Greetings Golfers,

Tomorrow is Halloween. The ancients Celts celebrated this as the festival of Samhain – meaning the end of Summer and the “first of Winter”.

I never liked Fall until I was about 40. I just wanted non-stop Summer. Fall made me sad and I just couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the season.

But life has the same cycles as the seasons, and they all need to be appreciated. The Celts honored their dead with the passing of the seasons … and for them, Samhain was the season of death and renewal.

And for us at Deer Run, this is also a time of death and renewal – we close the golf course, yet renew the golf course with projects.

This month had an extra special project. A group of Deer Run neighborhood guys have built a bridge to the tee-box on hole #4. The reason it is so special is that it is a memorial to one of their best friends – Joe Smith. Joe passed away this Summer from ALS.

These neighborhood guys refer to themselves as “The Band of Idiots”. In this case, that moniker is off-base. Led by Ron Smith, the BOI have built something that is very meaningful – and what better symbol than a bridge? In terms of the Celts and this time of year … a bridge of death and renewal. Perfect.

Slan leat,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Are you watching the baseball playoffs? I really wanted the Cubs to go all the way … I hope it happens in my lifetime.

It blows my mind how good major league baseball players are – it’s ridiculous. They make hard plays look easy … and they can hit pitching that is unhittable. Imagine if they used metal bats like high school players and softball players use. The ball parks would become obsolete.

Well, that’s what’s happened to golf. Metal headed drivers and souped up balls have made classic courses obsolete (for Tour players).

Here’s what Gary Player said last week at the Western Golf Association’s fifth annual Green Coat Gala:
“If we look at the Tour in 30 to 40 to 50 years’ time, 50% of the Tour will hit the ball 400 yards. What’s going to happen to golf? It’s going to be obsolete. Leaders are not handling this in the way that they should. They should cut the ball of professional golf down by 50 yards, and let the amateurs use what they like. They don’t recognize that there are two different games between professional and amateur, and that they are as different as night and day”.

I agree. It’s a shame that the equipment is making great, old, classic golf courses obsolete. Imagine if Wrigley Field became obsolete. I want to see the Cubs win a World Series at Wrigley … not at some crazy ball park that looks like an erector set and center field is 600 feet from home plate.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Two years ago I wrote a blog entitled “Self-serving” … it was about winning the TEE TIMES MAGAZINE Readers Poll award for “Best Hospitality” for the second year in a row.

Last year – we won it again … and I kept myself from writing about it.

Well, we just won it for the fourth year in a row. Hurrah!

And, we got second place in the “Best Greens” category.
Our Superintendent deserves public recognition – he does a phenomenal job.

And we finished third in “Best Golf Experience” and also third in “Favorite Golf Course For A Tournament”.

Self-serving? Yes. But I mostly want to acknowledge our staff. This is a team game. Thank you!

That’s it – it had to be done.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

It always takes me awhile to get my bearings back after a trip – lot’s of thoughts, but not many conclusions. I need time to let these thoughts connect.

Here’s some of the stuff that’s been going through my mind:

While talking to guys in pubs in Scotland, I was constantly asked why football (soccer) isn’t popular in the States. My own sons played soccer as kids – liked it, but never loved it – and don’t follow it now as adults. Why? I told the pub guys that Americans like sports that are more about the hands such as baseball, basketball, and American football. Your thoughts?

Speaking of American team sports … how about the Twins? What a turn-around! Paul Molitor deserves more credit than he’s been getting – that team was dead before he came along. I like the Viking’s coach Mike Zimmer – I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a very good year. The T-Wolves are doing the right things (finally!) and Sam Mitchell wants to take the time to build a winner. The Wolves were never patient enough to do things right – they’ve been in constant panic mode with a short-term philosophy. What about the Wild? Who knows? They won a crazy game last night … but they’re missing some key ingredient – they’re like a stew that’s too bland.

Back to that hands idea. Hands are what really make American football – it’s become a passing game. You need a star quarterback more than anything. So what’s with the Gophers? I want to like Coach Kill … and I respect loyalty … but that quarterback is not a Division 1 player (maybe he’d be a good soccer player).

Golf is hands. Putting and chipping are hands. The golf swing only works if the hands do their job. Played the other day with a man in his 80’s who made a putt on #17 to win the matches we had going on … his hands worked in the clutch. Golf is much more about feel than we want to admit. I’d come back from playing slow greens in Scotland to playing lightening fast greens at a local golf club with the aforementioned fellow. It took me 9 holes to get the feel of the greens … but I’d already shot a million even though I’d hit the ball pretty well.

I don’t know … Scotland, soccer, hands, good coaches, guys in their 80’s still playing good golf … there must be some connections.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Just finished hitting some balls off a Power Tee driving range. Not our newly installed Power Tees … but at St. Andrews. Seriously. The Holy Grail of golf also has Power Tee range mats – exactly like the ones at Deer Run GC.

Speaking of the Holy Grail of Golf … played yesterday at the Crail Golfing Society – just south of the town of St. Andrews. Crail GS is supposedly the course that Michael Murphy wrote about in Golf in the Kingdom. I didn’t meet Shivas Irons, but the Head Pro Graeme Lennie is a great guy. And the golf course is as good as you’d hope … and is surrounded by the North Sea – it’s on a peninsula. We played the last few holes as the sun was setting and the fog was rolling in. I’m not trying to sound like a jerk … but how do I not talk about it? It was amazing!

We’ve been lucky and had no rain and a lot of sun. We were expecting cold and rainy … this nice weather is a bonus. But we didn’t come for warm weather … we came for Scotland. If you like dogs, scotch whisky, cashmere sweaters and plaid clothing, unpretentious people, and of course GOLF … you would love Scotland.

We stayed a few days just outside of Glasgow … then went to St. Andrews for a few days, and now we’re in Edinburgh. All during our travels we see golf courses everywhere! And everyone over here is talking about Jordan Speith … and next year’s Ryder Cup.

Golf is very healthy over here in Scotland. And the PGA Tour is very healthy with the rise of these young superstars. The doom and gloom about golf the last 10 years has been overblown. Golf is an ancient game with a fascinating history. But it also adapts with the times … for example St. Andrews using Power Tees. The secret is to combine the best of the old with the best of the new.

Maybe that’s why St. Andrews and the Crail Golfing Society are the Holy Grails of Golf.

Cheers,

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