Greetings Golfers,

It’s almost November – this has been the quickest year of my life. They say time goes faster as you get older … I must be getting really old!

Sunday night we’ll close the golf course for the season. We always close by November 1stbecause we need to put the course to bed before the snows come. In 1991 we tried to stay open as late as possible, and then we got hit by the Halloween Blizzard. Because we hadn’t put the course to bed, we had to pay the price for it in the spring. Even if we don’t get an early blizzard, normal wear and tear to the course doesn’t heal. The bottom line is we close because we want to protect our beautifully maintained golf course.

This year we did open early – in fact we opened in mid-March. But it immediately snowed and we basically had the same opening we have every year in early April.

The weather was pretty typical until mid-summer. But, shortly after the 4th of July to the middle of September, it seemed to never stop raining. That type of rain is a nightmare for a golf course superintendent. Barry Provo did an amazing job keeping the course playable. And in August when we had constant 90 degree temperatures … our golf course was very vulnerable to disease. Barry kept us healthy throughout a lengthy, dangerous time. I can’t sing his praises enough.

All of our staff did an outstanding job and I’d like thank every one of them: Dan Abts, Doug Backstrom, Bill Bailey, Kelsey Bell, Paul Bickel, Jack Braaten, Heidi Breen, Jerry Brown, Scott Clark, Jim Clinite, Gordon Davis, Larry Dobson, Emma Duncan, Darryl Egertson, Bob Elfering, Dick Eller, Don Ellwood, Tyler Erickson, Sam Esse, Shelly Esse, Ray Falls, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bonnie Fredrickson, Carolyn Gaskill, Jim Gibson, Calvin Greene, Anna Hanson, Gabriela Heise, John Herrmann, Paul Hook, Ashley Hughes, Sonny Jurgens, Morgan Kelsy, Willie Kelzer, Todd Knutson, Madison Koebnick, Ray Kutz, Abby Kuzara, Kasey Liebeg, Kevin Loney, Stephanie Loney, Bob MacKinnon, Amanda Malo, Fred McGraw, Lori Money, Lee Moran, Mikalea Meadows, Emma Melander, Beth Melander, Sarah Menzuber, Stephanie Meuwissen, Colton Motschenbacher, Dennis Miller, Kayla Mork, Maddie Mork, Don Nelson, Taylor Nelson, Kristi Notvedt, Nick Peters, Dan Peterson, Gary Peterson, Gary Plummer, Sophia Priem, Barry Provo, John Rochford, Jacob Rollin, Erin Schliesman, Jim Schmieg, Todd Schlinder, Don Schneider, Paul Schullo, Conor Schwartz, Ron Solheim, Roger Swanson, Michelle Tentis, Morgan Tentis, John Thompson, Mike Thompson, Jim Werre, Tom Wellhausen, Kristi Williamson.

Our staff has been recognized for their exceptional efforts by the readers of TEE TIME magazine. In their annual “Readers Poll” they rated Deer Run GC in the top 5 in seven categories: “Best Golf Experience”, “Best Course Condition”, “Best Greens”, “Best Clubhouse”, “Best Pro Shop”, “Best Course to Host an Event” … and “Best Hospitality” for the 5th year in a row!

And … the Midwest Golf Course Owners Association awarded Deer Run GC their 2016 Golf Course of the Year.

Not only for Deer Run GC – but for golf in Minnesota – 2016 was a great year. The Ryder Cup hosted by Hazeltine National was a spectacular event. The Americans pulled off a much needed victory … and the weather was perfect. On stage in front of the whole world, Minnesota golf looked as good as it gets.

It was a pretty good year – no wonder it went so fast.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Have you been watching the baseball playoffs? It’s been good baseball … and smart baseball. The good managers seem to excel in the playoffs – what a shock.

Sort of like the Vikings. They finally have a good head coach … and surprise, surprise … they’re winning.

But as much as I’m enjoying the playoffs, the season is too long. If the World Series is between Cleveland and Chicago … well, I hope they don’t have to play in snow. All professional sports seasons have become too long. The NHL finishes their playoffs in the summer. That’s ridiculous. I’m a fan, but more is not always better. They’re just being greedy.

