Bringing it Back at Byrne

John F. Byrne Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2273/2658 - 4931
Par: 33/34 - 67
Rating: 63.9, Slope: 116
Score: 44/50= 94
Date: June 11, 2012

Feeling some consistency developing in my swing during my last round at Juniata Golf Club, I teed it up Monday for a round at John F. Byrne Golf Club. Formerly Holmesburg Country Club, the course was designed by Alex Findlay, and sits in a valley formed by the Torresdale Creek. The creek comes into play on no less than eight holes as it meanders through the course. The course is one of the three golf courses owned by the City of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission, but managed by Billy Casper Golf. I played my round with three students from Father Judge High School, including Steve, a member of the school's golf team who played all 18 holes with me.

My round got off to a rather typical start with my tee shot being blocked out to the right of the first fairway. This led to a double bogey 6 after I hit my third shot from one bunker across the green into another. At the Second Hole, I again blocked my tee shot way right, but managed to escape with a bogey. I hit a 5-wood off the third tee and two-putted for a par at the short 254-yard Par 4. Then came my nightmare hole, the 293-yard Par 4 Fourth Hole in which you must hit your tee shot over the creek through a narrow opening in the tree line. I accomplished this and lipped out a 20-foot birdie putt, but made my second par. I was feeling really good about my swing, even though I wasn't hitting the best off the tee. However, my short game and putting were working. I two-putted for bogey after missing the green left at the Fifth Hole, but then hit my tee shot long and left at the 142-yard Par 3 Sixth Hole. This led to a double bogey. I made another par at the short Par 4 Seventh Hole and a bogey at the 162-yard Par 3 Eighth Hole, which plays longer since it plays uphill. Another pushed tee shot at the Ninth Hole caused me problems and led to an 8 at the uphill 376-yard Par 4. Even with the 8 I scored a very good 44 on the front nine, with three pars.

 The Fourth Hole

The back started with another missed fairway left, but I managed to scramble for a bogey. I hit my tee shot at the uphill Par 3 Eleventh Hole to about 20 feet, but lipped out my second birdie attempt of the round. I again went left at the Par 5 Twelfth Hole and made another bogey, before my third birdie putt of the round lipped out at the short Par 3 Thirteenth. I double bogeyed the next two holes--both Par 3--after poor tee shots. I thing at this point, fatigue was beginning to set in because I wasn't staying down and through the ball on my shots. I made a 10 at the 495-yard Par 5 Sixteenth as I repeatedly topped the ball while trying to lay up after missing yet another fairway. I then hit my tee shot at the Seventeenth Hole off the heel of my 4-wood and hacked my way up the fairway for a 7. I hit my best drive of the day at the 338-yard Par 4 Eighteenth, which played over the creek then straight uphill. But I pulled my second shot wide of the green and made a double bogey. My back nine was a 50 after taking 23 strokes on the last three holes.

 The Eighteenth Green

My round of 94 was only one stroke higher than the 93 I posted at Byrne nearly a year ago. This isn't too bad since the course has been lengthened by nearly 50 yards since then. While I'm still not hitting it off the tee as consistently as I'd like, I was hitting my irons and wedges much better this round. So I feel the game is coming along. I did make a slight change in my equipment for the round, exchanged my Callway Warbird 3- and 5-woods for an Adams Redline RPM 4-wood and Fast 10 5-wood. As for John F. Byrne, I payed $29 to walk on a Monday. The course is in decent, playable shape shape. There are spots , particularly in the rough, where you will get lies that will penalize you. But overall, Byrne is worth a visit.

Rambling Around Ramblewood Country Club

Ramblewood Country Club
Mt. Laurel, NJ
White/Blue Course
Yards: 3211/3002 - 6213
Par: 36/36 - 72
Rating: 70.1, Slope: 127
Score: 49/45 = 94
Date: July 28, 2008

I crossed the Delaware River into the Garden State to try my luck at Ramblewood Country Club, which still has the look and feel of an early 1960s suburban country club. The original 18 holes at Ramblewood, the Red and White courses, were designed by the legendary architect Ed Ault and opened in 1962. They feature long fairways with large greens that have subtle undulations. Water and hazards come into play on 13 of the 18 holes. An additional nine holes, the Blue course, was added nearly 10 years later. It is shorter and more tree-lined, with tighter, narrow fairways and medium-sized greens. The course was built through the Ramblewood community of Mt. Laurel and the backyards of the homes are adjacent to the fairways and greens of many holes.

White/Blue Scorecard for Ramblewood Country Club

For my round, I played the White/Blue course (the Red was closed). Because of the heavy rainstorms that had hit the area the day before, the fairways were very wet and there was little roll on tee shots, making my first nine play even longer. The greens, which were a bit slower at first, got quicker as the sun and 90+ degree temperatures dried them out.

The 1st Hole on the White Course, a 384-yard Par 4

I found the course to be in pretty good condition. Tee boxes were well maintained, as were the fairways and greens. There were some brown patches, but they were always off the main portion of the fairways. Drinking water was also abundant on the course and the cart girls came by several times.

The approach to the 7th Hole,
a 502-yard Par 5 on the White Course

Because of the wet conditions, distance off the tee was a problem and I seemed to be hitting longer irons for my second shots on the White course. An 8 at the 2nd Hole due to a topped tee shot into a hazard put me in an early hole, and although my short game seemed to put in good spots, I struggled to hit the ball online or hard enough with my putts. I finished out the opening nine with two 5s for a 49.

