Jo's GITK Challenge - Part One: Golf in the Kingdom

Great stuff Jo - you got me thinking, once again.

Eucalyptus and baking bread...hmmm...



-Rob

Dear Jo, I thought you had gotten lost in the whins!

Eucalyptus and baking bread indeed. Surely the eucalyptus reference is a homesick M.M. recalling his beloved California with its imported gum trees. No,no, no it can only be M.M. acknowledging the debt owed to golf by the wonderful sand-belt golfing country in Victoria, Australia, home of the eucalypt. No, no, no, no. It’s simple, Jo, the whiff of eucalyptus oil pervades many a locker room in golf clubs around the world as it is rubbed into the aching joints and tired muscles of once were super athletes. With regard to baking bread was M.M. trying to get us golf-besotted males in touch with our feminine side or was he just trying to get a rise out of us? I must admit the scolding tone of Shivas, in conjunction with the finger wagging reminded me of many a Dundee wifie not suffering fools gladly.

When I first read the scene of Shivas attempting to high-kick the lintel I was immediately reminded of Sam Snead who was renowned for his ability to do just that until well into his sixties. Lo and behold M.M. mentions Slammin’ Sam Snead himself within the next couple of pages.

In Scotland in the 1950s corduroy trousers were very fashionable; Beau Brummel reincarnated a l’Ecosse! I still own a pair of these breeks albeit a catching dark blue. Very hip. I was much more disconcerted by the off-focus, misaligned eye contact which occurs between Shivas and Murphy. What’s that all about? The evil eye?

Now, Jo, I have to take you to task for dismissing the shot by shot, blow by blow account of that daytime round that Murphy has with Shivas and MacIver. One of the great things about this game is the recounting of bold deeds and the reliving of anguished moments after the event. To my way of thinking M.M. captures the exhilaration and torment inherent in a round of gowf. He captures the joy and frustration, the rapture and the pain, the difficulty in being focused but relaxed in the same moment. His descriptions regarding the ability to leave the past (poor shots) behind one, not to worry about the score but the process, one shot at a time, ring oh so true! The mental turmoil as one struggles between giving up and soldiering on. How easily one can descend from Nirvanah, as one sees the golf ball soar majestically in space, to despondency, after a foozled stroke, where the air is blue and expletive filled; just as Michael describes it. Mere mortals such as myself find this whole business nigh well impossible but none the less have not thrown in the towel. We are inspired by the idea, conveyed in this fine book, that overcoming these difficulties on the golf course could well translate into being able to deal with “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” which we encounter on a day to day basis!

I absolutely love the passages where M.M. starts to describe the transcendental aspects of this round. Lysergic acid inspired coloured auras, energy fields, flux, and “true gravity”. Great fun and fabulously imaginative though I’ve never experienced any of the same! Shivas’ atavistic hollering and standing on one leg to summon the Gods of Gowf has me perplexed and personally I have never had the courage to carry out that ritual for fear of being banished from the green.
The idea of waiting out poor swing thoughts though is just excellent and I do believe works for me.

The final passages in this chapter tell of the round coming to an end and there is a well described quietness and calmness which one often gets in the final stages of a game played in the gloaming. Frustration turns to pleasure and satisfaction. They come to the eighteenth and Shivas drives the green just as the Golden Bear did on his way to winning The Open in 1970 at The Old Course.

So now, Jo, I “deseruv’ a drink” of fine malt whisky. Onwards ever onwards and sing the praises.

Cheers Col

Jo,

As you stated, no doubt part of your difficulty in embracing the shot by shot section is your lack of playing. All golfers have experienced the highs and lows M.M. is describing here. And when he gives you not only the details of his success and failures, he describes what is going thru his mind. With expectations of good performance comes a burden as well. So his frustration, his anger, his hatred toward Shivas and MacIver ... these are things we have all felt. It would be much easier to slip into Michael's shoes when you can identify with his feelings during this initial round of golf with 2 strangers, in a strange land, but on a course where his expectations and dreams were both fulfilled (early round and late) and crushed (middle of the round).

A round of golf can be a deeply personal soap opera.

Rob, I've so enjoyed our Facebook exchange and am glad to see you posting here.

Col, can you be my ghost blogger without the Aussie accent? You really get it and are a wonderful writer! You should do some blogging of your own! (Let me know and I'll set up your acct.) So please, have a drink... or three.

A deeply personal soap opera... I REALLY like that!

Jo, Nothing wrong with shooting from the hip and yes we still love you! I appreciate your analogy of being stuck in the gorse. Life is like that isn't it?? Sometimes stuck in the gorse and can't seem to get out of that nasty stuff. And I think it works well for describing where you find yourself in relation to this book. I am glad to hear a candid perspective from a non-golfer. It has always seemed to me that it would be extremely hard to to appreciate this book without several necessary prerequisites only one of which would be that your a golfer. When your stuck in the gorse my only advice is take a sandwedge and try to hack your way back into the fairway. In non-golf terms just do whatever it takes to just get out of it! Iplan to follow you on this journey to the end!

You got it, right here. You’re fighting it, too much, Jo. And when you fight it, it exceeds your grasp. When you LEAST expect, yet you’re looking it comes out in quick “wisps”. Like a breeze.
the “real” Shivas whose brilliance seems to come out in quick quips when you least expect it.

Jo, when you learn how to play golf and are more familiar with the game and the playin’ of it, you’ll understand the club selection which is a metaphor for our gifts and talents that are at hand but it’s US who has to use the right gifts and talents. We have to execute the shot, we need to know the lay of the land and how the sequence of our actions can add up to a poor or a good result or score. However, the one thing you need to experience is the perfectly executed shot and the sound that it makes. Because even when we’re confident in our club and we’ve got a good lie, and our backswing feels great, and we bring the club head down on the ball and the feel of the perfect contact runs up the shaft and is translated into our hands and the sound hits the ear drum. And by this time you’re still looking down at the spot where a flurry of grass, shredded by your club flies around like mini snow storm. But that sound is still ringing in your ears and you don’t have to look up at the shot because you can SEE the ball and its path and where it will land. All because your club selection and confidence in your swing paid you homage by that sound. It’s like no other thing, Jo. And Shivas and Michael played it out for us. Of course, like young Michael, we get ahead of ourselves and too full of ourselves and top the next one and that has such a dull, thud of a sound and it makes your hands sting. So as for the golf part of Shivas, you’ll grow into that understanding. But don’t miss the other lessons that are hidden in the allegorical tale. It’s about transcendence and reaching across space and time and doesn’t always relate to golf at all. Remember, I met Shivas Irons at the depth of a family tragedy and didn’t even know what the name meant until 12 yrs later. And the timing of that is important, too, because Shivas has to get me ready for her taking her leave of us. What a good dog and faithful servant, teaching her family to be

Keep reading and re-reading and keep swinging. And you’ll “get it” when you’re supposed to “get it”. Be patient.

Living the Shivas,
Joanne & Shivas Irons