Greetings Golfers,

It’s almost November – this has been the quickest year of my life. They say time goes faster as you get older … I must be getting really old!

Sunday night we’ll close the golf course for the season. We always close by November 1stbecause we need to put the course to bed before the snows come. In 1991 we tried to stay open as late as possible, and then we got hit by the Halloween Blizzard. Because we hadn’t put the course to bed, we had to pay the price for it in the spring. Even if we don’t get an early blizzard, normal wear and tear to the course doesn’t heal. The bottom line is we close because we want to protect our beautifully maintained golf course.

This year we did open early – in fact we opened in mid-March. But it immediately snowed and we basically had the same opening we have every year in early April.

The weather was pretty typical until mid-summer. But, shortly after the 4th of July to the middle of September, it seemed to never stop raining. That type of rain is a nightmare for a golf course superintendent. Barry Provo did an amazing job keeping the course playable. And in August when we had constant 90 degree temperatures … our golf course was very vulnerable to disease. Barry kept us healthy throughout a lengthy, dangerous time. I can’t sing his praises enough.

All of our staff did an outstanding job and I’d like thank every one of them: Dan Abts, Doug Backstrom, Bill Bailey, Kelsey Bell, Paul Bickel, Jack Braaten, Heidi Breen, Jerry Brown, Scott Clark, Jim Clinite, Gordon Davis, Larry Dobson, Emma Duncan, Darryl Egertson, Bob Elfering, Dick Eller, Don Ellwood, Tyler Erickson, Sam Esse, Shelly Esse, Ray Falls, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bonnie Fredrickson, Carolyn Gaskill, Jim Gibson, Calvin Greene, Anna Hanson, Gabriela Heise, John Herrmann, Paul Hook, Ashley Hughes, Sonny Jurgens, Morgan Kelsy, Willie Kelzer, Todd Knutson, Madison Koebnick, Ray Kutz, Abby Kuzara, Kasey Liebeg, Kevin Loney, Stephanie Loney, Bob MacKinnon, Amanda Malo, Fred McGraw, Lori Money, Lee Moran, Mikalea Meadows, Emma Melander, Beth Melander, Sarah Menzuber, Stephanie Meuwissen, Colton Motschenbacher, Dennis Miller, Kayla Mork, Maddie Mork, Don Nelson, Taylor Nelson, Kristi Notvedt, Nick Peters, Dan Peterson, Gary Peterson, Gary Plummer, Sophia Priem, Barry Provo, John Rochford, Jacob Rollin, Erin Schliesman, Jim Schmieg, Todd Schlinder, Don Schneider, Paul Schullo, Conor Schwartz, Ron Solheim, Roger Swanson, Michelle Tentis, Morgan Tentis, John Thompson, Mike Thompson, Jim Werre, Tom Wellhausen, Kristi Williamson.

Our staff has been recognized for their exceptional efforts by the readers of TEE TIME magazine. In their annual “Readers Poll” they rated Deer Run GC in the top 5 in seven categories: “Best Golf Experience”, “Best Course Condition”, “Best Greens”, “Best Clubhouse”, “Best Pro Shop”, “Best Course to Host an Event” … and “Best Hospitality” for the 5th year in a row!

And … the Midwest Golf Course Owners Association awarded Deer Run GC their 2016 Golf Course of the Year.

Not only for Deer Run GC – but for golf in Minnesota – 2016 was a great year. The Ryder Cup hosted by Hazeltine National was a spectacular event. The Americans pulled off a much needed victory … and the weather was perfect. On stage in front of the whole world, Minnesota golf looked as good as it gets.

It was a pretty good year – no wonder it went so fast.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Have you been watching the baseball playoffs? It’s been good baseball … and smart baseball. The good managers seem to excel in the playoffs – what a shock.

Sort of like the Vikings. They finally have a good head coach … and surprise, surprise … they’re winning.

But as much as I’m enjoying the playoffs, the season is too long. If the World Series is between Cleveland and Chicago … well, I hope they don’t have to play in snow. All professional sports seasons have become too long. The NHL finishes their playoffs in the summer. That’s ridiculous. I’m a fan, but more is not always better. They’re just being greedy.

The PGA Tour should be done for the year. But now, they’re starting the new season before the New Year. How does that make sense?

Youth sports have also become year-round seasons. They want kids to fully commit to one sport by age 10. That’s also ridiculous.

