Friday, June 19, 2015

Friday at The Fairways

Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2255/2248 - 4503
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 47/39 = 86
Date: June 19, 2015

I teed it up for the first time this season at The Fairways Golf Club, a short, but well-maintained track in Warrington, Pa. The Fairways reminds me a lot of Juniata Golf Course, where I learned to play the game. Both are Par 65, with a combination of Par 3s and 4s. While Juniata sits in urban setting that sometimes encroaches upon the course, The Fairways has more of a suburban country club feel as it winds through a housing development. Both courses have small greens, but The Fairways' greens are protected by many more bunkers. Given the struggles to find consistency  this season, I thought The Fairways would be an ideal place to try and gain some confidence.

The Fairways Scorecard

Teeing off on a warm day, with the humidity rising a bit, I started out just fine. Even though my approach on the First Hole found a greenside bunker, I nearly made a good sand save. A tee shot off the heel of my driver at the Second Hole went left and nestled under a large evergreen tree. This led to a dreaded "snowman" 8. I played decently, if inconsistently through the rest of the front nine and finished with a 47. My putter continued to plaque me and I missed several short putts, included a downhill two-footer for par at the Fifth Hole.

The Tenth Hole, which I parred

On the back nine, my game started to heat up like the weather. I made a putt at the Tenth Hole for my first par of the day. At the Eleventh, I made a 12-footer for a nice bogey 5. I found the green at the Par 3 Twelfth, but three-putted; again missing a short par putt. The Thirteenth Hole gave me my only real problem on the back; a poor double bogey after hitting a great drive with my 4-wood and having only a gap wedge to the green. I made a par and bogey at the back-to-back Par 3 Fourteenth and Fifteenth Hole. At the 323-yard,Par 4 Sixteenth Hole, I hit my driver up the right side, hitting the car path and gaining several extra yards. My ball was in the rough, just off the path, a little over 100 yards to the green. I hit my gap wedge, which hit on the front of the green and rolled up to 10-inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie! At the Seventeenth Hole, I pulled my driver into the Sixteenth fairway, but made a respectable bogey, and at the closing Eighteenth, I crushed a drive, then hit an 8-iron to the back of the green, but three-putted for a 5. It totaled up to a back nine 39 and round of 86.

The Sixteenth Hole, which I birdied

While my putting, especially short putts, continue to be a problem, I hit the ball off the tee much better today. As I noted in my last post, I shortened the length of my TaylorMade Aero Burner Driver to 45.25-in. in an attempt to find more fairways. Today was the first time I used the shorter driver in a round and I used it on six holes. Although I only hit actual fairways (First and Fifth), I only hit one really bad drive (Second). The other three where just off the fairway and very playable--even the drive at Seventeen which I hooked into the adjacent fairway. And the drives were pretty long as well. So far, given the results, I would say shortening the driver shaft was a positive move.

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