Chris Collins « Golf in the Field of Time

Author Archive for golfinthefield

Mar

Michelle Wie and the Honda PTT

Categories: GolfChannel.com, Michelle Wie and golfnow.com

Recently I’ve been thinking how good it all is …

… to be back in Thailand, I mean.

Three weeks away, while vacationing in the Indian sub-continent, with its high and low jolt surprises, the incredible culture, (they very much live their religion), the remarkable beauty of the countryside, the architecture in the cities, yes, which is both aged along with ancient, but also the overwhelming crush of humanity that any traveler — domestic or otherwise — must do battle with, and somehow endure, or face possible extinction, had me thinking how good it would feel to be back in Thailand, in the Land of Smiles — a moniker that is not just a catchy phrase, but is overwhelmingly genuine.

On return to Thailand I happily discovered the Honda PTT, an LPGA Tour event, would soon be rolling into this resort town. And so we have that, I thought. (If curious, PTT is an oil company.)

More relief came, from my recent trip to India, as I thought to make the leisurely ride out to the country club, where the LPGA event was being held (on my own Honda, no less!), to watch the professionals play for a change, and in particular Michelle Wie.

I had read in the newspaper it was her first time competing in the event in Thailand. It occurred to me then since she’s from Hawaii, and so is used to Hawaiian golf courses, and the climate there, she could do well in this tourney. The greens, too, might seem familiar to her.

And I wanted to see her play well, and perhaps even win another event.

In the end I didn’t make it out there. Followed it in the papers, only. Next year, maybe. Too many other outdoor attractions even closer to home — the beach and rollicking surf, para-sailing, para-gliding, jet-skiing, windsurfing, cycling, jogging, the casual seaside strolls, the gym, more golf (or bag full of bounty). And then of course there are the nights.

I love India. I do. However the oppressive grimness of some cities, the ongoing power outages (They’re scheduled!), the ever-present and therefore so inescapable harshness of life there, the forced early nights, makes me happy for the moment to be back in one place. Here.

Feb

Valley of Flowers is now on Amazon

By Chris Collins 1 Comment

Categories: Amazon, GIFT PRESS (Book 1), Golf in the Field of Time, NOVEL, short novel and valley of flowers
Tags: Amazon, short novel, valley of flowers

NEW! First novel in the Nicolas Kumar series, Valley of Flowers is just now on Amazon!

This story of possibility, complexity, and variousness takes tension to a new form. Valley of Flowers transcends dreaming about it and transports vividly the reader up to the Indian Himalayas.

Hinduism features, by way of the Katha Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. The story attempts to highlight too aspects of The Big Three in golf — Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus — in a most unusual way.

Valley of Flowers tries also to activate the creative intelligence of the reader. The novel’s robust prose is highly imagined, and not the usual passive entertainment.

Jan

Scottish Golf: Not all that Rough

By Chris Collins Leave a Comment

Categories: Turnberry Resort and YourGolfTravel.com
Tags: YGT

Scotland’s well known for its many golf choices. Playing the rugged, famed courses along the coasts particularly is a pilgrimage of sorts, to many who take the game of golf seriously.

Free of the excessive intrusions of man — an oft-repeated criticism of many tracks covering all of North America, the harsh terrain, with the rapidly shifting weather conditions in Scotland, in among the natural elements, allows perhaps for the purest forms of, or perhaps better said, the best tests to any golfer.

For this reason Scottish Golf is often referred to as a golfer’s paradise. However, an easy distance off the course at Turnberry is not all that rough, as the interiors and offerings at a magnificent hotel there accentuate near-unrivalled comfort and luxury.

In stark contrast to the often unkind outdoors, facilities at the Turnberry Resort include a Jacuzzi, a sauna, a gym, an indoor swimming pool, and even a beauty salon. Dining at the 1906 restaurant is said to be a distinct culinary treat also (open for breakfast and dinner). The spa experience too is award-winning …

… and here’s a clip from one site advertising the resort’s spa delights:

“A Marine Hydro Bath – A therapeutic underwater massage in your own private multi-jet bath using sea salts and essential oils to release muscular tension. Or: Oriental Head Massage - A calming yet energizing scalp massage focused on vital energy points and combined with individually chosen aromatherapy oil and deeply nourishing hair and scalp mud.”

