Bob Hennefer

Head Golf Professional

Instruction Tip Of The Month From Teaching Professional John Appleget

I want to talk about the shot off the ground. Nothing more frustrating for a teaching professional than watching players hit behind the ball. “Fat Shots”.

As we look at Colin Morikawa hit an iron off the ground, you can see he will

1. Make the club move in a circle around his body by turning his hips and shoulders

2. Strike the ball on the down side of the circle to contact the ball before the ground.

Simple thoughts that take some practice and fine tuning.

1. Weight transfer to the front foot. Notice how Colin really pushes his left knee past his left ankle and gets “Pressure” into the ground under his left foot as he starts his downswing.

2. Next look at the “Downloading” of his wrist angles as he starts the downswing. His extended arms with soft wrists help get a sharper wrist angle during the transition of the backswing to downswing.

3. “Extension” of the arms at impact and follow through. “TURN” your body to keep the handle of the club extended away from your spine. Straighter arms post impact will help keep the circle past the ball.

4. “Blending” the pressure, downloading, extension and body turn is so critical. Contact and ball curvature will be determined by how you blend it all together. Different sequences help promote certain ball patterns.

Remember, PRESSURE and DOWNLOADING to start the downswing. Then BLENDING arm “EXTENSION “with your body “TURNING” to finish the job.

Overnight Bag Storage

Beginning this month we will also be charging a nightly fee of $20 per night for any golf bags that are left overnight, but do not have bag storage purchased. This will be enforced daily. We understand golf bags can be accidentally left overnight, and members may be playing the next day and may want to leave their bags for convenience. We have 180 members that pay an annual fee for bag storage and to retain fairness, we will be instituting the fee to those that do not have annual bag storage. Accidentally, leave your bag and pick it up, and are not playing the following day? No problem, the fee will be removed. This will help ensure that bag storage does not get abused, and we maintain accountability for our members golf bags overnight.

Sunny skies, the sound of bagpipes in the air, and a golfcart caravan across the bridge could only mean one thing…LCWGA Opening Day! Thank you to Eileen Kennedy and Marybeth Taras for organizing a wonderful kickoff to the 2023 golf season. Cooler than normal temps and windy conditions obviously weren’t a challenge for our 1st place team. Congratulations to Eileen Kennedy (winning must have been on her event planning agenda), Linda Angstreich, Tinamarie LaVan and Jen Broering. Great job ladies! We also want to congratulate Jen Broering for winning longest drive (2 big wins on her first day playing with us), Christine Blessing for closest to the pin on hole 3, Linda Angstreich for closest to the pin on hole 7, and to Noelle Noyes for straightest drive.

In addition to our big winner of the day Jen Broering, we would like to welcome our other new members: Donna McHugh, Molly Mills and Susan Odegard-Schaming. We’re excited to have you all with us this season!

April was full of exciting events for our group. In addition to our annual Kickoff Cocktail Party, we had our first LCWGA Sip N Shop. Both evenings seemed to prove that besides golfing our favorite pastimes include sipping and shopping. It was fun catching up with friends we may not have seen since last season, and meeting potential future LCWGA members. Thank you to the Pro Shop for providing some great sales at the Sip N Shop so we could all make sure we are looking our best on the course this season.

Also in April our 9 Holer Match Play team, The Laurel Legends, kicked off their first season. The team of Mary Heselton, Julie Knowles, Rita Gordon, Sue Studley and Joanne Seltzer showed Riverton on April 14th that nobody was going to come into our house and leave victorious. The Legends won 3 matches and tied 1. Not bad for match play newbies! The second match, which was away on April 18th, proved to be a bit more challenging against the Ramblewood team. Unfamiliar terrain and fierce winds slowed the Legends down a bit. The team of Rita Gordon, Sue Studley, Dana Phipps. Julie Knowles and Joanne Seltzer won 1 match and tied 2. Regardless of scores, The Laurel Legends reported that play was relaxing and fun, and they are looking forward to their next match at the Moorestown Field Club on May 18th. Good luck ladies!

Be sure to check out our June newsletter to find out how our WGAP and Jersey Girls teams are doing. As a reminder, it’s not too late to join the LCWGA. All ladies with full golfing privileges are eligible. We play Wednesday mornings through October, and you can play as little or as often as you like, no weekly commitment. If you have any questions, or would like a membership application, please reach out to Kelly Redcay at kellyanneredcay@hotmail.com.