New Nostalgic and Philosophical Golf Movie Being Produced

As the golf world begins gearing up for the British Open, its oldest major championship, a book steeped in the mysteries and lessons of the ancient game is inching closer to becoming a film on the big screen.

"Golf in the Kingdom," Michael Murphy's mystical novel set in Scotland, was published in 1972, and Murphy - a Salinas native who lives in Sausalito - has spent the past 37 years waiting to see his prose made into a movie.

He got that chance this spring, watching as producers wrapped up shooting "Golf in the Kingdom" at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, a five-course golfer's paradise reminiscent of an old Scottish links.

"To see it filmed was sort of a reverse deja vu," said Murphy, who spent a month at Bandon and appears briefly in a bar scene.

A book that inspired an eclectic following and even its own society (the Shivas Irons Society), "Golf in the Kingdom" tells the tale of a young American named Michael who is transformed by a day of golf with a teacher named Shivas Irons at Burningbush Golf Club in Scotland. It is regarded as the best-selling novel ever about golf, and the late John Updike called the book "a golf classic if any exists in our day."

But it seemed as though "Golf in the Kingdom" would never become a movie. Clint Eastwood held the option on the film for 10 years, but neglected to follow through with the project, which has had 15 scripts written over the years.

"I've always said it was the longest virtual movie, coming to a mind near you," Murphy said in a recent phone interview.

Producer Mindy Affrime and director Susan Streitfeld finally discovered the first tee, though.

"Things happened for a reason," Affrime said of the drawn-out process. "Maybe 'Golf in the Kingdom' needed Bandon Dunes. It's being made at a time when it wasn't too weird to talk about being in the zone or true gravity. It seemed to be the right time. We've been through many versions and this is the smallest and most compact."

Though the production team calls it a low-budget film, Affrime rounded up an accomplished cast that includes David O'Hara ("The Departed," "Hotel Rwanda") as Shivas, Mason Gamble ("Rushmore," "Gentleman's Game"), Frances Fischer ("Titanic") and Malcolm McDowell.

"I think it's obvious that to get that caliber of actor is not about anything but the material," Affrime said.

When it is released some time next year, "Golf in the Kingdom" will not fit tightly into the sports genre category. Murphy, who teamed with Streitfeld on the script, calls it an art film.

"It's eccentric, but not as much as some art films," said Murphy, who is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur and has written numerous books. "We'll have to see. It's all how it comes together."

Affrime said the golf in the film is authentic, but more important was the Scottish feel that Bandon Dunes provided and a cast packed with actors from the British Isles.

She said the film not only stays "very true to the book" but also attempts to make the story "more mysterious."

"We don't want to take ourselves or golf serious," Affrime said. "This is a movie that uses golf to talk about a lot of things. ... We've made the antisentimental sports movie."

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