Greetings Golfers,

Almost 30 years ago, when Deer Run GC was a baby, I used to give free golf clinics to get people to come out here. We were a funny little place (though charming) out in the country.

Those clinics quickly grew huge (free) … and so I directed those people into our newly formed leagues, giving us a base to build on.

However, these were not the most sophisticated players, and the pace of play was slow. Very slow. One evening I went out to Ranger the Mens League and there were 4 groups on hole #6 … and the pace of play was a fun 3 1/2 hours … for 9 holes! Seriously.

Weekend play was typically 6 hours.

So, a change in culture was needed. Thus was born FastPlayFriday.

The rules were simple: you had to play the front nine in 1:55 or go home. We had Rangers every 3 holes who were keeping me informed via walkie-talkies. If we had a slow group who wouldn’t respond to rangering, I would meet them on #9 tee box and give them the option of going to hole #10 or going home.

The responses were seldom good. Fortunately, I was young and could duck pretty quickly … no one ever landed a punch. Though they tried. When the word got out that we actually enforced fast play … slow players avoided us and fast players loved us.

Now, a four hour pace is not fast – not really. Actually, it should be normal. I equate it to driving 60mph on the freeway. Golf holes are a one-lane freeway. No one has the right to go 40mph and back it up. And no one has the right to go 80mph and run over people. A 60mph pace is just right.

Though we started Fast Play Friday way back in 1997 … it changed the culture and we’ve been 4 hours every day of the week ever since then.

However, last week we had a foursome who played the first 3 holes in one hour … a nice 6 hour pace. By the time they were in the fairway on #4, there were already 3 foursomes waiting on #4 tee. So, I went out and explained the situation to them, and asked them to catch up to the group in front of them (who was already on #6).

They were agreeable and promised to catch up.

Well, they never got closer than 2 holes behind and finished the front nine in 2:20 … obviously, a 4:40 pace. Not acceptable. Not fair to everyone behind them in this unnecessary traffic jam.

When I talked to them again on #11 tee box, they got hostile. They believed they had a “right” to play at their own pace. I explained that they paid for a slot on the golf course … not the whole golf course. If they wanted to play at whatever pace they wanted, they could rent the course for the day – but it would be a very expensive round of golf.

So, I went back to the Clubhouse and got enough cash to refund their round … which I offered to do on #12 tee box. Then they went crazy.

However, they also sped up. Finally. Not to do the right thing … but to make me look bad. Now their goal was to play as fast as possible and then claim at the end of the round that they weren’t slow.

So, they finished in 4:20 and couldn’t wait to jump all over me. Of course they lied about how fast (or slow) they played the front nine … now they were motivated – motivated to be the victims in this ridiculous situation.

Obviously, if they hadn’t been talked to … they would have played in at least 5 hours. The only reason they made it in 4:20 was they were racing after hole #12 to make me look like a jerk.

They weren’t motivated earlier about unfairly backing up the course … they paid their green fees and felt entitled to play at any pace … even if they wrecked the round for everybody behind them.

Then of course they tried to bait me … attacked me personally to get me going. I have to keep it professional. It can’t be about me – no matter what they say. I have to do what’s best for DRGC. And that means standing up for the golf course – not letting people abuse it … and yet not get sucked into their petty and personal attacks.

So, 30 years later … the fun never stops. But actually, this kind of stuff is pretty rare. Most people get it, and realize that they are sharing the course … that they didn’t rent it all day only for themselves.

And, I haven’t had anyone take a swing at me in years!

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,

Golf is infinitely worthy of discussion. We could talk golf swing forever – the concepts, the nuances, the technical aspects, etc. Or course design – links style, parkland, risk-reward, target golf, etc.

Today, I’d like to talk about the Rules of Golf. One of the things that most attracts me to golf is its purity … its simplicity of concept. Though its nuances are infinite and one of its fascinations … its inherently simple concept is the heart of the game and why it’s so fascinating.

Golf is basically the art of hitting a ball with a stick from a specific area to a hole in the ground. You can’t kick it or throw it … you have to advance it with a golf club.

To give this game a little more definition … you start play from a tee box … and the hole (which is your goal), is on a putting surface. There are many routes to your destination … and many ways to advance the ball. In between the tee box and the green are dangers which are best to be avoided. To steer clear of the danger involves strategy and skill.

And, the same golf course changes everyday depending on the weather. This is a game rooted in reality. It is not played under a dome.

