Hole 7, Par 5, 534 yards...

Hole #7



Hole #7 on this golf course is the #1 handicapped hole.

That means that when the course was handicapped (rated for difficulty), this was the hardest or most challenging.

Holes will be ranked from 1-18 on the course.
1 being the most challenging to 18 being the least.

Although when I play I can barely tell the difference...they are all challenging. Every time you tee off the fun, or should I say the challenge, begins. Focusing on hitting the ball well, planning your shot, focusing and following through... and on top of that...having fun as you play.

This particular hole has a very long and tight fairway (bringing back the "ball eating trees" similar to those on hole #3).
Then comes the decision of whether to "lay up" (hit a short approach shot to make sure you make it over the hazard in front of you on the next hit) or to go for it and hope you ate your Wheaties that day.

The hazard on this hole is located 90 yards in front of the green. It is a creek that runs across the fairway, but it also has a huge cliff. The elevation goes up 20 feet at the cliff. And finally that brings us to the green which is surrounded by the best sand traps this course has to offer.

This will be a fun yet challenging hole.

The interesting thing about golf is that every swing you take goes on your score card. Every stroke ultimately adds up in the end and determines how well you performed. The one with the least strokes, wins the round. The reason I reflect on that here is there will be many opportunities for mistakes and thus strokes to be added to my scorecard on this beauty of a hole!


As we go through life we mess up. We make mistakes. If life were paralleling the game of golf with every mistake we would be adding strokes to our score card.

Not a great thought. But we all mess up from time to time. We don't make wise choices or decisions and we sin.

If anyone ever tells you they never mess up or they never make mistakes, walk away quickly so the lightning doesn't strike you.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We have all sinned. We have all added strokes to the scorecard of life. With that sin comes punishment.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That scripture tells us that our wages (what we earn) for sin is death. BUT... the gift of God is Eternal life in Christ Jesus. So all we have to do is accept that gift, take it and receive eternal life!

That is so awesome.

If we receive the gift --> we get Eternal life. So why don't more people take hold of that gift and open it?
Maybe it is ignorance, defiance, stubbornness, or pride.

So in golf to get a clean score card or get strokes removed on a round you have to start over or cheat. To get the strokes (sin, mistakes) removed in life, you have to look to Christ, repent and He will forgive. Wow what a blessing. In life it is not the one with the least stokes (sins) that wins the round (Eternal life), it is:

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Let's do our part to reflect Christ and show that same kind of forgiveness to others on a daily basis.

Well that hole was fun. We got hung up in the trees on the tee shot, so we naturally laid up for the approach. We were on the green in 3 and two putted for par.

So far this course has been challenging and frustrating at times but all in all, it is just great to be out on the course.

On to hole #8...

Hole 6, Par 4, 444 yards

Hole #6

Golf is a pretty funny "sport".

In fact there are a lot of people that make fun of the fact that it is called a "sport". Normally by people who really have no idea of what is involved.

Things like, "how can it be a sport when all you have to do is hit a ball with a club and then drive up to it in a cart."
I have even heard someone suggest that "it is not a sport if you don't at least run or break a sweat from the exercise."
While others tell me "that golf is a piece of cake because they have played it on their Wii."(mind you these same people have never been on a golf course)

So there you go all you avid golfers, it is a piece of cake! Just remember that the next time your taking an approach shot to the green over the water.

I do believe that golf is a fairly straightforward sport. It is fun and could be considered relaxing but i am not sure about the easy part.

It is real easy to watch it on television and say it is easy, quite another thing to actually pick up the clubs and attempt playing. There is a lot more involved than just picking up the club and hitting the ball. The outside factors (wind, noise, water and sand hazzards, and other distractions) play a huge role in how you finish the game.


In Christianity, like golf, there are a lot of mockers.

There are a lot of people who call Christians hypocrites.
There are a lot of people who make fun of Christians.

