Greetings Golfers,

Yes – the Ryder Cup has started. Were you up at 1am to watch the opening tee shot? After the opening round, the USA is leading 2.5 to 1.5 for Europe.

The USA dominated the Ryder Cup since it began in 1927 – when it was the USA vs Great Britain. But when it changed to the USA vs Europe in 1979 … the results also changed. Europe has won 7 of the last 9 Ryder Cups.

The big win for the USA during that stretch was in 1999. Though the USA was on home turf at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts … they were getting blown out after the second day. The night before the final day – almost magically – USA Captain Ben Crenshaw predicted a USA victory. Crenshaw’s prediction seemed as ridiculous as Joe Namath’s “guarantee” before the 1969 Super Bowl.

But Crenshaw was right – the USA won 14.5 to 13.5. And Justin Leonard was the hero when he made a monster putt to beat Jose Maria Olazabal.

What’s happened to Justin Leonard? I first saw him in 1993 at the Walker Cup here in Minnesota at Interlachen CC. The USA won that Walker Cup with Minnesota boys Tim Herron and John Harris leading the way. Justin Leonard was only in college, but already a US Amateur champ and headed for the PGA Tour. He came out hot and won the US Open in 1997 at only 25 years of age. And then Leonard had some tough finishes while leading some Majors. It can be a cruel game.

But maybe the young guys have the magic. The USA hopes so – Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed and Ricky Fowler are all under 25.

This might be worth waking up at 1am to see.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

Scotland had two historic votes yesterday. One was close and the other wasn’t.

The members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews voted by 85% to admit women members. And the citizens of Scotland voted 55% to remain subjects of Great Britain.

I wonder what Mary Queen of Scots (Bloody Mary) would have thought of these two votes. In 1567, she was seen playing golf shortly after the death of her husband… at St. Andrews Golf Club.

The Scots are known for being feisty, independent people – male and female. Golf is a game for feisty, independent people. I’m not surprised by the St. Andrews vote. But I am surprised by the vote for Scottish independence.

I’ll admit that I like to imbibe in a little whiskey when I play golf – Scotch, Irish, or Kentucky whiskey. But this weekend I’ll change to a Bloody Mary… in honor of the Scots – especially Mary Queen of Scots.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

The other day – Sept. 10 – Arnold Palmer turned 85 years old. And he’s still cool.

Not only did Arnie make golf big time – he made sports big time. At least money-wise for the players. Arnie and Mark McCormick were the guys to come up with the sports agent concept. And Arnie was the perfect guy to represent products and companies. He was handsome – but not pretty. He was stylish with his alpaca sweaters and pink shirts – but still masculine. He was confident – but not arrogant. He was charming – but not phony. Wow. Men admired him and women loved him.

And he was a great golfer. His swing was crazy – it drove Hogan nuts. But he kept the face square through the ball and could play a lot of shots. He had great hands – strong hands and yet had a lot of feel – and for awhile he was a great putter. And he played balls-to-the wall golf – it was so aggressive that it was mesmerizing.

Arnie made the PGA Tour what is. Arnie made the Senior Tour viable – it would have never happened without him. He won over 60 PGA tournaments. He designed over 200 golf courses. And … the half lemonade/half iced tea drink is known as an Arnold Palmer.

But not only is Arnie cool – Arnie is warm … that’s why he’s so special. You can feel it. Years ago at the Masters, a buddy of mine was repping Arnie’s golf clubs and wanted me to meet him. I said no (I’m not into meeting celebrities). But my buddy insisted, so I went over. Arnie looked at me while we talked – he didn’t look around for someone more important. We talked about how we both liked to put leather wrap grips on our clubs. He was very human – he was very warm.

How many people are very cool and very warm? Well, Arnold Palmer is. Hope he had a happy birthday.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Greetings Golfers,

The other day while my wife was walking our dog, 3 dogs ran out into the street and attacked our dog. My wife helped Harvey fight off the dogs until the neighbors came and called off their dogs.

Shortly after, my wife calmly confronted these “neighbors” and they responded with hostility. They didn’t apologize – they got mad at her.

Too often, when people are in the wrong and called out for it… they become vicious and self-righteous when called out on it.

On Labor Day, we had some ridiculously slow golfers whom I politely asked to speed up. They got angry – somehow I was the bad guy because they had jammed up the whole golf course.

Then the other night, one of our regular golfers decided to give me some advice. Though we are not a private country club, he wanted the services of an expensive private club… and especially wanted our staff to call him “Mister”. When I told him that he was out of line – especially about the “Mister” thing – he became angry and hostile… just like my psycho neighbors, and just like the slow golfers.

Is our society becoming more narcissistic? Is modern life making people crazy? I thought spoiled children only acted like this … these people are all adults (well, age-wise).

People of an entitlement attitude can never say “thank you” or “I’m sorry”.

Your comments and advice will be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com