I’ve heard that the Vikings new quarterback – Sam Bradford – was a superstar basketball player, superstar hockey player, and could have been a PGA Tour golfer. Obviously, he’s a freak athlete. But, I think playing all of those sports helped him become a better athlete and a better football player than if he’d only played football as a kid.

It’s the same with developing your brain. What if a kid decided at age 10 that he was only going to do math?

I think we’re becoming too specialized at the expense of being well-rounded. And maybe by becoming too specialized we’ve lost what was considered common-sense. Common-sense requires more than a narrow perspective … it requires a fundamental sense of how the world works – not just a specialized area.

The best coaches have common-sense. Too often coaches get so hung up on the X’s and O’s that they can’t see the obvious. I think the Cubs and Indians have the best managers in baseball – should be a great World Series. And Mike Zimmer could be one of the best coaches in the NFL. I’d love to see the Vikings and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. How good would that be?

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Tiger Woods is back in the news. He hasn’t played a PGA Tour event in 14 months … and counting. He’d agreed to play in this week’s Safeway Open, but withdrew on Monday. Usually Friday is the last day to withdraw … but something over the weekend must have convinced Woods to withdraw.

We know he’s had back problems – did they flare up? Or did his chipping yips reappear?

I think the Ryder Cup rekindled his competitive juices … and he committed to play. But, reality probably hit last weekend and he didn’t want to look foolish on a pretty big stage.

This next year is going to be when we find out who Eldrick Woods really is. I think life is all about overcoming. Did Woods make impressive comebacks during golf tournaments? Yes. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Tiger has been Tiger Woods since he was 2 years old on the Mike Douglas Show.

Success is relative. A natural athlete who is captain of his high school team is less impressive than the handicapped kid who becomes a decent athlete.

Most of us love the first “Rocky” movie. In fact, most good movies have the climatic scene where the hero has to decide to whether to give up or overcome. Think of “Gone With the Wind”.

But, some people think those critical decisions are cornball. They say we don’t really have those choices – that we are victims of our circumstances and that society is responsible for our lives. In fact, when I was in high school, we saw a Bob Richards/Wheaties film about Glen Cunningham. As a boy, Cunningham’s legs were burned up in a fire and they said he would never walk again. Wrong. Through sheer will power and determination, Cunningham not only walked, but set the world record for the mile run in 1934. My teacher said that the film was an example of capitalistic propaganda to keep people from revolting against an unfair society. Wow … talk about propaganda – her Marxist ideology was all about brainwashing.

I’ll admit it – I’m a cornball. I believe in the power of the will and love stories of the human spirit overcoming the odds. That’s the main reason I love sports.

Let’s see if Tiger Woods can come back. I always admired his skills and accomplishments. But I never thought he was a hero. If he can come back and overcome his yips – even if he doesn’t win again – he’ll be a hero in my book.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Have you had time to process the Ryder Cup? Most people would say it was a huge success – not only for the USA and Hazeltine – but for the game of golf.

Maybe some purists are mad. Too much yelling, too much drinking, too many birdies, too much fist pumping. Well, golf doesn’t have to have the atmosphere of a funeral. Golf can and should be joyful.

Speaking of funerals – I hope you saw Arnie’s Public Memorial Service on Tuesday. Though it was reserved and respectful, it was joyful. Arnie’s life was joyful … and Arnie tried to bring joy to others … that’s why he was so special. I think Arnie would have loved this Ryder Cup – especially that moment on hole #8 when Patrick Reed made a putt right after Rory and they back slapped each other as they walked to #9. That was as good as it gets.

Justin Rose complained that the course was set up like a Pro-Am. Do you think we would have seen that excitement if guys were winning holes with bogeys? Thank God they cut down the rough and put the pins in easy places – let those guys light it up. The weather was perfect – warm but not hot – and almost no wind. Hazeltine can be a beast – even for those guys. Yet, if you let the best in the world have good scoring conditions, they’ll tear apart a beast like Hazeltine … look at the Phil-Sergio match – they made 19 birdies and each shot 63. Would Justin Rose rather that each guy shot 75 and sometimes won holes with bogeys?

There is a time and place for that type of golf – the US Open. That’s when par is a great score and it’s 4 rounds of grinding. I love that too. But, match play is great fun and needs to be less of a grind and more of a party. Birdies and eagles are more uplifting than bogeys and double bogeys.

This Ryder Cup was great for golf. It will be talked about for many years and may even become a legend. It was the perfect tribute to Arnold Palmer. What a week.

Cheers,

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