Greetings Golfers,

Well, it seems that the firestorm about the abuse of power is just getting warmed up.

Good.

I’ve always hated bullies in any form. Abuse of power is always disgusting.

So often bullies fool decent people. Most of them “kiss up” and “kick down”. They seldom “speak truth to power”.

The concept of being noble has been ridiculed as being old-fashioned. How sad. Being noble is about standing up to bullies.

My wife and I are taking care of our son’s 2 pups while he and his wife are out of town. Our dog Harvey is older, bigger, and stronger. Trying to feed the weakest of the 3 dogs is a nightmare. It’s watching the natural bullying of the animal world.

I like to think that human civilization is about being better than an animal. Bullying is not being fully human.

The legal system should be used to keep disputes civil. It should be about justice. Too often, the legal system is used as a weapon for bullies. Not pretty.

Abuse of power is never attractive.

When I was in a fraternity during my college years … I got rid of Hazing when I was Pledge Trainer. When the jerks who loved Hazing had a fit at our weekly Active Chapter Meeting because they couldn’t bully anymore … I said that they couldn’t continue being pedophiles. That really made them crazy.

Our fraternity was supposed to be based on the concept of fraternity. Not “Lord of the Flies”. My nature is to be warm, and kind, and fun. But, I have no problem being the sheriff and “shooting” the bullies.

Same thing at Deer Run. We welcome everyone with open arms: rich & poor, young & old, scratch player & rookie. But, bullying will get anyone kicked out.

I’m glad to see the bullies getting called out in these public arenas. I hope it spreads to all parts of our society. Golf is inherently a civilized game. There’s definitely never an acceptable reason for bullying at Deer Run GC.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM and Head Golf Professional

tabts@deerrungolf.com