Birdies, Bogeys & Life Lessons from the Game of GolfSample

Perfect Shots Don’t Mean Perfect Outcomes

Sometimes you prepare and execute the right shot, and it turns out bad. The fourth hole of my favorite golf course is a par 5. It has a big fairway but has a bunker strategically placed near the corner of the dogleg. It often seems like there is a suction device that draws my ball right into that bunker. I hit a great tee shot right down the middle, but sometimes it ends up against the lip of the bunker.

The Genesis Invitational PGA Tour event is played at the famed Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where many celebrities are members. In 2018, Tiger Woods was on the eleventh hole when his ball veered off course. On this particular hole, trees lined the fairway, and while Woods anticipated finding his ball in the right rough, it turned out that his ball struck the trees...and stayed there. He had no choice but to tee off again. In the end, Woods landed a double bogey on the hole. When speaking about the incident, Justin Thomas stated he worried the ball would get stuck as soon as Woods hit it:

It’s going to sound really weird, but I swear, as that ball’s going over there, I thought in my head, “I hope that doesn’t get stuck in a tree,” because that happens out here...Then he’s driving back to the tee, and I’m like, “Holy crap, it actually did get stuck in a tree.” (1)

Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

Life is not always fair. We can do the right thing, but a situation can still turn out badly. Your spouse might leave you, a child could die, you could get fired from your job, and the list goes on. The Bible says God “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45 NIV).

Today’s Scripture verse admonishes us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding, and if we acknowledge him, no matter the outcome, ultimately, he will make good come from it. No matter how unexpected calamities happen, like our ball getting stuck in a tree, we can still trust God for the outcome. Today, trust God with all your heart, no matter what.

(1) Will Gray, “Tiger Loses Ball in Eucalyptus Tree on 11,” The Golf Channel, NBC Sports, February 15, 2018