Greetings Golfers,

Have you been to a restaurant that has everything on the menu? Italian, Chinese, Mexican, ribs, seafood, French, burgers, sushi, wraps … you know what I mean. They probably once had an identity, but started to lose money and then thought they could be successful by being everything to everyone. Or, maybe they never had a clear vision and just kept adding to their menu in the hope that something might work.

More seldom means better. Better is better. Focus usually leads to better.

Panic seldom leads to good decision making. Usually when you’re in panic mode your mind is racing. Did you see Jon Rahm hit it into the water on #11 on Sunday at The Player’s Championship. You know that his head was spinning. Years ago, Tom Weiskopf said that one sign of choking is making bad decisions.

Panic leads to poor decisions in everything – not just sports. The restaurant that’s losing money and in panic mode is not helping things by overly expanding their menu. The golf course that is losing money and trying to be everything to everyone will end up like Jon Rahm hitting it in the water. Golf has a lot of niches and the secret to success is to know your niche.

Does that mean being different just to be different? Not at all – it means knowing who you are. Remember when Coca-Cola abandoned Coke Classic? They almost folded.  There will always be a market for classic things – especially if what made them classic is continued. Too often, what made a product classic was cheapened because the company thought that the name was enough to fool the public.

I’m all for options. But, I’m also for integrity and quality. And I think most people are too. They may not want the same things … but they don’t want junk.

That famous saying “Know thyself” … also applies to business.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub

Greetings Golfers,

Yesterday was the opening round of the Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass. You know, the course with the island green. The wife of the course architect  is the one who came up with the idea. Alice Dye helped Pete with many projects … but this was her claim-to-fame.

Is it a bucket-list golf course? Probably. But not a must. Most of us have limited time and money, so we have to prioritize. It’s fun to play, and the 17th green is an “experience”.

Some people live for “experiences” … even if they’re not so good. For example, about 25 years ago I played Sawgrass as a single. They paired me up with 2 other single players … ironically, both were from Chicago. I knew that I was off to an odd day when after introducing myself, one of the guys asked if I knew a girl he went to college with from Minnesota – my wife. Seriously.

However, it got even weirder. The other guy told me that he was a sales rep and always played Sawgrass when he was in the area. He must of been successful at sales because it was a pretty expensive round of golf – and I don’t mean just the green fee. He opened the jacket compartment of his golf bag and showed me that it was full of golf balls. You can’t believe how many golf balls were in there. Yet, it wasn’t enough. He refilled after 9 holes. Seriously.

Is it that difficult of a golf course? No. In fact if you’re pretty straight, you’ll have no problem. We played off the standard tees – not the back tees. I’m sure it’s a different course from back there. But, we played the 17th hole – the island green – from the back tees. It wasn’t windy and really wasn’t that scary. Two of us hit the green … I think you know who didn’t.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub

Greetings Golfers,

Everybody is in search of the perfect swing. I get it. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time and energy and thought about the perfect golf swing.

However, a good golf swing can hit a lot of different golf shots. That’s more important than a “perfect” swing. And, a swing that can hit a lot of different shots can usually fix itself.

What do I mean? Well, most people slice or fade the golf ball. There’s nothing wrong with that. Fading is a necessary golf shot. But, if that’s your only shot, you have a problem. You need to be able to hook or draw the golf ball also.

You really need to learn to hit 9 golf shots:

High draw or hook
Medium height draw or hook
Low draw or hook

High straight shot
Medium height straight shot
Low straight shot

High slice or fade
Medium height slice or fade
Low slice or fade

Think about it. If you can hit each of those 9 shots … your golf swing works. And works very well. It might not be pretty. It might not be classic. It might not be modern. But, it works.

Now, I can just hear people saying: “But, I don’t want to learn those shots … I just want to hit it straight.” That’s how you learn to hit it straight. If you can slice it and hook it … you can work your swing into the middle so you can hit it straight. Same thing with hitting it high and low.

Learn how to make the ball spin. It is the same science as ping pong. Giving the ping pong ball top-spin or cut-spin is the same action as a golf club doing hook-spin or slice-spin.

Also, it’s fun. This is how you’ll really understand the golf swing. You need to learn how to control the face of the golf club and the path of the swing. Then different shots make sense.

Maybe you’ll master them all and play golf as a master shotmaker. Or, maybe you’ll find the shot you’re most comfortable with and play it most of the time … and only hit the other shots when you need to.

Or maybe … you’ll learn the secret to the perfect swing … if you do … please let me know!

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub