11 minute read
Keeping Eyes On Christ
FIRMLY IN CONTENTION FOR A U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN VICTORY, AMY OLSON RECEIVED THE CRUSHING NEWS OF HER FATHERIN-LAW SUDDENLY PASSING. SHE LEANED ON THE LORD TO FINISH VALIANTLY, AND SHE AND HER HUSBAND, GRANT, ARE STEADIED BY GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN A SEASON OF GRIEF.
It’s a professional golfer’s dream scenario: 18 holes left in a major tournament, the lead in sight, going head-to-head with the best in your sport.
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This is exactly where Amy Olson found herself this past December at Champions Golf Club in Houston — just one shot off the lead heading into the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open, her sport’s oldest major championship and the one with the largest purse ($5.5 million for the 2020 event; $1 million for the winner). While she had 11 career top-10 finishes, she had yet to win a tournament. Her husband Grant, a linebackers coach for North Dakota State, had flown in to watch her. The stage was set for a storybook ending.
And then that Saturday night, Grant’s dad, Lee, died from a sudden heart attack. Everything changed.
By the next morning, Grant had flown back home, and Amy, barely able to process her grief, had one more day of golf to finish.
“So I go out on Sunday, and ... it was cold, it was rainy, and maybe 20-30 minutes before I’m supposed to tee off, everyone gets pulled off the course,” Amy recalled recently on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “So we didn’t play at all on Sunday, and I think in a lot of ways that was a positive thing just to be able to process a few of those emotions and get some rest that night.”
The following day, Amy shot 1-overpar to tie for second place (2-under overall), her second career runner-up finish at a major tournament. It wasn’t a win, but in finishing strong amid the circumstances, she displayed a muchrespected resolve.
KEEPING EYES ON
CHRIST By Joshua Pease
Grant and Amy Olson holding North Dakota State’s 2019 FCS National Championship trophy.
“Coming out this morning, I had no idea what to expect,” Olson told the media afterward. “I felt very weak and helpless the last couple of days, and probably same today on the golf course. I really believe the Lord just carried me through. It just makes you realize how much bigger life is than golf.”
Grant’s and Amy’s first four dates took place in four different states. Grant, at the time, was working in Laramie, Wyoming, as a graduate assistant with the University of Wyoming football program. Amy was traveling all over the country, having turned professional in 2013 and quickly earning her LPGA Tour card for the 2014 season.
Even though Grant and Amy knew each other from their time attending North Dakota State — he was a record-setting All-American linebacker (2010-2013) and three-time FCS national champion; she was a recordsetting All-American golfer (2009-2013) and winner of an NCAA-record 20 collegiate events — they didn’t start dating until after they both graduated. And even then only after a long series of Facebook messages to each other that covered a lot of specific, personal topics.
“We were learning to communicate and we were sending a bunch of emails,” Grant said on the podcast. “We were trying to figure out whether to pursue this relationship, how much we had in common. We were asking, ‘Do we really want to do this? Because it’ll be hard work, so let’s get to know each other before and find out what we have in common and want out of life. And if those match up, then let’s pursue a relationship.’ Our faith guided us in terms of why we sent a bunch of emails for four or five months and then finally went on a first date.”
While Grant’s straightforward approach to the process might have frightened off some women, Amy says she loved it.
“Dating is not easy; you can put out a false front for a few dates when you only see each other every so often,” Amy said. “I appreciated how intentional Grant was with his questions. In his emails he’d answer my questions and have very specific questions back, and I was like, ‘OK, this guy really knows what he wants.’ And I appreciated that. We didn’t want to waste each other’s time. You either get married or you break up, so let’s figure out which one this is as quick as possible.”
It didn’t take long for them to choose marriage, though figuring out how to move toward a wedding while Amy continued to travel brought some unusual complications.
“We were doing marriage counseling,” Amy recalled, “and I was in California, pulled over on the side of a road and I’d pull up my Facetime, and Grant was back in Indiana (coaching at Indiana State), so he’s on a separate screen, and our pastor is in Minnesota where we’re going to get married. So we’re in three different locations doing our marriage counseling. So um ... it was a unique experience, obviously. Technology allowed us to make it happen, but it definitely was not a typical path to marriage.”
As Grant flew home to be with his family following his father’s death, he felt the emotional whiplash of an incredible high — watching his wife in contention for a victory at the biggest tournament of the year — to the world-crumbling low of losing his dad, and one of his best friends.