The PGA Tour should be done for the year. But now, they’re starting the new season before the New Year. How does that make sense?

Youth sports have also become year-round seasons. They want kids to fully commit to one sport by age 10. That’s also ridiculous.

I’ve heard that the Vikings new quarterback – Sam Bradford – was a superstar basketball player, superstar hockey player, and could have been a PGA Tour golfer. Obviously, he’s a freak athlete. But, I think playing all of those sports helped him become a better athlete and a better football player than if he’d only played football as a kid.

It’s the same with developing your brain. What if a kid decided at age 10 that he was only going to do math?

I think we’re becoming too specialized at the expense of being well-rounded. And maybe by becoming too specialized we’ve lost what was considered common-sense. Common-sense requires more than a narrow perspective … it requires a fundamental sense of how the world works – not just a specialized area.

The best coaches have common-sense. Too often coaches get so hung up on the X’s and O’s that they can’t see the obvious. I think the Cubs and Indians have the best managers in baseball – should be a great World Series. And Mike Zimmer could be one of the best coaches in the NFL. I’d love to see the Vikings and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. How good would that be?

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Tiger Woods is back in the news. He hasn’t played a PGA Tour event in 14 months … and counting. He’d agreed to play in this week’s Safeway Open, but withdrew on Monday. Usually Friday is the last day to withdraw … but something over the weekend must have convinced Woods to withdraw.

We know he’s had back problems – did they flare up? Or did his chipping yips reappear?

I think the Ryder Cup rekindled his competitive juices … and he committed to play. But, reality probably hit last weekend and he didn’t want to look foolish on a pretty big stage.

This next year is going to be when we find out who Eldrick Woods really is. I think life is all about overcoming. Did Woods make impressive comebacks during golf tournaments? Yes. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Tiger has been Tiger Woods since he was 2 years old on the Mike Douglas Show.

Success is relative. A natural athlete who is captain of his high school team is less impressive than the handicapped kid who becomes a decent athlete.

Most of us love the first “Rocky” movie. In fact, most good movies have the climatic scene where the hero has to decide to whether to give up or overcome. Think of “Gone With the Wind”.

But, some people think those critical decisions are cornball. They say we don’t really have those choices – that we are victims of our circumstances and that society is responsible for our lives. In fact, when I was in high school, we saw a Bob Richards/Wheaties film about Glen Cunningham. As a boy, Cunningham’s legs were burned up in a fire and they said he would never walk again. Wrong. Through sheer will power and determination, Cunningham not only walked, but set the world record for the mile run in 1934. My teacher said that the film was an example of capitalistic propaganda to keep people from revolting against an unfair society. Wow … talk about propaganda – her Marxist ideology was all about brainwashing.

I’ll admit it – I’m a cornball. I believe in the power of the will and love stories of the human spirit overcoming the odds. That’s the main reason I love sports.

Let’s see if Tiger Woods can come back. I always admired his skills and accomplishments. But I never thought he was a hero. If he can come back and overcome his yips – even if he doesn’t win again – he’ll be a hero in my book.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Have you had time to process the Ryder Cup? Most people would say it was a huge success – not only for the USA and Hazeltine – but for the game of golf.

Maybe some purists are mad. Too much yelling, too much drinking, too many birdies, too much fist pumping. Well, golf doesn’t have to have the atmosphere of a funeral. Golf can and should be joyful.

Speaking of funerals – I hope you saw Arnie’s Public Memorial Service on Tuesday. Though it was reserved and respectful, it was joyful. Arnie’s life was joyful … and Arnie tried to bring joy to others … that’s why he was so special. I think Arnie would have loved this Ryder Cup – especially that moment on hole #8 when Patrick Reed made a putt right after Rory and they back slapped each other as they walked to #9. That was as good as it gets.

Justin Rose complained that the course was set up like a Pro-Am. Do you think we would have seen that excitement if guys were winning holes with bogeys? Thank God they cut down the rough and put the pins in easy places – let those guys light it up. The weather was perfect – warm but not hot – and almost no wind. Hazeltine can be a beast – even for those guys. Yet, if you let the best in the world have good scoring conditions, they’ll tear apart a beast like Hazeltine … look at the Phil-Sergio match – they made 19 birdies and each shot 63. Would Justin Rose rather that each guy shot 75 and sometimes won holes with bogeys?

