Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Back to the Range

Driving Range
Bensalem Township Country Club
200 Brown Ave.
Bensalem, Pa
215/639-5556

After only being able to play four holes on Sunday, I went to the Driving Range at Bensalem Township Country Club tonight in an effort to get in some swings and to try and dial in my new TaylorMade R9 Driver. I originally went to Island Green Golf Club's Driving Range, but it is temporarily closed for renovations.

I have played at Bensalem several times, but this was my first time using its practice area. A small bucket (about 40 balls) is $4 and a large (about 80 balls) is $7. Since I got a late start, I purchased a large. What I liked about the teeing area, which features 30 hitting bays elevated about a 250-yard range, is that several of the bays were designated specifically for hitting irons.

I warmed up with 10 sand wedges, taking small swings at first and working up to full swings for the last couple of balls. I then hit about 30 balls with my Driver, trying to dial it in to my preferred right-to-left ball flight. The shaft is currently 45.25-in., which is a bit longer than the 44.5-in that work best for me. I need to shorten the shaft by three-quarters of an inch for better control and accuracy. I also tried the adjustable head in several of the positions, including neutral and neutral upright. I hit some very good shots, a few bad shots and mostly acceptable shots, so I'm not too disappointed. I think when I get the shaft shortened and the weights properly positioned (the Driver was sent with a 1-gram, 14-gram and 16-gram weights instead of two 1-gram and a 16-gram which has the swing weight a bit off; TaylorMade is sending a 1-gram weight) I will get a better feel for this newest addition to my golfing arsenal.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Roundus Interuptus at Juniata

Juniata Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2805/2185 - 4990
Par: 34/31 - 65
Rating: 63.2, Slope: 106
Score: 18 through 4 Holes
Date: July 25, 2010

Trying to build on last week's round at The Fairways, I headed out to Juniata Golf Club this afternoon for my first round there since early May. The weather was very hot and humid and there was a call for thunderstorms. The sun was shining when I teed off, but by the third hole, the clouds had rolled in and rumbles could be heard in the not-to-far-off distance.

I parred the First Hole and took a double bogey at the Second after chunking two short pitch shots.  I left a par putt short on the Third Hole, but parred the Fourth Hole after chipping to four feet.  But at the Fifth tee, a long, sustained roll of thunder had me hoofing it quickly back to the clubhouse.

Over the next hour, thunder rumbled overhead and rain drizzled the course. I finally decided to pack it in and got a raincheck. Shortly after leaving, the heavens opened up and it poured heavily; to the point where I had to pull over and wait it out.

I'm disappointed I didn't get at least nine holes in today. I wanted to put my new TaylorMade R9 Driver to the test. I used it on two of the four holes I played. I hit a fade instead of draw, which means I need to re-adjust the head alignment with the weights. Hopefully I'll be able to hit the practice range one night this coming week to get the new Driver better dialed in.

Friday, July 23, 2010

I'm Back...But in a Limited Way

Mrs. Muni Golfer and I have completed our move to our new clubhouse and we are still getting settled in. Some renovations are being done and this has caused me to have limited Internet access.  But a few things have taken place during the time I've been off-line.  I'll report on them more in detail in later postings once my computer and scanner are up and fully operational. In the meantime, I wanted to give a brief snapshot of what has been going on.

First, the URL of this blog has changed. It is now just www.themunigolfer.com. Blog has been officially dropped from the URL. I hope this hasn't caused you any problems.

Secondly, I attended the 3rd round of the AT&T National when it was held at Aronimink over July 4th weekend. It was a blast! I spent a great deal of my time at the practice range just watching. I'll post my observations in a later post.


Thirdly, I finally managed to get back on the golf course, playing my first round in nearly two months at The Fairways in Warrington, Pa., on July 18. Despite some rust and some hot, muggy weather, I shot a very respectable 89.

Fourthly, I finished reading John Feinstein's biography of Rocco Mediate, "Are You Kidding Me?" I have now started to read his latest golf book, "Moment of Glory: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf." I'll post reviews later.

And lastly, I just received a used R9 Driver, which I order online at TaylorMade Pre-owned.com. Although it is used, it has hardly a mark on it and looks basically new. This is the driver that has the adjustable face settings, as well as movable weights.And I bought it at less than half the price of a new one! I can't wait to take it to the practice range and the course.

Well, that's about all for now. Look for more detailed posts about these and other developments in what I hope is the not too distant future.