Golf's Three Noble Truths: The Fine Art of Playing Awake [Hardcover]

James L. Ragonnet (Author), Thomas Moore (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2007

The Buddha’s seven years of wandering in search of enlightenment ended in frustration. So did the author’s thirty years of traversing golf courses. Neither found what they were looking for until they stopped searching outside and started looking within. The result for James Ragonnet was the kind of “second birthday” Eastern thinkers describe when “you wake up to everything happening around you.” Through delightful anecdotes and practical lessons, Ragonnet reveals the power of awareness, balance, and unity to banish the dissatisfaction and stagnation so many golfers experience. He shows how “all golf Buddhas — Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, Tiger Woods — play with their outer and inner eyes wide open,” describes his twelfth-green OOGE (“out-of-golf-experience”), and offers readers simple truths that prompt flashes of understanding. These insights invite birdies, drop handicaps, and transform experience both on and off the course.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ragonnet . . . allows golf and life to illuminate each other with humor and zest. Highly recommended. -- From Library Journal

From the Back Cover

"If you play golf, you have to read this book. It will make you a better golfer, whether it improves your score or not. It will help you understand the game better than you ever have before."
-- Mike Greenberg, cohost of ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning

"James Ragonnet's book will rouse you from your golfing slumber and awaken your golfing potential. This book is fun to read, as well as thought-provoking."
-- J. Michael Veron, author of The Greatest Player Who Never Lived

"A new voice for an ancient game. Ragonnet's insight opens doors and breaks down barriers. The lessons he teaches produce not only better golfers but better people, too."
-- Bo Links, author of Follow the Wind and Riverbank Tweed and Roadmap Jenkins: Tales from the Caddie Yard

"This book has wisdom that will help both your game and your life. What more could you ask for?"
-- from the afterword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul

"I really enjoyed this book. It forced me to really think about why I play the game, and how I play it. Particularly at a time when I was getting very caught up in swing theory and technical stuff, I found it very helpful. I'm a professional playing mini tour events in the UK. At this level results are everything and it is all too easy to let your focus on the score suck all the enjoyment out of the game. This book helped me regain my perspective and get back to playing the game for the right reasons. I like the fact that it is a collection of thoughts that I can dip in and out of, consider and come back to. I would recommend this book to anyone who plays the game. It will not only help you become a better player, but understand yourself better off the course as well."
-- Sam Jarman, British professional golfer

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (March 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577315804
• ISBN-13: 978-1577315803
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Treat Yourself!, May 5, 2007

By 

JD - See all my reviews

This review is from: Golf's Three Noble Truths: The Fine Art of Playing Awake (Hardcover)

I don't know much about golf...I know even less about the teachings of the Buddha...but I DO know that I thoroughly enjoyed the wisdom and humor Ragonnet offers in Golf's Three Noble Truths! Treat yourself to a well crafted, concise set of stories.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Golf Book - The Ultimate Gift, July 22, 2007

By 

Frank A. Wolcott (Biddeford Pool, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Golf's Three Noble Truths: The Fine Art of Playing Awake (Hardcover)

I recently read Dr. James Ragonnet's new book THE THREE NOBLE TRUTH'S OF GOLF and thoroughly enjoyed it. Since retiring eleven years ago and taking up golf, I have read what seems like hundreds of books, on the topic of how to play golf, but this book in my opinion, is the ultimate golf book. It has changed my life as well as my golf game. I have bought two books for myself, one for reference and one to share with my friends. After reading it themselves, they in turn have purchased two to do the same thing. All have remarked saying that it is their first choice for holiday or birthday giving.

This book will change ones' life as well as change their golf game. On a basis of one to five, with five being perfect, I give this "noble" work a perfect five rating. I am now living and playing golf awake.

Frank A. Wolcott
Professor Emeriti, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
NCAA Men's Gymnastic Coach of the Year, Division II 1977
President, National Association of Collegiate Gymnastic Coaches 1976-1979
Member, United States Gymnastic Hall of Fame 1976
Three time (1964,1968,1972)member, United States Gymnastic Olympic Committee

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No holes in this wisdom, June 26, 2007

By 

Martin Dobrow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Golf's Three Noble Truths: The Fine Art of Playing Awake (Hardcover)

If you are an avid golfer, I am confident that this book will improve your game. For better, for worse, I am not.

If you are an avid person, this book will improve your life. It is filled with humor and insight that encourages the reader to be more fully alive. Ragonnet possesses a savage wit and a deep heart. It is the human equivalent of someone who can smack 300-yard drives down the center of the fairway and also coolly sink pressure putts on 18. He might not be Tiger, but his book is burning bright.