“The Shivas Irons Society means different things to people. It’s a conversation among people who love the game, whose lives are enriched by being part of that conversation.”

Ben Kline

Executive Director
The Shivas Irons Society
Carmel, California

You won’t find many people with a resume like Ben Kline. You can listen to him tell you his own story, but here are just a few of his career highlights that caught my attention: Ben Kline has been a professional musician who plays trombone and keyboard…but not at the same time; he once played for the pope, and in a USO Show for Bob Hope; he’s worked as a technical writer for Unisys Corp; managed a sales team for Cisco Systems; went back to school after 23 years to earn a masters degree in sports psychology; ran his own consulting practice; was head coach for a high school golf team; worked as a part-time caddy at Pebble Beach and Spyglass…and none of those are the reasons why we interviewed Ben.

Ben Kline currently serves as the Executive Director of the Shivas Irons Society, a California-based non-profit organization established in 1992 that’s based on the deeper mysteries of golf and life found in a book written 20 years earlier in 1971 by Michael Murphy, called Golf in the Kingdom…which is one of the best-selling golf books of all time….and which has been translated into 19 languages and sold more than 1 million copies.

The Shivas Irons Society describes its mission as being for people who love golf and who were deeply touched by the principles contained within Murphy’s book. The Shivas Irons Society is dedicated to furthering golf as a mindful pursuit and as a tool for personal growth and development.

Based on his eclectic resume and his love for the game, Ben Kline appears to be the perfect Renaissance man to represent that organization.

Show Highlights: 

• Ben’s journey from a traditional “corporate” job, to a non-traditional career path based on his love for music and golf
• His motivation for going back to school to earn a graduate degree in sports psychology
• A synopsis of the story and enduring lessons found in Golf in the Kingdom
• Insights into Michael Murphy, author of Golf in the Kingdom and Esalen Institute founder
• How and why The Shivas Irons Society was founded, and why people are members
• The meaning of “true gravity,” which is one of the books’s central themes
• Ben’s relationship with Fred Shoemaker, whom he describes as the “Dali Lama of Golf”
• What’s required to become a member of The Shivas Irons Society

Notable Quotes: 

On what attracts people to The Shivas Irons Society: “It’s a community of people who love the game. It’s not about how well you score, or how far you hit the ball. Our mission is to keep the true spirit of the game alive.”

On becoming a sports psychologist: I figured that, perhaps a bit selfishly, that if I could help others improve their golf...