Greetings Golfers,

Should a golf course be a fun challenge or a torture chamber? Years ago, someone quite proudly told Alister Mackenzie – the golf course architect of Augusta National – that no one had ever been able to break par on his hometown golf course. “Good heavens!” exclaimed Mackenzie. “What on earth is wrong with it?”

I agree … what are they thinking? Shouldn’t good play be rewarded? Why not reward good shots and penalize bad shots? Good golf course design appropriately deals with the quality of golf shots. A moderately poor shot should be moderately punished. A moderately good shot should be moderately rewarded. Doesn’t seem like rocket science.

Also, shouldn’t what you see be what you get? I understand that the architect has to make the best of the land he has to work with … and it’s probably impossible to have 18 good holes. But, who likes optical illusions? Or blind shots? Or holes with no landing zones? Or holes that don’t have alternate ways to play the hole?

I don’t think those courses are fun or funny. They may be ridiculous – but not amusing.

Also, shouldn’t the course fit in naturally with the terrain? The less moving of dirt the better. The best courses look like Mother Nature designed them.
A few years ago a course in the Metro area was redesigned. I liked the original design and most holes went North/South … which went naturally with the terrain. The new design went mostly East/West and the holes looked like something out a surrealistic painting … you felt like you’d been drugged … none of the holes make any aesthetic sense.

To quote from the Masters Tournament spectator booklet written by Bobby Jones in 1949: “The course is not intended so much to punish severely the wayward shot as to reward adequately the stroke played with skill – and judgement.”

That philosophy has worked pretty well for the Masters – I think it makes sense for most golf courses.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

I wanted to write about the final episode of “Mad Men”. How the main character – Don Draper – ended up finding bliss up at the Esalen retreat in Big Sur. Huh? Well, Esalen was founded by Michael Murphy, the author of “Golf in the Kingdom”. So, of course, Don’s bliss was connected to golf.

But instead of boring you with verbal gymnastics to try to prove that the search for bliss results in discovering the real meaning of golf … I’m going to talk about the search for how to make putts.

Last night I was on our putting green with two very capable golfers – each came close to first round US Open qualifying last week at Edina CC. What kept these two from qualifying? Mediocre putting.

Don’t get me wrong – both of these guys are very good putters. But they aren’t great putters. So what were we working on? Probably not what you think. We were not working on their putting stroke. In fact, we were trying to putt with every conceivable putting stroke: sometimes putt off of the toe, or the heel of the putter … or cross-handed, or right-handed only … or really wristy, or with the shoulders only. You get the picture.

The point was to be able to make the putt. Not to make a good putting stroke. They are very different cats. I know guys who have beautiful putting strokes who never make anything. I know old guys who stab it and make everything. Those old guys don’t care what it looks like – they just focus on making the putt. So – why not learn how to make it with any style? Then you can focus on making the putt – not your “perfect” stroke.

The perfect stroke obsessives always feel that if their stroke isn’t perfect they don’t deserve to make it. Talk about a self-defeating attitude. Good putters believe that they will always make it – no matter if they hit it solid or make a good stroke.

Do you think Don Draper learned how to putt at Esalen?

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

The title of this blog sounds like a cheesy tv mini-series.

But the Millennials are the talk of the golf world. Last month’s “Twin Cities Business” magazine had a feature article about how golf courses need to capture this young market. And every national golf magazine is harping on the same subject. Yet the ones really agonizing about why young people aren’t playing enough golf are the golf organizations such as the PGA, USGA, and NGCOA.

So what are the common themes shared by these hand-wringers? Tiger Woods, time, and money. Let’s talk about each one of these “issues”.

First off … Eldrick Woods. Tiger has really been struggling lately (when he even plays). But Tiger hasn’t been Tiger ever since his “car accident”. Obviously his domination couldn’t go on forever … but he may have fallen off the world. Did Woods cause the so-called golf boom? I never thought so. He helped – especially with televised golf – but golf was going to expand anyway in the 90’s because Baby Boomers were ready to get into golf – men and women. Are the Millennials obsessed with Tiger? I don’t think so – he’s even too old for most of them. If Woods does come roaring back, he probably won’t bring many Millennials with him.

The second “issue” is money. Money can always be an issue – that’s too easy of an excuse. The reality is that people have money for what they love.

The third “issue” is time. Same as money – time can always be an issue – and that’s also too easy of an excuse. Time and money. Have you been to any of these cool, hip, new restaurants lately? They are stuffed with Millennials. Money? These places aren’t cheap. Time – they’re in no hurry to leave. They LOVE these places.

So – what is the conclusion? Well, Tiger Woods is the not the golf savior for the Millennials … and never was. Time and money? They have both – contrary to what you read. They have the time and money for what they love. Maybe they aren’t in love with golf – or the places selling golf.

What is obvious about these sold-out restaurants is that they are all tasteful and fun. Are the distasteful and unfun restaurants sold-out? Are maybe too many golf operations distasteful and unfun?

Now it gets interesting … how to do this? Taste … wow – that’s a loaded concept. I think good taste is basically an appreciation of quality. Not that something has to be perfect or the best … it has to be good. Is that glamor? Usually not. Glamor is about trying to hide poor quality with glitz. Too many expensive places have poor quality and too much glitz. These Millennials seem to be appreciative of authentic quality.

What about fun? I think golf is basically fun. It doesn’t need all of these cutesy ideas that I keep reading about. But, many golf courses are too stiff. These cool, hip restaurants are not stiff. They aren’t cutesy and they aren’t crazy. In fact, I’ve experienced very nice young people with nice manners in these restaurants. Golf is not naturally a stiff game. Golf is a social game. Unfortunately, too many country clubs adopted an uptight atmosphere hoping that it would enhance the image of their club. This kind of desperate social climbing is never attractive. I’m glad these Millennials see through this facade.

Golf will attract the Millennials if golf clubs have a quality operation – an attractive fun course, cool carts, tasty food & beverage, a stylish Pro shop, a charming clubhouse, and a friendly atmosphere. Is this rocket-science? Hardly. Restaurants are figuring it out … and the ones who aren’t won’t survive. Same with golf courses.

What about the PGA Tour? I’ll save that for another time.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

You know that saying “April showers bring May flowers”? Well, I think for Minnesota it should be “May showers bring June flowers”. We’re about a month north of most of the country. But, a little rain shouldn’t stop your golf plans. Last Sunday the report was for rain – it rained for 15 minutes at 4pm – big deal. Because of this rain phobia inspired by an over active media to heighten the threat of storms, people waste valuable beautiful Minnesota days.

So, every year I send the following:

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 error 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