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.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
A Gorse of A Course: Golf at Wyncote Golf Club
Wyncote Golf Club
Oxford, Pa.
Yards: 6074, Par: 72
Score: 50/46 = 96
Date: June 26, 2007
Today I finally got to play Wyncote Golf Club, an excellent links-style course located in Oxford, Pa. The course is in a beautiful setting, with picturesque views of the surrounding farmlands. The weather though was brutal: sunny, mid-90s and unrelenting humidity. Playing in a threesome with Robert Levis, Chair of Temple University's Chemistry Department, and his father, I started out walking the course, but by the 7th Hole, I had to start riding in a cart. I did wear one of my new PGA Tour Dry-fit golf shirts and I have to say, it was unbelievable how well is keep sweat away from you while you play. The shirt hardly felt moist while I was baking under the unrelenting sun.
Wyncote has some length and you definitely want to keep the ball in the fairways since most are lined with tall fescue grass or gorse as it's sometimes called. I hit the ball into it more than I care to remember. Only twice did I attempt to hit it out, and only once was I successful. Most times I took an unplayable lie and dropped (under penalty of one stroke) in the rough. After a nervous 8 on the opening Par 5 (which we played from the Blue Tees at 521 yards), I did manage a birdie (at the 8th Hole, a 334-yard Par 4) and three pars (at 477-yard Par 5 10th Hole, and #6 and #14, both Par 3s). I was very, very happy to break 100 on my first attempt at this course! I guess the bit of practicing I have been doing is paying off. I'm really starting to get accustomed to the new hybrids and wedges. I used a hybrid, particularly my 20-degree 3 Hybrid off of several of the shorter Par 4s.
One thing that was really cool today at Wyncote was while we were playing, an episode of Inside Golf was being shot. This is a local golf program that airs Saturday nights at 6 p.m. on cable's Comcast SportsNet. They were interviewing the owner behind the 5th Green as we were playing the hole. It was the only time I was in a bunker all day; I played out of a fairway bunker about 80 yards out and reached the green! If you get to watch Inside Golf and see the episode on Wyncote, look for me, I'm the one wearing a red shirt, white shorts, and a white TaylorMade visor.
Oxford, Pa.
Yards: 6074, Par: 72
Score: 50/46 = 96
Date: June 26, 2007
Today I finally got to play Wyncote Golf Club, an excellent links-style course located in Oxford, Pa. The course is in a beautiful setting, with picturesque views of the surrounding farmlands. The weather though was brutal: sunny, mid-90s and unrelenting humidity. Playing in a threesome with Robert Levis, Chair of Temple University's Chemistry Department, and his father, I started out walking the course, but by the 7th Hole, I had to start riding in a cart. I did wear one of my new PGA Tour Dry-fit golf shirts and I have to say, it was unbelievable how well is keep sweat away from you while you play. The shirt hardly felt moist while I was baking under the unrelenting sun.
Wyncote has some length and you definitely want to keep the ball in the fairways since most are lined with tall fescue grass or gorse as it's sometimes called. I hit the ball into it more than I care to remember. Only twice did I attempt to hit it out, and only once was I successful. Most times I took an unplayable lie and dropped (under penalty of one stroke) in the rough. After a nervous 8 on the opening Par 5 (which we played from the Blue Tees at 521 yards), I did manage a birdie (at the 8th Hole, a 334-yard Par 4) and three pars (at 477-yard Par 5 10th Hole, and #6 and #14, both Par 3s). I was very, very happy to break 100 on my first attempt at this course! I guess the bit of practicing I have been doing is paying off. I'm really starting to get accustomed to the new hybrids and wedges. I used a hybrid, particularly my 20-degree 3 Hybrid off of several of the shorter Par 4s.
One thing that was really cool today at Wyncote was while we were playing, an episode of Inside Golf was being shot. This is a local golf program that airs Saturday nights at 6 p.m. on cable's Comcast SportsNet. They were interviewing the owner behind the 5th Green as we were playing the hole. It was the only time I was in a bunker all day; I played out of a fairway bunker about 80 yards out and reached the green! If you get to watch Inside Golf and see the episode on Wyncote, look for me, I'm the one wearing a red shirt, white shorts, and a white TaylorMade visor.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
A Round of Golf at John F. Byrne
John F. Byrne Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa.
