Greetings Golfers,

Golf – the game of Scottish shepherds. Whisky – the drink of Scottish shepherds. Whiskey – the drink of Irish shepherds. Did you see the difference in the spelling?

Whisky/ey is a Gaelic word – original to both the Scots and the Irish. To differentiate from Scottish whisky, the Irish added an e. And the Americans also added the e to their bourbon whiskey – except for Makers Mark bourbon, which refers to itself as whisky because of its Scottish heritage.

I’ll admit that I’m partial to all three forms of whiskey. And I’m pleased and surprised that whiskey has become so popular – especially bourbon. About seven years ago I went on a boys golf trip to Palm Springs. Our hotel had a pretty big bar – but had only one bottle of bourbon (Jim Beam) … I’m not kidding. And had only two bottles of Irish whiskey – Jameson (Catholic) and Bushmills (Protestant). The Scotch whisky selection was decent, but mostly blends like Dewars and Johnny Walker.

That’s all changed. The local town of Hopkins has a new liquor store that’s basically whiskeys and beers. They only have a smattering of wine and white booze (gin and vodka). The place is great – it has a tasting area and plays Irish music.

And restaurants and bars are finally getting it. In downtown Minneapolis, “The Butcher & The Boar” has an amazing selection of whiskeys – especially bourbons. And they make great “Old Fashioneds” and “Manhattans” – the two definitive bourbon cocktails.

But some bars have taken the craze to a bad place. A couple of years ago over the Holidays, our family stopped at new “hip” bar. I ordered an “Old Fashioned” and the bartender gave me a condescending lecture about what bourbon to order because they didn’t have Makers Mark. I’ve been drinking “Old Fashioneds” for longer than she’s been alive … pretentiousness is never cool or attractive.

But I love asking bartenders how they make drinks. In fact the best “Old Fashioned” I’ve ever had was made by a women bartender in Charleston (see – I’m not sexist). For her it was a work of art and she knew the intricate history of the drink.

But mostly, I just like to drink whiskey neat – no ice or mix … maybe a drop or two of water.

Remember that old Frank Sinatra song “Love and Marriage” … “go together like a horse and carriage”?

Well, golf and whisky/ey also go together like a horse and carriage. It might not rhyme, but its true.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I got quite a few responses to my email about letting the left arm bend – thanks, I always (usually) enjoy your responses.

One of the respondents said that next year is his year to break 80… I responded with “Work on your chipping”. That’s really the secret to scoring. I’ll take the good chipper over the long driver any day.

About 15 years ago, one of our Mens League members was really down on his luck. His wife had left him and he’d just been fired. He came to me and said that all he had left was golf and that he wanted to shoot in the 70s – he was a mid-80s player. He was about 50 and had gotten a pretty good severance package – so he said he’d take as many golf lessons as he needed.

Well, that first lesson was tough. He’d played a lot of golf for 35 years and had refined an exceptionally messed-up technique for a hitting a golf ball. So I told him that he could spend a lot of money on golf lessons … and that I couldn’t promise he’d break 80. But, if we were to focus on chipping, he would break 80 by Labor Day (this was in May).

The plan was that he would chip on the practice green behind our clubhouse for 1/2 an hour three nights a week. Well, he went crazy and practiced for 1 1/2 hours at a time at least five nights a week. You can’t believe how good he got at chipping.

Did it help his score? That same Summer – in a serious Mens League event – he shot a 1 under par 70. He hit zero greens in regulation. He got it up and down every hole except for the hole he chipped-in on.

The chipping also improved his ball striking – he had more feel and control of the golf club. Did his golf swing improve? No – it was still brutal.

We all want a good golf swing. I’m all for working on and improving your golf swing. But, if you really want to shoot lower scores … work on your chipping!
Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I didn’t send my usual Friday email last week because of the Holiday Weekend. So here it is on Tuesday:

Did you see Jordan Spieth shoot 63 in the last round to win the Australian Open? Rory McIlroy said that he couldn’t shoot 63 on that golf course.

I really like some of these young players. They’ve got great attitudes and old-school golf swings.

What’s old-school about Jordan Spieth’s golf swing? Well, he has a relaxed left arm. Or in other words – he lets his left arm bend on the backswing. Most of you have probably heard all of your golf life that a straight left arm is vital to a proper backswing. It’s not. A bent left arm is trouble at IMPACT … and that’s where the misunderstanding began.

People don’t always understand cause and effect – even golf instructors. Most golfers’ left arms break down at impact (known as a chicken-wing). So, to remedy the problem, emphasis was put on keeping the left arm straight during the backswing. But, a bent left arm will naturally straighten into the proper position on the downswing … if the golfer swings the arm properly on the downswing.

The problem is not the backswing – the problem is not understanding how to swing the club into the ball. Most golfers try to scoop the ball at impact. That scooping move breaks down the left wrist, and then the left elbow breaks down into the chicken-wing position.

Try it and see. Without a club, just swing back your left arm and let the elbow bend … then just let it swing down and feel the arm naturally straighten out.

