Greetings Golfers,

37 year old Tony Romo shot 77 yesterday in the first round of the Punta Cana Classic in the Dominican Republic. Most of the regulars on the PGA Tour are playing in Austin, Texas at the Match Play tournament.

Romo grew up in Wisconsin, played quarterback at Eastern Illinois University, and wasn’t picked in the 2003 NFL draft. However, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free-agent and made the the team as their 3rd string quarterback. He became a starter in 2006 and had a very good career with the Cowboys until he retired at the end of the 2016 season.

And now he’s playing in a PGA Tour event. And, he’s a lead broadcaster for CBS on NFL games. He’s already led a charmed life.

Years ago, another NFL quarterback led a very similar life. John Brodie was the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 1957 – 1973. Then he retired and was a lead announcer for NBC on NFL games. When he turned 50, Brodie qualified for the PGA Senior Tour … was a successful player for many years … and actually won a PGA Senior tournament. Not bad for a football player.

Sometimes in the winter months, I’d watch those goofy Pro-Am golf tournaments filled with celebrities and athletes. The best players were usually baseball pitchers and football quarterbacks. And hockey players. Hockey players obviously are pretty good at hitting an object with a stick … which naturally translates to golf. And pitchers and quarterbacks have a nice motion and hand action to propel a ball with power and accuracy … which also translates naturally to golf.

Yet, much modern golf instruction focuses on the “big muscles” and minimizes the use of the hands. If that were true … wouldn’t the offensive lineman be the best golfers?

Though we still have snow on the ground … the golf season is almost here. Make this your best golf year ever by working on your hand action … and making your golf swing like a throwing motion. The combination of the two will give you more control, and a healthier, more repeatable natural swing.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM and Head Golf Professional

tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

Have you got your brackets filled out? I don’t mean the NCAA Basketball brackets … I mean your picks for this year’s golf Majors.

“Marty’s Majors” … run by Marty Lass – the legendary golf professional at Edina CC … is golf’s version of the NCAA pools. We have to pick 4 players for each Major (and the Players Championship) … and you can only use each player one time. And your season picks have to be entered before March 31.

What if your picks get injured? Sorry. Or what if they aren’t invited or qualify for a Major? Sorry. (Marty is a heartless tyrant)

So, you have to think things through. Tiger Woods is one of my 4 picks for the Masters. He’s playing great now … but might not hold up all year. Jordan Spieth is struggling, but I think he’ll be fine later this summer. Am I giving away my secrets? Probably not … I’m sure most of these gamblers know more about the players than I do … sort of like the hard-core guys who bet on horse racing.

Speaking of Tiger Woods … did you watch the golf on television last weekend? Yeah – I did too. I guess the ratings were off the charts. I don’t watch much golf anymore – mostly just the Majors. But, I had to see Tiger make a run at winning that tournament in Tampa. When he made that putt on #17 to get to one stroke behind the leader … I really thought he would birdie #18 to tie it up. Pretty incredible stuff.

Tiger seems to be back. He shot 68 at Bay Hill yesterday. That’s 5 sub-par rounds in a row. And he’s hitting it longer than the kids … and his short game is razor sharp. He seems to be happy, friendly, nice, and relaxed … who is this guy? Obviously he’s been humbled … and seems to have come out a better person. Maybe not a better golfer – he’s 42 years old – but a better player than I ever thought was possible after all of his physical problems.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament is always incredible – and I’m sure this year will be no exception. But this year March Madness is also about golf – thanks to Tiger Woods.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM and Head Golf Professional

tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

A week ago I was playing golf in South Carolina – now I’m looking out the Clubhouse window at A LOT of snow.

However, I’m glad to be back home … seriously. I love getting ready for the golf season. I’m a Golf Professional – not a Professional Golfer. I love to play golf … but I especially love to share the game of golf.

The guys I played with last week are retired PGA Pros from New England. Of the 7 guys – one is named Jim – one is named Butch – and the other 5 are Mikes. They’re all characters … Irish guys … funny … tough … and still good players. One guy played in a US Open and a Senior US Open … and another guy won the New Hampshire Open. Nobody can hit it anywhere … and in SC we get no roll.

The golf course we play is brutal … and especially bad in January and February when the grass is dormant. The greens are unputtable – though the US Open guy somehow makes everything … pretty obvious why he had so much success as a player.

When they built the course 20 years ago, the idea was to attract Northern PGA Pros to buy a house in the neighborhood, and then winter or retire there. Didn’t work out so well. The course is 7,200 yds from the back with narrow tree-lined fairways and water hazards everywhere. They thought PGA Golf Professionals were Professional Golfers … and would want that type of challenge. Wrong. Of course we don’t play off the back tees … but it’s still really difficult … and the conditions sure don’t help. But is it fun? Yeah – it’s the highlight of my week. Every Monday at 1pm we tee it up … cold or hot … calm or windy … dry or rainy … the game is on.

As they say … golf is a game of a lifetime. Even if your name isn’t Mike.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM and Head Golf Professional

tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

I’ve got too many things to talk about for a short blog … but, I think they’re all related … so here we go.

Last week, Ted Potter Jr. held off a group of golf superstars to win the PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach. Potter held them off while he held control of his emotions – very impressive.

Potter’s agent is Chris Kosiba. Chris plays in the Deer Run Mens League. Should you and all of us connected with Deer Run take credit for Ted Potter’s victory? Probably.

