Puzzle Solving
Greetings Golfers,
It’s good to be back home.
SC is great … but MN is home … and March isn’t bad. It can be snowy, but usually isn’t very cold … and you can feel that Spring is near.
And … our average opening date is April 4 … that means a lot needs to get done in the next month.
Putting a golf operation together is like putting together a puzzle. It can be tricky … and take knowledge and imagination. While in SC, I buy the paper so that I can do goofy puzzles like crosswords, sudoko, jumble, etc.
Don’t laugh … I know puzzles are what old people do … but I’m old and boring and this slows down my senility … at least I’m not watching Lawrence Welk reruns.
A puzzle needs real answers. You can’t just write in random words on a crossword puzzle or write any number on a sudoko … it won’t work.
A puzzle is a form of reality … that’s the challenge … it has to make sense. The answers have to fit.
A lot of people don’t make sense. It seems that they aren’t living in reality. They don’t seem to understand cause and effect … or they refuse to accept it.
Denying reality is not being creative or smart. It doesn’t work.
Trying to discover and understand reality is the job of science and math and philosophy. Trying to discover the truth is not dull and boring … it might be limited … but only limited to what isn’t true.
And dealing with people, we need a realistic understanding of human nature. That’s what makes the puzzle really interesting.
So the puzzle is about offering a golf experience that people will pay enough for, so that we can pay the bills. We aren’t subsidized and we don’t have a Sugar Daddy … we need enough revenue to keep going and keep improving.
I relate it to the puzzle of the golf swing. The golfer needs to consistently make good contact at impact. Some players focus on the follow-through. I’ve seen videos of celebrities who are brutal at impact - usually making a reverse weight shift with scoopy hand action. Their swing basically stops at impact, then they make a fake follow through where they pose at the end as if it was a great swing (these celebrities are usually actors - they’re good at posing).
That’s not solving the puzzle of the golf swing. There are a lot pieces … but the impact piece is what matters.
Some people don’t care if the pieces fit. They have a vision (it might be ridiculous) but they are determined to make it fit. It’s like pounding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in with a hammer. The pieces don’t fit … but they’re going to pound them in because it fits their vision.
That’s not being creative … that’s being crazy.
Hopefully, we’ll put the pieces of the golf course operation into the right places … and make a beautiful picture … that actually works!
It’s good to be back home to take on a bigger and better puzzle.
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com