There is a time and place for that type of golf – the US Open. That’s when par is a great score and it’s 4 rounds of grinding. I love that too. But, match play is great fun and needs to be less of a grind and more of a party. Birdies and eagles are more uplifting than bogeys and double bogeys.

This Ryder Cup was great for golf. It will be talked about for many years and may even become a legend. It was the perfect tribute to Arnold Palmer. What a week.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Next week at this time the 41st Ryder Cup will be in full swing at Hazeltine National.

I’m not a big lover of crowds or hype … but I’m looking forward to seeing it live and in person. It’s always fun to see the best in the world … and these guys are the best.
Bubba Watson is ranked 7th in the world and may not be Davis Love’s final pick. Bubba’s a weird cat. I’m not sure team golf is his forte. And that’s what Love has to decide – can Bubba play team golf?

Patrick Reed is another odd duck – and not well liked. But he seems to thrive in team golf. He was a great college player and has played well in the Ryder Cup.

I’d probably pick Justin Thomas. He just seems like a Ryder Cup guy.

They’ve been talking about the need for chemistry, and I would agree. The European teams always seem to be having fun and enjoying the Ryder Cup. The American teams always seem uptight and freaked out … except in 2008 when America had goofballs like Bo Weekly … and they won!

Well, I hope you’re going. For most of us, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Next week’s blog will be a Ryder Cup battle of words between Marty Lass and yours truly. Marty is the venerable PGA Head Pro at Edina CC and will be representing the European team.

I’ll need luck to hold my own with Marty – team USA will probably need a little luck too.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Yesterday, a former baseball player complained to me about how his baseball swing screwed up his golf swing. A few hours later, a former tennis player complained to me about how her tennis strokes screwed up her golf swing.

Actually, all 3 swings/strokes have the same fundamentals.

The biggest problem that people have with all 3 swings is that they over use their shoulders. The shoulder move feels strong – bit it’s too much of a hit and not enough of a swing. And that is a big problem.

The shoulder move in tennis is a chop and not a stroke. A good tennis stroke is a topspin shot – the player starts the stroke from knee height and swings up on the ball while rotating the wrists.

Same with the golf swing. The bad swing is an over-the-top chop at the ball – a shoulder swing. The good golf swing is from in-to-out … and feels like a topspin tennis stroke with the hands rotating the club which produces hook spin.

The bad baseball swing is a shoulder move that pulls the ball left and hits down on the ball and produces pop-ups. The good baseball swing moves up and the hands rotate through the swing.

In all 3 sports, the good swing is from low-to-high, the legs shift the weight to the front foot while the hips turn, and the upper body stays back.

Ted Williams did it correctly … Ben Hogan studied and learned a lot from Ted’s baseball swing. Bjorn Borg’s topspin tennis stroke is a helpful image too.

A good swing is a good swing – whether it’s golf, baseball, or tennis.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Here’s the American Dictionary’s definition of the Law of Diminishing Returns: “The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved.”

Ok … in my words it means that “you can achieve a certain level with a certain amount of effort.” And that after a certain point, it’s almost wasted effort.

That’s difficult for people to swallow. And, for a lot of reasons. But, that is what real efficiency is all about.

Let’s talk about this … it’s at the heart of taking control of your life. The basic reality of life is that we have limited time. We need to weigh how much time and effort is worth a goal. It’s like determining how much money something is worth. Obviously if you have limitless money you can buy anything you want. If you have limitless time you can try to achieve anything you want.

Did you ever see the movie GROUNDHOG DAY? Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day over and over. After a while, he realizes that he can learn a lot of skills because he has limitless time … so he learns piano, ice sculpting, languages, etc. It’s like he has limitless money – he has limitless time.

Well, we don’t have that luxury of limitless time. Being a boss is tricky because employees need to maximize their time – you need to give them enough freedom to use their time wisely, and hope that they won’t take advantage of you and misuse their freedom.

I’ve learned that good employees respond well to freedom – that they flourish with the opportunity to manage their time. Lousy employees take advantage of freedom and misuse their time … I prefer to let bad employees hang themselves.