I recently read an article about Doug Pederson – the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The article is about “Leading with Emotional Intelligence” … something that Coach Pederson excels at. Here are some of his EQs:

• Be Visible – “It’s the only way you can build relationships”
• Have Empathy – “I know when it’s time to give players a break.”
• Never allow adversity to get you or your team down – change the narrative to see challenges as opportunities.
• Provide a purpose higher than self. Give your team the opportunity to align with something mission-driven.

This is great stuff. Inspirational instead of motivating out of fear. Emotional Intelligence. Coaches are important people, and they don’t have an easy job. Did you read the article the other day about the Brainerd Hockey coach? He’s resigning because the parents are crazy. This is an ex-cop who’s coached for 22 years and had a lot of success. Not some kid who’s in over his head. Parents have to learn Emotional Intelligence too. Parents are coaches to their kids.

Sports are games … not life or death. And, 99.9% of kids are not going to be professional athletes. When one of my sons played high school baseball, I sat on a folding chair and watched from along the outfield fence. The parents in the stands behind home-plate were crazy … and not in a fun way.

We all need to work on our Emotional Intelligence. If coaches can lead the way – all the better. Coaches more than most roles are in a gold-fish-bowl and micromanaged at an incredible level. So, maybe their success with Emotional Intelligence will be more noticeable than it would be with other leaders.

And don’t underestimate how much it matters in golf … in your success on the scorecard … and your success as being a desirable playing companion.

Cheers,

Tom Abts

GM/Head Golf Professional

Greetings Golfers,

I’m writing this from the PGA Show in Orlando. I love the PGA Show as much as anyone (probably more). I get to spend 3 or 4 days seeing the latest in

 golf clubs and golf clothing.
And, everything from cigars to golf carts to range pickers to tee time software … and the latest crazy gadgets and inventions.

But, what I really love is seeing the other people in the golf business. Most of them are really into it. Probably the most intense and passionate are the golf swing instructors … they are on a pursuit of the truth. The arguments about the golf swing are about as intense as our political arguments today in America.

Tuesday evening had a forum of some gurus of the golf swing world. I’m sure most of you know who Brandel Chamblee is of the Golf Channel. He’s become well known as a bright anaylist … and a brash, opinionated guy. I’ve always gotten a kick out of him … but, I’ve got friends and family who can’t stand him. I don’t think they object to his ideas as much as they don’t like his manner … they think he’s arrogant and brash. And that’s their opinion. I love opinions. That’s why I get a kick out of Chamblee. But, not everyone believes in the freedom of speech. They say they do … but, not really. They want to shut down people who have opinions they don’t like. Obviously, if you find someone rudely opinionated … you don’t have to hang around them. However, they do have a right to voice their opinions in debates, forums, or the press.

I heard that about 30 golf instructors wanted to come and disrupt Chamblee’s presentation at Tueday’s forum … but, weren’t allowed in. If they were planning on causing a riot and not letting Chamblee speak … that’s not right. But, if they just wanted to debate him, I believe they should have had that opportunity.

Well, after Chamblee gave his talk, he was in the lobby talking with the guys that invited me to the forum. So, of course we got into talking about the golf swing. Here’s a link of your’s truly showing Chamblee some drills that I think are vital for beginning golfers. Too often, golf instructors are only interested in what’s the best technique for the best players in the world. There is not nearly enough information about what beginning golfers need to learn … and how the golf swing progresses and evolves. Most golfers are totally confused about the golf swing. And too many golf instructors are too obsessed with their idea of the perfect swing … to the detriment of what most people need to understand so that they can practice simple drills and become better players.

And maybe we’re having the same problems in political discourse in America. Of course people are going to have different ideas. That’s healthy. But it’s not healthy if people are not allowed to express their differing opinions. The pursuit of the truth is worth the price.

Greetings Golfers,

I’m writing this from South Carolina. Don’t be jealous … MN might be warmer today than SC.

So, since Minnesota has very little snow and is enjoying a heat wave … we may have an early Spring. That means golf is right around the corner. And that means you need to be golf ready.

Am I golf ready because I’ve been Down South? Hardly. We’ve had terrible weather … actually have had snow and ice. And, I got that flu over Christmas and it never left my body … maybe it’s a return of the Black Plague.

Anyway, my game is hardly razor sharp. So, I’m going to start with the basics … this what I’m going to work on, maybe you should too.

First off is my stance. I always need to work on my stance. It can get too wide and too bent over. My natural instinct is to set my hands too low. Because I’m a hands player, this feels good, but it leads to just lifting up the club instead of making a good turn on the backswing. The too wide of stance can lead to making too big of weight shifts and not enough turning during my swing. I need to play a lot to overcome those faults that a bad stance puts into motion.

Next is my grip. My left hand can get too weak (hand turned left) and my right hand can get too strong (hand turned right). They don’t really balance each other out – my clubface gets too closed and I hit hooks.

Next is my backswing. Picking up the club is not good .. I need to swing it back and make a turn. So, I focus on going back low and slow. And, as you already know, I need to make a good turn on my backswing … I try to get my left shoulder under my chin. Hogan actually wore out his shirts where his left shoulder rubbed against his chin.

Next is the downswing. I practice pulling the club down with my left hand as I shift my weight onto my left foot. This is a good drill. A very good drill to get you to swing at the ball from the inside … and not come over the top.

Next, swing through into the finish and hold your follow through. In fact, pose … it sounds obnoxious, but if you can hold your follow through you’ve completed a balanced golf swing. Congratulations!

Better get started … we may be open soon!

Skol,

Tom Abts

GM/Head Golf Professional