Scott Lehman

I have been playing this great game of golf for over 40 years and have been on my share of golf retreats.  In fact, I am just returning from our In His Grip Golf Retreat that I hosted at Limestone Springs in Oneonta, AL.  A great course with a golf cottage on site.   Experience has revealed a few “best practices” and I would love to share them with you.

1.  Define your Purpose: You may want to talk to your guys first to see what would be their ultimate golf retreat experience.  I am starting to learn that guys want to play A LOT of golf, BUT, they also want some DOWN TIME.   We always try to use our In His Grip retreats to have a message in the evening or make it available for certain prayer requests.  This past weekend we spent time praying over our Senior Pastor who is battling cancer.

2.  Date and Location: Most of the golf retreats I have been on are either in the spring or in the fall.  When booking your date and location remember to stay away from course maintenance weeks and you may want to consider daylight savings time.

3.  Determine Your Budget: Hey, we are in challenging economic times and that means that our personal budgets are more sensitive than ever.  Searching the internet for deals is still a great resource and most golf facilities need the business so don’t be afraid to ASK.

4.  Define your Formats Upfront: I like to send out the formats and teams ahead of time.  I also like to switch it up.  For example, we started out with a two-man scramble, then we had a two-man best ball and finished with a four-man scramble.  It’s a great way to build new relationships and allows for all playing ability levels to have a good time.

5.  Caravan to Build Camaraderie: We always try to have a central meeting point, like our church, and then load up the vehicles so we don’t have anyone driving solo.  It is amazing how many memories are also on the ride to or from the course.

I hope one or two of these keys will help make your next golf retreat experience more memorable.  You may even want to consider a survey from the guys to get their input.  Let me know what some of  your golf retreat experiences have been and what is your favorite golf retreat location and why?

I hope to see you on the course.

Scott

This weekend, 12 of us are swinging down to Limestone Springs Golf Club, one of my favorite public golf courses in Alabama.  We have 18 holes scheduled Friday afternoon and 36 holes on Saturday.  The weather is looking good, sunny and highs in the 60′s.

Limestone Springs Golf Club

How many of you have been on a 2-3 day golf retreat?  What did you like about it?  What would your ultimate golf retreat look like?  Our In His Grip golf retreats include a lot of golf but after an evening meal, we all settle in and talk about life from a Christian perspective.  We talk about our faith, our families and even have a time of praying for each other.

I will give you an update next week with pictures and and of course a story or two.

Until then, be sure to keep it in the short grass.

In His grip,

Scott

I absolutely love this time of year.  March Madness is upon us which triggers the March to the Masters.  How many of you have been fortunate to stroll the fairways of Augusta National?

I was blessed to receive 4 tickets for M-W practice rounds in 1997 which was the year that Tiger won by 12 shots.  This was a dream trip for me and I haven’t been back since.  That is all changing as I am humbled to share with you that I will be in Augusta from Monday through Friday this April.

I have been asked to share my “In His Grip” story at the Masters Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, April 6th at 7am.  This great event is hosted by FCA and will be held again this year at Warren Baptist Church located 1.6 miles from the front gates of Augusta National on Washington Blvd.  They are expecting over 1000 people in attendance.

The week kicks off on Monday, April 5th from 7:00am-7:30am as I will be on WAFJ 88.3 with John and Cleve In The Morning as we talk Masters and about the Master, Jesus Christ.  Later in the day I will be joining Dr. David McKinley, Senior Pastor of Warren Baptist Church on WBPI Channel 49 for an hour show as talk faith and fairways.  Be sure to join us if you are in the Augusta area.

My Augusta trip wraps up on Thursday evening as I have been asked by Lifeway Christian Retail Store to be available for an in-store signing of our new “Master Your Short Game DVD” at their Augusta location from 6pm-8pm.  I have been told that they will have a bunch of giveaways and the golf cart will be parked in the front of the store.  Feel free to stop by I would love to meet you in person.

I will be sure to keep you posted as we get closer to Masters week but for now, I ask you to pray me through this spring season that leads to Augusta National for Masters week.

I hope to see you on the course!

In His Grip,

Scott