Yards: 4883, Par: 67
Score: 46/49 = 95
Date: June 23, 2007
I played a round today at John F. Byrne Golf Club, a City of Philadelphia-owned golf course in Northeast Philadelphia. It is probably the longest and toughest track I've played so far this year. I play there 1-2 times per season. I am always happy to break 100 there, especially with the two Par 4s at #9 and 18; both play over a creek at about 150 yards off the tee and are severely uphill to greens that are well bunkered and slope back to front. I played in a threesome with Sean and Dennis, who I teamed up with on the first hole. We were joined by a fourth for the last five holes.
Early in the round, I had trouble with my tee shots hanging a bit to the right, but that got a bit better as the round progressed, although it never totally went way. I only used driver on five holes: #s 9, 10, 12, 16 and 18. I used my 3 hybrid off several holes with some good results. I was really happy with the two Par 5s, #12 and 16, which I played in two over par, despite some really bad drives. On #12, I hit my 4 Wood from the fairway for the first time (about 230+ yards out) and came up about 10-15 yards short of the green. My chipping was pretty good today and I putted reasonably well on some of the fastest greens I've played so far.
This was a good warm-up round for my two golf dates this coming week. Tuesday I will be playing at Wyncote Golf Club for the first time. Wyncote is a links-style course, even though it is in southern Chester County. I expect I'll be able to play a lot of run-up shots into the greens there and may be hitting more woods and hybrids off the tee. On Friday, I will be playing Jeffersonville Golf Club, which is a Donald Ross-designed course in West Norriton Township, Montgomery County. Ross designed such notable courses as Pinehurst No.2, Seminole, Inverness, Oak Hill and Oakland Hills. Over $2 million dollars has been spent in recent years to return Jeffersonville to its original Ross layout. I expect it to be a tight course, greens that have trouble if you go over them, and unexpected hazards.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Yards: 4883, Par: 67
Score: 46/49 = 95
Date: June 23, 2007
I played a round today at John F. Byrne Golf Club, a City of Philadelphia-owned golf course in Northeast Philadelphia. It is probably the longest and toughest track I've played so far this year. I play there 1-2 times per season. I am always happy to break 100 there, especially with the two Par 4s at #9 and 18; both play over a creek at about 150 yards off the tee and are severely uphill to greens that are well bunkered and slope back to front. I played in a threesome with Sean and Dennis, who I teamed up with on the first hole. We were joined by a fourth for the last five holes.
Early in the round, I had trouble with my tee shots hanging a bit to the right, but that got a bit better as the round progressed, although it never totally went way. I only used driver on five holes: #s 9, 10, 12, 16 and 18. I used my 3 hybrid off several holes with some good results. I was really happy with the two Par 5s, #12 and 16, which I played in two over par, despite some really bad drives. On #12, I hit my 4 Wood from the fairway for the first time (about 230+ yards out) and came up about 10-15 yards short of the green. My chipping was pretty good today and I putted reasonably well on some of the fastest greens I've played so far.
This was a good warm-up round for my two golf dates this coming week. Tuesday I will be playing at Wyncote Golf Club for the first time. Wyncote is a links-style course, even though it is in southern Chester County. I expect I'll be able to play a lot of run-up shots into the greens there and may be hitting more woods and hybrids off the tee. On Friday, I will be playing Jeffersonville Golf Club, which is a Donald Ross-designed course in West Norriton Township, Montgomery County. Ross designed such notable courses as Pinehurst No.2, Seminole, Inverness, Oak Hill and Oakland Hills. Over $2 million dollars has been spent in recent years to return Jeffersonville to its original Ross layout. I expect it to be a tight course, greens that have trouble if you go over them, and unexpected hazards.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Some Recognition for The Muni Golfer
I got a shout-out on a really, really great golf blog, golfblogger.com. I read this blog almost every day and he does a really great job. In fact, golfblogger can partly be considered some of the inspiration behind The Muni Golfer. I only hope that my blog can be half as good as that one. If you haven't even checked it out, I strongly urge you to do so!
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