by Tom | Oct 30, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Once in awhile, you meet someone who “gets it”. Well, I didn’t meet Forrest Richardson, however, I just watched a video he made about golf course architecture … and he “gets it”. Not just golf architecture … but the game of golf. Richardson is the...
by Tom | Oct 23, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, A week ago I wrote that we were planning on staying open until Nov.1. Hmmm. Looks like I didn’t make a good call. My sympathies to the local weathermen. They get beat-up around here pretty often … everyone’s a Monday Morning Quarterback (just ask...
by Tom | Oct 16, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers. Fall is a time of reflection. Can’t believe it’s October 16. This has definitely been a strange year. I have to admit that I’m looking forward to putting the golf course to bed. I think it’s because more than anything … I’m relieved. Like most golf...
by Tom | Oct 9, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, JFK was a witty guy and left us a lot of great quotes. But, this one is my favorite “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” How can you not love that? Isn’t that what golf is all about? Not needing an easy course with perfect weather...
by Tom | Oct 2, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, The worst thing for a salesman, is to have a reputation as someone who “Over-promises and under-delivers”. As the world has gotten faster and people move around, it’s become easier for con-men to do their thing. And at the heart of a con, is to tell...
by Tom | Sep 25, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, “Uncontrolled power is the very devil – in golf or anywhere else.” Words of wisdom from Percy Boomer – probably the wisest golf instructor of all time. Of course I’m referring to last week’s US Open and Bryson DeChambeau’s amazing...
by Tom | Sep 19, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, This week the US Open returns to Winged Foot (I’m writing this before they play on Thursday). The rumor is that the course is playing very difficult, and that the scores will be high. I heard talk that 8 over par will win. That’s a big number for...
by Tom | Sep 11, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Once upon a time, sports were played for the love of the game. The best in the world were amateurs … the Olympics, the US Amateur in golf and tennis, college sports, etc. Then, businessmen saw a market … sort of a version of the Barnum & Bailey...
by Tom | Sep 4, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Most golfers have heard of Tommy Armour. I don’t mean his grandson – Tommy Armour III – I mean the great man himself, probably the greatest golf instructor of all time. He was also a big time player. He won the US Open, the British Open,...
by Tom | Aug 28, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Almost 30 years ago, when Deer Run GC was a baby, I used to give free golf clinics to get people to come out here. We were a funny little place (though charming) out in the country. Those clinics quickly grew huge (free) … and so I directed those...
by Tom | Aug 21, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Golf is infinitely worthy of discussion. We could talk golf swing forever – the concepts, the nuances, the technical aspects, etc. Or course design – links style, parkland, risk-reward, target golf, etc. Today, I’d like to talk about the...
by Tom | Aug 14, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, History was made last week in Minnesota golf. Our own Lori Money was the first woman to play in our state PGA Senior Championship. I know, I know…she doesn’t look like a senior. And she doesn’t play golf like a senior. However,...
by Tom | Aug 9, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, “If a puddle of water is made sufficiently muddy, most people will think it’s deep” – Nietzsche. I like things to be clear. I hate misunderstandings. And I think that’s normal … do you like to be confused? However, I constantly see and read...
by Tom | Jul 31, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, So, they just announced that the US Open will be played at Winged Foot GC on Sept 17-20. And, it will not have spectators in attendance. The PGA Championship – which takes place next week – will also be held without fans. I’m glad those...
by Tom | Jul 24, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, Just read an article in a local business magazine that said restaurants in the Mpls-St.Paul area are really struggling. Not only struggling … but quite a few are closing. The big reason is that they can only operate at 50% capacity. That doesn’t...
by Tom | Jul 17, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, There are lots of ideas about how to swing a golf club. Hopefully those ideas will lead to hitting good shots. I’ve seen lots of pretty practice swings by people who can’t hit good golf shots. I’m not knocking pretty swings … I think good rhythm and...
by Tom | Jul 10, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, I just watched a video of a tennis instructor talking about the nasty remarks regarding his latest teaching video. He’d been talking about strategy … and using his 4.0 student in his examples. People couldn’t believe the student was a 4.0 player....
by Tom | Jul 3, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, As you get into golf, you can’t help turning into a detective … sort of a Sherlock Holmes of the golf swing. It can be a lot of fun … but it can also drive you crazy. People can get more obsessed with the golf swing than with the game of golf. The...
by Tom | Jun 26, 2020 | Newsletter
Greetings Golfers, The other day, I was picking up sandwiches at the grocery store for one of our events. Obviously, we’re running golf events differently than in the past … however, people are in a supportive mood and happy to play golf … so it’s been working out....
by Tom | Jun 19, 2020 | Newsletter
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...