With the end of The World Race approaching faster than Usain Bolt running in the Olympics and the phrase “two weeks left” has crept into my vocabulary, I’m beginning to reflect on the year that has been 2016.
As I begin to reflect, there are so many highs mixed in with a handful of lows from this past year. There have been amazing times for example spent in community with my squadmates as we immersed ourselves in different cultures in different ministries, that immediately comes mind.
But there is one thing that has probably been the biggest change in my daily routine in life over the course of this past year that has been both easy and difficult as heck to deal with…
NO GOLF
It has been weird not playing a sport that I have played since I was six years old! It’s basically been in my daily & weekly routine of my life since 2004 to a point where I lived and breathed golf.
I went to college to legitimately study business with a concentration in golf management! I became a PGA golf professional after school! A year without golf, are you kidding?!
Think of something that you have done since you were 6 years old and then all of a sudden God calls you to something else in your life. On top of that, you can’t do that one thing that has been a part of your life for so long. Maybe it would be easy, maybe it wouldn’t, but for me, it started off easy and slowly became very challenging.
Why? Because I began to miss it all…
I can’t deny the fact that I haven’t played this amazing sport in over one year’s time and it’s been really different and difficult because I miss the small things that come with the sport.
For those who play golf, you’ll probably understand. For those who don’t, you’ll most likely think I’m a bizarre person, but that’s okay because this Race has re-ignited my passion and dreams for golf.
I miss the early morning rounds waking up before the sun rises and getting to the golf course to listen to the sounds. Hearing the sprinklers going off, lawnmowers creating the fresh cut on the fairways & greens is really peaceful to me.
I miss the smell of fresh cut grass on a golf course in the morning, along with walking on morning dew. Especially when you’re the first to go out in the morning, visibly seeing that you’re the first person to walk here on the course that day.
I miss the sound a purred driver makes and the sound echoes throughout the trees. I miss the sound a purred iron shot makes when the iron hits ball first then the ground.
I miss the sound of a golf ball when it drops in the bottom of the cup and sound a flagstick makes when you put it back in.
I haven’t heard these sounds in over a year
I also miss the exact opposite sounds in golf when everything is going completely wrong, especially when I’m playing with my friends.
I miss hearing the sound a golf ball makes when it splashes in the water next to the green, as long as it’s not mine.
I miss the sound of a “hozzelrocket” or some call it a “shank”, once again when it’s not me, and the ball shoots off into the woods and you get to laugh about it with your buddies.
I really miss the sound a ball striking an iron makes and immediately a split second later hearing it hit a tree. Then my personal favorite, when a split second after that you hear an expletive dropped louder than the ball was hitting the tree.
I haven’t heard these in 375 days
I miss the physical and emotional feelings that golf brought me and will continue to bring me into the future.
I miss the feeling of a multi-compound Golf Pride grip laying in my hands.
I miss the feeling of the grass underneath my feet in golf shoes with a fresh pair of spikes.
I miss putting on golf attire wearing a collared shirt & crazy colored pants (never thought I’d say that one).
I miss the feeling of “dropping bombs” or making putts from outside 40 feet and seeing that ball disappear into the hole.
I miss the feeling of a purred shot and the thought going through my head of “why can’t I do that every time?”.
I miss good and bad breaks that golf gives you and I miss playing with people who I care about the most.
I haven’t felt all of these in 9,000 hours and counting
The honest truth is though, at the beginning of this year back in January, I was happy to get away from golf. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever touch a club again because simply put, I was burnt out.
That flame that once burned brighter than the skyline in New York City from my youth didn’t exist anymore. I didn’t have a passion to play golf because it became my life working in the golf industry.
I became bitter towards golf and didn’t want anything to do it anymore. I thought I had said my final goodbye last October when I last played because one year ago I could’ve written down 50 things on a piece of paper based on what I’d rather do with my life than play golf.
I realized soon that the hardest I tried to run away from golf, the more I realized that I’m running away from God’s calling in my life. God had given me this talent to be able to play golf at a high level. He also had given me opportunities to help grow the game of golf in the golf industry being a PGA golf professional and here I was thinking I had everything figured out by leaving golf behind.
Now, I’m NOT saying the World Race was a mistake because The World Race was something the Lord wanted in this exact season of my life. The World Race is one of the greatest things to happen to my life and I’ll forever be blessed by this year and every who has supported me.
I feel like the luckiest man in the world being able to partner with ministries and travel around the world spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. But the good Lord does have a plan for each and every one of us and I believe He has called me to a life much higher than the one I was living prior to the Race.
The Lord has called me to have passions for both golf and international missions and in my mind it’s not fair for me in my life to be focused on one more than the other. I really look forward towards my future with excitement and anticipation after the Race because God has amazing plans for me and I’m not living by my schedule anymore. I already tried that and it wasn’t all too successful.
The World Race will never be the biggest and best highlight of my life! It is/was an awesome experience that will launch me into my next amazing chapter that the Lord has already written for me!
Do I know what my future looks like after 2016? No, but what I do know is that I’m a new creation in Jesus Christ and if it’s the Lord’s will then everything will work out exactly as it should in His terms.
“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” – James 4:13-15
I say with excitement in my spirit that I truly look forward towards 2017 and on because I hope and know there is something for me in golf. It’s just a little difficult playing the patience waiting game, but when a door opens, I’ll be ready to open it.
When that door for golf opens back up again, I truly look forward towards working in the golf industry with an open and sober mind. I cant wait for an opportunity that golf may have for me because it’ll give me a chance to give what the Lord has already given me.
There is a huge “yes” and “jump” in my spirit to pass on my knowledge for golf and love for others because God has given me both of those things to not hold onto for myself, but give away to others.
I also hope & pray for opportunities in missions both in the States and internationally because God’s love needs to be spread universally. I’m beyond thankful that the Lord has given me a passion for golf and missions and I can not wait to see what the next chapter looks like for both.
Thank you to each and every single person who has supported me throughout this year in missions and every year before this one. Also, thank you also to everyone who has taught, mentored, and supported throughout my time in the golf industry. I’m forever grateful for all you have done for me! Can’t wait to see y’all again soon!