By far the biggest flaw people have in their golf swing is trying to scoop the ball. That flipping of the wrists to get the club under the ball stops the swinging of the club and opens up the face of the golf club. That’s why most people slice their golf shots.

Practice rotating the wrists rather than flipping (scooping) the wrists. If you swing the club waist high like a baseball bat, you will naturally rotate your wrists. Use that same wrist action in your golf swing. The loft on the club will get the ball up into the air – don’t try to help it with faulty wrist action.

Also, our annual Christmas Sale is this Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9am-3pm. Everything is 50% off. The Holiday Golf Passes will also be on sale.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Thanksgiving is only a few days away.

You know what that means… you need to get your Christmas shopping started.

As usual, we’re here to make your life easy (or easier).

We are offering a special Christmas promotion – you should have received an email about it last week. It is the deal of a lifetime, but was misunderstood. Because it is offered as a two-some, four-some, or eight-some… some people believed that you had to use the passes in the size group that was purchased. Not so! You may use the individual passes in any way that you desire – another example of our Christmas Spirit.

Give the Gift of Play:
Rare and Exclusive
Deer Run Golf Club Holiday Special

Available at our infamous
Holiday Sale December 6th
or online until December 20th (click here).

 
Dynamic Duo – 2 rounds of golf plus cart, no restrictions: $120 (15% savings)

Festive Foursome – 4 rounds of golf plus carts, no restrictions: $200 (28% savings)

Get your Group On – 8 rounds of golf plus carts, no restrictions: $360 (35% savings)

Gift cards and envelopes are ready for you to personalize and sign.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Here’s a quote from Tiger Woods “Did you read Dan Jenkins’ interview with me in the latest GOLF DIGEST? I hope not. Because it wasn’t me. It was some jerk he created to pretend he was talking to me.” (Click HERE to read the article).

Why’s Tiger so upset? Because Jenkins – 84 year old Dan Jenkins – pounded him into the ground. And Tiger shouldn’t get into the ring with Dan – he’d be a lot smarter to focus on golf than get into a war of words with Mr. Jenkins.

Who is Dan Jenkins? Definitely one of the all-time great golf writers. The other two would probably be Bernard Darwin and Herbert Warren Wind. But Jenkins is/was funny. The other two – not so much. Sure, HW Wind coined the term “Amen Corner”, but Jenkins was wittier.

Jenkins grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and played golf for TCU. And while in college he wrote for the FORT WORTH PRESS … and became a close friend of Ben Hogan. Hogan was a tough guy – few reporters had the access to him that Jenkins had. Jenkins continued that access to the great golfers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s as SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s golf writer. Then in the mid-80’s, he went to GOLF DIGEST. In 2012 he was elected into the Golf Hall-of-Fame.

Dan Jenkins has covered over 200 golf Majors. He wrote the football book SEMI-TOUGH, and the golf book DEAD SOLID PERFECT. Both books were made into movies. But my favorite book of his is THE DOGGED VICTIMS OF INEXORABLE FATE – a must read (and/or a great Christmas present).

And, you need to read the December issue of GOLF DIGEST – not just for the Jenkins-Tiger “interview” … but for the thoughtful article written by Geoff Ogilvy. Ogilvy isn’t funny like Jenkins, but he’s a much better representative of the game of golf than Woods – he actually has perspective. (Click HERE for the article)

One last thing. If Woods was accessible to real interviews, he wouldn’t be a “victim” to fake interviews. A sense of humor would help too.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I was going to write about Time. Is it linear or circular? Then launch into how a round of golf is circular – you go out and then play back in, etc. And the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to write about it.

I’m more in the mood for some humor than a heavy dose of philosophy about Time. So how about a Scottish joke? Scots were the inventors of golf … so that should work.

Here goes:

An Englishman, Irishman, Welshman, Scotsman were captured
while fighting in a far-off foreign land, and the leader
of the captors said: “we’re going to line you up in front
of a firing squad and shoot you all in turn. But first,
you each can make a final wish.”    

The Englishman says: “I’d like to hear God Save The
Queen just one more time to remind me of the auld
country, played by the London All Boys Choir. With
Morris Dancers Dancing to the tune.”
          
The Irishman says: “I’d like to hear Danny Boy just one more
time to remind me of the auld country, sung in the style of
Daniel O’Donnell, with Riverdance dancers skipping gaily to
the tune.”        

The Welshman says: “I’d like to hear Men Of Harlech just
one more time to remind me of the auld country, sung as
if by the Aberavon Male Voice Choir.”
         
The Scotsman says: “I’d like to be shot first.”

That’s it … humor can be a pretty good use of Time.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

So, Paul Molitor is the new Twins’ manager. It almost got lost in the election news. But it shouldn’t – this is big deal to Twins’ fans.

Molitor is a supposed expert on the x’s and o’s of baseball. Which I love – I can’t stand boring, cliche managed baseball. And I’m not in love with modern statistical driven baseball either. A good manager has a feel of the game that goes beyond stats.

