Friday, June 15, 2007

A Round of Golf at Juniata

Juniata Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa.
Yards: 4805, Par: 66
Score: 50/46 = 96
Date: June 15, 2007

I played a full round of holes at Juniata Golf Club this afternoon. The weather was sunny and hot to start, but grew overcast and cooler during the Back Nine. I played the Front Nine by myself, but was joined by Pat, an older gentleman for the Back. Consistency off the tee was a problem during the first nine holes, but I got better on the back.

The new hybrids are really helping my game. On #13, I hit the 6 hybrid and it was a green in regulation, which led to a Par. On #16, I had about 158 yards out of the rough. I choked down on the 4 hybrid, played it back a bit in my stance and actually hit it over the green! A nice chip to 6 inches saved another Par. On #17, I had about 145 yards out of deep rough (it took me a while to even find my ball). I hit the 6 hybrid and manged to bounce it up on the green.

The new Solus wedges played really well also. especially the 59 degree wedge. I hit it out of the rough on #3 to about 10 feet. On #9, I hit the 53 degree wedge from 80 yards to about 15 feet (I hit my best drive of the day on #9). But at #10 came the real eye-opener. I pushed my 6 hybrid right of the green and had 3 small pine trees between me and green. I opened up the 59 degree wedge, played the ball up in my stance, and hit a flop shot over the pines to 21 feet! I was amazed how the ball hit on the green and practically stopped!

The worst hole of the day was #15, the short Par 3 that runs along Wyoming Avenue. I have pull-hooked the ball over the fence and onto the street on several occasions and I sometimes have a tendency to worry about that when I stand on the tee. Today was a perfect example. I wasn't committed to my shot, fearing the pull-hook, so I eased up and hit a shank waaaaaaaaaay right and in front of the 12th tee. I tried to hit a gap wedge over the trees and just nipped the top branches, causing the ball to fall back at me. I tried again to hit it through the trees; again a branch knocked the ball back at me. Nine shots later, the ball was in the hole. Lesson: you must be 100 percent committed to the shot you are about to play.

Overall, it was fun to be out playing today. I played well on a about half of the holes. There's plenty of room for improvement, but some the chipping and putting practice I've done has paid off I think. I need to continue to do that. Also, I plan to dig out my Momentus Swing Trainer to keep myself in better rhythm between rounds.

2 comments:

Frank, Ireland. said...

Hi Preston,

My compliments on your blog, it is very interesting. Im a newbie golfer myself, yet to break 100 but getting close, so i can relate to your findings. My short game has been my main problem, so those Solus wedges sound interesting. Please keep the updates coming.

Frank, Ireland.

The Muni Golfer said...

Frank, thanks for checking out The Muni Golfer. The Solus Wedges have been great. The more I play them, the more I love them. I have been able to get the ball in the air with very little problem, and from any lie too! I don't think I've skulled 2 chips since I started using them. And the 59 degree lob has been fantastic. I finally am not afraid to hot a lob shot from around the greens.