Impact II
Impact II
Greetings Golfers,
During interviews with prospective employees … I usually say that I don’t have any rules for employees. After they give me a funny look … I explain that if I have to tell them: No stealing, no fighting, no showing-up late, etc … they shouldn’t work here.
Because we live in a big country, we need rules and laws to keep order and live with each other peacefully. But … I have the luxury here of choosing who I want to work with. I don’t hire people who I don’t like.
Last week I talked about impact during the golf swing. And that a golf swing should be built around impact. Some people think that good impact is a natural result of getting the parts of the golf swing correct. I don’t agree - that’s backwards. And I mentioned that I might write about what means good “impact” at Deer Run GC.
Well … that’s pretty obvious. It’s our staff. We can get all of the parts right … but if the staff isn’t good … we won’t be good. Just like the golf swing.
As I said, a big country needs rules and laws. However, the point of those rules and laws is intent.
And … this gets to what I want to talk about: Letter of the Law vs Spirit of the Law.
To get along with each other, we need to share a basic level of respect. The more respect we share … the fewer laws we need. Laws are then mostly needed to limit misunderstandings.
Here’s an example. When hosting Monday events, I’m on the lookout for young guys who can drive balls over our fence on the range … especially if the wind is at their back.
One event day, while walking up to the range, I saw a young guy hit it over the fence. It was his last shot, and as he walked near me, I pointed to our sign that says “Please don’t hit balls over the fence.” I could see on his face that he genuinely felt bad and said he was sorry. Just then, I saw a young guy with good swing pull out his driver. I walked up to him and said that he shouldn’t hit a driver. He the turned to me and arrogantly said “ Are you telling me that I can’t hit a driver on your range?” I said “Yes.” Well, then we started arguing. And then he “ordered” me to “stand over there” … while he accused me of being “passive-aggressive”. I guess my being nice … and then reacting to his rudeness was being passive-aggressive.
This just gets back to respect. This is our range. We don’t want balls hitting the neighbor’s homes. And I guess that a sign isn’t enough to stop some people. And that asking people not to do it isn’t enough. What is enough? Obviously for some people the Spirit of the Law isn’t enough. They only respect power. Doing the right thing is not what they value.
This is when a society gets into trouble. Too many rules and signs. Life can’t be lived … things can’t get done … too much time and energy spent jumping through hoops to keep things legal. Because of people who don’t have fundamental respect. People who have no concern for the Spirit of the Law and its intent.
Well … we won’t won’t be hiring those types of people at DRGC. And … we don’t want them playing golf here either. They wreck it for everybody.
It’s bad enough having to live in a society with them. What we can hope … is that they find or form their own club … and stay there. Birds of a feather usually stick together.
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com