Not Getting Byrne(d)

John F. Byrne Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa.
Yards: 2273/2658 - 4931
Par: 33/34 - 67
Rating: 63.9, Slope: 116
Score: 46/44 = 90
Date: June 15, 2018

While the world's best golfers were grinding away Friday during the second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on the eastern tip of Long Island, I was grinding away during my own round at John F. Byrne Golf Club in Northeast Philadelphia.

John F. Byrne Scorecard

While Shinnecock is a private wind-swept, links-style course that is ranked among the top 10 in the world, Byrne is a Philadelphia-owned municipal track that sits in a valley, with the Torresdale Creek serpentining throughout. It is more renowned for its elevation changes than its scenic views.

My round got off to an okay start, with a two-putt bogey at the First Hole, followed by a double-bogey at the long Par 3 Second Hole, which requires golfers to hit a very tiny green with their downhill tee shots.

After a routine par at the short Par 4 Third Hole, I faced the short, but devilish Par 4 Fourth Hole. Although the hole only plays 293 yards, your tee shot must carry over the creek and through a narrow opening in the treeline 145 yards off the tee. From there, the fairway slopes severely downhill from left to right. If you make it through the opening to the fairway, you must play your approach shot--often with ball well below your feet--uphill to the tiny green that juts out from the side of the hill. Any approach shot that misses left or right leaves a very difficult chip or pitch.

Opting for a conservative approach off the tee, I hit my 4-wood at the right side, hoping to draw the ball toward the center of the gap. My shot, however, hung to the right just enough and while I didn't hear it hit in the trees of the creek, I was unable locate my ball on either side of the creek. I finally took a drop on the tee-side of the creek, and drawing a poor lie, hit my third shot into the weeds along

Fourth Hole looking back to the tee

the creek bank. Another drop. I hit my fifth shot over the creek up the left side about 50 yards short of the green. With the ball way below my feet as I took my stance, my punch (sixth) shot landed short and bounded right down the hill below the green. My chip up (seventh shot) ran over the green into the rough, but against the hill. With room for much of a backswing, I hacked down on the ball (eighth shot), which squirted across and off the green. I chipped again (ninth shot), this time stopping the ball about six feet from the hole. I sank the putt for a 10!

As I headed to the Fifth Hole, my mind made me think I was playing the world class U.S. Open venue, not a Philly muni course! A 10! On only the fourth hole of the round. But wait, there was still 14 more holes to play and I was not going to let this one hole blow up my round and my score! All week long, I have listened to golf commentators talk about players who are grinders, who don't have flashy styles, but who get the ball in the hole and post good scores. Well, here was my chance to be a grinder! To focus and put up a good score, despite the 10. My immediate goal became keeping my score under 100, shooting in the 90s at minimum, and if possible, getting into the 80s since the last time I played this course in 2016, I shot 86.

The comeback started at the 293 yard Par 4 Fifth Hole. I hit 7-wood off the tee, leaving me a gap wedge for my approach that I hit to 15 feet. Two-putts and a par. The grind has begun. I miss-clubbed at the downhill Par 3 Sixth Hole, hitting my tee shot into the creek that front the green. Double-bogey. A poor chip led to a bogey at the short Seventh Hole and a bad tee shot at the slightly uphill Par 3 Eighth led to another. At the 376 yard Par 4 Ninth, the tee shot starts out downhill, goes over the creek, then straight uphill to the green. I found the fairway, but came up well short on my approach, then hit my pitch a good 25 feet past the hole. But I slowly rolled in the slick downhill putt for par and a score of 46 on the front nine, even with a 10 at the Fourth!