This philosophy of mine flies in the face of too many bosses, coaches, cultures, etc.

Micro-management loves to point out the little problems … they always miss the big picture and the main point. Their nit-picking leads to poor leadership – leaders who are afraid to loosen the reins for fear that any minor problem will be used against them … so it all becomes management by Cover Your Ass.

Years ago I had a young Asst. Pro who hit balls 40 hours a week at the range and gave very complicated lessons. I tried to explain to him my theory of the maintenance free golf swing – that people don’t have 40 hours a week to work on their golf swing. He didn’t even sort of get what I was talking about … but … years later he sent me an email that he teaches the maintenance free golf swing … wow! stuff like that gives me hope.

People need freedom to manage their time. Sounds obvious, but when bosses, family, etc expect perfection …well, we don’t have enough time to live and to be well-rounded. The more we live in a specialized, perfectionist society, the more we’ll have serious human personality problems. Business has to realize that those problems are not efficient, that their crazy insistence on control is actually not cost-effective. All of this comes down to a lack of freedom and a lack of understanding the Law of Diminishing Returns.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

In 1988, one of the greatest women golfers – Carol Mann – went to a dinner to honor the 100 greatest golfers. Ben Hogan gave a talk that was never released until Carol Mann posted this the other day. Enjoy.
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Here is the secret message from Ben Hogan – something that does not appear in anything he previously wrote or spoke about:

100 Heroes of 100 Years of American Golf New York City June, 1988
The following is a transcript of part of Ben Hogan’s remarks that evening. He held up the small dinner program cover which, in miniature, looked like Harry Vardon, and he said:

“Look at Harry Vardon.  I want to critique what I see here and there is a little bit of Harry Vardon’s swing in every good player that I have ever seen in my life. Let’s start down at the feet. I’m not here to give a golf lesson, but I’m telling you what I see in people’s swings and what will work and what won’t work.  Look at his feet. His left toe is pointed out; it isn’t in, it’s pointed out. And his right toe is pointed in; it isn’t pointed out. And even though he’s taken a swing and he’s relaxed his finish just a little bit, he has his lower body turned to the left. That’s the direction that he’s going and that’s the direction that his feet are in. he wants to go – he’s a right-handed golfer, as a matter of fact – and he wants to go in that direction. Now he wants to have all of his power in that direction.  He doesn’t want it to back up on him. He’s putting his body in a position and his hands and his arms to hit the ball straight and far. You’ll notice his finish with his left elbow down, even though the finish is relaxed somewhat. Now, in order for him to get there, he must rotate the left arm as he comes through and the left elbow will be down. If you don’t rotate it, it will be out here. Now the physics book tells us that in order to hit a propellant far and straight, you must have greater speed after you hit the propellant than before you hit it, or at contact with the propellant. Now, relating to a golf swing, you must have greater speed beyond the swing beyond the hit, than you did when you hit it. And the physics book tells us that it will go straighter and farther. Well, I’ve tried that, and it works. Another thing, I want you to rotate your left arm coming through, and you can even start it back up here if you want to because you can’t have the speed beyond the ball unless your elbow is turned – your arm, your left arm, is turned. You will hit a straighter ball and it will go farther. If it doesn’t we’ll sue the physics book … just think about and practice things that have been laid down for this hundred years …this fellow Vardon spans over 200 years… he played in the 1900’s and the 1800’s.”

—————————————–
Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

What’s fun about writing a weekly blog is that it’s a way to keep in touch with people, but I don’t always have the room to really let it rip.

So – you’ve been warned. I’m going try to put into words an idea that is fundamental to how I see the world. Hopefully it will make sense and not be boring.

In his book “Tragedy and Hope”, Carroll Quigley says that people are a balance of three qualities: body, intuition, and rationality. He believes a healthy person has those qualities in balance, and that a healthy society also has those in balance.

I agree with Quigley. Think about golf in that context. You need the body to make the swing, and the rationality to know the yardage and to decide what to do, but you also need the intuition to “feel the shot. And very often you need the intuition to help you decide what to do – that gut instinct that tells you what is needed or what you’re capable of.

