It’s not often I say this, but time is passing these days very quickly. I can’t believe we are into another season already, with 2026 well underway. Our first outing of the year was at The Royal Troon Golf Club – Portland Course, and it’s a venue I’ve always enjoyed playing with moderate success.
I was paired with my usual Teammate again, and we had a good chat in the car going down. He was aware of our ProAm later in the year and has agreed to play as one of the Pros.
Even more encouraging was that he’ll be bringing a team with him on the day, which adds some new faces to the mix. He’s been a good supporter of our events in years gone by and a good friend, not to mention a very good player.
As we arrived at Troon, the poor forecast was not as bad as we thought.
I had mentioned that I’d prayed the night before for some respite because the radar had us down for constant rain all day.
It was not a prospect I relished, and humbly asked God to give us some relief, even if it was for a couple of hours. I didn’t want to ask for the whole day because I thought that was being a bit spoiled. We’ll come back to that, though.
We just so happened to be playing with our partners from Craigielaw last time out, so it was nice to reconnect. I also got the chance to share about our ProAm later in the year, which was well received, especially when I shared we were able to make it much more affordable than last time. One of our partners expressed a real interest in coming along, and I think he may be able to bring a team also. I’ve just sent him the details at the end of the month once fully clarified on price. He’s been to both our ProAms before, so he knows what to expect.
As we continued our round, the weather seemed to be holding, and although there was dampness in the air, we were enjoying the game. I had asked for a couple of hours of respite, and that’s exactly what we got. Heading into the back nine, the real forecast showed up. It’s never nice playing in the rain, but even worse when you add a cold north-west wind into it. The back 9 was horrible. At one point, we all just looked at each other and were thinking the same thing. I’ll leave it to you to work out what that was, but you’d be right.
As we kept soldiering on, there was no let-up.
Thankfully, we’d got ourselves into a decent position and just held on.
Every par was like a birdie, and we were marking off the holes in our heads (only 4 to go, only 3 to go).
By the time we got to the 18th, we were just one shot off the lead, and a birdie would have tied it.
Directly into the wind, it was a long hole, but we gave ourselves every chance with an 8-footer for birdie. After shaving the hole, it was a little bittersweet, but still a great effort in those conditions.
The first 10 minutes of the car journey home was quiet as we were disappointed, but then we turned our attentions to the next event on Monday. Let’s see if we can go one better.
It’s always difficult to have any meaningful conversation when the conditions are against you, and everyone just wants to get home as soon as they can.
Today was more about encouraging people to come to our event in September.
They will hear the gospel on that day in the right way and consider what it means for them.
Something to ponder – I asked for two hours relief and got two hours relief. I should have asked for the full portion!
(Read Matt 7:7)
We keep going,
Vincent Brown, PGA Professional and Ambassador for Logos Golf Ministries, Scotland
To get in touch with Vincent, go to the Contact Page