I stood with confidence on the Tenth tee, another downhill tee shot that had to cross the creek. It quickly evaporated when my tee shot found the water and led to a double-bogey. I pulled my tee shot well left at the uphill Par 3 Eleventh Hole, which resulted in another double-bogey. But I was grinding, and my tee shot at the Par 5 Twelfth Hole found the middle of the fairway. I hooked my lay-up left with my hybrid, pitched out to the fairway, then wedged on to 15 feet. Two-putts and a six. A three-putt bogey at the very short Par 3 Thirteenth Hole was followed by another bogey at the long, 219-yard Par 3 Fourteenth Hole. After missing the green right for another double-bogey at the Par 3 Fifteenth, I was determined to finish strong. Although my tee shot went left into the treeline at the Par 5 Sixteenth, I hooked a 5-iron out and down the fairway. My third shot with a 7-iron came up short of the green, but I chipped on and made the 12 foot putt for a par. I found the left rough on the Seventeenth and my approach shot went even more left. I got a break when my pitch shot hung up just above the right bunker, leaving me a straight chip and a short putt for bogey. I got another fantastic break at the Eighteenth, as my tee shot at the 371-yard Par 4 hit in the creek, bounced high in the air and forward up the fairway, leaving me 135 yards uphill to the green. My approach with an 8-iron found the left rough and I chipped up to two feet and a closing par. It added up to a 44 on the back nine.

As I headed to the clubhouse, I felt a great deal of satisfaction. I had done it. I had grinded out a decent score on a day when my game wasn't hitting on all cylinders. I had met the goal I set for myself after the disastrous 10 on the Fourth Hole. I hadn't let it define my round.

We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging...

After a year-and-half break, the Muni Golfer is returning to the virtual links of cyberspace. As I prepare for the upcoming 2014 golf season, over the next several weeks I will recap my golfing in 2013, review some equipment changes, relive my attending the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion and my visit to the recent Greater Philadelphia Golf Show. So get ready world, the Muni Golfer is back!

Roundup of Recent Rounds

Walnut Lane Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pal
Yards: 2173/2098 – 4271
Par: 31/31 = 62
Rating: 59.9, Slope: 91
Score: 39/51 = 90
Date: September 11, 2010

I had hoped to play yesterday at Juniata Golf Club since I haven't played there since July, but an outing forced me to move my round to Walnut Lane Golf Club in Roxborough. Walnut Lane is not very long, but it is a very hilly course that plays tight, especially on the back nine.  It has 10 Par 3s and 8 Par 4s. Many of the Par 3s play either uphill, downhill or over ravines, while the Par 4s--while short--often are doglegs with sloping fairways; it's not unusual to have a sidehill lie for your approach shot. The summer heat does not look like it has been kind to Walnut Lane either. Many of the fairways and greens feature large bare spots and the tee boxes were so hard it was difficult to get a tee into the ground.

My Walnut Lane Scorecard

My round was a tale of two nines. On the front nine, I played pretty well, keeping the ball in play, pitching chipping and putting well. I bogeyed the first two holes, but then made three solid pars at holes 3-5. After hitting long at the Sixth Hole, I made double bogey after a poor chip, but made a bogey and par at the enxt two holes. After getting a good break on a tee shot I hit right at the Ninth Hole, I skulled my third shot over the bunker  and out of play, which resulted in a 7. Still, I went out in 39 and visions of a very good score statred to dance--prematurely--in my head. As everyone knows, you want to stay in the moment when playing golf. The minute you start thinking score, you can quickly become undone.

The Par 3 Eleventh Hole

I started fairly well on the back nine with a solid par at the downhill Tenth Hole, even after a tree limb caught my drive as it was drawing around the slight dogleg. The came the Eleventh Hole, one of my "nightmare nine." Although it is faily short, 134 yards, it plays straight uphill thriugh a narrow chute; miss left or right and you are dead. Of course, I pulled my tee shot left, had to take a drop, pitching uphill short, chipped on and two-putted for a 7. "No swaet," I told myself as I headed to the Twelfth Hole, which plays uphill over a ravine off the tee to a sloping fairway that doglegs left. I again caught a tree with my drive, but was still in the fairway. I hit a poor seond shot left over the hill and lost my second ball in two holes. A drop, weak pitch, two bad chips and two putts left me with an 8. A little upset with myself, but still OK, I went to the Thirteenth Hole, a short Par 3 where the green is protected by two large bunkers. I underclubbed and didn't turn the ball over, which put me in the right bunker. From there I skulled my sand shot across the green and through the chain link fence (how do you do that?) for my third lost ball in three holes! After my 6 I moved to the Fourteenth Hole, where I began to get my game back under control, playing bogey golf the next four holes. I came to the Eighteenth Hole feeling good that I had gotten things back on track. But a mediocre tee shot left me with a long approach off a bare lie. I tried to hit my hybrid, but it went dead right into the brush; another lost ball, my fourth of the back nine. Demoralized, I hacked it around until I tapped in for a 9 and a back nince score of 51; 12 stroles higher than my front nine.

