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Striking It Rich: Golf in the Kingdom with Generals, Patients and Pros | 
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| Author: Reid Sheftall M.d.
Publisher: CandleLight Books
Category: Book
Buy New: $19.95
New (3) from $19.95
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 589925
Media: Paperback
Pages: 265
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 9995082500
EAN: 9789995082505
ASIN: 9995082500
Publication Date: 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Review Striking it Rich: Golf in the Kingdom with Generals, Patients and Pros is a one-of-a-kind non-fiction experience that is riveting and boggling in its wide spectrum of subject matter. Its a year in the life of Sheftall, 48, an American surgeon in Cambodia who has rediscovered golf after decades and is intent to prove he can, with dedication, qualify for a professional tour. Along the way Sheftall reveals his past as a former athletic prodigy, MIT physics grad, an expert casino card counter and a plastic surgeon. Its all deliciously incongruous; presented against the exotic backdrop of impoverished Cambodia and rife with grisly and moving anecdotes of Sheftalls years of work in burn reconstruction. Any way you slice it, Striking it Rich is ambitious and unique. But Sheftall doesnt slice. Without intending to, he provides golfing tips, as well as some real life wisdom, throughout his quixotic chase for an elusive tour card. The book has an all-time classic opening: Sheftall on a slipshod paddy field golf course betting money he doesnt have in a wildly high-stakes game with the highest ranks of the Cambodian military. With self-effacing aplomb he creates an unforgettable scene that jumpstarts the plot like a 300-yard drive. Later, this is rivaled by his accounts of surgeries performed on mutilated prostitutes in shower stalls and a chaotic time spent as a professional gambler. Sheftall, an accomplished UN-accredited physician, has a heavyweight background, but he never loses an almost childlike wonder for the world, and his own place in it. One learns of Phnom Penhs raucous nightlife, as well as precise surgical procedures, blackjack strategies and tournament golf pressure within a never-put-down 264 pages. Equal parts golf book, travel guide, surgical tutorial and gambling primer, Striking it Rich is interesting, accessible and entertaining.--Charles McDermidCopyright 2007 All rights reserved.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Why non-golfers like me will love this book November 17, 2007
Hoyt Davidson
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
First, in full disclosure, I went to MIT with the author. We were fraternity brothers and fellow physics majors. Unlike Reid, my natural athetic talents were much more modest. I recall watching Reid hit a tennis ball in college and think what the hell happened to my DNA. His movement was so natural and intuitive. I did not even know he played golf until he showed up at a pre-wedding golf outing years later. He tells the story in the book of how he pulled an all nighter in surgery, drove from Ohio to Connecticut to get there right as we were teeing off, borrowed clubs, played barefoot and shot in the mid 70's. What he left out is that he was wearing tight black jeans on one of the hottest days that summer when we were all in shorts. Yet for him it was effortless. He was somehow just born to swing a golf club. He talks a lot in the book about the importance of the short game. I vividly remember on that golf outing he hit a ball that ended up resting between the fork in the roots of a large tree fifty or so yards from the green. There was no shot unless one had left handed clubs. He hit the ball with the back of his club to within a few feet of the whole for a birdie. I remember this hole so clearly becuase it was the day I gave up any serious idea that I would ever be a golfer. Thank you Reid for saving me and my family thousands of hours of wasted effort. I decided to be a mediocre tennis player instead.
With that disclaimor in mind, let me tell you why I think you non-golfers like me should read this book. Well obviously there is the simple fact that every book about golf is really a book about life and how to live it. This book is no exception to that rule, yet instead of getting a life lesson from some famous super pro like Tiger Woods with whom you probably have almost nothing in common, this book is about someone always on the edge of qualifying for greatness. It is about maximizing your talent to hang on and improve day by day in the hopes of getting a glimpse of greatness, of running with the big dogs even if in the back of the pack. It is about juggling your dreams with your professional career. It is also about learning to relax and enjoy every swing of the club and every rough and hazard and hole.
In many ways, the book is also about our world and our need to fit into it no matter how confusing and at times scary it might be. The stories about being a surgeon in Southeast Asia removing acid burned skin in a shower stall and performing delicate surgeries in urine smelling shacks were very powerful. It was also a much needed jolt for someone living in an affluent suburb to be reminded of the importance of giving and helping those in true need. The photos and stories of severely disfigured children whose lives were turned around by the skills of our clever surgeon were far more important to me as inspiration than the golf advise I will never really use. Lastly, I was brought back time and again to my college days whenever Reid found another amazing but ellusive beauty among all of the poverty of Asia. Somehow, he was also able to do this at MIT. He would frequently show up with some young startlingly beautiful girl on his arm (for an MIT student without a medical degree this is harder than you might imagine).
To sum it all up, I guess what I got out of this book is not just to pretend you are keeping your dream alive by continuing to dream it, but to actually go after it with some degree of thoughtfulness. Figure out why you are not the best by studying those that are and then use that information to get as close to greatness as you dare. It's a great read. Enjoy.
Huck Finn, MD in Cambodia pushing 50 December 27, 2007
Kevin Monahan (Kanazawa Japan)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Or Doctor Tom Dooley for the 21st Century! Give this book to your teenage son or daughter to read. It may inspire them to broaden their global perspective while preparing them for the pleasures and responsibilities of adulthood. Along the way they'll feel the sweat dripping off the doctor's chin as he sizes up a four iron, attempts something romantic or applies his surgical skills on the truly needy. If they are scientifically inclined Doctor Sheftall will amuse them with card counting systems or the mathematical intricacies of golf handicapping. Those less studious will probably skip ahead to the amusing and informative vignettes that concern his youth, golf and golfers, advanced bachelorhood, doctoring, Southeast Asia and its denizens among others. We can all look forward to reading of the doctor's continuing adventures and accomplishments as he navigates the Senior Tour. One almost wishes he doesn't get married and settle down. Wonderful book!
