Betsy King Biography

Betsy King is an accomplished golfer. I attended Furman University, a Southern Baptist school, where many students were involved in Christian activities at the time. I recall seeing signs advertising Bible studies, the Campus Crusade chapter on campus, and FCA meetings as I walked through the halls. I never got connected with any of them because I was too preoccupied with school and golf. However, as I started playing on the LPGA Tour, I became connected with the fellowship through a handful of folks, particularly Donna White, who was on the Tour at the time. And the first thing I went to was an FCA golf day, which I attended accidentally in 1979. Bill Lewis was the first to approach me since he was from Reading, Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up and where I initially became interested. Following that golf outing, I rode with a lady called Margie Davis to the Broadmore for a mixed-team competition. She was planning to join the Tour the following year, similar to how Cris Stevens is doing now, and she invited me to the first Tee-off Conference, a weekend retreat for Christian golfers conducted the week before the tour's first tournament. And it was then that I gave my life to Christ. I had never heard before that I needed to establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And I had no idea it was about more than coming to church on Sundays. I've always been a kind person. I didn't get into a lot of mischiefs, didn't drink much, and wasn't really crazy. As a result, it might be difficult for others close to you to notice a significant difference. But I knew deep down inside that I wasn't a Christian. Golf requires a lot of practice, and you may not have much time for other activities. But as I've become older, I've seen that there have been more opportunities to spend time with other people or to express my beliefs, which has been encouraging to witness and participate in. I went to Korea on a mission trip a few years ago. We shared our faith while playing golf with several groups. I've also done a few different things in Japan, all because golf provided me with a platform to communicate. You might want to get away from it sometimes, but golf provides you with a platform among other players, as well as some credibility among business people if you've had success. And there are times when it's just good to do activities where being a golfer makes no difference. That was most definitely the case on our journey to Romania. They know nothing or very little about golf there. In Romania, there are no golf courses. It didn't seem to matter that they were golfers. But a number of us walked over and offered to help in any way we could. Cris was the driving force behind it; she wanted us to do something worldwide to help us gain a sense of the body of Christ all across the world. Denny Ryberg just so happened to have Romanian relations. And that is how we came to be there. Going back a second time in 1994 was intriguing because we got to spend time with a handful of full-time missionaries, some individuals who had committed for a year, and another person who had committed for four years. I found it fascinating to speak with them, to learn why they're there and what their mindset is like when they commit to full-time mission work.Making the commitment to learn the language is a major step, but it's one that must be taken if you want to have an influence. But it's just good to be able to assist others like one person assists another. Romanians' standard of living is much different from ours, thus their anxieties are not the same as ours: "Are we going to acquire that second car?" or When will we be able to afford a larger home? Instead, the question is, will we have enough food to eat today? Is there going to be enough gasoline to keep us warm this winter? Their energies are devoted solely to the essentials of life. That is the most difficult to comprehend. Until you visit Romania, you would not comprehend how hopeful we are in our nation. In this nation, we still believe that if you work hard enough, you can succeed. Because they do not have a government that supports them, most Romanians do not believe this. Instead, it represses them or prevents them from progressing. It's not as if we can say, "Well, if I just work a little more, it'll pay off soon." Because that is unlikely to happen in Romania. One of the lessons you learn in missions is that everyone requires the Lord's help. Whether or whether you are hungry, you still require the Lord's help. And the Romanian church has grown significantly. In some respects, because they are in a more dire circumstance, individuals begin to wonder why and believe there must be something greater than this existence. As a result, their predicament may cause more individuals to turn to faith. That's something I saw in Korea as well. While we were invading South Korea in 1985, they were still in danger from North Korea, and the man in charge of North Korea at the time was a little insane, so they still performed air-raid drills once a month. They stretched wires along the center of the golf courses to prevent planes from landing in the fairways in the event of another invasion. It would be like living in Pennsylvania and constantly being concerned that New Jersey will invade! It would make you think, "You know, I may die tomorrow," and people are more likely to say, "What if I die tomorrow?" when this happens. People here put off answering the question. They don't say things like, "What if I die tomorrow, will I go to heaven?" When you're on the outside looking in, it's easy to believe that if a player doesn't win on the Tour, they have no incentive to continue out here. When everyone initially walks in, they think to themselves, "Oh, I'm going to win." I'm not successful if I don't win them over in the first year. By the time I ultimately won, I was thinking to myself, "Well, I may never win out here, but I'm still going to earn a good living, and I'm still going to remain out here and continue to be the greatest player I can be, whatever that is." And as soon as I made that decision, I began to win. It was perplexing. Ed Oldfield deserves a lot of praise as well. He assisted me in making certain swing adjustments that improved my ability to hit the ball and perform better. When it comes to a personal connection with Jesus, I can't claim I won any tournaments. People can be overly theatrical at times. If that were the case, everyone on the LPGA would be attending Bible study every week! That has been a challenge for me. But I believe that as a Christian, you have an edge because you put things in perspective a little bit and don't judge yourself based on how well you shoot on the course. I watch players out here, and their moods clearly fluctuate based on their performance. When I'm having trouble, I acknowledge that I slip into that mode. It makes it a little more difficult to be out here, but knowing that God loves me the same whether I shoot 58 or 80 makes it a little easier to put it on the line week after week. Many individuals are afraid to admit, "Hey, I tried my hardest and it wasn't good enough." 'Hey, I gave it my all, and if it's not good enough, that's great,' you may say as a Christian. And if it is, that's OK because my relationship with the Lord will not be affected by whether I win or lose a tournament. That's reassuring for a gamer.

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