Mucci is Medalist at Travis Invitational Qualifying for GCMC Members!

[Patrick_Mucci]

So, what did you card on #12?

3

So far the hole has been very good to me

I hit a 3-iron

[Ted Sturges]

At age 71,

71? -Have we actually seen his birth certificate?

 GCA.COM's own Pat Mucci

Ok- We'll concede this point 

took the medalist honors last Friday in the prestigious Travis Invitational!

The prestigiousness of the Travis is questionable 

Playing in a two-club wind,

3rd hand accounts and video replays have verified that this was in fact a 1.5 club wind

Pat shot a 2 over from the championship tees

The championship tees were in fact moved up and were closer to the member tees

to best many of the finest amateurs in the land in the qualifying round.

It was a weakened field this year

Congrats and nice playing!

Well done!! 

I nominate this for post of the year on gca.com.  Had me laughing out loud.   

Congrats to Pat on winning a spot in the Travis.  Great playing!

TS

[Bill_McBride]

Jack,

The problem is that I'm hitting more and more 2, 3 and 4 irons and fewer and fewer wedges, 9 and 8 irons.

I was in the 8th fairway and watched a kid (21 or 22) who won the Met Amateur, bomb a drive over 320 from the 5th tee.
That's a 70-80 yard advantage.
That takes a 2-iron down to a 9-iron or wedge, and it's not just the length of the club, but the trajectory of the approach shot as well.
And this kid was of medium build, not a tall muscular kid.

Later, we were talking about the huge advantage that accompanies distance and how hi-tech has narrowed shot patterns.

We were also discussing how Merion, in order to protect par, has to narrow fairways, grow the rough and HOPE that Mother Nature co-operates.

We were talking about how courses, with generous fairway width are at such a disadvantage because hi-tech also produces higher ball flight, diminishing the significance of preferred angles of attack.

...........and generally makes a mockery of the shotmaking skills that were such a requirement in the days before the huge increases in distance.

I walked the Anthony Kim - Gary Wolstenholm match at Chicago Golf Club in the 2005 Walker Cup.  Kim was consistently 70-90 yards ahead of Wolstenholm of the tee, yet lost the match 1 down.  How you ask?  Experience and cunning guile.  It was quite a lesson in course management.   I'm figuring that also played a role in Pat's great round.

[Ed Brzezowski]

Did you post it with a T??

Well done.

[Dan Byrnes]

Congrats.  That is some nice play in those conditions.

Dan

[Tom Fagerli]

Well done Pat and a great column by Jay Flemma.

[Garland Bayley]

Congrats Pat.

[Bruce Katona]

Pat: My 1st goal is to make it to your age (I do have my AARP card).  Goal #2 is to still be playing golf.  Goal 33 would be to shoot my age, even if it was at either putt-putt or chip & putt.

the likelyhood of me posting my age under tournament conditions are slim & none 7 slim just left the room.

Keep hitting those Fairways & Greens.

Bruce

[William_G]

Pat,

Well done, hope you play well in the actual tournament.

Hope we can enjoy a round of golf together someday soon while you are still young, LOL

Gray

[David_Elvins]

Great effort Pat!

Do you really still use a 2 and 3 iron?  Any thoughts of switching to hybrids to get a higher ball flight? 

[Mark Steffey]

well done.

[A.G._Crockett]

Outstanding, and inspirational for the old guys on the board!  Congrats!

[Steve Lang]

  Pat,

Congratulations on the accomplishment, well done!   I assume the greatest challenge is still ahead... so go get em!

Now, did you start on gca.com back in the beginning to learn more about playing strategy or just to foil TEP's evil plots of run-on english composition?

Regards,

s

[Bill McKinley]

At age 71,

71? -Have we actually seen his birth certificate?

 GCA.COM's own Pat Mucci

Ok- We'll concede this point 

took the medalist honors last Friday in the prestigious Travis Invitational!

The prestigiousness of the Travis is questionable 

Playing in a two-club wind,

3rd hand accounts and video replays have verified that this was in fact a 1.5 club wind

Pat shot a 2 over from the championship tees

The championship tees were in fact moved up and were closer to the member tees

to best many of the finest amateurs in the land in the qualifying round.

It was a weakened field this year

Congrats and nice playing!

Well done!! 

I nominate this for post of the year on gca.com.  Had me laughing out loud.   

Congrats to Pat on winning a spot in the Travis.  Great playing!

TS

I second the nomination.

And more importantly, congrats and even though we've never met, I'm very proud of you. Great playing!

Third nomination. Absolutely hilarious. Also, congrats Pat on a great round. I played with a guy today in the local us open qualifier named Michael Kelley from Columbus.  He said he has played in the Travis many times and said he knows Mr. Mucci well

[Patrick_Mucci]

Great effort Pat!