Because it is not a convoluted game and its premise is simple … it’s rules should be simple too.

We’ve already discussed the point of the game – to hit the ball from the tee box, and then again on the golf course, until the ball is in the hole. And it can only be advanced by swinging a golf club.

What other rules are needed? Well, if the ball is lost or unplayable … we need a rule.

What else? Or … why? In an attempt to make golf more fair … more rules ruin the inherent beauty and fairness of the game. Potential bad lies are just as available to everyone … it’s just bad luck to land in one.

Isn’t the point of the game to deal with whatever situation you put yourself into?

That question would lead to a great discussion. And discussing golf is almost as fun as playing it.

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,

History was made last week in Minnesota golf.  Our own Lori Money was the first woman to play in our state PGA Senior Championship.

I know, I know…she doesn’t look like a senior.  And she doesn’t play golf like a senior.  However, the years don’t lie and she made history.

Obviously, we’re very proud of her.  She’s a great player and a great person…we’re proud that she represents Deer Run Golf Club.

A lot of people think that PGA Golf pros just play golf everyday.  I can’t tell you how many random salesmen call me, and try to warm me up by asking “how was your round today”.  After a long pause of me looking around the room trying to figure out who they’re talking to…I realize it’s not a conference call…and that they mean me.

Most of us are running a business.  We got into the golf business because we love the game.  But, it’s long hours – most courses are open from at least sun-up to sun-down…7 days a week.  And, most of us know that the real work is behind-the-scenes.

Well, Lori does it all.  She’s here all the time and involved in everything…out-front and behind-the-scenes.

She loves to play golf and is an excellent player.  And she deserves to play more golf.

Obviously this has been a crazy year. She’s really stepped-up and made DRGC run well throughout all of the challenges.

Hopefully, next year will go back to normal.  If so, the plan is to give her more time to play golf – at Deer Run and in tournaments.

Then, she’ll make even more history.

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,

“If a puddle of water is made sufficiently muddy, most people will think it’s deep” – Nietzsche.

I like things to be clear. I hate misunderstandings. And I think that’s normal … do you like to be confused?

However, I constantly see and read things that don’t make sense. And, it smells like a con.

Now, I’m not just talking about the golf swing … I’m talking about EVERYTHING. The golf swing is a good example of what I’m talking about. Too often I read or hear ideas about the golf swing that are too complicated. Simple doesn’t mean simple-minded.

The secret to making ideas clear and simple is to prioritize. There needs to be hierarchies…it can’t be level…if it’s all equal and the same…there’s no emphasis.

There needs to be a point.

Years ago I wrote a blog about a guy I went to college with nicknamed “Long Story”. He talked all the time and his stories never ended … because there was never a point … just random, boring information.

The other day a relative and I were having a pretty heavy talk about what’s going on in the world. This relative is bright and loves to believe that answers have to be complicated … the more complicated the more it’s true.

This relative’s reasoning was complicated because everything had the same value … nothing was prioritized. At the end of our discussion, I was accused of being “reductive” … I replied that I took it as a compliment.

“Reduction” in cooking is basically boiling down the sauce. I like to “boil down” things to get to the point.

About 20 years ago, I went to a restaurant in Excelsior to confirm a reservation for a dinner meeting … I just knew that it had been screwed-up (it was). While talking to the new manager – who was babbling and didn’t make any sense … it was obvious that we were the only people in this restaurant – on the lake on a beautiful Summer day.  So I asked him if he had any plans about how to get the place rolling … from behind his groovy glasses and Gucci suit … he informed me that he’d been working on the wine list for the last week.

Hmmmm. You’ll be shocked to know that the restaurant folded a year later and now is an office building. It was one of the best locations on Lake Minnetonka. Well, that wine list chore was pretty complicated … (and important).

Here’s another example of the inability to prioritize.  We have people at the golf course who have such heightened awareness that they notice everything that isn’t perfect.  They notice a dandelion on our 130 acres of land or a paint smear on a range ball.  Unfortunately, their ability to prioritize is not as highly developed.  They take for granted the beautifully maintained 130 aces of land, the clean golf carts, the nice driving range, the slick check-in procedures, etc.

I just described a “nit-picker”. Is that what concerns them? … “nits”???

Our time is limited on this planet. Let’s focus on what matters. Let’s develop priorities.

But maybe the nit-pickers and the people who overly complicate things have the same goal. Maybe they’re the only ones who “get it”. Maybe they like to “muddy the water” to prove how deep they are and that we can’t understand what they “know”.