The 9th Hole on the White Course
viewed from behind the Green

The Blue course, which I played as my back nine, was much more consistent. After three-putting the 1st Hole for a bogey 4, I made par on the short 303-yard 2nd Hole. A pulled tee shot out of bounds and a fat wedge approach left me staggering with a 9 at the 520-yard Par 5 3rd Hole. But I regrouped to shoot all 4s and 5s the rest of the way in, including pars at the Par 5 8th and Par 3 9th.

187-yard 1st Hole on the Blue Course

My back nine 45 left me with a 94 for my round, which was especially satisfying given the wet conditions and the fact that I was not striking the ball as well as I had been. My 3 woods have been particularly disappointing and the search goes on for one I can hit conistantly, But I was really pleased with my short game; I often chipped within makable distance and got out of three bunkers with relative ease despite the heavy, wet sand. Ramblewood charged me $43 to walk on a Monday afternoon, which may have been a little high given the wet conditions when I started, but it was an enjoyable afternoon on a very enjoyable course.

The approach to the 5th Green,
a 359-yard Par 4 on the Blue Course

More images of Ramblewood Country Club:

The 6th Hole on the White Course, a 196-yard Par 3

The 6th Green on the Blue Course
as seen from the 7th Tee Box

The tee shot on the 333-yard 7th Hole on the Blue Course

The tunnel under S. Church Street which leads
to and from Holes 3 through 8 on the Blue Course

The 9th Hole on the Blue Course, a short 307-yard Par 4

Photos by The Muni Golfer

Four Ault-ernate Courses

While writing recently on this blog about the courses I have played, I discovered that I have now played four courses designed by renowned golf architect Ed Ault. Ault, who passed away in 1989, designed or co-designed over 100 golf courses. In the late 1950s, he established the golf course design firm Ault, Clarke & Associates, Ltd., which still adheres to his philosophies and standards of golf course design. Ault seemed to enjoy his most prolific period of course design in the 1960s as the merger of a young charasmatic Arnold Palmer and the infancy of televised golf began bringing the sport to the masses. The four Ed Ault courses that I have been fortunate enough to play fall into four unique and distinct categories: municipal, daily fee, public country club and private country club. Those courses are:

Juniata Golf Club: One of Philadelphia's six municipal golf courses and my home course. Opened in 1930, it was probably one of Ault's earliest designs since he would have only been 22 years old at the time. Built along the Tacony Creek, this short course, which features naturally rolling terrain, is set amongst the urban landscape of a major metropolitan city.

Center Square Golf Course: Built in 1963, this Ault-designed daily fee course sits on 148 wooded acres in the suburbs just northwest of Philadelphia. It has hosted two national championships: the 1980 and 1997 U.S. Women's Amateur Publinks Championship. I played this course two weeks ago.

Ramblewood Country Club: Designed by Ault in 1962, this Delaware Valley public country club in Mt. Laurel, N.J., features 27 championships holes set through a housing community that borders the edges of the course. Ramblewood Country Club and the surrounding homes were developed by Richard C. Goodwin, a Drexel University alumnus, who endowed the University's Richard C. Goodwin College of Professional Studies, of which my wife is an alumna. I played in several Drexel golf outings there in the mid-1990s.

Shawnee Country Club: This private country club in Milford, Del., was established in 1957 by local businessmen. Ault co-designed Shawnee with Al Jamison in 1960. The well-maintained, PGA-rated championship course sees approximately 23,000 rounds of play per year. I played this course in July 1999.

For a full list of Ed Ault-designed course, click here.

Juniata Golf Club; "Philly's Tin-Cup Course"

Over the past year, I have chronicled on this blog the transformation that has taken place at my home course, Juniata Golf Club. Now it seems, the world outside of Philadelphia has taken notice too. The Christian Science Monitor's June 23 edition carried an article, "Philly's tin-cup course," which tells of the rebirth happening at this 78-year-old course that was designed by noted golf architect Ed Ault:

PHILADELPHIA - Augusta National this is not. This is Juniata, where a defaced sign warns you to lock your car and take your valuables. Where the backs of benches advertise security services and union locals. Where the "clubhouse" is actually a cart barn. And this is the new and improved Juniata, as it inches itself out of the path of a possible developer's bulldozer.

Conditions at the 78-year-old Juniata Golf Club, always the poor relation of the six city-owned public courses, had deteriorated in recent years, the victim of scarce funding, vandalism, and neglect. When a 2003 fire destroyed the clubhouse – and the bathrooms – there was no money to rebuild, and many golfers stopped coming. Those who did were increasingly irate at having to pay even $20 greens fees, only to encounter trash and weeds, vandalism, graffiti, and worse. Juniata was losing money, and last year the Fairmount Park Commission, which owned the course, cut off funding altogether.

It suggested to Bob Wheeler, the retired Philadelphia policeman who was club manager, that he put together a nonprofit foundation to run the course. Now, with the new club just a few months into its first season, Mr. Wheeler is credited with leading the resurrection of Juniata. "He took the idea and ran with it," says Barry Bessler, chief of staff of the park commission.

A reclamation effort began in earnest last summer. Today the course is busy, its tournaments and greens-fees business thriving. The women golfers, turned off by porta-potties introduced after the fire, have returned. And the greens, once again, are green. Joe Logan, who covers golf for the Philadelphia Inquirer, recalls visiting Juniata when "there wasn't a blade of grass to stick a tee in." Now, "for what it's trying to be, it's a success story. Juniata is a lunch-bucket golf course and they're proud of it."

Read the entire story here.