PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — This was a new one on me. In a crowded fan zone, between the home hole of the great links here and the Atlantic Ocean, there is a small white plastic cabin, with three wee rooms in it, with a glass door with sign taped on it: MULTI-FAITH ROOM.
Through the glass door I could see a prayer rug and a low shelf for shoes. In the vicinity were gender-neutral toilets marked INCLUSIVE. There were other facilities for Open visitors in wheelchairs, and Open visitors (and their parents) still in diapers. Nearby was a trailer for kids with sensory issues. A sign bearing the stamp of the R&A, administrators of this event since the 19th century, reads (in part) as follows:
The R&A operates at the heart of golf, investing proceeds from The Open and embracing positive change to ensure that golf is a truly global sport for every person, of every ability, at every stage in life.
Golf is more than a game.
I entered the Multi-Faith Room, took off my shoes (OK, yes: sandals with socks; I know, I know), found some reading material and went into one of the small rooms. You could hear the quiet hum of piped-in new-age music, and the louder hum of beer drinking and golf cheering beyond the cabinet’s thin walls.
This is from a slender book on a shelf, an introduction to Jewish prayer: “’The reason we pray,’ says William James, ‘is simply because we cannot help praying.’”
I know what James means. The one time I caddied in the Masters I talked my guy into going for the green with his second shot on the par-5 15th hole, with some kind of lofted hybrid. With the ball in the air, I prayed for that ball to fly. Prayed hard. The ball carried the pond, pitched on the hill and somehow did not trickle down it.
Later, in that same slim volume: “Human beings have always looked upon large gatherings of people as a means of paying homage to a person or an idea.”
Well, if that doesn’t describe the Open Championship (and the WM Phoenix Open), I don’t know what could. The idea here is to see the best golfers in the world play this insanely difficult cross-country game on wildly beautiful and bumpy terrain for four days and see who can take the fewest strokes over the course of four days and 72 holes. On Sunday night, you’ll see thousands of people paying homage to the Champion Golfer, along with various others who gave every ounce of themselves trying.
There was another book on hand called 365 Days of Buddha Wisdom. The first sentence from the first page: “It’s no secret that mindfulness is an essential part of Buddhism; in fact, it is considered the key to obtaining inner peace.”
Maybe someday Tiger Woods will reveal not all but some about his Buddhist practices, handed down to him from his late mother, and how those principles shaped his golf. All through his 20s and maybe into his 30s Woods had that pre-shot moment where he would close his eyes for several seconds and you could almost see the calm within him, before the storm of swing. I often think of Woods as an East meets West golfer. Also, a golfer who brought a match-play mindset to his stroke-play tournaments.
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The entry for Jan. 22, from 365 Days book, is a quote from Buddha: “The Enlightened One is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the ocean.”
I like that, but for true staying power I’ll take the Dali Lama to Carl Spackler: “When you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.” I mean as life insights go, it’s a little late (when you die) — unless, of course, it’s not.
There were other interesting books in the Multi-Faith Room, from Christian traditions, Sikh traditions, Hindu traditions. Something for everybody, pretty much. I think that’s the whole point of this effort. There are a lot of ways to play golf, too. Stroke-play over 72 holes is one form, a good one. What you and I do on a Wednesday night in summer is every bit as good.
As I was leaving the Multi-Faith Room, the R&A volunteer overseeing the sanctuary gave me a little round pin with a sunflower in its center and the words I Support the Sunflower around its circumference. It’s a whole movement in the UK, related to making the special-needs community more visible. I thanked her for the pin. The day was cooling and clouds were moving in. Nobody cared. Everywhere you looked, people were enjoying the Open. All kinds of everyday people.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
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