Opening at Mountain View

Mountain View Golf Club
West Trenton, NJ
Yards: 3120/2997 - 6117
Par: 37/35 - 72
Rating: 69.8, Slope: 122
Score: 52/52 = 104
Date: May, 22, 2015

My first official round of the 2015 season took place today at Mountain View Golf Club, a Par 72 municipal layout just off I-95 in West Trenton, N.J. It is the second time in three years that I have opened my season with my first official round at this course. One of three courses owned and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission, Mountain View is a testing layout that is always in great condition. We booked our round through Golf Now and paid $44 with cart, but have paid as low as $31 in the past.

Mountain View starts off with back-to-back Par 5s, and has three one the opening nine. My swing was plagued today with a layer of rust, which I had a hard time shaking off. I seemed to be dropping my right shoulder on a lot of my swings, causing me to hit behind the ball. This is something I hope the rectify at the practice range and as I play more rounds on the course. My chipping and putting was also disappointing, but that is to be expected this early.

I opened with two 8s and had three "Snowmen" on my card for the round. While I did have two pars, at the 330-yard Par 6th Hole and 124-yard Par 3 16th Hole, I failed to make par on at least three other holes because I missed short putts. It got some bad that I actually started putting cross-handed on short putts during the back nine and my success improved.

Although I failed to break 100, overall, I was pretty happy with how I played. While it was cool most of the day, strong winds swept across the course severely impacting club selection and shots. For a stretch, it seemed like we were teeing off into the wind on almost every hole. I know my swing will only get better the  more I practice and play and this opening round gave me clues as to what I need to work on going forward.

Let the Big Dog Eat!

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

Once again, the long shadows crept across the practice range at Bensalem Township Country Club as I did a quick practice session in preparation for my first official round of the season. Like last week, I went with a specific goal in mind: to hit my Driver. My prior practice session focused on wedges and short irons to shake off the winter's rust. Last night, it was to hit my Driver before I unleashed the "Big Dog" while standing on a real tee box.

I warmed up with some stretching and swinging my Orange Whip, then hitting 15 sand wedges to loosen my swing. I hit the ball okay, but not as consistently as last week. Then, I hit 10 6-irons; again with moderate success. After a few more swings with the Orange Whip, I pulled the my Wilson Staff Smooth Driver from the bag. I teed a range ball, took my stance, made a slow rhythmic swing and sent the little white orbit on a beautiful trajectory towards the middle of the range. I hit 21 total tee shots with the Driver and the results were mixed: some wonderful shots, some pushed shots and more than a few duck hooks.

Overall, I hit 46 balls during my brief practice session. I think I rushed myself too much; certainly more than I did last week. And although it wasn't the nest practice session, I feel like it helped to shake even more of the rust that accumulated on my swing over the winter.

Tonight, I thoroughly cleaned my clubs in preparation for my first official round of the season at Mountain View Golf Club in Ewing, N.J. I will report to you on how it goes over the weekend.

My Golf Season Officially Begins

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

Finally. For the first time in 2015, I struck a golf ball with a golf club. My season has officially begun. It is a little later start than I would have liked, but tonight I had my first practice session of the year. I traveled over to the practice range at Bensalem Township Country Club to hit a small bucket of balls.

I used my Orange Whip tempo trainer to loosen up and stretch out; something I need to use more frequently at home between practice sessions and rounds. I then proceeded to hit 10 warm-up shots with my Sand Wedge,and as the shadows slowly crept across the range, I that up by followed by hitting 15 shots each with my 53-degree Gap Wedge, Pitching Wedge and 8-Iron. I finished off my practice by hitting my 6-Iron for the last nine balls.

The First Bucket of Balls This Season

I used my align sticks to help with positioning, but I mostly concentrated on making a nice swing and solid contact. I took my time between shots and although I wasn't focusing on results, I was pleased overall with how well I hit my shots the first time out.

Using alignment sticks during practice

I hope to have at least another practice session or two at the range, followed by a practice round on a course, before hitting the links the for real.

Get a Grip

If you can't get the golf ball in the hole, you can't score. And putting it a big reason for that. My putting this season has been very inconsistent; some rounds it's good and some rounds it leaves a lot  to be desired.

Winn Jumbo Lite Grip

I have used two types of putters this year--a Snake Eyes blade putter that I have used for most of the past four seasons and Odyssey Rossie mallet. The one thing that both have in common is a Winn Jumbo Lite grip that I have used for the past couple of years. If you watch professional golf on TV, you will notice that many of the pros have switched to over-sized putter grips, including Phil Mickelson and Jason Dufner. These overs-sized grips are designed to stabilize your putting stroke by minimizing your wrist movement. I know my stroke seems a lot smoother and more comfortable since I switched.

New WinnProX Grip

But lately, I feel like I haven't been putting all that well, so it is time for another adjustment. Last week, I went to Golf Galaxy and had an even larger putter grip installed on an Odyssey White Hot #9 putter, which is a cross between a blade- and a mallet-style putter. The new grip is a WinnProX 1.60, an extreme overs-sized putter that has a 1.60-in diameter. It makes me feel like I can make a better pendulum-like stroke on my putts, which will hopefully result in being better at getting the ball in the hole.