In golf terms, this is a person who isn’t performing at his best but still manages to finish the job “good enough” to make the cut or maintain his spot.
On tour, there are guys who never have ups and downs… Who just grind it out. They relish in the term “he’s a grinder.” It’s not that they are losers because they finish in the money all the time. Those who grind it out keep their card all the time. By nature, grinders don’t take risks. They play it safe right down the middle, aim for the middle of the green and make two putt pars. For a grinder to win the field has to come back to them or they have to have some nice “misses” that end up close to the pin.
On Tour, being a grinder is a good life. Risk-takers win a lot of tournaments but they also miss a lot of cuts. For those guys it’s feast or famine. Sergio Garcia is a risk-taker. Kenny Perry is a grinder. If you aren’t a grinder, you want a grinder on your team since they are always going to post a nice score. In a scramble event you always put a grinder with a risk-taker. While the risk taker will occasionally get you an eagle he also makes plenty of mistakes… So you end up with a lot of safe steady birdies and a couple of chancie eagles.
On the golf course, I am a risk taker. In the last year I’ve been teaching myself to grind it out when things don’t go well. In fact, as I reflect back I can remember late in the summer being mad at myself because I had developed into a grinder. I hit irons off the tee instead of hitting the big stick. Consequently, while I was making nice scores or 39-42 every day I wasn’t having any fun. In fact, my low round of the season happened like this. For 8 holes I was grinding it out. Opened with a couple of bas shots so I went into safety mode. But on the 9th hole I hit a great drive and was just to the left of the green with my 2nd shot. I got up and down for a rare birdie on 9. I was happy that I ground out a respectable 40 when I deserved a 42.
Then, still in safety mode, I parred 10-11-12 then bogied the long 13. When I played safe shot on 14 I got angry with myself but still managed a “safe bogie” to get to +6 after 14 holes. On 15 I walked to the tee box thinking I had a nice round, but a safe one in hand. It was going to be another boring 80. I remember having one of those risky business moments, I said to myself “why not just go for it and have fun?”
The 15th hole at Romeo is a 110 yard par 3. My safe play there is to hit a little pitching wedge. As long as I take a shortened swing I almost always hit the green. I love to hit my lob wedge that far but sometimes I lack control. While I could easily hit the ball pin high I could chunk it and leave it 20 yards short or blade it and lose it in the bushes. I pulled the lob wedge out and laughed at myself as I made my practice swings.
Then I took dead aim, swung hard and knocked the ball to within 2 feet. That left me +1 for the back nine.
The 16th hole at Romeo is a very short par 4, 320 yards, with trouble left and long. The safe play is to hit an iron 160 yards or more. Generally I say to myself “anywhere in the fairway is fine.” I almost always hit a 6 iron… So I pulled my driver. “Why not have some fun and go for the green?” I ripped it hard down the right side of the fairway. The ball hit the top of the downslope and I wasn’t sure if it had hopped into the stream or popped onto the green. To my delight I found the ball about 10 yards short of the green on my side of the stream. It looked as though the ball had been placed there. I was left with a very simple chip, almost all the way uphill. I could expect to hole 1 out of 10 of these shots. So I confidently lined up, and chipped the ball to within about a foot for an easy birdie.
This left me even for the back nine, 4 over for the round heading into 17.
Seventeen is a short par 5, 490 yards. But it is a 3 shot hole as the majority of the landing area for a driver is a pond. The pond comes into play at about 240 yards from the tee box… Plus it’s downhill into the pond and the ball never stops. Again, 9 out of 10 times I hit an iron off of this tee just to get it into play. Most players can’t hit anything longer than a 4 iron on this hole. So I pulled driver.
I knew that I couldn’t fly the ball 290 yards. So in order to hit driver I would have to aim into the right rough and hope it didn’t draw and definitely didn’t want to push it right. I hit it perfect again well down the right side, and long.
I was left with a routine 150 yard 8 iron. It was uphill, but I like my 8 iron. The flag was in it’s typical Sunday location. In the left center, just off the slope and 10 feet right of the bunker. The safe shot was to aim right of the flag so if I missed short or long it would still be on the green. I took dead aim at it. While the shot was online, it was short by about 15 feet and left me with an ugly left-to-right hanger. I’d have to give it enough to get up the slope, but still not too hard so it would catch the break. As I lined up I thought to myself, “you’re 1 putt away from being 2 under.” That thought usually screws me up, but not this time. As soon as I hit it I knew it would go in. It dropped.
Laying -2 for the back nine and +2 for the round on the 18th tee box felt great. But I still had quite a test left on 18. 18 is a 520 yard par 5. It plays longer than that as the narrow landing area makes for a scary tee shot. Right or left into the trees makes for a hard par! I always hit driver here but rarely hit the short grass. This time was no different. I got cocky and wanted another bomb down the right side. I ended up with a driver that went short and barely got past the last set of trees in the left rough. Eagle was out of the question, birdie was a dream.
In grinder mode, I would have hit a safe iron shot to try to leave it at 100-150 yards for my 3rd shot. But since I was in risk-taker mode I decided to hit a 3 wood since I could technically hit it that far. I had about 250 yards left. As I lined up I was both confident and Leary at the same time. If I hit it perfectly it would blast out of the rough and draw nicely down the fairway, maybe even trickle up the fringe onto the green. But if I didn’t strike it crisply anything could happen.
On that swing I swung a little too fast and the ball came out hot. It left me with an awkward shot, awkward distance, awkward lie. I had about 30 yards left, clump of trees at my back, carry a gravel cart path, down and right green, pin left and over the bunker. With the overhang of the oak tree I couldn’t hit a high shot. My preferred shot there would have been to chip it… But that was too high of a risk as if I left it short I was in the bunker and even if I hit it perfect it would probably scurry past the hole 15-20 feet for an ugly downhill snaker. So I was forced into the safety shot… The bump and run. No chance to get it close. Only hope I could get it within 15 feet… But it would give me a putt for birdie.
I lined up and hit the shot crisply. It was a nice shot. But I wanted it to be closer. I walked up figuring that I would 2 putt from there. To my surprise, I raked in the long uphill putt for a nice finishing birdie. 33 on the back nine, 73 overall. For the last 4 holes I was 5 under par! It felt good to strut off the course that day. I couldn’t wait to get on the course the next morning to hurt the course some more with my new found prowless. (Of course, it didn’t happen… That’s golf!)
I wouldn’t have felt that way if I had not taken the risk. If I had been a grinder those last 4 holes I would have had a nice round, but not the feeling of exhilaration I felt on the 18th green.
Like the old song says, “you’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when fold ’em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” I had played those holes as good as anyone could and it was because I had taken some risks.
That’s how I feel sometimes in ministry. I am a risk-taker by nature who has spent a year and some change grinding it out. It’s taken a lot of pride swallowing to become a ministry grinder… But I’ve also learned that in playing it safe I can still get a lot done.
It’s not that I’m a flashy guy on the job, I just like to be an innovator. I cannot wait to get this place back to the point where we can afford some risk. Likewise, I loved it when I was the safe guy and the SP was the big risk taker. I hope that happens again soon. I recognize that in order to really transform the culture of Romeo we must step out of grinder mode and take some risks.
It’s not like I dislike my job or disdain where I am at ministry-wise. In fact, I’ve learned a lot and even learned to appreciate the grinder mode… But I can close my eyes and imagine this place in the fast lane. Our community desperately needs a fast lane church and I want it to be Romeo.
I’m walking off of the 14th green and wanting to reach for the lob wedge. Will I grab it?
Leave a Reply