Road Test: A Round at John Byrne Golf Club

John F. Byrne Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2273/2610 - 4883
Par: 33/34 - 67
Rating: 63.9, Slope: 105
Score: 45/53 = 98
Date: June 21, 2008

I decided it was time to test my game on a new layout this week, so I traveled to Northeast Philadelphia for a round at John F. Byrne Golf Club. Formerly Holmesburg Country Club, Byrne Golf Club was acquired by the City of Philadelphia in the late 1960s. Set in a valley that sees the Torresdale Creek wind its way through the course, the Alex Findley layout is now being managed for the City by Billy Casper Golf. John F. Byrne has a little of everything: tight, tree-lined fairways; wide open fairways; holes that play downhill; holes that play uphill; holes that play both downhill and uphill; Par 3s, 4s and 5s; 10 holes that play over water; and smallish greens, with some well protected by bunkers. Quite a bit of renovation has been done to course over the past few years and the conditions are fairly good for a municipal tract. Also, the young man working the counter signed me up for the Golf Philly Rewards Card. The card earns points when you play at Byrne, Cobbs Greek or FDR and can be redeemed for a free round of golf after you've earned five points.

The opening tee shot over Torresdale Creek

I teamed up on the first tee with Brian, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson University who is completing his residency in emergency medicine at Hahnemann Hospital. I played well on the front nine, going out in 45. I made two pars; one at the Par 3 2nd Hole and one at the short Par 4 4th Hole. Two 7s, at the 7th and 9th Holes were the only blotches on the scorecard. My short game bailed me out on several occasions as I chipped close to the hole.

John F. Byrne Golf Club Scorecard

I kept the momentum going on the back nine, including making a 30-foot par putt on the 516-yard Par 5 12th Hole. I almost manged to do no worse than bogey on three of the four Par 3s on the back, and bogeyed the Par 5 16th after hitting my third shot from 150 yards way right of the green.

The short 293-yard 4th Hole from the green. Tee shots must make it through a narrow opening over Torresdale Creek.

But at the 371-yard, Par 4 17th Hole, a lapse in judgment turned a good round into a mediocre one. After hitting my 17 degree hybrid off the tee into the left rough, I had about 153 yards to green from a poor lie. The green at 17 is very narrow in the front, with bunkers left and right, and wider in the back. The green also slopes front front back to front. With the hole cut in the green's narrow neck, I hit a 5 Iron for my second shot and pulled it left of the green under some tall pines. Now I faced going over the bunker to the narrowest part of green if I wanted to hit at the flag. The smart play would have been to hit towards the back of the green and two-putt for bogey, double at worst. I tried to lob a sand wedge over the bunker but caught the very end of a limb that held about three pine cones and my ball dropped straight down into the left bunker. I blasted my sand wedge out of the bunker, over the green and into the right bunker. I then hit it right back over the green and into the left bunker. I tried to chip it out, but didn't get the ball high enough and it rolled back into the bunker. I blasted out again, but again, I went over the narrow part of green into the right bunker. Fully frustrated, a light bulb came on and I opted to blast out of the bunker towards the back, wider portion of the green. My long downhill putt broke right-to-left and rolled about 5 feet past the cup. My next uphill putt just grazed the edge, and when I finally tapped in, I has an 11!

The short Par 4 5th Hole. Out of bounds to the right and tee shots to the left carry down the hill.

My frustration carried over to the 338-yard, uphill closing hole. My tee shot made it over the creek and left me with about 125 yards to the green. But I chunked my second shot, mis-hit my third and came up short with a wedge on my fourth shot. I hit a hybrid chip from about 5 yards off the front of the green and came up woefully short. I ran my first putt about 3 feet past the hole, then lipped-out the come-backer for an 8. So I shot a 98 with an 11 and an 8 on the last two holes.

The 10th Hole viewed from the tee.

But John F. Byrne was a good test of where my game is right now. I feel my confidence growing and hope to carry it over to this week as I have rounds scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

Photos by The Muni Golfer