The Wind Blew and Birds Flew at FDR

Franklin D. Roosevelt Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 5720, Par 69
Rating: 63.9, Slope: 105
Score: 46/47 = 93
Date: October 14, 2007

The sun was shining, but the wind was blowing this afternoon at Franklin D. Roosevelt Golf Club in South Philadelphia. With the Eagles playing the Jets in New York, I expecting the course to be fairly deserted. That was far from the case. I was paired with three other golfers by the starter on the first tee, something I like about FDR. Because the course is fairly wide open, wind can be a big factor at FDR when it is blowing and today was no exception. If the wind was into us, or across, it made club selection extremely difficult. A good short game was definitely a must to score well today. The tee boxes at FDR were pretty well chewed up and the fairways were a little on the thin side, but the the greens were in very good shape and putts rolled pretty true.

My front nine was fairly undramatic, but consistent. The back nine was another story:

* A 6 at the long 418-yard Par 4 10th was followed by a really bad 7 at downhill 317-yard Par 4 11th when I pushed my tee shot way right and then hit a poor chip that didn't make it back to the fairway.

* I made a decent 5 at the 384-yard Par 4 12th hole, but then I hit my tee shot to 12 feet at the 129-yard Par 3 13th. My putt was dead center for a Birdie!

* I just missed hooking my 3-Wood around the dogleg at the 376-yard Par 14th, but still managed to get up-and-down at the raised green for a 5. Then came my worst stretch of golf.

* The 15th is a 370-yard Par 4 that doglegs right, then plays uphill, with bunkers and trees guarding the right side of green. After chunking my 3-Wood off the tee, I hot the ball everywhere but in the hole, finally settling for 9!

* The 362-yard Par 4 16th is the hole that gives me the most problems at FDR. It is a severe dogleg right that does not set up well for my draw. I tried to fade a driver off the tee and overcooked it into the woods. After my drop and punch to the fairway, I hit a 9-iron onto the green and two-putted for a 6.

* The 192-yard Par 3 17th plays downhill, but was playing into a strong crosswind from the left today. I hit by 2-Hybrid that got knocked down short of the green. Two chips and two putts and I had a very disappointing 5. But the disappointment didn't last long.

* The 18th is a straightaway 283-yard Par 4 that is wide, but tree-lined and plays even shorter. I hit my best drive of the day, which hit and rolled well down the right side of the fairway before ending up just in the rough off the fairway, 27 yards short of the green. Hole was 45-feet back in the left portion of the green. After initially pulling my 59-degree lob wedge, I decided to bump a 9-iron, which hit into the front of green then rolled like a putt straight at the hole. It hit the flagstick and disappeared into the cup for an Eagle 2...the third Eagle of my career.

What a way to end a round of golf. It is the second time I have ended a round with an Eagle, the other time being in July 2000 when I holed an 8-iron on my third shot at the Par 5 18th at Marsh Island Golf Club in Angola, Del.

Oh yes, by the way, Philadelphia's Birds, the Eagles, beat the Jets 16-9 at the Meadowlands.