Greetings Golfers,

Did you hear about Robert Allenby firing his caddy yesterday mid-round during the Canadian Open? Then he had a fan in the crowd finish the round as his caddy – seriously.

That’s weird. But not as weird as Allenby’s “kidnapping” incident last winter. Remember that deal? He said he was abducted from a wine bar in Hawaii and beaten and then thrown in the trunk of a car. He then said a homeless woman found him 6 miles away after he’d been robbed. The woman – Charade Keane – said that he wasn’t 6 miles away from the wine bar, but just a few yards away sitting on a planter, “bloodied and confused”, and arguing with two homeless men.

The caddy story is bizarre … but the “kidnapping” is REALLY bizarre. What do you think actually happened?

Oh yeah, Allenby’s caddie was with him at the wine bar the night of the kidnapping. Maybe now the caddie might reveal the real story behind the “kidnapping”.

On a better note … the Canadian Open is a big tournament. Not a major – but a big tournament. Yet, being held the week after The Open, hurts the field and takes a lot of the luster out of it. It was first played in 1904 and is the third oldest continuously-running tournament on the PGA Tour – after the The Open and the U.S. Open. And it was a big deal to win all three Opens in the same season (The Triple Crown). In 2000, Tiger Woods was the first man to win the Triple Crown since Lee Trevino in 1971.

It’s sad that Allenby will probably be the big story of the week. The Canadian Open deserves better.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Last week I wrote about Jackie Burke. Since then, I’ve read his book “It’s Only A Game” … and I want to keep writing about him. But I won’t … buy his book instead … I bought a bunch to hand out to people.

Burke’s love of golf and common sense are so refreshing. Thank God he was a writer … because most of us will probably never meet the man.

Golf continues to bring joy to people’s lives. Yesterday, one of our players had a career round – he shot 68. What a great score! Most people will never shoot in the 60’s – their games aren’t that consistent. One of my other favorite golf pro writers is Percy Boomer. Boomer didn’t give golfers the typical USGA handicap, but rather referred them by how many holes they could play well. For example he would say that someone is a 10 hole player – meaning that they would have 8 poor holes. That’s why 68 is such an usual score … few people can play a solid 18 holes. That’s also why Tour events are 4 rounds … even fewer people can keep it up for 72 holes in a row.

Many years ago I used to play in a two day tournament Up North. The first day was 18 holes of qualifying for your flight. And the second day was a series of 9 hole match play rounds. Well, in 9 holes some crazy things can happen. A bad break and lucky break can give the match to the lesser player. But, amazingly enough, the semifinals seemed to have the same four guys every year.

Luck in golf usually evens out … I know it doesn’t feel like that, but that’s just human nature – we all feel we deserve more than we get.

But this fellow’s 68 wasn’t luck. He has natural talent – but he has also worked very hard at his game. I can take none of the credit. He’s worked the last few years with a very good teacher and they both deserve a lot of credit.

And yet, this player isn’t all about score. He just flat out loves golf – and for all the right reasons. He’s a pleasure to play with and very respectful of his playing partners, the golf course, clubhouse, and our staff.

It’s fun to see the good guys do well. Now all he needs to do is read Jackie Burke.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

For the past few weeks I kept hearing about Jackie Burke. I thought I was a fairly decent student of golf, but I didn’t really know who they were referring to.

Well, John Joseph (Jackie) Burke should not fly under the radar. He’s still going strong at 92 years old. He owns the Champions Golf Club in Houston – and has since it opened in 1957. The year before – 1956 – he won the Masters and the PGA Championship … thus putting him in position to get off the Tour and own his own golf club.

Mr. Burke is very old school. He grew up in Texas and his buddies were Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret, Henry Picard, and Claude Harmon. Most good golf instruction comes from those guys. Jim McLean and Steve Elkington have great YouTube interviews with Burke. Jackie talks about how he focused on hitting the inside corner of the golf ball – not the direct back of the ball. And he was a putting wizard and teacher – very influential on Ben Crenshaw and Phil Mickleson. He believed in rolling the ball into the hole at a slow pace.

About 10 years ago GOLF DIGEST magazine did a great interview with Mr. Burke. Here are some of his quotes:

* To succeed at golf you have to master the art of not being embarrassed.
* Stomping around looking for the sprinkler head that has “162” marked on it is a complete waste of time. Before they invented 150 markers we had a formula that worked better than numbers. Determine what club you need that will fly the ball over the green. Then use one club less and hit it soft, medium, or hard depending on where the flag is. It never fails. And it will save half an hour off your round.

* I was raised in a good home. The worst luck someone can have is coming up in a bad home. It can be too much to overcome. Remember that when looking around.

* Hang the Mona Lisa in a country club boardroom, and sooner or later an incoming president will lobby to repaint the color of her hair.

* Live your life so that when you die your funeral will fill up the church. A big funeral says something about how much you were loved, or at least respected. These people who get to church by way of the electric chair don’t get much of a turnout. They have to rent the pallbearers.

I think you get the flavor of the man. To me he’s an American at its best – independent, original, thoughtful, considerate, and warm hearted. A good model for this 4th of Julyweekend.

Cheers,

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