My golf library probably contains about 100 books of all types. Biographies of golf greats.  Books on golf lessons.  Reflections on the game and how it mirrors life.

But my favorite of all these is “A Season in Dornoch.”  Written by venerable golf writer, Lorne Rubenstein, with a foreward by Sean Connery, the short, readable book (242 pages) details Mr. Rubenstein’s four-month sojourn in Dornoch, a Scottish village in the north of the country near the North Sea.

 

Among other things, Dornoch is home to one of my very favorite golf courses in all of the world, Royal Dornoch, that has captured the fancy of pros and amateurs alike for hundreds of years.

 

It can be difficult to explain the attraction of the place, given the weather which, near the North Sea, is often cold and rainy.  In other words, great golf weather!  If you are in Scotland, you don’t ask what the weather’s like — you go play whatever the conditions.

 

In “A Season in Dornoch,” One long-time resident, Mr. Richard Butterworth, explains the attraction this way:  “Dornoch is an extraordinary place.  People do find something here.  It’s difficult to explain.”  Hiw wife Brora (named after another golf course in the north of Scotland) goes on:  “As long as we have been here, we still are often surprised by what we find.  You’re walking and you come upon something beautiful, something you didn’t expect.”

 

Mr. Rubenstein, the author, makes the same kind of statements about the place he loves.

 

He was drawn to a season in Dornoch as an alternative, albeit temporary one, to his busy life in his home, Toronto, Canada, and his summer home in Jupiter, Florida.  He wrote about what it was like to set foot on Dornoch and, as famous pro golfer Tom Watson (another Dornoch devotee) said, “Think about your foot falls on the ground of the course and have that influence how you play.”  For Mr. Rubenstein, his time in Dornoch was, with his wife, Nell, a time to slow down, meet neighbors, reflect on life and enjoy a “wee dram” of Scottish whiskey which, he said, would warm you all over.

 

For about the 10th time, I am reading “A Season in Dornoch” again and trying to have the story prompt me to slow down and enjoy life in a more reflective state, including on the golf course, despite the win, cold and rain.

 

Beyond “A Season in Dornoch,” my golf library also includes these books which form, with apologies to David Letterman, my “Top 10 List:”

 

1.  “A Season in Dornoch.”

 

2.  “Open,” an account by acclaimed golf writer John Feinstein of the time the United States Golf Association decided to play the U.S. Open for the first time at a “public course,” Bethpage Black in New York.

 

3.  “Playing Partners:  A Father, a Son and Their Shared Addiction to Golf,” a book by George Peper, now the editor of Links Magazine, who spent five years in a sojourn at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.  His book reminds me of the good times my son, Eric, and I have had on the golf course for nearly 30 years.

 

4.  “Zinger: A Champion’s Story of Determination, Courage and Charging Back,” a first-person account by pro golf Paul Azinger of his battle — a successful one — to recover from cancer, including the spiritual dimensions of the recovery.

 

5.  “Playing Through:  A Year of Life and Links Along the Scottish Coast,” a book by Curtis (pronounced “Cartis” by the Scots) Gillespie, my second favorite book about golf in Scotland.

 

6.  “Payne Stewart,” a book by Mr. Stewart about his life, which ended tragically in a plane crash.

 

7.  “Tales from Q School,” another book by Mr. Feinstein which chronicles and trials and tribulations of pro players trying to make it onto the PGA Tour.

 

8.  “Ben Hogan:  An American Life,” a book by another famous golf writer, James Dodson, that chronicles the life of one of golf’s greats.

 

9.  “The Mulligan,” a book by Ken Blanchard and Wally Armstrong that talks about second chances in life based on the word “mulligan,” which means, in golf, you get a do-over.  Sometimes life gives you do-overs, too.

 

10. “The Greatest Game Ever Played:  Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet and the Birth of Modern Golf,” a book by acclaimed golf writer Mark Frost.

 

Well, that’s enough for now.  Good reads all.  But, I need to end this blog because I have a tee time in a few minutes.

 

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[The author is Dave Fiskum, an addicted golfer, which should be obvious by the foregoing.  He has the good fortune to be married to an understanding wife, Nancy, two kids who play golf, Eric and Lissy (Eric being the best of the bunch) and a golfing dog, Hogan, named after the golfer in #8 above.  All of them have spent a lot of worthwhile time in pursuit of the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”]