In life, there is also an optimum position to get in so that we can score the best. That position is a place of humility and repentance. It is being convinced and acknowledging that we are sinners and have fallen short of God's standards. Once we realize this we are in position to accept His forgiveness and move on toward salvation.

3. Select The Right Club

Once you are in position, you need to choose the right club that will enable you to hit the green. The tendency of most people is to come up short; so take plenty of club. In order to choose the right club, you need to have plenty of information. You need to know how far you are, how far you hit the ball with each club, how the ball is traveling in the current weather conditions and what kind of shot you want to hit. All these factors help influence what club you select.

In Romans 3:23, God says that "all of us have sinned and fallen short." Most of us have not chosen the right club to get us on the green of life. Jesus said,"I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except through Me."

In life, Jesus is the only club that we can reach the green with. All the other clubs (good works, charitable giving, church membership or attendance, confirmation, moral living, baptism, etc.) come up short. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no man should boast."

We select the right club by choosing Jesus as our only hope of salvation. We need to turn away from the way we have been living and turn to God. We need to receive Him into our lives by simply asking Him to come in and to forgive us for our sins. When He is Lord (ruler) of our life, we will have the right club.

4. Learn To Execute

Many golfers know what to do, but fail to execute. Knowing what club to hit will not get your ball in the hole. You must act on your knowledge.

Tour players find that a goof pre-shot routine helps them to consistently execute correctly. A pre-shot routine is a set method that helps you to focus on what you should be doing and helps you swing consistently.

Another key to proper execution is practice. Good players have practiced under all kinds of conditions. Facing a tough shot under pressure is not something new, but something that they have rehearsed lots of times during practice. Practice helps build habits. Habits help one to execute consistently.

The key to executing in life is faith. Faith means believing something enough to put our trust in it. It requires action. It is like coming up to a green light. We have faith that other cars will stop, so we proceed to drive through the intersection. If we did not believe cars would stop, we would not continue driving into the intersection. Our faith is evidenced by our actions.

We receive salvation by faith. This faith is an action we take by asking Jesus into our hearts. It is based on believing that Jesus died for our sins and that He rose from the dead, bringing us new life. Hebrews 11:6 says: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

5. Recover From Your Misses

The PGA Tour gives out an award each year to the player who hits the most greens in regulation during the course of the season. The winning percentage has been about 13 per round. In 1994, Bill Glasson won with a 73.0% GIR average which equates to 13.14 greens in regulation per round.

This means that everyone else is hitting less greens than that. The tour players average shooting around 71 or less for the year. That means that they are getting their ball up and down when they miss the greens. They have an excellent short game, an outstanding ability to recover from their errant approach shots.

The tour players spend time learning how to get out of any situation. They know how to hit regular bunker shots, buried bunker shots, side hill, up hill and down hill bunker shots, hard sand or soft sand bunker shots, pitch shots, lob shots, bump and run shots and a host of other recovery shots.

If you find that you have missed the green of life, it is not too late to save par. Jesus is our deliverer. He can deliver us from any difficulty, whether it be personal, marital, or financial. No matter what kind of situation you find yourself in, He is able to get you out of it and back on to the green. We must come to Him and give Him control of the situation.

6. Read Your Putts Properly

Once on the green, two criteria are important: distance and direction. Most three-putt greens are caused by poor distance, so concentrate your efforts on how hard to hit your putts. You will not be able to one-putt a green unless both distance and the direction are correct. Therefore, concentrate on the line as well as the speed.

In order to get a feel for the distance and the break in a putt, it is necessary to look at the putt from different angles. It is important to look at your putt from behind the ball and also from behind the hole. Look at the putt from the side as well.

If we follow these keys once we have reached the green, we will find ourselves becoming excellent putters and scoring much better.

In the green of life, there are four keys that we must focus on if we want to putt well. They will give us perspective and balance.

The first area is in the Word of God.We must begin to take in the Word of God on a regular basis. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

We can take in the Word of God through reading, meditating, studying, listening or by singing. The important thing is that we partake of it daily.

The second key is that of prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are instructed to "pray without ceasing". Jesus was in the habit of going off to lonely places and praying. He taught His disciples how to pray. Prayer is the way that we communicate with our Father. It is vital to having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The third key is that of fellowship.There are more than 30 "one another" commands in the scripture. Examples of one another commands are: love one another, pray for one another, serve one another, etc. WE can do these when we are with one another.

We are encouraged in Hebrews 10:24-25 "not to forsake the assembling of ourselves as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as we see the day drawing near". We are all members of the same body, the body of Christ. None of us can function fully without the nose, ears, eyes, arms or any other part of the body. We need each other. We must fellowship with one another. It is important to find a good church to get plugged into so that you can have the fellowship you need.

The final key is that of evangelism.Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 4:19, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men". If we are following Jesus, then we will be learning to share our faith with other people. We are commanded to take the gospel (good news) to others.

7. Prepare For Foul Weather

Every golfer has encountered rain at some time or another on the golf course. While most of us do not have to play when the weather gets bad, tournament players do. They must know how to play in the rain as well as any other type of weather condition.

The single most important key for poor weather is to be prepared. Tour players carry an umbrella, a rain suit, a sweater, an extra towel, plenty of gloves, a rain hood, and have back up supplies in their locker at the club. When the rain comes, they can keep themselves and their equipment dry.

The second key is to have a good caddy. It is almost impossible to keep your equipment dry and play at the same time. It takes tow people to hold the umbrella, unzip the cover and pull clubs out in the rain.

We must also be prepared for unusual circumstances in our lives. The first key is being prepared. David said in Psalm 119:11, "Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I may not sin against thee."David knew the key to not stumbling was to have the word stored up in his heart. Memorizing certain verses and passages and having them available when circumstances get less than pleasant is critical.

The second key for success is given in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pitty the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, tow can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

A good caddy/partner in life is invaluable. It is important to have one or more people that you are accountable to that can help you when the going gets tough. They can help you overcome depression, hurts and other circumstances. If you do fall, they are there to pick you up. King Solomon said that "a righteous man falls seven times, but gets back up."

8. Finish The Course

Many times golfers have led major tournaments until the last couple of holes. Then they have folded and other players have forged ahead to win. It is important for us to learn to play the whole course well and not just the first twelve holes.

Ben Hogan was a great finisher in golf. Why? One of the reasons is that Hogan established a target score. It has been said that Hogan was the best ever at shooting a number. He did not care what other golfers were doing, he had a goal in mind that he was actively pursuing.

Not only do we have to set a goal to finish the course, but we must also play with perseverance. There will always be obstacles along the way. We must patiently persist and keep on knocking. We must learn to get up and down and save as many stokes as we can when we get into trouble. We must never give up, but keep forging ahead toward the goal we have in mind.

In our spiritual lives, we also need to finish the course. Paul wrote to Timothy near the end of his life that he "had finished the course. He had fought a good fight:. Paul talked about several keys that were instrumental in his finishing the fight.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Notice that Paul had a goal for his life, just like a runner had a goal of winning the race. He was just like Hogan in that he had a winning target score that he was going for.

Paul also ran with discipline. He was like an athlete in strict training. He was not willing to take liberties that other may take, because he wanted to win. He saw that a lack of discipline could cause him to stumble and become disqualified.