“My dad was incredibly influential to me,” Grant said. “If I could choose to hang out with anyone it would be Amy, but if she was busy I’d choose my dad to hang out with, going for a drive or going for a walk or going and fishing off the dock. Missing someone who is that good of a friend is going to continue to be hard.”
“He loved my mom and cherished Amy so well,” Grant continued, “and at the same time, he was a very Biblically-based father ... My dad understood [it was his job] to teach working hard and respect, and treating other people kindly. I don’t know if in any of my 29 years I saw him get mad more than five times. I never saw him lose his temper. He definitely had a lot of fruit of the spirit.” On the flight home, Grant found himself praying for Amy and her tournament, his family and their grief, and prayers of thanks for his dad’s impact. This is something Grant has been intentional about in his grieving process, not letting the question of “why” get in the way of the incredible legacy his dad left behind.
“Everyone wants to ask why. ‘It’s not fair, why?’ Well, one thing I’ve learned over the course of my life and my faith is I’m not always going to get to know why. I’m not always going to get answers, but God has been so faithful and He’s the Creator of the world, not me,” Grant said. “He’s in charge, not me. So I take the approach of, ‘OK Lord, I’m going to trust You just like when I was a freshman and telling the coach, ‘Yes sir, I’m going to trust you; you’re in
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
CHRIST KEEPING EYES ON
“WE GET TOGETHER, WE STUDY THE WORD, WE PRAY FOR EACH OTHER AND INVEST IN EACH OTHERS’ LIVES. GOLF CONSUMES EVERYTHING WE THINK ABOUT, BUT FOR THAT HOUR, OUR EYES ARE ON CHRIST AND IT PUTS EVERYTHING ELSE IN PERSPECTIVE.” – AMY OLSON ON
FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER GOLFERS
From left: Luke, Betty, Lee, Grant and Amy Olson.
– GRANT OLSON
charge, not me.’ [That approach] has allowed me to not sit and dwell on some of those things, but to look at the positives and celebrate [my dad’s] life and the incredible impact he had on us.”
Grant and Amy are still processing their grief. But only months removed from the tragedy, they are already looking forward to how God will use this for good.
“I’ll tell you what’s been really helpful is hearing other people say, ‘You know, this happened to my dad,’ or [talking to people] who have had similar experiences,” Amy says. “Hearing that and knowing you’re not alone is incredibly important and helpful. And we also know that going forward we’re going to be able to speak into someone else’s life who is going through something difficult, because we know what it’s like. We’ve been there. We know that God uses everything for good for those who love Him.”
In retrospect, Grant can see how the downtime as a result of the COVID pandemic provided an unexpected blessing.
“When the football season got canceled, I called my dad up and he was going on a fishing trip, and I said, ‘Hey, you got room? I guess I got a week off,’” Grant said. “And so I went out and I joined him. And I’m probably going to get a little teary-eyed just even talking about it but … I just had an awesome three days spending time with him. We got to go do some hunting and I probably spent more time with my dad this past year than I have in the past 15 years. To lose him sucks ... but I’m so unbelievably grateful for the time I got to spend with him.”
Ranked 40th in the world, and 10th among U.S. women, Amy will continue to process this tragedy while back on the road this spring, prepping for the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration Tournament (April 1-4). Though she misses her husband while on tour, Amy is able to stay spiritually rooted through a robust spiritual
support network, led by a volunteer chaplain named Cris Stevens.
“We’re actually extremely fortunate,” Amy says of her fellow Christ-followers on the LPGA Tour. “[Stevens] just has a heart for women golfers and has been traveling on tour for over 30 years. She’s incredibly wise, and she’s not a golfer, doesn’t even come from a golf background, but God has called her to this space. And so in my rookie year, I connected with her right away.”
As Amy leans on Stevens and her fellow Christian athletes to process life and faith, she’s also becoming a spiritual leader.
“[Stevens has] walked with me now for over seven years, and then the great thing is we have small groups, and I’ve now become a small-group leader,” she says. “So I get to pass on that to younger players out there and that’s been an incredible opportunity one night a week … we set it aside, we get together, we study the Word, we pray for each other and invest in each others’ lives.
“You know, golf consumes everything we think about, but for that hour, our eyes are on Christ and it puts everything else in perspective.”
That outlook was apparent in Amy’s comments following her valiant runner-up finish at the U.S. Open.
“I knew I had to stay very mentally disciplined just to get through the day,” she said through tears. “I allowed myself to think about what I’m grateful for, and I’ve got a long list.”
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