Greetings Golfers,

It’s almost June. In a minute it will be the 4th of July and then Labor Day. We can’t let the summer slip away.

So – next Friday, June 6 is FunPlayFriday. What a great way to kick off the summer. What’s the theme? “Fairway to Heaven”, of course.

Our fairways are from Heaven – they’re perfect. So are the greens. Barry Provo and his staff do an amazing job.

Did I say our fairways are a “slice” of Heaven? No. We’re avoiding that word. What are we serving for lunch/dinner? Steaks. Seriously. We were thinking of lamb “shanks” – but we’re also avoiding that word.

Speaking of steaks. We have a new grill. Not your basic grill… I mean a mega-grill built into the bricks of our old farm house – it is shockingly cool.

And we also serve food and drink on shockingly cool beverage carts. New bev carts. No one in MN has these guys. And not just are the bev carts fantastic – but the bev cart operators are even more fantastic. It’s their job – and they do it well.

Here’s a story about how crazy the golf world is becoming: A few winters ago I was in Palm Springs on a guy golf trip. While playing a big time resort, we were looking for the beverage cart – we needed fuel and a charming girl to improve our attitude. Instead, they had a guy from their maintenance staff driving the bev cart. Really? This was not what we expected.

Well… don’t worry – that’s not happening here. We have an amazing maintenance staff – the course is perfect – but you won’t see them on the beverage carts.

So back to FunPlayFriday. It’s June 6. Tee times from 9am – 3pm. Includes golf, cart, range, and assorted drink/beer stations on many tee boxes. And as I said – lunch or dinner of steak, potatoes, vegetable, salad, dessert, and wine. All for only $75.

Not a bad way to start the summer.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Our Men’s League played yesterday. Even though it officially started weeks ago, yesterday was the first nice Thursday of the year.

Not only was the weather nice, but the league was nice – it’s a bunch of great guys.

Why am I writing about it? Well, golf course Men’s Leagues are not always nice. In fact many moons ago, we at Deer Run probably had the largest Men’s League in Minnesota – over 400 members. Was that league nice? Yeah … in its early years.

But as time went by and the Men’s League grew into a giant, it also grew into a monster. Was it made up of all bad guys? Not all. It was mostly good guys. But over time, the culture changed. It didn’t evolve – it devolved. They thought that they ran Deer Run GC and that they had a license to do whatever they wanted.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t find a demanding sense of entitlement very charming. Their attitude, shenanigans, and fistfights weren’t very cool.

So – they got the heave-ho. You can only imagine the reaction. I knew it would be hostile … but it was beyond that – the reaction just proved why it had to go.

The golf world is very small. That winter – while at the PGA Golf Show in Orlando – I had PGA Pros from all over the country come up and congratulate on pulling the trigger. Everyone had horror stories of nightmare Men’s Leagues.

That was a different Men’s League. Our present Men’s League is fantastic.

Thanks guys.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I brought my dog Harvey to the vet yesterday for his annual check-up. Harvey hates going to the vet. In fact they have to muzzle him for the whole experience.

Is it worth it? Probably. I’m a risk/reward guy so I’m always weighing everything. Does he need those shots and the drawing of blood for those tests? Did dogs survive on their own before veterinarians?

Golf Instructors are like swing doctors. Does every golfer need an annual check-up? Did golfers play good golf without lessons?

I think both forms of doctors have to know their craft and understand their client. It’s not one size fits all. The good ones can be very helpful… but the bad ones can be dangerous.

Credentials aren’t always everything. I was at a golf swing clinic recently that was conducted by a famous swing doctor. He’s famous because he works with Tour Players. How much doctoring do Tour Players need? And are Tour Players’ swing mechanics relevant to the average golfer? I commented during the clinic that I’m a believer in trying to make students into old Volvos instead of highly tuned Maseratis. The old Volvo can sit out all winter and start right up in April. And the Volvo needs minimal maintenance to keep running. Can the old Volvo beat the highly tuned Maserrati in a race? Hardly. Can the Maserati sit out all winter and start-up in April?

Were my comments appreciated? Not so much. This swing doctor liked me about as much as Harvey likes the vet. I was hoping someone would put a muzzle on him – I think he wanted to bite me. And he probably wished that I’d been muzzled before the clinic.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I got a tweet the other day that said “A good coach will make his players see what they can become, rather than what they are.” It was a quote from the old Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian.

Football talk in May? Yeah, the first round of the NFL Draft was last night. I think the Vikings took two good players. But – I wanted Johnny Manziel. Do you remember Fran Tarkenton? I think Manziel is another Tarkenton.

The NFL Draft is fascinating. Is it a science? Hardly. Sure, the draftees go through all kinds of tests – but how good a player is can’t be measured by statistics. That even goes for golfers. The other night they were showing Jordan Spieth’s PGA Tour stats – they were pretty average – but he’s ranked in the top 10 in the world.

Success depends so much on intangibles such as attitude, instinct, and creativity. Some people thrive on pressure – most don’t. And you can see it at the highest levels – not only in Little League. Some people want the ball when the game is on the line. Can you teach that? Can you coach that? Sort of.

It gets back to the difference between a manager and a leader. A leader inspires people to be more than they think they are – to be who they want to be. But people have to be open to inspiration. Some people thrive on bringing everybody down. Those NFL teams have to make sure not to draft those guys.

The winning organizations do more than draft good physical specimens. They have a culture of optimism and inspiration. They do things right. They don’t cut corners. They don’t think short term.

Why is that so rare? Because it’s easier to take the easy way out. Pick the guy with the stats rather than use your gut – that’s always safe. Don’t lead with vision and inspiration and optimism – no, manage by fear and intimidation… and develop a culture of blame.

Every organization has a culture – a football team, a business, a golf course. It’s not all about stats.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

This is my yearly rant about the rain – but it needs to be said every May.

Did you ever see the episode of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM when Larry accused the weatherman of manipulating the weather reports so he can have the golf course all to himself?

Did you also know that episode was based on fact and that all weathermen manipulate their weather reports to keep people off the golf courses?

Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit… but not much.

Bad weather makes news. Bad weather keeps everyone tuned in. Gee, how did we survive before Doppler Weather reports?

Make your tee times dependent on your schedule – not the dubious reports of the weatherman. And, if it’s too nasty of weather – just cancel. Or, try it out and if it’s not fun, come inside for a raincheck, refund, etc. We’re not trying to take advantage of you trying to play golf in bad weather. I’ve heard of golf courses that won’t give rain checks if you play one hole – that’s real fair. We’re not like that. We’ll do whatever is fair. And, we’ll err on the side of getting you on the golf course. That’s what we do. We want people to play. We don’t do all of this work just so people can drive by and say “What a beautiful golf course.”

You’re under no risk making a reservation to play golf. And you’re under no risk trying to play if it looks like rain.

Try it – you’ll like it.

Cheers,

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