Well, I don’t buy it.  I want clear and simple and not perfect.  Guess I’m just simple-minded (or as they would say “reductive’).

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,

So, they just announced that the US Open will be played at Winged Foot GC on Sept 17-20.

And, it will not have spectators in attendance. The PGA Championship – which takes place next week – will also be held without fans.

I’m glad those Majors are happening. Looks like the Masters will be held in November. Since I’ll be watching television … I don’t really care if there are spectators in attendance.

Have you watched a televised baseball this year? I haven’t … but I’ve heard that they have fake crowds. Why? I don’t get it. How does that add to the game?

Do you like “laugh tracks” on tv shows? Why would they do that to sporting events?

I think televised sports have a great opportunity to mic up the players so we can hear the game on the field.

And golf should do it too. How good would it be to hear the conversations between players and their caddies?

Hmmm. I don’t think it’s a tough choice between hearing intelligent discussion or people yelling in a crowd. If viewers miss yelling … I’m sure they can invite over some neighbors who just enjoy yelling … then everybody can be happy.

However, I think the live mic thing should not happen at the Majors. The Majors should be as serious as possible … though I think normal weekly PGA Tour golf is more about entertainment.

We all know recreational golfers who think every round they play is the US Open. They might have more fun and even play better if they realized it’s just entertainment.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has said that he remains hopeful to have fans by the end of the year. Well, he does have fans … watching on television. A lot of us would like to hear what’s really happening on the golf course.

This could a great opportunity for televised sports.

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,

Just read an article in a local business magazine that said restaurants in the Mpls-St.Paul area are really struggling. Not only struggling … but quite a few are closing.

The big reason is that they can only operate at 50% capacity. That doesn’t mean that they’re making 50% less profit … they aren’t making a profit. The cost for them to open the doors and operate depends on at least 75% capacity. So, it’s not worth opening if it means losing money.

Most things work like that. Golf courses sure do. But, it’s not just capacity … it’s capacity at a certain green fee. We could be packed with $10 green fees … and lose an incredible amount of money.

That’s where it gets tricky … how many rounds at what price is enough to stay afloat? You need to know the revenue number that’s needed to pay the bills.

The rounds/green fee combo works like this: more rounds at a lower fee means more wear & tear on the course. But, if you’re going for fewer rounds, obviously you need a higher green fee which probably depends a lot on the condition of the course.

Either way … course maintenance expense is a big number.

But if you choose to be a course that is not in good shape … hopefully your cheap green fees will bring in enough rounds so that you can pay the bills. But if it’s really bad, no one will play even if it’s cheap. And, it’s still risky, because no matter how bad the condition, you still need labor and machines and fertilizers, etc. Also maintaining greens – even bad greens are expensive. You know how expensive it is to maintain your lawn … think about a golf course!

So, to try to make these numbers work … some golf courses offer a variety of rates … and try to get maximum at peak times and less at weak times. That’s tricky too. That means the peak times are basically subsidizing the weak times. Sort of like flying on an airplane – the first class seats subsidize the coach seats.

I fly coach. I’m glad to have people subsidize my fare. For me, flying is just a means to an end … not an experience. And, I’m sort of narcoleptic … so I’m already asleep by the time the plane is in the air. So the first-class experience would be wasted on me.

However, we can’t have some people subsidizing other people at the golf course. Can you imagine the vibe if we had “first-class players” and “coach players”? It’d be a nightmare. Talk about a disrespectful atmosphere. People would cut in front of people at the counter, etc. Think about it.

So, our goal is to have everyone pay a fair price (the necessary price) and run a nice friendly place that can pay the bills. Everyone is “special” … not “more special”.

I’m very sorry that restaurants are closing. That’s not a good thing. And it would be really terrible if more golf courses were closing. Unlike a restaurant, a golf course needs a lot of land. If that land goes to development … golf keeps shrinking.

Most privately owned golf courses are providing a public service. They are not gouging the customers to make money. Any profit, is reinvested.

We all love golf and want to see it survive. The reality is that it costs a lot of money to operate a golf course. We all have to face reality to make it work.

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,

There are lots of ideas about how to swing a golf club.

Hopefully those ideas will lead to hitting good shots. I’ve seen lots of pretty practice swings by people who can’t hit good golf shots.

I’m not knocking pretty swings … I think good rhythm and tempo are very important factors in hitting good shots.

