Greetings Golfers,

They did it. They lost over 100 games last year … and this year they made the playoffs. Of course I’m referring to the Minnesota Twins – the former Washington Senators.

The playoffs for them is really only a playoff game against the other wild card team – the NY Yankees. A classic battle of Good vs. Evil.

In fact, this battle goes back so far that there was even a famous play/movie made about it in the 1950s … I’m sure you’ve heard of “Damn Yankees”. The main character  sells his soul to the Devil so that his beloved Washington Senators can beat the hated Yankees.

You would have thought moving to Minnesota almost 60 years ago would have broken the hex that the Yankees have over the Senators … but it doesn’t seem to have gone away.

But maybe this year is the year. The song “Heart” is my favorite of the show. You’d know if you’d heard it. It goes: “You’ve gotta have heart … miles and miles and miles of heart … “

Well this year’s Senators/Twins do have miles of heart.

Let’s hope Tuesday they can break the hex without having to sell their souls.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Last week a PGA Tour player played his round in 1:36 and had his best score of the week (69). I’ll take a wild guess and say that he wasn’t taking a bunch of practice swings and playing mechanically.

That’s my new mantra – “Play athletically – not mechanically”.

A good golf swing is a sweep from in-to-out. Everything you do should help make that happen … from set-up to follow-through. But, it should be athletic – not mechanical.

Most players don’t sweep from in-to-out … they lift up the club and beat down on the ball with their shoulders. Don’t believe me? … look at the gouging divots on the tee boxes … and those are from a driver – not a wedge.

Learning that sweeping action doesn’t have to be mechanical and rigid. Modern golf swings are too rigid. Old school players like Hogan and Snead were always in motion.

Take a look at this swing of Hogan from 1948:

https://www.facebook.com/BenHogan/videos/920124898037093/

How cool is that? Look at that waggle! If you want to copy good swings … watch video of Hogan, Snead, etc. They could feel their swing in their waggle. Try it – you’ll like it.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Was talking the other day with one of our Starters. He’s a very insightful fellow, and I really enjoy our chats. We were talking about running the golf operation and trying to focus on doing the right thing. As he said so well “It may be simple, but it’s not easy”. Yes.

Trying to do the right thing is seldom easy. Here’s a great example. While driving to the golf course the other day, my dog Harvey was in the back seat. And, a squirrel ran out in front of my car and started going back & forth in the road … so I had to hit the brakes harder than I wanted to because I didn’t have a chance to swerve around a freaking out squirrel. Because I hit the brakes so hard, Harvey went flying around the backseat. I’m sure that Harvey thought I was being a jerk. But, I was doing what I had to do, so that I wouldn’t run over the squirrel (I didn’t).

This happens to me all the time at the golf course. The other day a guy complained that his round was slow. I asked how long did it take – he said “Four hours”. I replied that is not slow. He countered that he had to wait a lot. So I said that waiting doesn’t mean slow. We want four hour rounds. Four hours is fair. He might want to play in three hours, but he doesn’t have the right to make everyone else play in three hours. Same with the guy who wants to play in five hours. He doesn’t have the right to back up the golf course. To those guys, I’m being a jerk. No, I’m trying not to run over the squirrel … I’m trying to do the right thing.

In fact, the other day, I had to kick out a slow 4some. They were on the 7th hole and already had the course backed up to the first tee box. They thought letting people play through would solve the problem. Wrong.

It may be simple … but it’s not easy.

Cheers,

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

Greetings Golfers,

Having bad manners is really just being disrespectful.

Nitpicking is disrespectful. The dictionary defines nitpicking as “ Looking for small or unimportant errors or faults, in order to criticize unnecessarily”.

Nitpicking is bad manners.

Nitpickers like to pretend that they’re being helpful … that they’re pointing out what needs to be done. They’re the people who look at our beautiful flower gardens and point out a weed.

It’s a power play. And mean-spirited. It’s an attack – and often in a passive-aggressive form. Then when you defend yourself … they act like you’re the bad guy.

There’s the Letter of the Law … and the Spirit of the Law. It applies to the Rules of Golf – not just to our legal system. Some people love the Rules of Golf as a weapon in their arsenal of nitpicking.

Of course there are reasonable reasons to complain. But complaining is seldom charming. It usually brings a damper to the situation … and it better be a big deal to be worth it.

I love it when nitpickers start their harangue with “You know I love you, but” … then they start the barrage. They feel they now have a license to be hyper critical and offensive.

Or the “I tell it like it is” mentality. They aren’t asked for advice, but they can’t wait to tell people what isn’t perfect.

And of course we all have our nitpicking moments. But it’s not something to be proud of.

Nitpicking is just another form of insulting behavior. The dictionary defines insulting as “disrespectful or scornfully abusive”.

Ironically, nitpickers don’t think of themselves as having bad manners. They do.

Cheers,

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