No Athlete Achieves Success

NO ATHLETE ACHIEVES SUCCESS without good instruction. In the 1995 Masters, Ben Crenshaw displayed the lessons taught to him by his golf instructor, Harvey Penick.

The day before the prestigious tournament opened, Crenshaw flew to Austin, Texas, to attend 90-year-old Penick’s funeral. Penick coached the University of Texas golf team from 1931 to 1963, winning 22 Southwest Conference titles. Although Ben played for the Longhorns after Harvey retired, Penick still served as Crenshaw’s teacher and mentor. His golf instruction manual, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, remained on the New York Times best-seller list for 54 weeks.

Crenshaw played the Augusta National with intense emotion after the loss of his coach and friend. He began his final round tied for the lead but moved to the top with a birdie on Sunday’s second hole. On the treacherous 16th—a par-3, 170-yarder—Crenshaw stroked a perfect 6 iron shot, leaving the ball five feet from the pin. Using Penick’s advice to putt with “dead aim,” he nailed the birdie. The ex-UT golfer followed with another birdie on 17, set up by a terrific sand wedge shot that landed ten feet from the hole.

After closing his round with a four-day total of 274 and edging out Davis Love III by a single stroke for the green jacket, Crenshaw bent over and sobbed. He explained the emotion, stating that he played this Masters with 15 clubs rather than the PGA-allowed 14. His 15th was Harvey Penick.

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POINT Athletes are sometimes blessed by caring, competent, and dedicated coaches who teach by words and example. Ben Crenshaw understood the role Harvey Penick played in his success in golf and in life. And Crenshaw let his coach know how much he admired him. During the Masters, Crenshaw especially missed the mentor who for many years had been a phone call away.

Occasionally during our lives, God blesses us with teachers like Penick. When the Lord gives us such men and women, we should let them know what they mean to us.

GOAL! If you’ve been blessed with a wonderful coach, teacher, or parent, make sure that person knows how you feel. Call or write your thanks. Praise God for wise teachers.