Common Sense - Where Are You?
Greetings Golfers,
Summer in Minnesota goes by too quickly. Sure, we’ve got weird air quality from those fires in Canada … and it can get hot … but, it’s still really good. We might lead the nation in golf participation and boating … because we don’t/can’t take warm weather for granted!
Fortunately, we’ve been packed everyday. It’s crazy. It never rains - or only at night. As I’ve always said - nice weather makes me look smart.
Just had a guy say to our desk staff in the Shop “You must be cooking the books to make it look like you’re full.” Huh? He then said that he had a hard time finding an open tee-time … and that he just sat on our patio and didn’t see any players on #18 for awhile.
Hmmmmm. So … we would purposefully not open tee-times so we would look like we’re full? Wow. That’s so crazy I don’t even know where to start. That would be like us sending out the beverage cart with nothing in it … and telling everyone that it’s empty because it’s sold-out.
I guess because a 4some quit after 9 holes and the 4some before them played fast … and then the others played at a normal pace … that the gap he saw was actually part of our tee-time scam????
Ah … common sense … please come back. We miss you.
Here’s another one: Twilight golf. We charge a lesser Twilight rate because we don’t think it’s fair charging the normal rate if people can’t finish 18 holes. Some people think it’s a license to play as many holes as they can. For them … Twilight is whenever they’ve had enough. When I told them they couldn’t start another round on #1 … they were mad and said it wasn’t fair. Ummmmm … it was 9:30pm and pitch-black … not what I would call Twilight.
All we’re trying to do is make it fair. Tee-times go quickly (Thank God!) … why would we lose money cancelling valuable tee-times to pretend we’re busier than we are? And why would we charge less for Twilight if they can play more than 18 holes?
Common-sense … where are you?
While writing this … just had a person call in because they were 2minutes behind pace. I’m not making this up.
Are they just looking for a reason to be upset? Why aren’t they enjoying playing golf? Because it’s 2minutes behind pace? Really?
We all know golf can be frustrating. I get it. But this stuff seems like people just going out of their way to be unhappy.
Speaking of being unhappy. Do you think Justin Thomas is very happy? What’s going on with his golf game? It doesn’t seem like he’s enjoying playing golf. I thought the Open might be a good thing for him … sort of like a new start in a new town.
I love watching the Open. It’s like watching your buddies scrambling around out the woods to make par. It’s amazing what these guys can do with a golf ball. This is not robot golf … one basic swing that just flies the ball to targets. This is working it around the course with golf shots and imagination … and guts.
Back on our little practice green, I’ve been showing some staff and other people ways to control the ball with spin. Everyone always thinks it’s too advanced. It’s not. Its the same as controlling the ball in ping-pong. A hook spin is the same as a topspin … just low-to-high with a closed face. And … a slice/flop-shot is the same as a drop-shot … just high-to-low with an open face.
People worry too much about the path being in-to-out or out-to-in. However, the low-to-high path and the high-to-low take care of proper angle automatically. Meaning … try to swing low-to-high on an out-to-in path. Or … try to swing high-to-low on an in-to-out path. Doesn’t work.
I know, I know … a lot of topics … maybe too many. But summer goes by quickly and we have a lot of golf to enjoy. Golf isn’t easy or perfect … but it’s a great way to spend time during the summer. Let’s enjoy it!
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com