In 2016, I had my heart set on playing golf at two places in particular-Shiskine (Isle of Arran) and Machrie. Bounding around both of these golfing gems and many places in between, I discovered parallels between creating a unique wine (one which we savor when we drink), and that of a unique golf experience that we drink in while playing a course. As with a fine wine, it is equally intoxicating when a superb golf course delivers a powerful connection with nature. And so, while meandering around the dunes of The Machrie, all the elements coalesced for me into a single phrase: Terroir of Golf.

I borrowed from the world of wine; terroir (French from the word terre, or "land") refers to the specific environment where a particular wine is produced. The concept of terroir, as it relates to a crop of grapes, starts with the physical habitat-the soil, climate and the topography. This epiphany occurred to me while on Islay, much better known for whisky than it is for golf, thus I'm loosely borrowing from the world of whisky-making too.

I rather doubt that even the most sophisticated distilleries would use the word terroir to describe how they craft whisky (or whiskey in Ireland). Perhaps there is a Scottish word for the importance of the ground and the grain that goes into the making of uisge beatha (or uisce in Irish Gaelic) which translates into "water of life". It was the Irish monks of the early Middle Ages who used the Latin translation of aqua vitae to describe distilled alcohol. But that discussion requires a red, white or brown liquid, poured into a lovely crystal glass, with or without a stem, to be properly and luxuriously explored at great length. Taba Dale