Keep swinging
October 5, 2023
By Jeff Becraft
Over the years (especially growing up), I accumulated a few trophies. I know some are in a closet in my parents’ basement and I have no idea where the other ones are. Except one.
There is one that sits on my nightstand. It is only about 3″ wide and 2″ tall. It is for an Adult-Child Par 3 Golf Tournament on December 18, 1999.
Before Youth Corps, I worked for an organization called Fairway Outreach (an incredibly unique opportunity for young people who lived in the inner city or in children’s homes). I was just a jungle golfer… wildlife would put on hard hats and put up yellow caution tape whenever I got on the tee box. The SCJGA was hosting a 9-hole, adult-child, par 3 tournament at Riverside Golf Center. It was an alternate shot format. So we rounded up the FO kids, paired them up with some adult volunteers, and joined the outing. Our son, Josiah, was 10 years old at the time and he would run around with me and be part of Fairway Outreach and so he and I got to pair up for that day.
We shot a 6 on the first hole.
A 6… on a par 3. If you are not familiar with golf, a par 3 means if you play the hole correctly, you should do it in 3 shots. We had a 6… twice of what we should have gotten.
As we headed to the next hole. I was pondering, “How in the world did we get a 6?… on a hole that is only 78 yards long? How do you even do that?” Welcome to the world of Becraft golf. I was also thinking, “Well, we won’t be in the hunt to win today.”
We wound up parring 7 of the next 8 holes and as we headed off the ninth green, several FO kids came running enthusiastically towards us and asked, “What did you all get?” (Because in FO, we all wanted to know what everyone shot that day.) I simply said, “A 31.” “Thirty-one?! You all are tied for first place!” I couldn’t believe it.
We then headed into sudden death holes against two other teams. On our first hole, I sank a 3′ putt to keep us in it. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous in a sporting event. (I mean, we were in the running now.)
On the second sudden death hole, we didn’t even have a ball on the green after our tee shot and our opponent was sitting about 5′ from the hole. It looked like it was over. The green, however, was extremely steep and the next player missed the hole and their ball kept rolling. I chipped on to the downhill green sloping away from me (golfers will know what this means and that this is a nightmare) to about 3′ from the hole. And then Josiah hit the 3′ putt. (Now this is easy for the pros but there’s not a Becraft alive that this would be an easy putt.) We had won.
My wife and our daughters then picked us up and we headed to a Christmas play. As we rode along, I thought about a principle that I have shared with many people over the years, especially people who are struggling…
You never know what’s going to happen with the next shot.
Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].
