A simple idea hatched between two golfing friends on Bull Island has arrived.
Colin Byrne – who has spent much of the past number of decades as a caddie on the main global tours – and Karl McCullagh would chat between shaping their shots and coping with the nuances of the greens of The Royal Dublin links and carry on their talk into the 19th hole, all with the mindset of keeping the game simple.
Now, they're letting us all in on the secret. The Little White Ball is a pocket-sized book that literally slips into the back-pocket of your trousers or into the side pocket of your golf bag and offers a more than useful guide to improving your scoring. It is a book of strategy and more, informative yet concise.
In developing the concept, the first thing Byrne and McCullagh did was to ensure with the R&A that the book was legal. It is, as long as players don’t hold up play.
They shouldn’t: although the book can be read and absorbed before playing, the clever idea to use bullet points means a cursory glance when on-course can provide fresh reminders to get the job at hand done.
"There's little things [in the book] that I would have said to Ernie Els [who provides the foreword] on the course," said Byrne. "He likes things really simple. You could make the argument that scientists have taken the game over.
“On tour, you see so many clipboard holders and gadgets, and shafts in clubs are changing every week. There’s always some new latest, greatest thing.
Getting the job done
“But really it is about what gets the job done. I believe the book has got more generic use for an average golfer but I also think there is something in there for everyone, even if it is a simple tip that we forget and need reminding of.”
He added: “The whole mantra was, less is more. I think, when you whittle stuff down, clearing the mind is the easiest way to deal with so many things and particularly with golf. Every time we wrote something we cut it in half at least, really reduced it to keep it simple.”
As Albert Einstein once remarked, "if you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself".
Imparting strategy
On that point, both Byrne and McCullagh have succeeded in imparting strategy in a clear and constructive manner through use of words, design and images.
It is a wonderful, cleverly produced book. Small, compact and pocket-sized. Simple in concept, but with a wealth of knowledge to impart.
The Little White Ball by Colin Byrne and Karl McCullagh is available in bookstores and from www.golfinthemind.com