Do you really still use a 2 and 3 iron?  Any thoughts of switching to hybrids to get a higher ball flight? 

David,

I still use a 2 and 3-iron.

In my round I hit my 2 or 3-iron on 3, 6, 11, 12, 15 and 18

I haven't been able to find a hybrid that produced consistent flight patterns, but recently someone made a suggestion that I'll follow up on when the weather gets a little warmer.

For me, The key to hitting a good long iron is a good weight shift.

The problem I have is that the chemo drugs had a dramatic impact on my balance and I never recovered the ability to make consistent weight shifts, especially with my longer clubs, so, it's something I have to make a concerted effort to remember and execute.  Some days I get it, other days I don't.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat,

Congratulations on the accomplishment, well done!   I assume the greatest challenge is still ahead... so go get em!

Steve,

I'm hoping for warm weather as cooler weather has a negative impact on my knee and my ability to make a full turn

Now, did you start on gca.com back in the beginning to learn more about playing strategy or just to foil TEP's evil plots of run-on english composition?

I think my course management has always been pretty keen, with an occasional glitch, and I think I owe that to being able to recognize the visual signals the architect sends to the eye.

My putting, until I recently went to the long putter suffered dearly, as the closer I got to the hole, the worse I got.

Chances were that I'd make a 10 footer before I'd make a 2 footer.

The long putter has been great inside 6 feet and I'm learning how to be abetter approach putter with it

Kenny Bakst tried to get me to convert 10 years ago, but my stubbornness kept me thinking that I could conquer my putting woes with the short putter.   Better late than never I guess

Regards,

s

[Kevin_Reilly]

Pat, congrats.  Nice to hear.

Are you 100% Ping in the bag?

[Scott Warren]

Patrick,

Great round and good luck in the Travis.

Re: long irons. I agree they are superior to hybrids for all-round play. Problem is I can't hit a blade 2-iron or 3-iron with absolute reliability.

To that end, the Mizuno MP-H4 is an absolute godsend. Check them out if you haven't already.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat, congrats.  Nice to hear.

Are you 100% Ping in the bag?

Yes, and no.

I have two sets, one all Ping Eye 2's

The other set is Eye 2 Ping 2-iron, sand wedge and lob wedge with the 3-iron thru pitching wedge Callaway Diablos

The problem is that they don't make the Eye-2's in Berylium anymore and I've worn the grooves off of several sets of Sand and Lob wedges.

So I'm always looking for "green" loft Sand and Lob wedges in Berylium, but, they're getting harder and harder to find.
Plus I like the original Ping Eye-2 Sand and Lob wedges, without the beveled sole and they're even harder to find.

My other problem is that I've lost distance with my irons and am making some progress in getting it back, but I'm not sure that  it's not akin to searching for the Holy Grail

[Tim Martin]

Pat, congrats.  Nice to hear.

Are you 100% Ping in the bag?

Yes, and no.

I have two sets, one all Ping Eye 2's

The other set is Eye 2 Ping 2-iron, sand wedge and lob wedge with the 3-iron thru pitching wedge Callaway Diablos

The problem is that they don't make the Eye-2's in Berylium anymore and I've worn the grooves off of several sets of Sand and Lob wedges.

So I'm always looking for "green" loft Sand and Lob wedges in Berylium, but, they're getting harder and harder to find.
Plus I like the original Ping Eye-2 Sand and Lob wedges, without the beveled sole and they're even harder to find.

My other problem is that I've lost distance with my irons and am making some progress in getting it back, but I'm not sure that  it's not akin to searching for the Holy Grail

Pat-First of all congrats on some great play at GCGC. You may be able to find the wedges you are looking for on EBay. A couple of years ago I lost an Eye2+ blue dot sand wedge and quickly found a replacement without having to go back through Ping. Good luck in your search.

[Paul Stephenson]

Congrats Pat.  Great round.

The former pro at my club used to have a bumper sticker that read "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."  I think he would have enjoyed hearing about your round.

[Dean Paolucci]

Al Davis said to his team after winning Super Bowl XV "Your commitment to excellence and your will to win will endure forever."  Bravo Pat and good luck in the event! 

[Steve Lapper]

Hey Moron,

   Nice job...when are ready to take on another NJ (albeit a little further West) senior and improve your competitive record??


   Should such an event actually occur in the near future, it might be best described as Ray Charles vs. Stevie Wonder !!

[Andy Troeger]

Well played, Pat!

Go Irish!

[Dan Boerger]

Pat - Congrats!

Also, do you give lessons?