Who: Ed Ibarguen & Michael Jordan

Ed Ibarguen: [I’ -bar-gum]

• Studied At UNC
• Began mowing the fairways at UNC, Finley
• Had an opportunity to play with some of the golf professionals there
• “Have you ever thought about playing for the PGA America?”
• “In my journey, I knew pretty quickly I wanted to be a coach.”
• Ed earned his Master Professional ranking in the PGA of America in 1991
• Golf Instructor for over 30 years
• General Manager and PGA Director of Golf at the Duke University Golf Club
• Golf coach of Michael Jordan

Achievements:

• PGA national awards – in 1995 and 1998
• Chosen as one of the Top 100 Instructors by Golf Magazine – since 2001
• Golf Professional of the Year in 2001
• Teacher/Coach of the Year in 1991 and 2003
• Professional Development Award winner in 1990, 1998 and 2004
• Created the Duke Golf Club’s moniker, “Getting Better Every Day.”
• Inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame in November 2021

“Every PGA member that goes on this journey of membership is going to be able to tell you an amazing story of somebody they met through the game of golf that was out of the ordinary — perhaps an athlete.”

Ed was Michel Jordan’s golf coach . . . .

“I was excited to teach him, but he told me, ‘We might have a problem. I don’t have any money to pay you.’ I only had so many lessons to give and my son had just been born six months earlier, but I asked him, ‘Are you serious about learning, or would you be wasting our time?’ He said, ‘I really love this game, and I want to learn how to play it the right way.’ ”

They got to work, and Jordan continued coming to Ibarguen for lessons after Jordan left North Carolina and turned pro. His love of golf was undeniable.

“It’d be 30 minutes until pitch black, he’d have already played at least 36 holes that day, and he’d be saying, ‘Come on, we can get in a few more holes.’ He just fell in love with the game,” Ibarguen said.

Jordan’s physical abilities made him an ideal student. “He was willing to try anything,” Ibarguen said. But there were a few things about him that made golf a little more difficult than the average student.

“I think the hardest thing he had to overcome was, he has very large hands,” Ibarguen explained. “The guys at Ping told me the grips they put on Jordan’s clubs were the biggest they ever put on a golf club. It’d be the equivalent of holding a baseball bat. When you get the grips that heavy, it makes the clubhead very light. So we’d keep putting lead tape on the clubhead.”

“Ibarguen says his friends joke with him that he’s the luckiest guy they know, having had the opportunity to foster a relationship with Jordan. . . . Ibarguen agrees—there was a lot of luck involved. But at the same time, he was ready for that lucky moment when it arrived. . . . .All my friends tease me about being in the right place at the right time,” Ibarguen says. “But I had my Class A certification, I was the most active teacher, I spent more hours trying to improve myself. I was prepared for the opportunity. You never know when something good is going to happen, but you have to be prepared for the opportunity.”

 

Key Biblical Thoughts:

• evangelism
• witnessing
• growth
• Bible study
• discipleship
• sanctification
• changed life
• all things work together
• providence
•  opportunity

Sermonic Example: There are several distinct ways to use illustrative material.

(use whatever you find useful in the above details)

. . . . Now listen to what Ed Ibarguen says about that “luck” . . . . . 

 I was prepared for the opportunity. You never know when something good is going to happen, but you have to be prepared for the opportunity.”

You see, in Ed’s thinking it isn’t luck, it is that opportunity that comes along and what you did before that opportunity . . . . 

 

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Other Information & Links:

Another Way To Use This Illustration:  Subconsciously Learning From Others

“Ibarguen told the story of how Jordan would come see him in the off-season in the summers when he was a pro. “He was able to play with a lot of tour players,” Ibarguen said. “He comes in one time and he’s taking it very deep inside and lifting it up. I knew he’d been visiting with Ray Floyd and I said, ‘Did you get a lesson with Ray Floyd?’ And he said, ‘No, I’ve just been playing golf with him.’ The same year, he comes back and now he’s taking it outside, lifting it up, crossing the line. He looked like Freddie Couples. So I asked him, ‘Have you been playing with any tour players?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I played a bit with Freddie Couples.’ This is someone who is incredible in his ability to see things visually and implement them in his body.” — golfdigest

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— https://GoDuke.com/news/2021/10/21/athletics-ed-ibarguen-named-to-2021-pga-of-america-hall-of-fame-class.aspx

— https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ed-ibarguen-pga-of-america-hall-of-fame-induction?utm_medium=email&utm_source=122621&utm_campaign=hitlist&utm_content=DM23888&uuid=b12bf3fbe8fb480bbe3244c1e7db1166

— https://www.golflink.com/tipsvideos/video.aspx?v=91534

— https://www.thrivsports.com/ed-ibarguen