Baddeley delivers sunrise sermon 10 years after RBC Heritage win

Aaron Baddeley stood on the 18th Green on Sunday morning a little older and much wiser than he was 10 years ago, when he made a 6-foot putt in the same spot to win his first PGA Tour.

It was a beautiful memory, he told the spectators gathered for the annual Sunrise Worship Service on Hilton Head Island — he’d celebrated his first wedding anniversary that week in 2006 and won on the day he gave his first sunrise sermon. But the American-Australian golf pro still had some lessons to learn.

On Sunday, the last day of the 2016 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, Baddeley said the last decade has tested his faith — in his game and in God. His fears were realized when he lost his tour card last year and only attended this week’s tournament with a sponsor’s exemption.

“Even though I didn’t make enough points to keep my full-time job last year, I had a complete peace in my heart. I’d gone from being anxious and worried about losing my card to actually losing my tour card, to being at complete peace about it,” Baddeley said. “Doesn’t make sense, right?”

It does, he continued, if you have faith, which brings a “peace that surpasses all understanding.” That’s what he counts on now, not wins or losses, comebacks or long, painful falls, Baddeley said.

“We don’t always know it or feel it, but God’s plans are good,” he said.

One of those listening to the sermon from a villa on Lighthouse Road was golfer Mark Wilson, who caught Baddeley’s sermon as he ate breakfast before his 9:30 a.m. tee time.

“I liked this thoughts on hope, and I feel the same,” Wilson said. “Struggles in this game are the things that make you better, and to see that through Jesus is the best way to look not just at golf but at life.”

The speech resonated with many of the spectators. They’d braved the morning’s chill to gather in the stands at the 18th green at 7:30 a.m., though few mentioned the snap of the breeze coming off the Calibogue Sound.

“The water is beautiful. Of course, God provided the view,” Fred Leitner of Hilton Head said before attending the service for the first time.

“It’s gorgeous,” answered Fred Hoaglin, of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

It was difficult for anyone to speak Sunday without praising the sight of the 18th green.

“Thank you for this beautiful morning. We admire this backdrop,” said Aaron Bush, of the South Coastal Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who gave the morning’s invocation. “... You give us an opportunity to be saved, to be filled with your spirit, to be clothed in majesty on high.”

The few hundred people in the bleachers stood as the seven-member Row Worship Band began to play. A few, like Leitner, immediately sang along, and many of the rest joined in after they were roused by worship leader Forrest Bowen, who playfully needled them to sing with gusto, regardless of key or pitch.

“The only thing we’re going to work about (as far as) how it sounds is we just want everyone who lives around here to know that something’s going on down here today,” Bowen said.

He needn’t have worried. Heads poked out from windows along Lighthouse Road, and a few people sat outside their villas, enjoying breakfast from the porches facing the 18th green bleachers.

Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmot said that he’d be getting calls from residents who don’t appreciate waking to a rock concert at 7:30 a.m., the night after the biggest party at the Harbour Town Yacht Basin. But, he promised, it was just a joke.

“To have a service and a celebration like this, nobody’s going to complain,” he said.

Wilmot himself smiled as he watched the band from a spot next to the stands. The first golfer of the day would tee off in a few minutes, and the year’s tournament would be over in a matter of hours, but for one moment Sunday morning, he had nothing to do.

“It’s a good time to reflect back on how special the week has been,” Wilmot said. “This is about community and that’s why I feel blessed to be part of it.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Baddeley delivers sunrise sermon 10 years after RBC Heritage win."