A Pause for Practice

Practice Range
Bensalem Township Country Club
200 Brown Ave.
Bensalem, PA
215/639-5556

On Sunday, I had planned to play a round at The Fairways Golf Club. But based on my results from Friday's round at Limelikn Golf Club, I decided some practice would be better. So I packed my clubs into the SUV and headed over to the practice ranged at Bensalem Township Country Club.

The Practice Range at Bensalem

I grabbed a small bucket of balls and found an open spot on the range. After some stretching, I warmed up by hitting 10 balls with my 56-degree sand wedge. I put a yardstick down to help with my alignment as I proceed to hit 30 balls with my TaylorMade Aero Burner Driver. At first, I hit some fades; my draw still eluding me with this new driver. While I did hit some long drives with a slight draw, I continued to hit a lot more duck hooks than I would like. I believe the problem may be that the driver, which is 45.75-in., is just a bit too long for me to control properly. I don't think I am able to properly square the club face at this length, which is causing me to hit the fade or slice, and to hook it as I try to force the ball the draw.

On the Practice Green

I have begun to research cutting it down to 45-in. So far, my research indicated that cutting three-quarters of an inch off the butt end and re-gripping it will not seriously effect the the shaft's flex or the overall distance of my drives. The shorter length should allow me to better control my drives and hit more fairways. I will try to pick up a Winn Dri-Tac grip--the same grip presently on the driver--so I can cut it down later this week.

The Big Putt Practice Ball

After hitting balls with my driver, I headed over to the practice green to work on my putting. I have been missing far too many short putts, which is turning 3s, 4s and 5s into 5s, 6s and 7s on my scorecard. I spent about 20 minutes practicing short putts with The Big Putt, an over-sized ball that weighs the same as a regulation golf ball. The Big Putt is 1.95-in in diameter, whereas a golf is 1.68-in. The theory is that after putting with the larger ball, the hole will look bigger with a regular golf, instilling more confidence over short putts. Hopefully, the additional practice on the greens will pay off in my next round.

Scores and Temps are High at Limekiln

Limekiln Golf Club
Ambler, Pa
Yards: 3059 (Blue)/2864 (Red) - 5960
Par: 35/35 - 70
Rating: 67.9, Slope: 117
Score: 55/47 = 102
Date: June 12, 2015

The first heat wave of the season had settled over the Delaware Valley as I teed it up for the first time ever at Limekiln Golf Club. Founded by Philadelphia Phillies' 1905s Whiz Kids Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, the course has 27 holes located on Limekiln Pike in Ambler, Pa. The course was in excellent shape and we got an excellent deal from GolfNow; only $25 plus cart.

I teed off with my cousin at 11:45 a.m. on the Blue Nine as temperatures climbed into the mid-90s, with very high humidity. We were joined by a husband-wife pairing of Larry and David. I had a lot of confidence in my game after the 42 on the bank nine at Neshaminy Valley last Sunday, but I struggled off the tee from the start, hitting my opening right to the right and narrowly avoiding the woods on the dogleg left. I played army golf through the front nine, hitting tee shots left and right throughout. Even when I did manage to put my ball in the fairway, I followed it up with a poor approach shot, pitch or chip. And my putting wasn't much better, missing several short putts. I ended the front nine with a bogey 6 at the Par 5 Ninth Hole after missing another short par putt. It left me with a very disappointing 55.

Limekiln Scorecard - Blue/Red

The back nine, played on the Red Nine, didn't start off any better as I hit a tree on the left side of the fairway after hitting my 4-wood off the tee. My play got a little better as I started hitting my driver better off the tee, but it seemed like I couldn't put two decent shots together and I continued to struggle on Limekiln's greens. My one good hole of the day came at the 418-yard Par 4 Fifth Hole on the White Nine. I blasted my driver 271 to the middle of the fairway, leaving me just 147 yards to the green. I then hit a 7-iron to 15-feet behind the hole and two-putted for my only par of the day. As the back nine went on, I was getting longer and more consistent with my driver off the tee, so I'm hoping that I'm starting to adjust to the TaylorMade Aero Burner. My back nine was a 47, an eight stroke improvement over the front nine, but it still left me with a 102 for my round.