First Swing of Spring

Practice Range
Mad Golfer Golf Club
114 E. Street Road
Southampton, PA
215/357-1622

With my first round of golf less than a week away, it was time to get some serious prep underway. Under glorious sunshine, and with temps in the 70s, I got my first practice session in at the Mad Golfer Golf Club in Southampton, Pa. The Mad Golfer's practice range is where I conditioned myself last September to return to the links after my heart surgery in March 2017.

Since today was the first practice session, it was more important to focus on the muscle memory of my swing than it was to work on any specific swing mechanics. With this in mind, I hit a large bucket of 63 balls. I felt a small would not be enough and a jumbo could possibly be pushing it so early.

After warming up with several stretches and swing with my Orange Whip, I hit 10 shots a piece with my Wilson Staff PMP wedges, Ci Gap Wedge, and Ci7 Pitching Wedge and 9-iron. I finished up with eight balls struck with my Alpha Rx 6-Hybrid and five with my Golfsmith Big Gun 7-Wood. Again, my focus was not where I hit the ball, it was getting a feel for swinging the golf club with a fluid rhythm and making solid contact. I did use an alignment stick to help with my setup.

Overall, I was pleased my first practice session. Despite only playing three times late last season, my swing did not feel awkward; not in mid-season form, but better than I expected. My next practice session will concentrate on putting, along with some more work on swing. While I realize I still have plenty of work to do, I think I should ready to play on May 4th.

Give It A Rest

After teeing it up for seven consecutive weekends, I decided to give my

body a rest. Despite consecutive good rounds the previous two weeks, the forecasts called for soaring temperatures and humidity, so I figured it was a good time for a physical and mental break.

Although I didn't play any golf this past weekend, I did add a new Wilson Staff Fybrid RS to my bag. The Fybrid--which is 41-in. in length, has a loft of 19.5 degrees and comes with a UST Mamiya VTS Proforce shaft--is meant to be a bridge between fairway woods and hybrids that replace longer irons, replacing the 2-hybrid, 2-iron and 7-wood in the bag. In my

Wilson Staff Fybrid

case, it will be the bridge between my Callaway X2 Hot 4-wood and my Wilson Staff Ci7 4-iron. Wilson claims that their studies have indicated that the Fybrids' loft and length are optimal for hitting long shots from the fairway.

I purchased the Fybrid new online from BudgetGolf.com for $9.97. At that price, I couldn't afford not to take a flyer on the club. It cost nearly as much for shipping as it did for the club. I already have a Wilson Staff Fybrid RS 4-hybrid, which was in my bag the two previous seasons. Depending on how well the 19.5-degree Fybrid performs, I may replace my 4-iron with the 4-hybrid. I hope to test the club out at the practice range later this week before taking it to the course next weekend.

Finally! At The Fairways

The Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2255/2248 - 4503
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 41/48 = 89
Date: August 1, 2015

It has been six long weeks of frustration. Poor tee shots, fat iron shots, chunked or skulled chips and inconsistent putting. Six weeks in which I manged only 11 pars in 90 holes played. In which I lost nearly two dozen golfs. But that all ended Saturday at The Fairways Golf Club. In shooting an 89, I played my best round since shooting an 86 at The Fairways on June 19. It was only the fourth time I managed to break 100 in the 10 rounds I've played year.

The Fairways Scorecard

The turnaround began earlier in the week, when I decided to go back to the Wilson Staff Smooth Driver that I had played most of last year. I also returned to my Wilson Staff Ci7 irons. I kept the Adams Tight Lies 4-wood that I been carrying, as well as the Solus wedges and Odyssey XG9 putter. I rounded out my bag by adding my 20-degree Elevon Tour 3 hybrid back in the bag, along the Ci7 4-iron in place of the Alpha Rx 4 hybrid.

Wilson Staff Smooth Driver is back in the back

Armed with the new configuration of 14 clubs in my bag, I hit the first tee at The Fairways. My opening drive naturally went a bit left, but from the rough, I managed to hit a low short iron shot that rolled to the back of the green. I two-putted and had a par at the First Hole! Was this just an aberration or a sign of things to some? I quickly found out at the Second Hole. I again hot my tee shot into the left rough, but my 7-iron approach shot found the green. Although I three-putted for a bogey, I had played well two holes in a row. Even though I went bogey and double-bogey over the next two holes, I was playing more consistently. At the Fifth Hole, 372-yard par 4, I hit the fairway off the tee, found the green with my approach, and two-putted for another par! My tee shot at the Sixth Hole was pushed to the right and came up just short of the creek that crosses the course. That shot would have found water in the past few weeks, but it stayed dry, although I did make a double-bogey 6 when I three-putted. I made three consecutive bogeys from there, but finished the front nine in 41. It is one of the lowest nine hole scores I've shot this year.

The Fifth Hole where I made par

The back nine was not quite as clean as the opening nine holes, but I still played better golf. I made a par at the 139-yard Twelfth Hole after just missing a 15-foot putt for birdie. I also made three straight double bogeys at holes 14-16, and an 8 at the 374-yard par 4 Seventeenth Hole when I took three shots to get out of the right bunker. But I recovered at the Eighteenth to make a nice 5 after hooking my tee shot left. The back nine 48 wasn't great, but it was much better than the way I had been playing.

I just missed a birdie at the Twelfth Hole

Overall, I hit it better off the tee on Saturday, and on those occasions when I didn't, I didn't compound my error by making three or four bad shots in row afterwards. Except for a few instances, I hit my irons much better, as well as my chips and pitches around the green. And my putting was consistent. I will take a lot of confidence from this round and I look forward to continuing the improvement during my next round this coming weekend.

Photos by The Muni Golfer