Searching in St. Andrews: Finding the Meaning of Golf During the Game's Most Turbulent Summer

A compelling journey through the heart and soul of golf, bringing the sport's history and the current state of the game to life

When Sean Zak arrived in St. Andrews, Scotland—the mecca of golf—he was determined to spend his summer in search of the game's true essence.

He found it everywhere—in the dirt, firm and proper, a sandy soil that you don't see in America. He found it in the people who inherited the game from their grandparents, who inherited it from their grandparents. He found it in the structures that prop up the game—cheap memberships and "private courses" that aren't private at all.

At every turn he also found LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed entity which descended on the professional circuit during that summer of the 150th Open Championship. Zak's personal pilgrimage now offered him a front-row seat at a cultural reckoning, one which pitted the game's longstanding customs against a divisive new force.