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Post by philknj on May 22, 2018 19:09:44 GMT
Actually, they're playing about 12 miles NW of Valley Forge National Park, but it sounds sexier than the 2018 Pottstown Invitational. I'm posting this only because I am attending it Thursday and Friday.  Aside from being my first Symetra event, it's also a new tournament. Raven's Claw GC is only 13 years old...it's 6,739 yards from the back tees, but they're playing it at 6,080 yards.   I never heard of the architect, Ed Shearon, but he's done courses (mostly redesigns) in the Mid-Atlantic area. An interview from 2012:
Most interesting quotes:
I studied all the great architects. I read all the books. I have a very extensive library. I believe there is nothing new in golf course architecture.
Because it was far enough outside the city, at Raven’s Claw what you have is pretty spectacular natural features. You have ravines, you have plateaus, you have bluffs, you have big indigenous trees, you have really good land forms – and you can walk it. How many courses today have a mile and a half drive from one thing to another?
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The plan is to get there early Thursday AM and stay until the early afternoon, since I'm playing Linfield National GC later in the day...then watch all of Round Two on Friday. The weather will be 80+ F and mostly sunny both days.
Once the tee times are posted, I'll draft a daily "follow" list. Eun Jeong Seong is playing this one...huh?! FYI, Larry the Looper is in action for the 3rd straight week on this tour...had A. Llaneza and K. McPherson the last two weeks, and it's Hyemin Kim this week.
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Post by 18majors on May 22, 2018 21:24:42 GMT
philknjPlease say hello to Muni for all of us from the Sisters.
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Post by philknj on May 23, 2018 0:42:54 GMT
This is weird...it appears that everyone will tee off from the 1st hole, starting at 7 AM, and every 11 minutes after that thru 2:53 PM. But, now it makes sense when you look at the scorecard...the 10th hole tee is nowhere near the clubhouse. This course circles it way around a congested residential neighborhood. It won't be like the Seaview where you can take reasonably quick shortcuts between the front nine and back nine.
The event website says park on the street, but don't block anyone's driveway or mailbox. It also says they'll have a shuttle, but doesn't say where it picks up people...maybe it will run up and down the streets picking up people along the way.
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Post by philknj on May 26, 2018 3:51:20 GMT
Got home around 10:30 PM...just too wasted to write much tonight.
I followed Muni He's first nine holes of Round One and her second nine holes of Round Two. That brings my career in-person hole count with Muni to about 70.
I didn't see Karen Chung on Thursday (pic below), but I followed her some on Friday...she was wearing one of those "LPGA illegal" racerback tops.
Most exotic gear award goes to Mia Piccio(+2, MC)
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Post by philknj on May 26, 2018 13:14:28 GMT
Larry the Looper earlier in the week at the par-5 7th hole...excellent alignment aids in the distance, courtesy of the Limerick nuclear power plant. Notice the rooftops...naturally, the course starts at ground level...but becomes a rollercoaster later.
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Post by 18majors on May 26, 2018 14:27:13 GMT
philknjYou should stay there today, Muni would've appreciated.
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Post by 18majors on May 26, 2018 15:25:37 GMT
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Post by 18majors on May 26, 2018 18:23:12 GMT
Muni shot -2 for her final round; -5 for the tournament and T23.
She's gradually grown into the professional tour conditioning and she definitely belongs.
She needs to do what Nelly did in 2016, she needs to steal a win somehow.
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Post by 18majors on May 26, 2018 21:43:33 GMT
Muni will be watching her Symetra Tour friends playing USWO next week; hopefully a light bulb will go on her head and she becomes a better golfer.
She doesn't need much; she can win if she picks up 2-3 shots a round.
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Post by philknj on May 28, 2018 3:27:57 GMT
Muni will be watching her Symetra Tour friends playing USWO next week; hopefully a light bulb will go on her head and she becomes a better golfer. She doesn't need much; she can win if she picks up 2-3 shots a round.
Lucky for you our departed Van City correspondent isn't here with his napalm flame thrower ...uhhh, 2-3 shots a round is a CAREER CHANGE and how many players have actually done that?!!! For some perspective, I looked up MHL. As an LPGA rookie part-timer in 2013, her average was 72.98...in 2017, she was at a career best 70.78...that's an improvement of 2.20 shots per round, but it took four years to do it...and she must have hit 100,000 balls (and maybe a lot more) during that time frame...it just occurred to me why she has had her right wrist taped for years. BTW, her scoring average during her 2012 Symetra season was 72.41...and one must assume she played golf courses that were easier than the LPGA courses of the same season...look how her average went up by over a half a stroke in 2013. I LUV Muni, but she has a LONG way to go. More on her later, I started writing my tourney reports yesterday.
*******
The Symetra website still says the course played at 6,080 yards...that must be wrong as the pairing sheets say 6,421 (par-71).
In case anyone cares, the winner was Louise Ridderstrom of Sweden & UCLA, 69-65-63-197, -16. The 63 was a course record. The IG swing videos below were from the Wed. pro-am or earlier...the first one looks like the par-4 2nd hole...the second is definitely the par-4 12th hole.
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No doubt about it, the Swedes are Europe's Koreans. Jenny Haglund is still on top of the Symetra money list and she also picked up a win on the LET in Morocco. I saw two of her swings from behind last Friday...one with the driver and one with a short iron...WOW and WOW...I have 25 cents saying she gets her first win on the LPGA tour before M. Sagstrom does it...who will cover me?!
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Post by 18majors on May 28, 2018 11:42:14 GMT
philknjBelieve you me, I know it's hard to move scoring average. However, there is a difference between proven players and new players. In Gee's scoring average has been within a band of 0.2 for more than 2 years. Nasa Hataoka, on the other hand, moved her average from 72.673 in 2017 to 70.914 thus far this year. Also, a player can get hot and win a tournament even though her scoring average may not change much year to year.
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Aside from being my first Symetra event, it's also a new tournament. Raven's Claw GC is only 13 years old...it's 6,739 yards from the back tees, but they're playing it at 6,080 yards. 
I never heard of the architect, Ed Shearon, but he's done courses (mostly redesigns) in the Mid-Atlantic area. An interview from 2012:
