Golf in the Kingdom is a 1971 novel by Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy (author)

Michael Murphy is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute, a key figure in the Human Potential Movement and author of both fiction and non-fiction books on topics related to extraordinary human potential.- Biography :...

. It has sold over a million copies and been translated into 19 languages. Golf in the Kingdom tells the story of Michael Murphy, a young traveler who accidentally stumbles on a mystical golfing expert while in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Murphy was inspired to write the book after his time at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Sri Aurobindo Ashram

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 . At the time there were no more than 24 disciples in the Ashram...

. He became interested in the similarities between descriptions of successful athletes and people who said they had achieved the state of Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

. The novel spawned the Shivas Irons Society, an organization whose members combine golf and meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

. In 1997, Murphy wrote a sequel, The Kingdom of Shivas Irons.

Golf in the Kingdom is referenced in the fifth episode of season one of Franklin & Bash

Franklin & Bash

Franklin & Bash is an American drama-comedy television series created by Kevin Falls and Bill Chais. The series stars Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as unconventional lawyers and longtime friends. A Turner Broadcasting executive has referred to the series as a "funny legal procedural".The...

.

Plot

While on layover

Layover

In transportation, a layover, also known as lays over or stopover, is some form of a break between parts of a single trip.-In mass transit:...

 on his way to an ashram

Ashram

Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Michael Murphy decides to play a round of golf at Burningbush, a famous local golf course. There he meets the mysterious and charismatic golf pro Shivas Irons who over a 24 hour period teaches him about golf and spirituality.

Film version

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

 purchased the rights to the book, but abandoned the project after writing several unfinished scripts in the early 1990s. In 2009, Murphy, producer Mindy Affrime and director Susan Streitfeld began filming their version of the book. Shot on location at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a complex of four golf courses located just north of the city of Bandon, Oregon, United States.-Courses:The first course at the resort, Bandon Dunes, opened on May 19, 1999. Bandon Dunes was designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd, and it instantly garnered high praise. ...

, it stars Mason Gamble

Mason Gamble

Mason Wilson Gamble is an American actor known for his portrayal of Dennis Mitchell in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace and as Jason Schwartzman's sidekick, Dirk Calloway, in Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson's critically acclaimed 1998 film Rushmore. He also appeared in Anya's Bell with Della Reese,...

, Julian Sands

Julian Sands

Julian M. Sands is an English actor, known for his roles in the Best Picture nominee The Killing Fields, the cult film Warlock, A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, Vatel, the television series 24 and as Jor-El in the television series Smallville.-Career:Sands began his film career appearing in...

, David O'Hara

David O'Hara

David O'Hara is a Scottish actor.-Life and career:O'Hara was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Martha and Patrick O'Hara, a construction worker....

, Malcolm McDowell

Malcolm McDowell

Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...

 and Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

and was released to great acclaim at a sold out premiere in New York City on July 29, 2011.