But Molitor’s real challenge is to change the culture of the Twins. I heard him say that he thought the players were too worried about staying in the Majors, and thus were too concerned about their personal stats. He said that he wants them to be focused on winning as a team – not personal statistics.

Continue reading Paul Molitor →

Greetings Golfers,

During the past week I’ve received photos of DRGC from golfers and our staff … they’ve all been magical.

October was gorgeous. Fall at its best is magical. And the “Fall Classic” was magical. How good is the Giant’s pitcher Madison Bumgarner? Do you remember Sandy Koufax? Unfortunately, I remember the ’65 World Series when Koufax beat the Twins in game 7. I think Bumgarner is even better than Koufax.

Well, baseball is over until next year. And golf in Minnesota is almost over. We close it upSunday night. The combination of early sunset (5pm) and morning frost leave only a tiny window available for tee times. And closing gives us the freedom to do some improvements to the golf course before winter comes to town.

This is a time of transition. And a natural time to reflect. I didn’t like Fall when I was a kid – I was a Summer guy. But in my advancing years, I respect Fall and even enjoy it. And I look forward to some time for reflection – I hope you do too.

Happy Halloween,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Last week we went out to dinner with some guys from the Golf Channel. Of course we all ranted about the problems of the golf industry and what we each thought should be done.

During this firestorm, one of the guys handed out bag tags with the “Relaxed Rules of Golf”. These seven “rules” are :
1.) Maximum score is double-par.
2.) Penalties are all one stroke.
3.) Limit ball search to 2 minutes.
4.) Improve unfortunate lies.
5.) Conceded putts allowed.
6.) No equipment restrictions.
7.) Use common-sense.

I like it. In fact I like it a lot. My friends and I usually use pretty similar guidelines when we playgolf. Does this make sense for tournament golf? Of course not. But my usual round is not tournament golf – it’s just recreation played with some buddies for laughs.

Should this be the only way to play golf? Not at all – that’s your call. But for most people it probably is a more enjoyable way to play. In fact the other day, a local retired PGA Pro told me this is how he and his friends play.

Some people may complain that it isn’t “real golf”. Really? Are they the arbitrators of real golf? How about the Scottish shepherds who invented the game by hitting a rock with a stick to win a shot of whiskey? Wasn’t that real golf? Has golf “evolved” beyond that basic game?

I’m not a lover of cutsie golf and all of this stuff to make it “fun”. But I do believe that we’ve gotten way too carried away with the Rules, “Official” Handicaps, the “perfect” swing, ridiculously difficult golf courses, “honors”, lining up putts, knowing exact yardage, etc.

We’ve lost the basic charm of the game – hit a ball with a stick while spending 4 hours with your friends, And having enough common sense and courtesy to make it a really enjoyable experience.

Golf needs to get more back to its roots – not get hung-up on all the peripheral stuff. Good for the Golf Channel.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I went to the dentist yesterday. I’m a “grinder” – it’s lucky that I still have any back teeth. So while he was trying to repair my broken molars, he talked about his golf game.

Here’s why this is interesting: this dentist has highly trained, very sensitive hands … but, he has no idea how to control the club face when he plays golf.

Most people are so concerned about posture and body movements, that they don’t realize that they need to control the golf club with their hands. In fact, a lot of golf instruction tries to take the hands out of the golf swing.

That’s crazy. I wouldn’t want my dentist trying to control his drill with his shoulders while working on my teeth. In fact yesterday, a good friend/golf sales rep was showing me a new putting grip that took the hands out of the putting stroke – so you could putt with your shoulders. Think about that. Your shoulders?

The “experts” love to say that the hands are not reliable – that you need to swing the golf club with the “big muscles”. Well, I’ve been at dinners whether for business or socially, when I’ve been really nervous. But my hands still worked – I didn’t stab myself in the eye with my fork.

Back to this “big muscle” concept. Do you ever watch those celebrity golf Pro-Ams? The good players are usually the former quarterbacks, pitchers, and hockey players … guys with great hands. If it was really about the “big muscles” – the offensive linemen would be the good golfers – they’re usually not because of a lack of good hand-action and not good at throwing. The golf swing is basically a throwing motion.

So, back to my dentist. After I escaped the chair and could talk … I told him to hit balls with his dominant hand. Your dominant hand will control your golf swing and control the solidness of your shots. I’m right-handed, and I need to develop my left hand more than I have. Two highly trained hands are the goal. But, most of us don’t have that much time. Practice hitting shots with your dominant hand. Start with the putter. Then hit some chip shots with your dominant hand. Then try working your way up to hitting full shots with your dominant hand only.

Is this crazy/wrong? Think about this. When people start missing putts, they go to the left-hand low grip to take their right hand out of the putting stroke. Usually that doesn’t work. So the next step is to go to the belly putter – so they can anchor the putter with their left hand, and then putt with their RIGHT HAND.

My dentist will become a very good player if decides to start practicing hitting golf shots with his hands – especially his dominate hand.

Cheers,

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