Phil's Blue Hat

If you watch the PGA Tour on a regular basis, you may have noticed that Phil Mickelson is occasionally wearing a blue hat with the name of his sponsor, KPMG, across the front. Now you too can wear the same hat as Phil and help a very worthy cause at the same time. The hats are being sold for $29.95, plus shipping and handling, with the proceeds going to benefit KPMG's Family for Literacy. With each hat sold KFFL will donate three books to children in need. I already ordered mine. The hat (pictured above) is tour quality and looks great. So help children with their literacy by buying out of Phil's Blue Hats. You can learn more about Phil's Blue Hat and even order them online here.

Practice, I'm Still Talkin' Practice

Driving Range
Bensalem Township Country Club
200 Brown Ave.
Bensalem, Pa
215/639-5556

Sunday afternoon I returned to the Bensalem Country Club practice range to get my swing in shape for my first round of golf this season. I bought another large bucket of balls for $7, and after some stretching, I warmed up by hitting 10 balls with my 53-degree wedge. I then worked my way up through the bag, hitting 10 balls each with my pitching wedge, 8-iron, 6-iron and 4-hybrid. As I hit the balls, I made sure to aim at different targets across the range.

When I got to my woods, I then hit 10 balls off the tee and 5 balls off the turf with both my 3- and 5-woods. I was particularly pleased with the crisp contact I made with my woods off the turf. This might make Par 5s potentially reachable and increase my chances at making birdie or par  this season.

Overall, I hit much better shots this week. Out of the 80 balls I hit, I probably hit only 5 or 6 really bad shots, a big improve over my first practice session a wee ago. Based on how I practiced, I feel like I am ready to head to the first tee for my first round of the season, hopefully as early as this coming weekend.

The 2011 Season in Review

As my 2012 is finally on the verge of beginning, I feel it is beneficial to take look back at my 2011 season. Last season I played 13 rounds on nine different golf courses, including one scramble--the Temple University School of Medicine Dean's Invitational. This was the second year in a row that I only played 13 rounds.

Cricket Hill Golf Club, Hawley, Pa.

During my 12 rounds (I am not including the scramble), I took 1124 strokes on 216 holes for an 18-hole stroke average of 93.6. I made par or better on 50 on of the holes. I made five birdies during the season: #5 (Par 4) and #16 (Par 3) at Fox Hollow Golf Club, #16 (Par 5) at John F. Byrne Golf Club, #10 (Par 4) at The Fairways Golf & Country Club and #9 (Par 5) at Neshaminy Valley Golf Club.

 Buck Hill Falls (Pa.) Golf Club

My low score of the year was an 87 at Neshaminy Valley on Aug. 13; the lowest score I have ever shot on a Par 70 or better course. My high score was a 110 at Buck Hill Falls Golf Club on June 30. Overall, I broke 100 in 10 of the 12 rounds I played, not including the scramble.

 Mad Golfer Driving Range, Southampton, Pa.

I did play three new courses in 2011: Cricket Hill Golf Club in Hawley, Pa; Buck Hill Falls Golf Club in Buck Hill Falls, Pa.; and Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa. I also went to the practice range six times last year, mostly at Bensalem Township Country Club. I also visited Burholme Driving Range in Northeast Philadelphia and the Mad Golfer Driving Range in Southampton, Pa.

Better Later Than Never

Driving Range
Bensalem Township Country Club
200 Brown Ave.
Bensalem, Pa
215/639-5556

After a long layoff from golf, and an even longer layoff from this blog, it is time to dust off The Muni Golfer. I feel like one of those PGA Tour pros who lost his card and has to wait for sponsors exemptions or lesser tournaments to get into the field. While I haven't been playing, I have been watching golf on TV and it has slowly gotten my juices flowing once again.

Late Sunday afternoon, I dusted off my clubs and made my first foray of the year to the practice range. Looking to knock off some of the rust and re-discover the golf swing that served me so well in 2011, I went to the practice range at Bensalem Township Country Club. I ordered a large bucket for $7, which is approximately 80 golf balls. Probably a bit too much for the first time out, but I am looking to make up for some lost time.

After some stretching, I proceeded to hit 10 shots each, working my way up through the bag. I started off with my sand wedge, followed in order by my gap wedge, 9-iron, 7-iron, 5-iron, 4-hybrid and 3-wood. I hit 10 3-woods off the tee and my last 7 balls off the turf for a total of 77 balls. I tried not to focus too much on results, but as any golfer knows, that is easier said than done. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how I hit the ball. I few early shanks gave me some briefs moments of concern, but then I quickly corrected that problem. My draw is still working, although I did tend to over-hook the ball on occasion. That will straighten itself out with more practice and eventual playing.

Following the range session, I went to the putting green where I spent about 20 minutes just hitting putts. Here I really just wanted to get the feel off hitting putts, so I really didn't worry about results, but just getting the feel of having the Texas wedge in my hands again. I have to say it felt really, really good.

One nice feature this year at Bensalem's practice range was the V.I.C.T.O.R (Very Important Customer To Our Range) card that I was given. Each time you buy a bucket of balls, they stamp the card and once you've accumulated 10 stamps, you can redeem the card for a free large bucket. This is a great incentive to entice golfers to the range for practice.

Well, that's about it for now. What for an update on equipment a few other tidbits in the next few days.