Greetings Golfers,

Was talking the other day with one of our Starters. He’s a very insightful fellow, and I really enjoy our chats. We were talking about running the golf operation and trying to focus on doing the right thing. As he said so well “It may be simple, but it’s not easy”. Yes.

Trying to do the right thing is seldom easy. Here’s a great example. While driving to the golf course the other day, my dog Harvey was in the back seat. And, a squirrel ran out in front of my car and started going back & forth in the road … so I had to hit the brakes harder than I wanted to because I didn’t have a chance to swerve around a freaking out squirrel. Because I hit the brakes so hard, Harvey went flying around the backseat. I’m sure that Harvey thought I was being a jerk. But, I was doing what I had to do, so that I wouldn’t run over the squirrel (I didn’t).

This happens to me all the time at the golf course. The other day a guy complained that his round was slow. I asked how long did it take – he said “Four hours”. I replied that is not slow. He countered that he had to wait a lot. So I said that waiting doesn’t mean slow. We want four hour rounds. Four hours is fair. He might want to play in three hours, but he doesn’t have the right to make everyone else play in three hours. Same with the guy who wants to play in five hours. He doesn’t have the right to back up the golf course. To those guys, I’m being a jerk. No, I’m trying not to run over the squirrel … I’m trying to do the right thing.

In fact, the other day, I had to kick out a slow 4some. They were on the 7th hole and already had the course backed up to the first tee box. They thought letting people play through would solve the problem. Wrong.

It may be simple … but it’s not easy.

Cheers,

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