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