Faith On The Fairways

I recently attended the Senior Player Championship held at the lush Fox Chapel Golf Club outside of Pittsburgh. One of the five majors on the Champion Tour. Some of the greats of the game and familiar faces of yesteryear graced the Seth Raynor designed course. Watson, Norman, Lehman, Couples, Calcavecchia and even “The King” himself Arnold Palmer showed up.

Golf still has a certain regal nature to it and sportsmanship permeates the culture amidst the competitive spirits of the game’s elite. I was struck by the seemingly freedom from difficulty these players make it look to hit that small sphere into high elevation and have it land softly on blades of grass near a hole 4.25 inches in diameter. Eagle, Birdie,….No problem at least for these Pros. I’m all too familiar with bogey, double bogey as part of the golf lexicon.

Do golfers possess a faith realizing that their abilities are God given? Some do. I caught up with Chip Beck (pictured) who is one of five players to have shot the lowest round in PGA tour history, a 59. No it’s not a typo 59 is correct.  Chip as a young man seriously considered the priesthood and is driven by his Catholic faith. “My faith gives me perspective and during the ups and downs of a round it’s the constant, the standard by which I live,” Beck said.

Chip has a presence on the course that is welcoming but when the competition starts he’s all business and looking to be the best he can be. Would God want anything less?

Tom Lehman who won the British Open and a number of PGA tour events is outspoken about his beliefs. This golfing great from Alexandria ,Minnesota felt worthless at various points in his life. Tom heard a message of God’s unconditional love through Christ. He heard that Christ died for him because of His great love.

Lehman said “This message was incredible! You’re telling me that God did that for me—someone who doesn’t matter?! He loved me enough to do that? Suddenly I felt like I did matter.

Competitive sports have a way of bringing out the strengths and flaws of the participant not only technically but in the character department as well. Chip Beck told me to be a good golfer you have to forget your failures and strive to be better even by the next hole. This practice sounds familiar in the spiritual life. Confession calls us to repent, get grace and move on to become better individuals immediately after walking out of the confessional.

My time at the Seniors Players Championship disclosed something that transcends admiring the extraordinary talent of these men, it revealed there is faith on the fairways.