Greetings Golfers,

The 1965 Masters Leaderboard was loaded with stars. Jack Nicklaus finished first … Arnold Palmer and Gary Player tied for second. As you go down the board you see Gene Littler, Tommy Bolt, George Knudson, Tommy Aaron, Doug Sanders, Ben Hogan, Tony Lema, Billy Casper … I have to stop.

But the name that jumps out to me is that of a 53 year-old who finished tied for 15th place … Byron Nelson. He’d quit the Tour almost 20 years earlier. So, a part-time recreational player in his 50s shows up and finishes near the top on one of the most illustrious leaderboards in history, at the biggest golf tournament in the world?

How does that make sense? About as much sense as when he won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945.

Here’s what else he did on the Tour in 1945: won 18 out of 30 tournaments … and won the Vardon Trophy with a scoring average of 68.33.

Because 1945 was the last year of WWII, people have tried to minimize or dismiss his unbelievable year. However, Hogan won 5 times in 1945 … Snead won 6 times. Nelson wasn’t beating up on chumps – his scoring average proves that.

“Lord Byron” was noted for his extreme accuracy and ability to hit it dead straight. In the 1939 US Open – which he won – he hit the flagstick 6 times. Think about that. How many times have you hit the flagstick?

Because he was so straight – they named a testing machine after him – “Iron Byron”. His straight shot was a result of curing his hook by not rotating his hands … and changing to steel shafts. In those pre-war years, golfers had to learn how to use the whippy wooden shaft. Thus, they made a flat, round, swing with a lot of open-to-close hand action. Obviously it was difficult to time and control. So with the invention of steel shafts, Byron developed a more upright swing coupled with strong leg action through impact to keep the club face from turning over.  That’s why he’s been termed the “father of the modern swing”.

Both Nelson and Hogan developed swings to cure their hook. And they probably hit the golf ball as well as anyone who ever played the game. But, I would like to see golf instruction teach people to hook the ball like those guys did … then, find ways to control or cure the hook. Learning to hook the ball needs to be learned before copying Nelson’s or Hogan’s swing.

In our Men’s locker-room, we have framed pictures of 3 guys all born in 1912 … Ben Hogan Byron Nelson, Sam Snead. How would you have liked to have played in their foursome in 1947 when they were 35 years-old?

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub

Golf has always prided itself as a game of integrity. The players self-police without officials watching their every move and calling penalties.

We all know the cheaters. Whether it’s moving the ball from a bad lie or mis-marking the putt or even giving the wrong score. No one is really fooling anyone. Same with handicaps. Some people have “Hollywood Handicaps” so they can brag at the party that they’re a single digit handicap when they’re really a 15. Some people are the opposite – sandbaggers who claim to be a 15 when they’re really a 9. Either way, it’s not cool.

Cheating is the same thing as stealing – it’s really that simple. A lot of bad behavior is at essence stealing … but comes in other forms.

Last week, I caught a guy sneaking on the course and playing a few holes. Not the end of the world, but it’s still basically stealing. And, what if everyone did it? What if every neighbor just hopped on the course and played when they wanted to? Where are these lines drawn? Is it when there is no one around? Who determines that? Also, how is that still not stealing?

Last year, I caught a guy sneaking on the course and playing a few holes. His response was that it wasn’t hurting anybody. My response was that I noticed he had a swimming pool … and would he mind if I just jumped in and went swimming when no one was around? He went nuts and said “That’s not the same thing!”. I told him that it was the same thing … the golf course is private property … just like his swimming pool.

Back to the guy sneaking on last week. He’d just bought an expensive golf cart. This fellow is not starving. He doesn’t want to pay his Trail Fee and doesn’t want to pay green fees. He’s actually proud of the fact that he’s using the golf course for free while he cruises around in his beautiful golf cart.

This guy and the sandbaggers don’t think of themselves as criminals. But they’re not really different from the kids stealing at the convenience store or the guy robbing the bank or the CFO stealing from his company. It’s the same mindset … just different circumstances.

I don’t like to play Sheriff. My nature and my role is to be hospitable. This is a golf course with a range, pub, and shop … it shouldn’t be run like a police state. With freedom comes responsibility.

Fortunately, most of the neighbors at DRGC are great. They get it. They’re respectful and realize that we are neighbors … not just a business – but a neighbor. The point of this blog is to talk about cheaters – not to disparage the neighborhood. And I think it needs to be talked about.

Our society is going through some painful times. We need   to look at ourselves in the mirror and be honest about our behavior. My hunch is that cheaters rationalize what they do … hopefully this is the mirror they need.

Take care,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub

Greetings Golfers,

The other day I read an article about the handicaps of Tour players. That basically, you need to be a plus 6 handicap that can play to it anywhere. Not just be the star of your home course.

Also, I don’t think most people understand how crazy good a plus 6 really is. In fact, I don’t think most people understand how good a scratch player is … and a plus 6 Tour player is in a totally different world than a scratch player.

Here’s what I’m talking about. Years ago, when the Oldsmobile Scramble was a big deal, our tournament here was so big that we qualified 4 teams for the State tournament. That meant 4 PGA pros to play with the qualifying teams … so, I needed to invite one or two Pros from different clubs to fill the teams. And, I always invited Pros who were good players.

One year after the State tournament, one of our teams complained to me that their Pro wasn’t great and they didn’t use many of his shots. I asked if he was a consistent player and usually hit playable shots. They agreed that he hit decent shots, but not great shots. I explained that a scratch golfer isn’t always a great scramble partner. He’s scratch because he’s consistent, keeps it in play, plays smart, and has a good short game. They didn’t get what I was saying. They wanted a Tour player – someone who could overpower the golf course.

He was a much better player than they realized. To be in control of your shots is a difficult thing to achieve. To be in control with power and razor-sharp feel … well, that’s freakish … and that’s a Tour player.

A good scramble player is a youngster with a lot of power and an aggressive personality—and is probably about a 12 handicap.

Here’s an analogy: A Tour player is like a race car driver – they can’t take their foot off the gas if they want to win. But, if most of us played golf like that … we’d crash and burn. The scratch golfer won’t win the race … but he won’t have accidents – or at least not fatal ones.

Would it be fun to have a Tour player on your scramble team? Sure, but you probably wouldn’t hit many shots. You’d probably just watch and say “nice shot” … again and again. That’s who a plus 6 handicap is.

Take care,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com

Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
www.deerrungolf.com
www.facebook.com/DeerRunGolf
www.twitter.com/DeerRunGolfClub