You don’t choose the game, it chooses you. And when it does, life and golf become forever connected. That is the opening narration from the movie “Seven Days in Utopia”, which is based on the book “Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia” by Dr. David L. Cook. This story has been an inspiration to me ever since I first saw the movie and later read the book.
The idea that the game acts like an invisible hand manipulating events behind the scenes is unsettling to many of us, since we like to think that we call our own shots, that we control our own destinies. The main thesis of the story is that we are put here by a benevolent Creator who has a plan and a purpose for us and that it is our task to discover that purpose and live our lives accordingly.
Sometimes it takes devastating loss or a season of adversity to start us down that road of discovery. We need to come to terms with our doubts about our abilities or the validity of our beliefs and the choices that we make based on those beliefs. We also worry that surrendering to a higher power will force us to do things that we have no interest in or that it will require us to give up our own hopes and ambitions. But the author’s belief is that the key is to “find what you do well and perfect it”. Seemingly by definition that requires it to be something that interests us and that we have a desire to develop. Just as the main character in the story continues to pursue the career that was the focus of his life, the significant element is that his perspective changed to the extent that what is now important is fulfilling his calling and that the results he achieves as a golfer become secondary.
Recently I began leading a study of this book with a group of men at my church. Many of them were familiar with the story but there are those who are experiencing it for the first time. It is my hope that we can continue to offer this study periodically to encourage others to engage this journey of discovery. I will be posting updates as we go along so check back and see how it is going. My goal with this site is to offer a forum to discuss ways that golf has enriched our lives, whether it is the motivation to improve our game, the comradery we develop on the course, or simply the freedom of a few pleasant hours away from the cares of everyday life.