From the outside looking in they see what we say we believe. They know how a Christian is suppose to act, but they see us (Christians) fail.
They see us stumble.

And why is that? Why do we stub our toe so often? Shouldn't it be easy? We have the book. We know what's right and wrong. We know the ultimate goal is to reach out to others, to "go". When He tells us He is with us always.

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So why do we have such problems? Why do we fall short?

Could it be priorities?
Could it be focus?
Could it be our surroundings?

Well, yes to all of those questions.
But, what are we saying to to God when we don't focus on the "prize"?
When He is not our number 1 priority?
What are we idolizing instead of focusing on Him?

Exodus 20:1-4 And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."

Where are our priorities when others pull us away from what we need to be focused on?
The outside factors of life play a huge role in how we finish our earthly stay.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

We need to remember that while some will make fun of our faith, and some will make fun of us and call names, that we are not here to please them. In fact, a lot of people will not like what we have to say about giving up sinful ways and desires.

But ultimately we are not here to have the most friends on facebook.
We are not here to be loved by everyone.
We are here to reflect Christ.

So focus on the goal....press on towards the prize.

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, 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.

Push distractions aside. If you mess up, there is forgiveness in Christ. Pick yourself up and get back on the narrow path.


This hole worked out rather well fo us. I had to stay focused and pay attention to the goal (the green), but I made it out with a par.
If this game was so easy, I should be way under par by this time of the day.
But I am one over, and that is OK.
I will do my best and tackle each shot as it comes. Pressing on to hole #7.


Hole #7 should be fun. It is the #1 handicaped hole on the course. WooHoo!

Hole 5, Par 4, 410 yards....

Hole #5

This course is absolutely beautiful. It is real easy to get distracted just by the beauty of the course and how nice of a day it is.
But we came to play and so back to the task at hand.

This particular hole is open down the left side and the right side is tree-lined. So we will just focus on going left or left center.

Good solid contact but it had a little fade to it. Looks like we landed over on the right side (of course!) but we'll have to see the spot of the ball before getting too upset.

With the spot of the ball it looks like we have a straight shot at the green...


....as long as we can move the 50 foot oak tree that the ball rolled up to.

OK so we have a couple of decisions here.

If we were just goofing off with a bunch of friends we might use "the foot wedge" and give the ball a kick from behind the tree.
Or we might declare "winter rules" (even though it is the middle of the summer) and say we don't want to damage the course by taking the shot and move it out as to cause no damage to the delicate new growth (50 foot tree "new growth", I know but some play that way).
A lot of players would just look around to see if anyone is watching, and if the coast is clear just move it and hit it before anyone can see the spot.

Or there is option #2. We could play the ball as it lays. Take out a club and just hit it back in play in the fairway and go on. Because we got ourselves in that position by our Tee shot.

The second option is the right way to play and the honest way to play.
It would be real easy to just move the ball a little and have an easier time of this hole.
But, sometimes it is the tougher situations that are meant to build our character and our skills (both in golf and life).


Life situations present us that same option.
Sometimes we are in difficult places and have to make a decision.

We can get upset and say, "life is not fair" and be controlled by the situation, or we can see it as a building block in our life to be who God truly wants us to be.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

It is easy to say well "It will be OK this one time", "no one will know but me", "really, what's it going to hurt, nobody here knows me".

Common phrases you may have heard in your head before. But if we take this life serious we have to play right.

We have to let our character speak at all times, regardless of who is watching.

1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Sometimes the "correct shot" when playing by the rules, is a lot tougher in the present. But it pays huge dividends down the road.

So next time this game of life puts you behind a tree. Remember who you are and whom you represent and take the shot you know you should.

Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Take the shot...build Character....reflect Christ.

Well the tree didn't help us on this hole. We ended up getting on in three and missing the putt for par. So bogey on the hole but character was displayed on the course!

On we go. Through five holes we are one over! Hole 6, Par 4, 444 yards...