This past week, our oldest son, Drew, and I accompanied our second son, Luke, to the Korn Ferry Q (Qualifying) school, first stage, in a suburb of Louisville. Watching Luke play extremely competitive golf and be one of 20 out of 80 to make it through to the second stage, the first week of December, was such a blessing. At the second stage, 15 out of 78 will advance to the final stage, which will be held in mid-December. The top 5 of that event will become card-carrying PGA Tour members. The next 45 finishers become Korn Ferry members to play the Korn Ferry events, and the remaining finishers get a provision to play some of the Korn Ferry events. The Golf Channel will televise the final stage. Thank you for your prayers and support for Luke as he pursues his dream of playing professional golf at the highest levels.
Several things struck me during this time with our two sons. First, the beauty of creation and, in particular, the beauty of the changing trees as the backdrop for watching four days of golf. On average, we walked 8-9 miles each day, a long course, and kept thinking of a song from the Native American tradition. “Thank you for this day, Spirit, thank you for this day. This beautiful, this beautiful, this beautiful day. Thank you for this time, Spirit, thank you for this time. This beautiful, this beautiful, this beautiful time.” It is a single yet lovely song that reminds each of us of the blessings we have to enjoy every day.
There are two more reflections I want to share with you. As I age, I realize how important it is to focus on family and not miss the moments we have to support each other, especially during stressful times such as Q school. On the last day, one of the caddies asked another caddy how it was going, and he said, “Well, put it this way. Today has been a grind for all of the players. The wind, the slow play, waiting at each hole, the greens, and all of that equals = welcome to Q school.” I am deeply grateful to fellow staff members and you, the congregation, for supporting my desire to be present for these significant parts of the journey.
Finally, as I watched these aspiring young golfers, there is one common denominator: skill, because all of them are talented golfers or they wouldn’t be there, and one common distinctive: one’s ability to manage the mental side of the game because of the intense stress and pressure to make it to the second stage. Golf at the highest levels, like all golf, has its good days and not-so-good days with hitting, chipping, putting, etcetera, but how one responds to the bad chip, the bad putt, the bogey, the double bogey, is the ability to leave it behind and move to the next hole and not take the memory of what just happened with you. There is a life lesson in that for all of us. If we can’t leave the memory of what went wrong behind us, we will take it with us, and it will sabotage what we are trying to do in the present moment. Isn’t it true?
The witness of Scripture is that it is true…. “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14