The Three of Pentacles. Par 3s for Pride: The Courage to Show Up and Show Out 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Xzraphina Grace LaFae

The Three of Pentacles is often called the card of craftsmanship, collaboration, and materialization. It is the moment when an idea leaves the realm of imagination and begins taking shape in the world through collective effort. A vision becomes a structure. A dream becomes a project. A possibility becomes something people can touch, experience, and share.

As I reflect on our recent Par 3s for Pride event, I cannot think of a better card to represent what unfolded. Months ago, Par 3s for Pride existed only as a conversation. It was a simple question: What would it look like to create a golf event where inclusion was always in play?

Like many meaningful projects, the answer did not come from one person alone. It emerged through collaboration. Community partners offered support. Friends shared ideas. Volunteers stepped forward. Sponsors contributed resources. Players trusted the vision enough to register before knowing exactly what it would become. The Three of Pentacles reminds us that meaningful work is rarely solitary. We build together.

On a rainy June morning, thirteen groups, totaling fifty-three participants, arrived at Meadow Park Golf Course. They showed up despite uncertain weather. They showed up despite busy schedules. They showed up because they believed that golf can be more than competition—it can be connection. And because people showed up, something real happened.

The event itself was a celebration of Pride Month, but beneath the scorecards, closest-to-the-pin markers, and post-round festivities was something deeper. It was an affirmation that belonging is not something we merely talk about. It is something we create through action. The Three of Pentacles teaches that progress is built one brick at a time. Inclusion works the same way.

It is found in welcoming a new player to the first tee.

It is found in learning someone's name and using it correctly.

It is found in making space for people who have not always seen themselves reflected in golf culture.

It is found in choosing community over convenience.

One of the most meaningful lessons I continue to learn comes from listening to the experiences of transgender women. For many trans people, simply showing up can require tremendous courage. Walking into a new space often involves assessing safety, wondering if they will be accepted, and navigating systems that were not necessarily designed with them in mind.

When a trans woman arrives at a golf course, she is not just carrying clubs. She may also be carrying years of questions about belonging.

1. Will I be welcomed?

2. Will I be respected?

3. Will I be seen?

Every interaction around her shapes the answer she receives.

The Three of Pentacles invites us to consider our role in building those answers. Each of us contributes to the structure. Every gesture of respect becomes part of the foundation. Every moment of inclusion becomes another stone in a space where people can arrive more fully as themselves.

At its heart, Pride is not only about visibility.

• It is about materialization.

• It is about becoming.

• It is about taking what once felt impossible and allowing it to exist openly in the world.

There is something deeply symbolic about this happening on a golf course. Golf asks us to show up exactly where we are. It invites us into a relationship with uncertainty, challenge, and growth. We do not become better golfers by waiting until we are perfect. We improve by stepping onto the first tee and beginning.

Personal development follows the same path. The life we hope to build does not appear overnight. Confidence does not suddenly arrive. Community is not magically created. These things emerge through repeated acts of participation.

Through showing up.

Through trying again.

Through trusting that small actions matter.

As I reflect on the event, I realize there was another layer to the lesson that day.

While Par 3s for Pride was created as a celebration of community, it also became a moment of personal becoming. During the event, I shared with many members of that community that I am transitioning. I hesitate to make this story about me because the day belonged to everyone who showed up. Yet, the experience deepened my understanding of the very principles upon which the event was built.

The Three of Pentacles teaches that materialization happens when ideas take form in the world. Sometimes that looks like a golf tournament. Sometimes it looks like a community coming together. And sometimes it looks like finding the courage to let yourself be seen. What I received in return was not perfection or certainty, but something far more meaningful: support, kindness, and a reminder that belonging is not something we earn. It is something we build together. The Three of Pentacles reminds us that our work is not measured only by outcomes. It is measured by our willingness to contribute to something larger than ourselves.

Par 3s for Pride was not successful simply because people played golf. It was successful because people chose to co-create a vision of what golf can become.

A more welcoming game.

A more inclusive community.

A place where a trans woman can arrive at the first tee and know she belongs.

As we continue forward, I carry deep gratitude for everyone who helped build this event. Every player, volunteer, sponsor, community partner, and supporter added their own piece to the structure. The work is not finished. The Three of Pentacles never represents a completed building. It represents construction in progress. And perhaps that is the most hopeful lesson of all. We do not need to have everything figured out. We need to keep showing up, keep building together, and keep believing that the world we imagine can become real.

One brick.

One swing.

One conversation.

One act of courage at a time.