Golfers Prayer

An Invocation Before a Tournament

For the start of a charity scramble, a club championship or an outing — to be read on the first tee or at the shotgun start, in about forty-five seconds:

Lord God, thank you for this day,
for this course, and for the people gathered on it.
Thank you for everyone who organised today,
and for [the cause] that brings us here.
Give us good weather, or at least good humour about it.
Keep everyone safe, on the course and on the road home.
Let us play honestly, count every stroke,
and be as generous with each other’s bad shots as with our own.
And whatever the scorecards say at the end of the day,
let us go home glad we came.
Amen.

A Golfer’s Prayer for Honesty

Golf is one of the few sports in which the players referee themselves. The most famous example is Bobby Jones at the 1925 U.S. Open. In the first round, setting up to play out of the rough on the 11th hole, he felt his club move the ball very slightly. No one else saw it. He called a one-stroke penalty on himself anyway — and finished the tournament tied for the lead, then lost the playoff. When people praised him for it, he is usually quoted as saying that you might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.

That is the real golfer’s prayer, and this is it written down:

Lord, nobody is watching this shot but you.
Let that be enough.
When the ball moves, let me say so.
When I lose count, let me count again, honestly.
Keep me from the small cheating that nobody would ever know about,
because I would know, and so would you.
Give me a temper I can keep in the bag,
and a card I can sign without flinching.
Amen.

Great God of the Fairways

The light-hearted golf prayers have their own tradition — one old favourite asks that we “call upon your Holy Name only in praise, and leave cursing the Devil to those more qualified.” This is the best known of them, built on the Lord’s Prayer. It is affectionate rather than irreverent, and it works well at a dinner once people have sat down:

Great God of the fairways,
who has designed our lives from tee to green,
your holy and blessed name is at the top of our leader board.
We thank you for the friendships and fellowship that we share today.
May our swings land us on each green in regulation
and draw us ever closer to the flagstick of your presence.
Give us this day a great round,
where our drives soar down the centre of the fairway,
our irons grant us an approach, and our putts roll in.
Forgive us, Lord, when we are out of bounds,
as we forgive others who hit into our fairways.
Grant us the mulligan of your grace and the confidence to swing again,
trusting in the promise of new life
through Christ our Lord’s death on the cross and his resurrection.
Deliver us from the hazards of play and penalty strokes,
and lead us not into the woods, the water or the sand traps.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Eighteen Holes of Life

This one also suits a memorial, because of its last line:

Almighty God,
as we play through our eighteen holes of life,
we pray that you will give us a drive that is both long enough to reach our goals
and straight enough to keep us out of trouble.
Help us avoid the traps and hazards of life;
and should we find ourselves in them,
give us the tools, the skill and the desire to escape them.
May we always stay in bounds.
Help us to be willing to stand by — and not play through —
those in genuine need.
May we always play with honour.
And when we have putted out on the eighteenth green,
may we have shown the integrity of our character,
so that you will count us worthy to join your threesome
and play eternally on your heavenly course.
Amen.

Lessons from the Rough

Lord, as I walk down the fairways of life,
help me to realise that my greatest opportunities to learn
come when I am in the rough,
where I discover things I never knew were there;
and when I am in the deepest sand,
where I learn that there is a time to walk softly
and clean up after myself;
and when I am playing a scramble,
where I learn that I have friends to make up for what I lack;
and when I find the water,
where I learn that some things are better left alone.
And when the ball rolls into the hole for that wonderful par,
help me to realise that all good things come from you.
Amen.

A Grace for the Golf Dinner

For the meal after the round, at a league dinner or end-of-season banquet:

Dear God,
we are grateful for the chance we had today to play this game —
for the exercise it gave our bodies,
for the company of the people we played with,
and for the beauty of the course you made before anyone laid it out.
Teach us what the game keeps trying to teach us:
not to give up after a few bad holes,
to try the wedge when the nine iron will not do,
and that the lowest handicaps belong not to the best-dressed or best-equipped
but to those who work at their game with patience.
Bless everyone here, winner or loser when the cards came in,
for if we enjoyed the game together we all came out ahead.
And bless this food, and the hands that prepared it.
Amen.

For a Golfer Who Has Died

For a funeral, memorial or the scattering of ashes — some families do this on the person’s home course, with the club’s permission:

Lord, [name] loved this game,
and loved the people they played it with even more.
Thank you for every round they shared with us,
for the stories we will go on telling about the good shots
and the ones we will exaggerate about the bad ones.
They have played their last hole here.
Forgive whatever strokes they forgot to count,
welcome them home,
and let them rest in your peace.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Amen.

When to Use These Prayers

• At the start of a charity tournament, scramble or club championship.
• As grace at a league dinner, awards night or end-of-season banquet.
• At a memorial service, or a gathering on the course in someone’s honour.
• Before a round, on your own, when your temper needs more help than your swing.
• On a church or men’s-group golf outing.

Scripture Connection

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” — 1 Corinthians 9:24–25

Paul liked sport and used it without embarrassment. His point is not that the game does not matter, but that the discipline it takes — patience, self-control, honesty when no one is watching — is exactly the discipline the spiritual life takes, and lasts longer than the trophy. “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23) covers the back nine as well.

Related prayers

For other sports, see the Softball Prayer and the Racer’s Prayer. For a funeral, Safely Home is a reading that pairs well with the memorial prayer above.