Striking It Rich by Reid Sheftall

After reading the review of this book by a fellow golfer and blogger at The Artful Golfer, I knew I had to read it for myself. My initial expectation was that of an interesting and inspiring story about a US medical doctor working and playing golf in a 3rd world country, and while it met that expectation, it was much more. Plus, the subtitle, "Golf in the Kingdom With Generals, Patients and Pros" piqued my interest as well.

With the exception of a handful of casual rounds at social events, Dr. Sheftall had not played golf for almost 30 years, yet when he started playing again in his late 40s, he found his game still largely in tact. While on holiday in the US, he was encouraged by a pro golfer to consider playing professionally, and so he did just that.

What followed was an intriguing adventure as he prepared and played on poorly maintained courses in Cambodia (where he works as a surgeon) with machine gun toting military officials. It was through these high stakes games that he improved to the point that the generals would not allow him to play with them anymore.

His experiences at the professional golf events throughout East Asia also highlight the main differences between professional and non-professional scratch golfers. It was the philosophies and strategies he revealed that surprised me the most, and knowing them has already improved parts of my golf game.

Reid Sheftall maintains a website where you can read a sample chapter of this book. He also has a blog where he answers questions from golfers on a variety of subjects. Dr. Sheftall's website is at www.reidsheftall.com.

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