Struck it rich by finding this book! December 12, 2007
Artful Golfer
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was initially drawn to this book since Sheftall takes up the game at nearly the same time and age I did. I was intrigued that someone our age could make such incredible progress so quickly, especially while working as a surgeon and running a medical center in Phnom Penh. But I was surprised, not only by how much this story moved and inspired me, but that it contained so many useful insights with the potential to transform your game. The book definitely rekindled my desire to keep improving.
I was also taken by how similar our approaches were. Although he was more skilled from the start, we both determined that with our limited time to play and practice due to having jobs, we had a much better chance to improve quickly by focusing on the most important fundamental, "changing how we think on the course", instead of working on our swing technique and taking lessons. Sheftall believes "the only way to change the quality and direction of your life is to change the way you think. If you believe something, truly believe it, your mind will figure out a way to make it a reality."
He shared some of the following gems regarding his approach, "he kept things simple and would just swing the club the way it felt most comfortable. That way he didn't have to practice anything to keep it in tune... just think of the target and swing... Never do anything mechanical or measured. Let your natural athletic grace guide you. It's swallowing, not carburetor repair."
An aspect of the book I found very compelling is how Sheftall weaved his incredible non-golfing life experiences into his story, from counting cards at the blackjack tables of Nevada to operating on children who had suffered disfiguring scars from acid attacks. It was interesting to learn how he applied so much of what he'd learned from these experiences in improving his thinking and decision-making on the course. One thing I learned from his experiences is to never make a wager with a card-counting M.I.T. grad.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned from his book concerned expectations. The books I've read suggest we let go of expectations when we play, but Sheftall suggests this is bad advice. In fact, he thinks that "the better players are beating the rest of us, because to a large degree, they expect to." Once we've put in the work and gained the necessary experience, we should expect success. Sheftall encourages expectations. The key, he shares, "is to not get too frustrated if those expectations are not met as precisely as you envisioned them."
So, at this point you might be asking, did Sheftall "strike it rich"? Well, I'll only share that he finally discovered what was missing in his game as a youth and what he suspects is missing in the games of a great many touring pros and amatuers alike, "Hitting one shot at a time isn't the answer - enjoying each and every shot is."
A Great Read January 10, 2008
Jordan Fulcher (Sydney, Australia)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Not accustomed to writing book reviews I'll keep this one short and straight forward...
Buy and read this book.
Whether you are a golf fanatic or only watch it occasionally on TV, Reid Sheftall's story is entertaining from cover to cover.
It's a book that intertwines his remarkable career in golf and medicine with personal insights into his psyche and his approach to overcoming the mental side of golf.
A great gift for anyone who enjoys golf or sport and also for doctors or other professionals to remind them that careers don't have to follow the typically trodden path.
Highly entertaining November 10, 2007
Russell Hsu (Sunnyvale, California)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Striking it Rich is the memoir of a surgeon who plays good enough golf to make a serious run at playing on the pro tour. At the start of the book, he is discovered by PGA pros Mark McCumber and Paul Azinger chipping balls in Florida. After 18 holes, McCumber tells him he has enough talent to play pro golf if he works on his game and learns how to play under pressure. The memoir covers a year of his life in which he plays in Asia first through Monday qualifying and later goes to Q school. In between tournaments he returns to his Medical Center in Phnom Penh Cambodia and performs plastic surgery on burned children. This guy has a lot going against him in his quest to become a pro. He'd played only a handfull of rounds of golf since high school. He doesn't have adequate practice facilities where he lives. He works full time. He had a bad disk problem that left some of his fingers numb. But he won't be deterred. His intense focus on his goal is admirable if somewhat obsessive as he relates everything to golf. One chapter he's counting cards in Las Vegas ("play the odds and don't be too conservative"), the next he's hitting balls into the Mekong River ("if you want to hit it dead straight, learn to curve it both ways"), and finally he's constantly ruminating over why the tour pros are so good (its course management mostly). Well, maybe if you're a sub-scratch golfer already.
Interspersed among all of this are some interesting vignettes about life in Phnom Penh, in particular a sad and chilling story of a young "taxi girl" (prostitute?) burned with acid. But mostly, the book has a very light tone and you will laugh on more than one occasion if you like your humor as dry as a March day in Phnom Penh.
The golf instruction-some overt, some subtle- is excellent and as an avid golfer much appreciated as he freely shares everything he learns along the way. Hearing a player's as opposed to a teacher's perspective is refreshing (kind of like watching Playing Lessons with the Pros vs. Golf Academy Live). He never mentions a word about swing mechanics. He just tells you how to play. Example: On par 5's , "The second shot is the key. Don't lay up to your favorite yardage. Get it as close to the green as possible but leave it in the fairway. Short rough is ok too. Don't put it in a bunker or deep rough. If you catch a bad lie, you'll be praying for a 5."
The tone changes near the end of the book, and the writing improves (it loses the stop-go quality of the earlier chapters), when the doctor realizes its time to rise to the occasion and apply what he has learned during the year. There is palpable drama in the closing holes of his final round at Q school when his early philosophy of letting the intense pressure work to his advantage comes face to face with the reality of the "c" word. Highly entertaining.
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