Champions Tour
Champions WHM Pro-AM Tourney
Tom Purtzer Bruce Lietzke Larry Nelson Tom Randall Doug Tewell Bob Gilder Gil Morgan
Ben Crenshaw is often referred to as "the best putter ever in golf" and is in
the Golf Hall of Fame. He won two green jackets from Augusta for his Master’s
Championships. And he will always be the main character in the dramatic
come-from-behind victory at Brookline for the Ryder Cup Championship by the
Americans led by Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, and the late Payne Stewart. Ben
was the Ryder Cup Captain and is a great leader of men. He is close friends with
President George W. Bush and is the one who introduced us to the President and
Mrs. Bush last September. But my favorite thing about Ben Crenshaw is that at every Friday Fellowship,
in every city we meet, he sits in the front to my left as I lead the players and
wives’ Bible study. And when the tour recently visited Ben’s hometown of Austin,
Texas, he and his wife, Julie, wanted to host the Friday Fellowship in their
home. They had a catered dinner for 85 served around their pool! Bruce Lietzke is also a famous golfer, well-known for winning lots of money
and golf tournaments but playing in fewer and practicing less than everyone
else. To prove this point the players once put bananas inside the head covers of
Bruce’s clubs after a tournament. Three weeks later when Bruce finally arrived
to play in his next event the players quizzed him about his practice while at
home. He admitted to fishing and coaching his kids’ sports teams and was sure he
worked on his game….. But when the players grabbed the head covers off the clubs
there were the rotten bananas right where they had been left three weeks
earlier! When Bruce and Rose Lietzke made a commitment to follow Christ they asked me
to also baptize them. Facilities for baptism are very scarce in the various
hotel banquet rooms we use from city to city! So, Ben offered to heat up his
swimming pool in Austin so we could baptize Bruce and Rose, have the Fellowship
and dinner all in one great evening!
Bruce and a number of players drew late tee-times that Friday but took extra
clothes with them to the course so they could quickly shower and dress after
finishing their 18 holes of competition. Everyone arrived in time for this
important evening. After explaining the meaning of baptism I took Rose and Bruce into the pool
and dunked them! As we stood in the pool Bruce then gave a beautiful testimony
of his personal relationship with Christ and how making Jesus the priority in
his life has changed him. The best part for me was watching the amazed and fascinated looks on the
faces of Bruce’s fellow players, their wives, and his family. As I caught the
eyes of another famous couple listening intently to Bruce’s testimony from the
water of their pool, I thought what a wonderful setting after all for a baptism.
The excitement was probably similar to that great day in the Jordan River a
couple thousand years ago. I have done many baptisms in pools, rivers, ponds,
and in the ocean and it is not so much the outside venue as the inward change
that thrills me so much. Thanks for praying, Tom and Karen Randall "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have
given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the
age." Mathew 28:18-20 PS Tom and I are loving our new home here in Edmond, OK. We are closer to the
airport, have enough flat areas around us to ride our bikes, and the shops are
much handier. Please don’t forget to update your address book with our
information! Karen
