Greetings Golfers,

If you’re in Minnesota … you aren’t playing golf. At least not on a golf course.

Besides playing, there are other ways to get your golf fix if you’re cooped-up indoors: movies and books.

Here’s a pretty standard list of good golf movies. Just because it’s pretty typical doesn’t mean it’s a bad list. You’ve probably seen most of them … but they’re all fun to watch again. Here they are – no review or comments:

• “The Greatest Game Ever Played”
• “The Caddy”
• “The Legend of Bagger Vance”
• “Follow the Sun”
• “Caddyshack”
• “Dead Solid Perfect”
• “Seven Days in Utopia”
• “Happy Gilmore”
• “Bobby Jones: The Perfect Stroke”
• “Pat & Mike”
• “Tin Cup”
• “Tommy’s Honor”
• “Miracle on the 17th Green”

It’s certainly not an all encompassing list … but it’s a pretty good variety of dramatic, funny, biographical, historic, and magical.

Speaking of magical … my list of golf books starts off with a magical, mystical look at golf:

• “Golf in the Kingdom”
• “The Match”
• “A Good Walk Spoiled”
• “A Course Called Ireland”
• “The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate”
• “Down the Fairway”
• “Doctor Golf”
• “Who’s Your Caddy”
• “The Complete Golfer”
• “Final Rounds”
• “Scotland’s Gift – Golf”
• “Golf Between Two Wars”

Hopefully, you can get some fresh air and exercise … even without playing golf. And while you’re indoors … you’ll have books and movies to keep your golf juices flowing.

Take care,

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,

What a week!

Obviously, everyone and every business has to be careful and smart.

Golf courses are open in some states … and closed in others. Not to be self-serving, but I could see golf clubs close their clubhouses, yet keep their courses open. It would be easy to maintain a safe distance while playing golf … and keeping the flagstick in the hole and giving 3 foot putts would eliminate most of the risk. Courses could disinfect the carts and people could ride solo or walk. Set-up payment at a table outside … and another table for canned beverages, etc.

People need something to do … and people need fresh air. Golf could be a very good thing during this crisis.

And golf is a good thing, not just during a crisis. My favorite golf course architect – Alister MacKenzie – was a former doctor. MacKenzie claimed that he did more good for people as a golf course architect than as a doctor.

Here’s a quote from the great man “One of the reasons why I, ‘a medical man’ decided to give up medicine was a firm conviction of the extraordinary influence on health of pleasurable excitement, especially combined with fresh air and exercise. How frequently have I, with great difficulty, persuaded patients who were never off my doorsteps to take up golf, and how rarely, if ever, I have seen them in my consulting room again.”

These are not normal times. We all need to be cautious and considerate and aware of what is going on.

Take care,

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,

Bryson DeChambeau gained a bunch of weight over the Winter and is driving the ball 18 yards farther than last year. I also gained a bunch of weight over the Winter and am driving it 1/2 a yard farther than last year. I guess Bryson was also lifting weights and adding muscle. I rested on the couch and added much needed padding instead.

However, DeChambeau is not a great player because of his girth … he has great control of the club with his hands. Like many Tour players, he’s a star at ping-pong. Seriously. He and Kuchar and Mickelson and most of those guys are wizards with a ping-pong paddle.

As you know, the key to success in ping-pong is controlling the spin of the ball. Basically, there are two types of spin: Topspin and underspin.

Same with golf. A hook is topspin … and a slice is underspin. And, it’s the same hand-action. Most golfers don’t think that they’re good enough to control the ball with spin. They are. Those same golfers probably think they’re good enough at ping-pong to control the spin. If you can do it at ping-pong … you can do at golf.

Think of your clubs as just ping-pong paddles with really long handles. Take your sand wedge and hit little chip shots with the ping-pong concept. Try to give it topspin and watch it roll out. Give it underspin and watch it go high and stop. Keep doing it until you feel confident you have control. Then start trying it with the rest of your clubs – especially your driver. The driver is made for the topspin/hook shot. You tee it up high … and then hit on the way up like a ping-pong shot. You’ll get rid of the slice forever.

Don’t worry about the mechanics of your golf swing. Learn to control the face of the golf club. It’s just a version of a ping-pong paddle.

As your reward … if you master how to control the ball with your golf club … you can then copy Bryson DeChambeau and gain weight (with no guilt) so you can hit it farther.

Sounds like the best of both worlds.

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,

How good is this weather? 64 on Sunday? Here in Minnesota?

Well, we deserve it. The past few years were brutal.

We normally have our annual Ranger-Starter meeting the last Saturday in March. Looks like we’ll have to move it up … because … we’re planning (hoping) to open the last week of March.

Every year, the theme of my big speech at the meeting is the three C’s:

• Courtesy
• Communication
• Common-sense

That’s Rangering and Starting in a nutshell. In fact, it’s what the service industry is all about.

Every morning I read the Daily Stoic – “Ancient Wisdom for Everyday Life”. This week is about the four main virtues of Stoicism:

• Wisdom
• Courage
• Temperance
• Justice

No matter how advanced as a society we get, we don’t become too evolved for the Stoic’s four main virtues. And, no matter how advanced our golf operation gets, we don’t become too evolved for the three C’s.

Life seems to always go back to the basics. Get the basics right and most things work pretty well.

Same with your golf swing. Now is the time to review the basics.

Hope to see you on the course … in March!

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