The Turnberry Resort has recently undergone a $65 million refurbishment, re-opening just in time to host last year’s Open Championship, where Watson yet again made an historic run at it, 30+ years on from his last, his Dual in the Sun with Nicklaus. Of the 211 rooms of the resort, 40 have been made ultra luxurious, which now boast floor-to-ceiling windows.

Still it’s remarkable to me that guests, casually looking out one of these hotel windows perhaps, to view that grand vista there, would yet yearn to be outside on this sometimes rough course, and therefore be inflicted by so much harsh pain.

Dec

The Great Spaniard: Severiano Ballesteros

By Chris Collins Leave a Comment

Categories: Seve Ballesteros, YourGolfTravel.com and golf travel

Awhile back I put up an article on holidaying in Turkey, with a hint towards doing one on Spain. In researching this, for Spain and Spanish Golf – the sunrise, the sun and beaches, warmth, the country’s vast other natural virtues – I quite happily, and naturally enough, came upon a few articles featuring the great Spaniard: Severiano Ballesteros.

As all know, for the past year or so Seve has been battling for his life, a challenge he terms as ‘his sixth major.’ He’s undergone four operations to date, with several chemo and radiotherapy courses. These were performed to remove the tumor in his brain, and also to reduce swelling. He fell ill the previous October, in 2008, after briefly losing consciousness at the Madrid airport. He’s still sick. He’s lost most of his sight in his left eye. But by all accounts he’s doing fairly well, considering, and he is getting better – Thankfully.

Just weeks ago, Seve was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, and justifiably so. His impact on the game, on uplifting European golf from the late ’70’s through the 80’s, has been immeasurable.

Not only that, he was thrilling to watch!

He had that distinctive, big booming swing that was all-out, which looked also like it could topple him. And his shots from there, off the tee, were known for veering off course. Often he was in among the gallery, not as Palmer might, stepping over to the ropes voluntarily to press a few palms, but by necessity: a good percentage of his tee shots flew over there and other fairways. So it was fun for those of us watching to see how he would, and quite creatively at times, get out of those situations.

But his record, in a quite successful career, speaks for itself:

He turned pro at 16. At 19 he contended very well in a major, tying Jack Nicklaus for 2nd at the Open. In total, he won five majors – three Opens Championships, and two Masters. He won tournaments round the world, and was ranked Number 1 for 61 weeks between ‘86 and ‘89.

This next summer, at St. Andrews, the Open Championship is celebrating its 150th anniversary. A special event is being held (they did it in 2000, as well) in which 32 previous Open winners have been invited to play a four-hole Champions Challenge match.

Seve Ballesteros is invited and has vowed to attend. It’s likely his farewell from the game will take place at St. Andrews and therefore break the hearts of his legions of fans. Heart-wrenching as it will be to see Seve there and retiring, it will be a moment in golf history not to be missed.

Nov

Hello World!

By Chris Collins 2 Comments

Categories: NOVEL and golf book
Tags: adventure, golf book, Himalayas, India, NOVEL, outdoors, trekking

Briefly, the goal here is to create a good golf novel. The hope is the game might also be enjoyed this way — with eyes fixed upon a rich moral tale.

Nicolas Kumar tells the story of a 17-year-old’s attempt to scratch out some understanding of his place in this world. It is a quite unsentimental rendering of a youth’s anxieties while traversing the brutally harsh wild.

Aspects of The Big Three — Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus — are included in the project, in an imaginative sense, as I wanted to make this something of a giveback from the fans. Readers who enjoy a thoughtful story, who like the occasional arresting line, through perhaps an uncommon prose, might find something for them in this innocence-to-experience novel that puts Mother Nature firmly to the fore.

124

Those interested in following along here – Welcome! Please know I intend to post up 1 chapter of Nicolas Kumar every Saturday for the next 4 years – beginning February 7, 2009.

