental cathedral. Without some sense of spirituality, is it golf? Maybe. But not great golf.

[Steve Lang]

Phil,

Also miss the view on 24 going west when you pass out of the tunnel on a clear day too?

[Mike_Cirba]

SO many GREAT responses...I knew you guys wouldn't let me down, and it's so encouraging to realize that the feeling is universal among those who have a passion for the game.  

Still, I wish that Tom Paul would tell us what he "felt" on those solitary mornings at Mallow GC, and I'd love to hear Tom Huckaby be his normally effusive self in describing what he terms the "intertwining" of golf and spirituality that seems as natural to him as breathing.

And Phil...your post was moving.  So touching, in fact, that I have to say two things to you.

1) Hope you don't mind, but I've stolen your quote as my "signature".

and

2) Post here more often because you not only "get it", but you clearly and eloquently "express it".  

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

This only confirms what I alway think, and every now and then have mentioned here.  "We definitely are the lunatic fringe of the golf world here." and I mean that with the utmost respect and self-deprication.

I have often found that you can kind of fill your spiritual tank with aura from some of the great places and savor them later (either on the course or off).  I will not go there on this thread at the risk of inciting another firestorm of debate, but that is why I do think "Ambience", "History", or "Aura" (call it what you want but it is still the same thing) is important to the overall experience, and thus greatness of the golf course.  I found it in abundunce on my trip to Scotland several years ago (and yes Dornoch just oozes with it), but find it here in the states as well from time to time.

I am embarrased to admit, but just yesterday I was driving from my last sales call in Eastern NC and heading to my hotel in Cheraw, SC for my next days work.  Upon looking at the map I estimated that Pinehurst was probably 30-45min out of my way, and I guessed if I went that longer route I would get to Pinehurst shortly before sunset.  With such a beautiful day I was sure a great sunset was instore and my mind was made up.  The only cost would be my time and a guranteed late arrival at my destination.  So detour I did.

I arrived in Pinehurst in time to get to the main clubhouse, no one was around save for a couple jr.s coming off the course.  So I got my putter and headed for the practice green while that sunset lived up to everything I imagined.  I putted until darkness and numbness in my hands from cold started to set in.  Then I headed into the clubhouse, which was empty from what I could see, no one in the proshop, restaurant or anything.  I wandered around the clubhouse and looked at all the old historical things on the walls, used the facilites in the locker room, and then made my way back to the car.  I then headed over to the Ryder Cup Bar at the main hotel, one of my favorite spots.  Struck up a conversation with a fellow golfer who had just finished playing that day.  He chuckled at the story of my driving out of my way just to hit some putts on the hallowed turf, and eat at this bar.  After a beer and some food, and some wonderful conversation I got back in my car and headed down the road for a late arrival at my hotel.  

My stomach was full, my head was swimming with golf thoughts, my golf tank had been topped off with "Ambience", and I even made a new friend to play golf with on my next trip into his area.

Now some (my wife included I think) might think me crazy for purposely adding 45min to my drive that night for what??  Getting to putt for 30min in the cooling dusk, and eating at a particular bar.   But to me (and I would guess some others in here) it makes perfect sense.

Then today when I was actually able to tee it up at a fairly obscure couse off the beaten path. I was playing by myself at my normal pace when not delayed (about 2.5 hrs for 18holes) and my mind was kind of wandering.  So I opened the cap on my golf tank and drew upon some of the "Aura" I had put in there the night before to get my mind right.

Isnt life great!!!!!!

[THuckaby2]

Phil:

I work in Oakland and have been lucky to play Orinda CC many times... it's still great.  If ever there's a "hidden gem", this is it.. and oh yes, God hangs out on 7-8-9 for sure.

TH

[redanman]

For many years I have said

"Golf is somewhere between a religion and a disease."

Probably Budhism.

It is very special, lots of fun with family, friends and especially by yourself.  

I have always loved solo golf.  When I first started I played until it got dark.  I play by myself very fast in the winter (I used to anyway) and still late in the evenings as I am worthless for a 7 a.m. tee time.  (Won't play for a nickel then!)

I've had many a pleasant time with just my wife and myself.  3 -5 hours alone together.

Golf has always been a refuge for me too.  There is no such thing as bad golf, but there are the sh***s.  But that's not golf anyway.

[Allan Long]

On my first and only trip to Prairie Dunes, although I was in my mid-20's by then, I remember riding to the course with the feeling like I was going to a junior high dance. I know I was babbling incoherently with enthusiam, and once there the feeling got stronger. The day flew by, but I can still remember everything that happened. Probably hadn't felt that way since standing on 16 at Cypress Point. Now, seeing the lighthouse at Harbour Town, or stepping on the first tee at Pinehurst #2 does the same thing.