This article originally appeared in the October issue of NCGA Golf Magazine
By Alan Shipnuck
In 1972, a slender golf novel was published by Michael Murphy, a first-time author better known as the founder of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. The first half of Golf In The Kingdom is a tale in three acts: a young Californian named Michael Murphy is on his way to India to study the teachings of the guru Sri Aurobindo but first stops in Scotland, where he plays a round of golf in which, under the tutelage of a mysterious teacher named Shivas Iron, his consciousness is altered and game unlocked. This is followed by a convivial dinner party where the meaning and mysteries of the game are discussed and debated. Finally, at midnight, Michael and Shivas return to the course (the fictitious Links of Burningbush, which shares much in common with the Old Course) in search of Seamus MacDuff, a sage and a seer who is Irons’ mentor. They never find this spectre-like creature, but Shivas makes an ace in the moonlight using an old feathery and MacDuff’s club, a crude Irish shillelagh. The second half of the book is a series of esoteric musings on the game, purportedly copied from Shivas’ journals.
The book received a modicum of praise upon publication—the dean of the golf beat, Herbert Warren Wind, was an enthusiastic honk—but only sold a few thousand copies in its first year. Slowly, the legend grew. Says Peter Jacobsen, “In the late ’70s, I discovered my caddie Mike (Fluff) Cowan had one book in his possession—a copy of Golf In The Kingdom, which was all torn apart and held together by tape and rubber bands. I said, ‘What is this?’ He growled, ‘Only the best golf book ever written.’ And he was right.”
Adds Brad Faxon, “It gave us the language to talk about the spiritual side of the game, which I had always believed in.”
The mysterious, metaphysical novel would become one of the best-selling sports books of all time, translated into over two dozen languages. In 1992, disciples banded together and formed the Shivas Iron Society. “Once you read the book, it makes you look for others who feel the same way about it,” says Society member Fred Shoemaker, a teaching pro based in Carmel Valley, and the author ofExtraordinary Golf, a humanist instructional book. “We love something with a little mystery, something we don’t quite get at first. The book, and especially the second half, is a Rorschach test. The words never change, but, as the reader grows, we see more and different things."
The current president, Ben Kline, calls the Society “more of a conversation than a physical entity.” There are 300 members, from Japan to Finland, Australia to England. For the modest annual fee of $100, Society members get access to curated golf trips, Zoom events with special guests, book clubs and weekly meditations led by Dr. Joe Parent, author of Zen Golf. Members also get 10% off the excellent merch at shivas.org. (I am currently lusting over the leather-bound, gold- trimmed edition of Golf In The Kingdom, signed by Murphy himself.) “We champion the spirit of the game and the spirit of the book,” says Kline. “People drawn to us resonate with a different side of thegame of golf beyond the score you’ve shot or how far you hit the ball.”
Murphy is now 96 but he remains razor sharp. He is perpetually amused that his little golf tale has become a kind of religion for so many. “When I wrote this book,” he says, “I never could have dreamed it would turn into something so much larger. What an unexpected adventure it’s been.” Murphy has a deep affection for the Shivas Irons Society members. “What a fun bunch of guys and gals they are,” he says.
Murphy occasionally partakes in Zoom discussions with the members and in the past has popped in for some of the events. On one occasion, he says, “a half dozen of them cornered me and came after me like lawyers.” The Society members wanted an answer to one of the book’s enduring mysteries: was there a real Shivas Irons who inspired Murphy’s prose? The author emits a boyish giggle at the memory of his interrogation: “I said too much. I gave away too much.”
What, exactly, did he reveal? Well, to know the unknowable, you must join the Shivas Irons Society. Membership has its privileges.
Alan Shipnuck is the author or Rory: The Heartache and Triumph Golf's Most Human Superstar