Important factors. Hmmm.  What does that mean? Well, what REALLY does matter to produce good golf shots. Is it the grip? Or stance? Or weight shift? Or path? Or …?

The answer is … contact. Solid contact produces solid shots. Solid contact with a square club face on a path to the target produces solid shots going at the target. But, are they the right distance? So you need: solid shots with a square club face on the correct path and the club moving at the right speed so the ball flies the proper distance.

I know people who think that if they make a pretty swing that all of those factors will naturally happen and will produce a perfect shot.  Not so.

If the player knows how to make solid contact … with a square face … on the correct path … a rhythmic swing will help produce those desired parts of the golf swing.I believe that those desired parts of the golf swing need to be understood.

When I used to give lessons … my students hit very few golf balls. It was a lesson – not supervised practice. Most of my students didn’t really understand the golf swing – that’s why they wanted a lesson. Sometimes, very good players get a little off, so their lessons are more supervised practice … the instructor needs to see why they’ve gotten off their game.

However, most of my students did not have a clear understanding of the golf swing. In fact, they were over-loaded with information.

They needed to put that information into a hierarchy … much of the information was irrelevant to what they needed to learn.

So, I wanted my lessons to make sense. I didn’t want the student to just memorize some information … I wanted them to logically understand how a good golf swing works.

People came to me obsessed with head movement or body turn or a straight left arm … no one ever came with any concept of contact.

So, we went immediately to contact. Once that was understood … then it got interesting. How does a player get the club to proper contact? That’s the biggie. I believe that before impact, the club has to get into the “slot” … that from the “slot” the player can get to a good impact position. And, that it’s almost impossible to get to proper impact if the club doesn’t get into the “slot”.

So what it this mysterious “slot”? Well, it’s a position about halfway into the downswing. If you came to a stop, the hands would be about waist-high and the wrists would still be cocked … the right elbow would be almost hitting the right hip …and the weight would be more on the left foot.

No matter what your set-up looks like or what type of backswing you make … to be a consistent player … you need to get into this “slot” position.

Like anything … a good golf swing has a system of priorities. Of course everything has an effect: grip, stance, posture, turn, weight shift, etc.

However, they can not all be weighted equally. That is misguided. And, is why most people don’t understand the golf swing.

The purpose of the golf swing is to hit good golf shots. Good golf shots depend on good contact/impact. A good golf swing needs to get into the proper position…to then get to good contact/impact.

I love golf swing discussions. However, too often we can’t see the forest for the trees. All players need to understand impact … and how to get to impact.

Please spread the word.

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,

I just watched a video of a tennis instructor talking about the nasty remarks regarding his latest teaching video.

He’d been talking about strategy … and using his 4.0 student in his examples. People couldn’t believe the student was a 4.0 player. Why? … well, the guy was middle-age, chubby, and moved a little awkwardly.

So, I went back watched the referred to video. The guy looked to me like a good 4.0 player. Sort of like golf handicaps. Some golfers are a good 12 hcp and some are a bad 12 hcp. This guy was a good 4.0 tennis player.

I was going to write about Bryson DeChambeau this week … but, I’ll save it for another time. Everybody’s writing about him now – you don’t need my thoughts. However, Bryson is an example of what I’m talking about. His swing and putting stroke look awkward … but they work.

We all need to find a golf swing that works. Too often we get on the path to the “perfect swing” but don’t have the time or talent to develop it.

Most of us want a low maintenance swing that works pretty well most of the time. That’s about all we can ask for. We need to realistic.

Over the years, I’ve had some assistant pros who had high maintenance golf games. I tried to explain to them that as they progressed in the golf business, that they wouldn’t have much time to play or practice, but still needed to shoot decent scores.

And to do that, they needed a swing that was more of an old Volvo than a Ferrari. The old Volvo could sit outside all Winter and still start in the Spring. Could the Ferrari do that? Probably not. Would the old Volvo beat a tuned-up Ferrari? No. But it would beat an out-of-whack Ferrari.

Of course, one young guy thought that I didn’t know what I was talking about. But he thought everything I did was wrong – not just about playing golf but also how to run a golf course.

A few years later – when he was working somewhere else … his group was playing right in front of me in a ProAm tournament. It was in April, and his Ferrari struggled to get around the golf course. The old Volvo beat the out-of-tune Ferrari by over 10 shots.

College players and Tour players need to be tuned-up sports cars. And it takes a lot of maintenance.