The tee shot at the Twelfth Hole

Except for the brief lapses on the back nine, I felt my play is continuing to improve. I could have done a little better off the tee and been a bit more aggressive in my short game, but I felt I played consistently and my putting continues to be very good. I made a couple of minor changes to my golf bag before the round, replacing my 3-wood with an Adams 4-wood and my 2-hybrid with a 3-hybrid.

My 9-11 Tribute Golf Shirt

Since yesterday was the 9th Anniversary of 9-11, I wore my Tabasco golf shirt that was made for Scott Hoch to wear at the 2002 U.S. Open held at Bethpage's Black Course in New York. The shirt features the New York skyline over the U.S. flag.

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John F. Byrne Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2273/2610 - 4883
Par: 33/34 - 67
Rating: 63.9, Slope: 105
Score: 43/46 = 89
Date: September 7, 2010

Last Tuesday, I played a post-Labor Day round at John F. Byrne Golf Course in Northeast Philadelphia. This is a far cry from my usual post-Labor Day rounds down at the Delaware Shore, but since Mrs. Muni Golfer and I stayed home this year, it a local round of golf. Byrne is the former Homesburg Country Club that has been part of Philadelphia's Municipal Courses since the late 1960s. It has been managed by Billy Casper Golf for the past few years under contract with the Fairmount Park Commission. Located in a valley just west of Frankford Avenue, and across Grant Avenue from the more storied, Donald Ross-designed Torresdale-Frankford Country Club, Byrne is not overly long, but a good, challenging course.

My John F. Byrne Scorecard

Coming off an excellent 85 at Horsham Valley the previous week, my round at Byrne started off with a tee shot that went dead right. Although I wasn't in a bad location, I still took a double bogey 6 to start. From there, things brightened quickly. Back-to-back pars at the Second and Third Holes brought me to the Fourth, another hole from my "nightmare nine." From the tee, you hit your shot across the creek through a narrow opening in the tree line to a fairway that slopes severely from left to right. Of course, I made double bogey, as I did at the Fifth Hole after hitting into the fairway bunker about 20 yards short of the green. At the Sixth, a 142-yard Par 3 over the creek, I hit my tee shot pin high, about 15 feet left of the pin and made par. I played bogey golf the last 3 holes to shoot a very respectable 43 on the front nine.

The opening tee shot

On the back nine, I hit my tee shot into the creek that crosses the valley, but after a drop, managed to get and down for only a bogey 5. A par at the uphill, Par 3 Eleventh was followed by a double bogey 7 at the 516-yard Par 5 Twelfth Hole. Another par at the very short (89-yards) Thirteenth was followed by a disappointing 6 at the long, 219-yard Par 3 Fourhteenth. Yet an par at the Fifteenth, a 156-yard Par 3 was followed by a par at the back nine second Par 5, the 465-yard Sixteenth. Then came the hole that always manages to find a way to trip me up. The Seventheenth, Byrne's #1 rated handicap hole, is a 371-yard Par 4 that angles to the left and then slightly back to the right. The creek runs down the right side, but begins moving in a bit to the left around 150 yards off the tee. A fade would be the best shot off the tee, but since that is not a shot I can easily pull off due to my natural draw, this hole presents quite a challenge off the tee. I hit my hybrid through theline of trees on the left, then hit a tree while trying to hit a low runner down the fairway. My ball went forward, but kept me on the left of the trees. I then dumped a short pitch into the bunker on the left of the green and took three shot to get out. My second shot actually got out of the bunker and hung in the grass, but then fell back into the bunker. I then three-putted for a 9. I managed to regroup and make a 5 at the uphill, 338-yard Eighteenth for a back nine 46 and a total of 89.

The Fourth Tee viewed from the Green

Overall, I continued to play well from the round at Horsham Valley. I was particularly pleased with how I scored on Byrne's Par 3s, parring five of the seven on the course. In addition, I played the two Par 5s in two over par. My putting has really been good and I have been striking the ball solidly. I hope to build on the consistency through the fall as I begin to look forward to next golf season.

