{"id":2799,"date":"2012-08-17T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2799"},"modified":"2012-08-12T22:46:44","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T02:46:44","slug":"st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-adam-wainwright-talks-about-his-love-of-golf-quest-for-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/08\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-adam-wainwright-talks-about-his-love-of-golf-quest-for-integrity.html","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright talks about his love of golf, quest for integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Adam Wainwright (right) and PGA golfer Jonathan Byrd (left) at the Adam Wainwright FCA Golf Classic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adam Wainwright has made a nice living striking out Major League hitters and keeping zeroes on the opponents\u2019 scoreboards. But as his young daughters get old enough to explore the world of competitive sports on their own, the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher says he wants to make sure golf is something they strongly consider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to teach my girls to play at an early age,\u201d Wainwright says. \u201cIt instills honesty, integrity and some important core values when they\u2019re growing up. I feel like if you learn how to be honest and trustworthy on a golf course, you\u2019re going to carry that over into your every day life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wainwright played just about any sport that involved a ball as a young kid, but he didn\u2019t pick up golf until his early teens. But when he did start playing, usually with a buddy named James Hall whose dad worked at the famous Sea Island Golf Club, he \u201cbecame addicted to it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how spoiled I was,\u201d Wainwright admits. \u201cI got to play with him in the summer time or during school after 4 o\u2019clock and we could walk for free. Sometimes we\u2019d walk 27 holes before it was dark. We\u2019d just fly around\u2014not trying to get better, just trying to see how hard we could hit a ball. We played four or five times a week and we were getting to where we could shoot about 80 or 83 and the main thing we went out there for was to look for balls and just get away, get out of the house and have some fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the midst of having fun, Wainwright learned a few valuable lessons not just about integrity, but also how to deal with life\u2019s daily challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have your ups and downs,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ll have your rounds where you hit great shots and you\u2019re going to have your rounds where you hit bad shots. But one good shot can bring you back. If you live your life that way\u2014trying to find the positives in the middle of the negatives\u2014then you\u2019re always going to have a better outlook.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Wainwright signs autographs at his annual FCA Golf Classic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wainwright faced a difficult challenge heading into the 2011 season. After feeling discomfort in his right elbow, it was revealed that he would require Tommy John surgery, a medical practice that takes a ligament from somewhere else in the body to replace a torn medial ligament. While terribly disappointed to have to sit out an entire year, Wainwright found the positive in the middle that huge negative. He was able to spend more time with his family and cultivate his responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur wives have to look at us as husbands with strong integrity,\u201d Wainwright says. \u201cWe have to be the leaders of the household. That\u2019s what God calls us to be. I have two little girls and I\u2019m probably going to be the biggest role model in their lives. So it\u2019s important that we are consistent. It\u2019s important that we stand up for what we believe in and that we instill those morals into our young kids and that we are that good role model to our wives.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wainwright says his primary job is even bigger than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, everyone\u2019s goal should be to live a life that\u2019s pleasing to God,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd when you live that kind of life, people will see you as a good, strong, morally straight man of integrity, filled with love and compassion.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Read more from Adam Wainwright along with several PGA golfers on the subject of integrity in Chad Bonham’s brand new book Life in the Fairway<\/a>. Wainwright wrote the foreword for the book that also features insight from Webb Simpson, Stewart Cink, Ben Crane, Jonathan Byrd, Aaron Baddeley, Justin Leonard, Bernhard Langer, Kevin Streelman and DJ Brigman.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Wainwright has made a nice living striking out Major League hitters and keeping zeroes on the opponents\u2019 scoreboards. But as his young daughters get old enough to explore the world of competitive sports on their own, the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher says he wants to make sure golf is something they strongly consider. \u201cI\u2019m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[383,617,3,386,5],"tags":[101,920,94,815,637,816,1138,89,27,19,633,78],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baseball","category-book-release","category-christian-athletes","category-golf","category-sports-features","tag-aaron-baddeley","tag-adam-wainwright","tag-ben-crane","tag-bernhard-langer","tag-dj-brigman","tag-jonathan-byrd","tag-justin-leonard","tag-kevin-streelman","tag-pga","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-stewart-cink","tag-webb-simpson"],"yoast_head":"\nSt. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright talks about his love of golf, quest for integrity - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/08\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-adam-wainwright-talks-about-his-love-of-golf-quest-for-integrity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright talks about his love of golf, quest for integrity - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adam Wainwright has made a nice living striking out Major League hitters and keeping zeroes on the opponents\u2019 scoreboards. But as his young daughters get old enough to explore the world of competitive sports on their own, the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher says he wants to make sure golf is something they strongly consider. \u201cI\u2019m…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/08\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-adam-wainwright-talks-about-his-love-of-golf-quest-for-integrity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-17T12:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-13T02:46:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_6702-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chad Bonham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright talks about his love of golf, quest for integrity - Inspiring Athletes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/08\/st-louis-cardinals-pitcher-adam-wainwright-talks-about-his-love-of-golf-quest-for-integrity.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright talks about his love of golf, quest for integrity - Inspiring Athletes","og_description":"Adam Wainwright has made a nice living striking out Major League hitters and keeping zeroes on the opponents\u2019 scoreboards. 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