Greetings Golfer,

A couple of years ago, a golf magazine asked me to write about what keeps me up at night. Here’s what I wrote:

Anybody who runs a golf course knows what worrying at 3:00 o’clock in the morning feels like.

Years ago, Scott Fitzgerald wrote a short story called the CRACKUP, where he detailed his brutal late night self-destructive examinations of his life.

That’s not what I’m talking about (though I’m not saying that I deserve a pass), but what keeps me up at night are the details of running a golf course operation. I wake up worried about the phone call that I forgot to return; the Ranger who couldn’t find a substitute; that we’re getting too low on scorecards; that Monday’s Event needs a tent; the putter I promised to order for the Ladies’ League President; the financials that the bank requested; my monthly column needs to go in; a typo/wrong price on our website; will we get pythium because of the hot, humid weather?; the driving range picker isn’t working right; the fan in the kitchen is screeching; the scoreboard needs paint; the Club Championship needs to be rescheduled; the handicap roster list needs to be up to date; the Senior League shotgun needs to be changed to tee times; the parking lot needs to re-striped; the flower lady quit; the neighbor on hole #5 is running his sump-pump into our fairway; a new ad needs to go on the GPS;… the details never end and never stop nagging at me.

It’s funny, while the day goes on, I can handle the details pretty easily, but the big stuff really gets to me. I worry about where we’re going to be in five years, what’s the future of golf?, and where is this country headed?

The big issues don’t keep me up at night – it’s the never ending details that keep me from being well rested. But then I tell myself that someday I’ll have it wired… that’s the only way I can get back to sleep.

Cheers,

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