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.

Phillies Baby, Phillies!

While the weather was beautiful today and the links were calling my name, I just had to stay home and watch the Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 6-1. That victory, combined with the New York Mets 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins helped the Phillies claim the N.L. Eastern Division title. It is the first time the Phillies have made the playoffs since 1993. Golf will just have to wait until next weekend. Phil-lies! Phil-lies! Phil-lies!

Ross is the Boss: Golf at Jeffersonville Golf Club

Jeffersonville Golf Club
Jeffersonville, Pa.
Yards: 6150, Par: 70
Score: 51/49 = 100
Date: June 29, 2007

I played a round of golf on Friday afternoon with my friend Ken Daskus at Jeffersonville Golf Club, a wonderful old track that was originally designed in 1931 by legendary golf architect Donald J. Ross. It was purchased by West Norriton Towsnhip in 1972 and restored to its original Ross layout in 2002. It is a classic example of how a course can be challenging without a lot of gimmicks. There are a lot of holes that dogleg left or right, play uphill or downhill, bunkers that line fairways and guard greens, as well as devilish greens that have false fronts or slope off on the front, back or sides.

The opening hole is a challenging 434-yard dogleg left that plays from an elevated tee to a rising fairway. I sliced my opening shot and got frustrated when I couldn't find the ball in an open area of wicked gorse. That led to a frustrating 11! I found the second fairway, but misjudged my downhill second shot with an 8-iron, knocking it over the green for a 5. The 3rd hole is a short Par 4 that plays uphill at 282 yards. I managed to find a footprint in a fairway bunker which led to a 6. I steadied myself after that and didn't play all that poorly, except for the two Par 5s (#6 and #18), which play at 557 and 516 yards respectively. I made an 8 on both. My one highlight of the day was making a birdie at the Par 3 12th Hole, which at 181 yards was playing shorter that its posted 190. I hit my 4 hybrid to about 10 feet and made the putt; my second birdie in as many rounds!

I would really, really recommend Jeffersonville. It only cost $25 to walk during the week, $40 with cart. On the weekend it is $34/49. One of the things I particularly liked was they gave you a pinsheet in the pro shop. It showed all the greens divided into thirds. Friday's pin position was #2, meaning the pin was in the section of the green shown as #2 on the pinsheet. I thought this was very handy, although I didn't refer to it as much as I should have. They also had a lot of drinking water around the course and a really nice grille room for after your round. The hot dogs were excellent and you could load them up with your complimentary choices of mustard (yellow or spicy), ketchup, sauerkraut, melted cheese, or chili. We watched a couple of innings of the Phillies afternoon game in the grille room as we enjoyed our post-round dogs and beverage.