The rest of us should be happy to be old Volvos.

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,

As you get into golf, you can’t help turning into a  detective … sort of a Sherlock Holmes of the golf swing.

It can be a lot of fun … but it can also drive you crazy. People can get more obsessed with the golf swing than with the game of golf.

The other night, I watched my favorite television detective – William Murdoch – get obsessed with the golf swing. The writers handled it perfectly.

The show (Murdoch Mysteries) is a Canadian series set in Toronto from 1895 to almost 1910. It’s starting its 14th season and moves up a year as it begins each new season.

Because of COVID, my wife and I have been watching a lot of television – it’s become our social life. Murdoch doesn’t have much of a social life – he’s pretty obsessive and works on his cases at the expense of doing anything else.

Murdoch is a bright guy, sort of a loner, but not anti-social. He’s kind and holds himself to high standards of behavior. He knows a lot about everything … but is especially keen on science.

So he’s always inventing variations of famous scientific inventions … it’s pretty clever and pretty funny. Of course he has dealings with Thomas Edison and Nikolei Tesla and Henry Ford … because we all know that they were involved in criminal activity in Toronto at the turn of the century.

I’m not doing a great job of describing the show. It’s charming and not cliche and doesn’t take itself too seriously … though it is intelligent and has good dialog and characters.

And, the mysteries are really interesting and solvable for the viewer. That’s why it was so much fun watching Murdoch get sucked into the mysteries of golf – especially the golf swing.

Did he solve the mystery of the golf swing? Yes and no. While at the driving range, his wife takes a swing and hits a beautiful shot. He was at the range struggling because his swing plane invention had ruined his swing. So he asks his wife to try again. She hits another beauty. But when he asked her what she was thinking about to hit such a perfect shot … she said “Nothing. I just cleared my head and swung.”

Murdoch couldn’t believe it. She calmly insisted that’s what she did. He got really agitated. This is a guy who never loses his cool. He told her that her answer makes no sense. He needs answers. He solves mysteries. He’s a scientist. He can’t accept that not thinking could be an answer to anything.

The next and final scene … is Murdoch calmly throwing each of his golf clubs into a pond.

You know that he’ll be back. You can’t quit golf – not really.

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,

The 1965 Masters Leaderboard was loaded with stars. Jack Nicklaus finished first … Arnold Palmer and Gary Player tied for second. As you go down the board you see Gene Littler, Tommy Bolt, George Knudson, Tommy Aaron, Doug Sanders, Ben Hogan, Tony Lema, Billy Casper … I have to stop.

But the name that jumps out to me is that of a 53 year-old who finished tied for 15th place … Byron Nelson. He’d quit the Tour almost 20 years earlier. So, a part-time recreational player in his 50s shows up and finishes near the top on one of the most illustrious leaderboards in history, at the biggest golf tournament in the world?

How does that make sense? About as much sense as when he won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945.

Here’s what else he did on the Tour in 1945: won 18 out of 30 tournaments … and won the Vardon Trophy with a scoring average of 68.33.

Because 1945 was the last year of WWII, people have tried to minimize or dismiss his unbelievable year. However, Hogan won 5 times in 1945 … Snead won 6 times. Nelson wasn’t beating up on chumps – his scoring average proves that.

“Lord Byron” was noted for his extreme accuracy and ability to hit it dead straight. In the 1939 US Open – which he won – he hit the flagstick 6 times. Think about that. How many times have you hit the flagstick?

Because he was so straight – they named a testing machine after him – “Iron Byron”. His straight shot was a result of curing his hook by not rotating his hands … and changing to steel shafts. In those pre-war years, golfers had to learn how to use the whippy wooden shaft. Thus, they made a flat, round, swing with a lot of open-to-close hand action. Obviously it was difficult to time and control. So with the invention of steel shafts, Byron developed a more upright swing coupled with strong leg action through impact to keep the club face from turning over.  That’s why he’s been termed the “father of the modern swing”.

Both Nelson and Hogan developed swings to cure their hook. And they probably hit the golf ball as well as anyone who ever played the game. But, I would like to see golf instruction teach people to hook the ball like those guys did … then, find ways to control or cure the hook. Learning to hook the ball needs to be learned before copying Nelson’s or Hogan’s swing.

In our Men’s locker-room, we have framed pictures of 3 guys all born in 1912 … Ben Hogan Byron Nelson, Sam Snead. How would you have liked to have played in their foursome in 1947 when they were 35 years-old?

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