Photos by The Muni Golfer

On the Move: A Few Tidbits

In less than a week, Mrs. Muni Golfer and I will be moving to a new clubhouse, so much of my time over the past few months have been devoted to readying our current clubhouse for sale and packing boxes as opposed to hitting fairways and greens.  For more than a couple of weeks my golf equipment--including clubs, balls, accessories and apparel--have been packed up and are awaiting the moving men. I will be so glad when we complete the move to our new clubhouse and I can unpack my clubs and my weekends will go from scouting open houses to staring down putts.

 The golf equipment is packed

In the meantime, the Muni Golfer celebrated his 51st birthday and received a wonderful gift from the missus of a ticket to Saturday's third round of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club on July 23. The ticket was in a copy of John Feinstein's latest golf book, Moment of Glory.  The book looks at the underdogs who won golf's four majors in 2003: Mike Weir (Masters), Jim Furyk (US Open), Ben Curtis (British Open) and Shaun Micheel (PGA Championship). If it lives up to the excellence of Feinstein's previous golf books, it will help me pass the time on my soon-to-be longer commute to work.

An Eternally Good Read

The Eternal Summer

Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960,
Golf's Golden Year

I have recently finished reading The Eternal Summer, an excellent book by Curt Sampson, the bestselling author of Hogan and The Masters. The book chronicles the unique set of circumstances that occurred in golf during the your 1960. Sampson calls it "the golden year" because it was a time when golf was finding its way into our living and consciousness through the magic of that emerging technology: television. It was also a time in which a golfer from Western Pennsylvania, Arnold Palmer, was capturing the hearts and minds of the public via the black and white imagines on the television screens. It was also the year in which a golfing legend, Ben Hogan, was making one final attempt at greatness, while a future legend, Jack Nicklaus, was slowing making a name for himself as an up-and-coming amateur from Ohio.

Sampson takes through the year: from Palmer's heroic wins at The Masters and U.S. Open, to his near miss at The Open Championship at St. Andrew's--which put the British Open back on the map for American golfers--to Nicklaus' near miss at the U.S. Open, to Hogan's last hurrahs at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Only 233 pages, it is a short, but very entertaining read which I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the history of golf as well as professional golf.

Philly Becoming Tiger's Town?

Reports in today's Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News indicate that the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods may be held at Aronimink Golf Club, just outside Philadelphia, in 2010 and 2011. The tournament, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, is currently played at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., but that course will be undergoing renovations after next year's tournament in preparation for hosting the U.S. Open in 2011. Aronimonk, which was designed by the legendary Donald Ross, has hosted the 1962 PGA Championship, which was won by Gary Player, and the 2003 Senior PGA Championship. The members of Aronimink are scheduled to vote on hosting the AT&T National after an Oct. 15 town hall-style meeting with tournament officials. If the course, located in Newtown Square, accepts hosting the tournament, it will mark the first time the world's number one player will tee it up in the Philadelphia area.

Behind the Scenes at Bethpage Black

I just finished reading Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black, John Feinstein's chronicling of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York. The Open at Bethpage Black marked the first time the U.S. Open was held at a truly public course. If you might not be familiar with Bethpage Black, it is one of five courses that comprise Bethpage State Park on Long Island. The Black Course was designed by the famous golf architect A.W. Tillinghast. The course is so famous and desirable to play, even though it is suggested for only low handicapped golfers, that people literally sleep in their cars overnight for the opportunity to gain one of the coveted daily tee times.

In his book, Feinstein takes us from David Fay first developing the idea in 1995 to play the Open at Bethpage, the logistics and difficulties behind making that idea a reality--including the fallout from 9/11, the actual tournament that was won by Tiger Woods, to the USGA's agreement with the State of New York to have The Black again host the Open in 2009. In this book, Feinstein gives us an in-depth look at people who run the United States Golf Association, as well what it takes to stage one of the largest and most prestigious golf championships in the world. It is both fascinating and entertaining, and I highly recommend it for any true golfer's reading list.

By reading Open, I have now completed the John Feinstein "Grand Slam" of golf books, which also includes A Good Walk Spoiled, The Majors, and Tales from Q School. Tonight at Borders I picked up my next read: One Magical Sunday: (But Winning Isn't Everything). Co-authored by Phil Mickelson, it is his firsthand account of his life leading up to his winning his first major, The Masters, in 2004.