A little over a century to the day, golfer Bobby Jones prepared to hit an iron shot out of the rough on the 11th hole of Worcester Country Club during the first round of the 1925 U.S. Open. During his routine, Jones felt his club move the ball slightly from its set position. While no one else seemed to notice, the amateur golfer, sure that he had committed a foul, chose to penalize himself. 

The decision would go on to cost Jones the title, giving way to the now infamous line, “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank,” a line he dropped when thanked for his morality. Today, Jones’ decision during the major tournament remains one of the most celebrated examples of fair play in all of sport, let alone golf. 

Some may note Jones' integrity as a reflection of his faith, having been raised a devout Baptist in his family tradition. Three days before his death in 1971, he converted to Catholicism and received the sacraments as an act of love for his wife, a devout Catholic. 

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In more ways than the faithful might realize, the game of golf has long held rich parallels to the faith — whether in its unique rhythms and rituals, constant patience, radical honesty with oneself or even moments of grace in Jones’ case. As the 126th edition of the U.S. Open teed off on June 18, Fr. Richard Conlin shared with The Catholic Register his insights on the comparison as someone with a truly unique read of it. 

“ Growing up, golf became the most important thing in my life. It was the one thing that was truly all-consuming. It was an idol or a god in my life, and my whole world revolved around the game of golf,” Conlin said.

“If golf was good, life was good, but if golf was bad, my life felt horrible. My identity and my purpose and my mission, everything revolved around the game of golf.” 

Thanks to his all-consuming commitment to the sport, Conlin would eventually go on to play high-level college golf at St. Mary's College in California on an NCAA Division 1 scholarship as well as for Team Canada's National Golf Team. Despite a strong final college year — where he was St. Mary's top finisher in four of the 10 events he played in — and a strong consideration to turn pro, Conlin was slowly coming to terms with the truth of “what we idolize, we eventually despise.”

“ I started to realize that God never wanted me to view the game of golf in that way, and I remember  one of my retreat directors said with a big smile, ‘Rich, don't you know that God had to ruin your golf game?’ ” he said. 

“I started to see that we are not made to idolize sports, but to worship God, and so He had in a way taken me out of the game of golf. It was after I stopped playing golf that I met the Lord and I really fell in love with Him, and He became the one I wanted to follow, worship and ultimately give my life to.” 

With an extra push from his mother, inspired by the advice of a priest, Conlin went to Confession, something he hadn’t done in five years. He says it was there his life was changed forever. 

Conlin would go on to be ordained to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Vancouver on  Dec. 11, 2020, at Holy Rosary Cathedral. Today, he reflects on St. Augustine’s timeless message: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God,” saying that after stepping away from competitive golf and encountering the Lord, the sport returned to its proper place in his life.

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Now pastor of  St. Matthew's Parish in Surrey, B.C., as well as the chaplain of Holy Cross High School and St. Matthew's Elementary, he still plays a round a few times a month and finds a new joy with the sport that is no longer his identity. 

It’s an attitude shared by the current number one ranked golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, a devout Christian who remains vocal and explicit that his faith and family are what matter to him the most. 

Conlin praises Scheffler’s example of healthy ordering, suggesting that with golf not being his idol, the man with four major championships is able to play with more freedom, detachment, enjoyment and, most importantly, peace.

“ Even though he is number one at golf, golf is not number one in his life,” he said. 

Still, Conlin sees several rich connections between the faith and the sport at large, the first of which is that prayer can often be our practice. Just as discipline in perfecting a short game and putting can improve performance in golf, daily prayer of the Rosary in Holy Mass, or devotions, prepare us to “play well” in the game of life, especially in temptation or moments of need.

Recalling the old adage that golf reveals character more than it builds it, the priest also reflected on how, much like in our faith lives, consolation is often only as far away as that one good shot. 

“Sometimes all you have to do is have one good shot to keep you coming back, and God can give us those little tastes of consolation in the spiritual life as well when we realize the worth in following Christ. He knows when we need a little bit of support to keep us following Him on the narrow way, and even the fairway.” 

Conlin isn’t alone in his comparisons, with golf’s deep history being seen as something of a complement to religious practice. Michael Murphy published the book Golf in the Kingdom in 1971, a story inspired by successful athletes and their mindsets, while psychiatrist M. Scott Peck wrote Golf and the Spirit: Lessons for the Journey, which brings together golf strategy and religious faith. 

On July 9, Conlin will set off on a new course when he officially becomes pastor of Surrey’s Precious Blood Parish and chaplain of Cloverdale Catholic Elementary School. While the demands of the coming transition period may leave him little time to for the a round, he insists he has already claimed a far greater prize, one infinitely more valuable than any tournament purse.

“ Golf is a wonderful sport meant to act as a place of encounter with God that we receive as a gift.  My identity now, however, is that I'm a child of God, a friend of Jesus and a priest chosen to fulfill a mission in life,” he said. 

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“That is something infinitely greater than any golf tournament I could possibly win.”