Unfortunately, I believe that we have almost snuffed out that intuitive quality. As we’ve become modern, we believe that rationality is the only form of intelligence – anything else is superstitious.

Probably the world’s foremost Biologist – Rupert Sheldrake – has been ridiculed for his ideas about intuition.

Science has become dominated by the need to quantify and measure everything. But science cannot explain everything. Subjects such as language and the origin of life are still unexplained.

Don’t get me wrong – I am not anti-science. And I am not anti-rationality. And I am not anti-quantifying. But, I do believe that we are out of balance.

The Wilson Golf Company invented the “Iron Byron” to test golf clubs. It was a great invention. But, Iron Byron became the model for golf instruction. People are not machines. And machines don’t have hands. I believe that hands are the key to hitting a golf ball. But modern instruction tries to take the hands out of the golf swing. Minnesota has so many good golfers because Minnesota has so many hockey players. Hockey players have highly trained hands – they seldom struggle with golf.

But golf courses are struggling financially. Why? Because courses are not trying to figure out the motivation to play golf. Golf operators need to have a feel of their operation and need to know how to appeal to why people want to play golf. Instead, they try to operate the golf course off of spread sheets. Accounting is valuable. But accounting is after the fact. Moving the numbers around on the Balance Sheet and then trying to use that as the formula to make a business successful is missing the point. Knowing by intuition what the customer wants is the key to prosperity. If that isn’t at the heart of a business – you have no business. Trying to trick people by bait-and-switch or just selling price are the only options if the business doesn’t really cater to what people want.

At my annual Ranger/Starter Meeting, I always harp on the 3 C’s – Courtesy, Communication, and Commonsense.
Some of the guys are baffled. They want a rule book. They have shut off their intuition to such an extent that they can’t function in my culture of the 3 C’s.

Back to the golf swing. I make our junior golfers learn how to hit every club in the bag to land at our 100 yard marker. Then with each club they need to turn it left, and right, and straight to the 100 yard marker. Then they’re ready to play golf.

Obviously I don’t want our junior golfers to be robots. And I don’t want our Rangers and Starters to be robots. Did you ever see the movie 2001? It’s about the advancement of humanity from the Ape Man all the way to Modern Man exploring the universe in space ships. The astronauts wind up in a power struggle with the computer H.A.L.

Are we headed for a power struggle with robots or computers? I doubt it. But the fact that we are minimizing our total humanity to try to be like robots or computers is hard for me to accept. Golf…and life…need all three qualities – body, intuition, and rationality – to be played well and enjoyed. Don’t stifle your intuition.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I always hear people talk about course management – but I seldom see any good course management when I play with different players.

Most of the players I see are too worried about their golf swing instead of actually playing the game of golf. And, they play golf as if they’re a Tour player who needs to birdie every hole. The combination is not good.

Last week a young man came up to my office to tell me he shot 90. If you saw him at the range, you’d think he’d shoot 70. But, he was proud of his 90 – I was shocked, I figured it was a bad score for him. So we talked about course management.

I told him that I very seldom shoot at the pins when playing Deer Run – that I usually play to the safe side of the green. For example: short left on #1, short left on #5, long right on #7, short left on #10, short right on #12, long left on #14, long left on #15, and the middle of the green on #17. And on the par 5 holes, I play to the fat side of the green no matter where the pin is – even if I’m only hitting a sand wedge.

He looked at me as if I was from Mars.

The first priority to course management is to put the ball in play off of the tee. Sounds obvious, but people are too obsessed with distance. Tee shots in the woods or out-of-bounds are not conducive to good scoring. Obviously it’s better to be hitting a 7 iron approach shot than a fairway wood – but not if the longer tee shot is inconsistent.

A consistent tee shot and good chipping will beat most golfers. Then mix in smart course management and you’ve got a good player.

Tour players have to go low. They’re like a race car driver who has to keep his foot on the gas. Amateur golfers should not imitate Tour players … or they will crash and burn.

Some people would rather go for it every shot – they have fun and don’t care about their score.  But, if you view golf as a game and not as a driving range … I recommend developing a consistent tee shot and a good short game combined with smart course management.

Cheers,

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