Better Later Than Never

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

After a long layoff from golf, and an even longer layoff from this blog, it is time to dust off The Muni Golfer. I feel like one of those PGA Tour pros who lost his card and has to wait for sponsors exemptions or lesser tournaments to get into the field. While I haven't been playing, I have been watching golf on TV and it has slowly gotten my juices flowing once again.

Late Sunday afternoon, I dusted off my clubs and made my first foray of the year to the practice range. Looking to knock off some of the rust and re-discover the golf swing that served me so well in 2011, I went to the practice range at Bensalem Township Country Club. I ordered a large bucket for $7, which is approximately 80 golf balls. Probably a bit too much for the first time out, but I am looking to make up for some lost time.

After some stretching, I proceeded to hit 10 shots each, working my way up through the bag. I started off with my sand wedge, followed in order by my gap wedge, 9-iron, 7-iron, 5-iron, 4-hybrid and 3-wood. I hit 10 3-woods off the tee and my last 7 balls off the turf for a total of 77 balls. I tried not to focus too much on results, but as any golfer knows, that is easier said than done. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how I hit the ball. I few early shanks gave me some briefs moments of concern, but then I quickly corrected that problem. My draw is still working, although I did tend to over-hook the ball on occasion. That will straighten itself out with more practice and eventual playing.

Following the range session, I went to the putting green where I spent about 20 minutes just hitting putts. Here I really just wanted to get the feel off hitting putts, so I really didn't worry about results, but just getting the feel of having the Texas wedge in my hands again. I have to say it felt really, really good.

One nice feature this year at Bensalem's practice range was the V.I.C.T.O.R (Very Important Customer To Our Range) card that I was given. Each time you buy a bucket of balls, they stamp the card and once you've accumulated 10 stamps, you can redeem the card for a free large bucket. This is a great incentive to entice golfers to the range for practice.

Well, that's about it for now. What for an update on equipment a few other tidbits in the next few days.