The action takes place in Northern India, high up in the Indian Himalayas. The story will eventually handle all 18 holes, in an otherwise normal round of golf. It will be told hole by hole, through irascible provocations, on a monster course that is 84 kilometers long. The novel will initially appear in serial form …

… and first up is Valley of Flowers. This short novel comes in at around 180 pages (50,000 words) and covers all of the 1st hole, only.

Nov

Inspiration for — Golf in the Field of Time

By Chris Collins Leave a Comment

Categories: Pico Iyer, golf book, self-reflection and spiritual journey
Tags: angkor wat, golf in the kingdom, Michael Murphy, Phnom Penh, Pico Iyer

I was living in Cambodia at the time, in the Khmer ghetto surrounding Boeung Kok Lake in Phnom Penh, writing my first short story. I had just finished reading Golf in the Kingdom by Michael Murphy (the recognized classic of the genre). And I came downstairs angkhor8 from my little rented room hot, wanting to talk to somebody about it.

The first person I ran into was Pico Iyer, the well known travel writer. He was in the Same-Same Cafe visiting a mutual friend who ran it, the American monk in his book Lady and the Monk.

Pico said he’d heard of Golf in the Kingdom, and knew it was a classic of the genre. But he hadn’t read it. And while the monk and I shot pool, I told Pico that I thought golf-as-life was a great idea, and that I liked the book. But I didn’t think the author had the spiritual journey quite right (you make less of the ego, not more of it). Later, when alone and out walking I wondered, What if the story took place in India, where they have the spirituality thing right?

Since then I’ve been hard at work on this large project, traveling many times to India for research.

Oct

Golf and Gambling: they could be paired

By Chris Collins Leave a Comment

Categories: Gambling and guidetocasinos.co.uk
Tags: Gambling, golf, Macau

Gambling and Golf: these could be paired.
VenetianMacau

I’ve been to Seoul. But the casino is south, in Pusan. I’ve not been there yet, but I always wanted to go.

Seen the casinos in Macau, though.

About Macau: it’s not Hong Kong, and that’s a good thing. Any visitor coming over from HK, and on touching land must say, Peace at last! Macau is well away from the incessant hustle and bustle, and ever-present sounds of jackhammers in busy Hong Kong, and blessedly so.

It’s a pleasant ride over to Macau too, by hovercraft, which takes about 40 minutes. It eases into port in Macau in front of the old Jai Alai Building, which is now a casino.

At one time, there was a floating casino in Macau (also spelled Macao). However, the quite distinct circular building, Hotel Lisboa, has long been the casino of choice for visitors. Since the handover from the Portuguese (in ‘99), which soon after ushered in new gaming laws, allowing foreign competition, that all changed. Today the hot casino in Macau – and there are many good ones, in the Vegas style – is the Mandarin Oriental.

Golf in Macau is a slightly different matter. One course is not on the mainland itself, as is Macau. It’s on a nearby island. Another course is on reclaimed land. Both courses, though, are easily arrived at by short ride. The first course is just 15 minutes away by ferry, for example. And the island is an easy hop. It is literary right there. Plus, there are several golf courses just on the otherside of the border, in nearby China.

Golf and gambling aside, briefly, one great thing to do in Macau is simply walk around the place, peer into the old Chinese shops, and see also how people live. It’s a small place, Macau, and easily walkable. Other than needing to take a bus to the ferry, the place can be done on foot.

The Ruins of St. Paul is the old landmark in town.

RuinsOfStPaul

It’s the façade of an old Cathedral, and it’s right downtown near the Hotel Lisboa.

Portuguese restaurants line the road or walkway that runs along the South China Sea, away. Eating at these places is a very welcome treat, which could include a gentle Mateus.

And what else in life can be finer, than getting in an early round of golf, returning to the hotel in the afternoon for a meal (with wine!), and to follow that up with a swim; and then after which, in the evening, to get dressed up – a long-sleeved collared shirt, long dress pants, pair of shiny black shoes, gel back the hair, and splash on also some cologne, then step out onto the town to do a bit of gambling.

But hitting the town are memories I have of Vegas. And maybe I’ll write about Las Vegas next time.

For further reading check out this casino guide.

Bellagio copy