Moselem Springs
Played Moselem Springs in 2021 as part of a GAP member play day. GAP is the Golf Association of Philadelphia and they host member play days at clubs surrounding Philadelphia for members of other area clubs to try out surrounding private clubs regardless of handicap. These are great events and a really nice opportunity to try new private courses and for clubs to make some dollars and showcase their club to area golfers. Of course the top tier clubs like Merion and Pine Valley don’t participate (but okay they’re Merion and Pine Valley) but the next tier clubs like Gulph Mills and Philly Cricket should. Their members are at these events and they should reciprocate, Snobs!
I had heard Moselem was a nice track but I was surprised by how much I liked it. The greens are crazy but they weren’t running at speeds that would make you hate the course. Maybe they shave them down in the middle of the season (we played in the early Fall) but for this event the greens were manageable speed-wise and fun with some of the craziest undulations I have ever seen.
Moselem is halfway between Reading and Kutztown in the F-A-R out exurbs of Philadelphia. IMO Reading is the armpit of the satellite cities surrounding Philly. Reading is a classic Double A city – in that Phillies Double-A team hails from Reading. If you have a Double A team in your town, your town sucks and you should move. To note, check out these sucky Double A towns:
- Corpus Christi Hooks
- Akron RubberDucks
- Erie SeaWolves
- Montgomery Biscuits
- Wichita Wind Surge
- Amarillo Sod Poodles
- Biloxi Shuckers
- Binghamton Rumble Ponies
And that is just a few. Beyond the suckiness of the cities above, the names of the teams are a bit much. The Sod Poodles? WTF?
Imagine if you will then that Moselem is actually in a suburb of an equally crappy Reading (Fightins’ in case you didn’t look it up). But, there are no homes around the course, it’s only an hour from my house. The staff was great and I liked the course and conditioning. I wonder what the best courses are in a Double A town. Of the ones I played, Firestone in Akron? Fallen Oak outside Biloxi? Never played outside the others.
Ah but I digress. To the course. Usually the Member Play Day tournaments are shotgun but this one wasn’t and we teed off on one. I much prefer this to starting on like the 12th or something and really not getting the proper sequencing.
Moselem is a Fazio design; George not Tom. I think 2021 was the year of George for me. Played Butler National, PGA National, and here. George must be from the Philly area as he has his name on quite a few Philly area public tracks and for the most part they all suck. So the George brand was mighty low IMO before 2021. However, all three courses that I played this year that he designed improved his design brand especially Butler and here. Moselem is on a great, rolling piece of property and I guess it was hard to fuck it up too bad.
For whatever the reason, with a couple of notable exceptions, I really struggled golf-wise in 2021. It was no different here. So while I enjoyed the course, it played much harder owing to my suckitude versus the difficulty of the course. I do know the greens here are not easy to read and we didn’t have a caddie but I didn’t even play well tee-to-green to blame my score on not being able to read the greens.
One is a common-template first hole that allows you to ease into your round, the 13th handicap and no real trouble. Two (and a few other holes here) gives you a blind tee shot that you best clear the crown to get additional roll and a view of the green for your approach. I didn’t and drilled a hybrid approach into some planting area to the right of the green. I suggest if you don’t crest the hill, you take a ride to the top to see where to aim. Three was a tough uphill par three and I will suggest that all of the par threes here are really solid. Nine is my favorite hole on the course. You have a blind uphill drive where you have to clear the Moselem Creek and avoid damage left and right. Again if you crest the hill you’re in great shape. On the back, I really liked the par-five 12th (the only hole I parred all day) and 18 is a great finisher. As I played this pretty recently to when I’m writing this, I’ll try to label the holes to the best of my ability.
So if you find yourself in Reading, the Peanut Bar and 3rd & Spruce are the best bars. I hear Stokesay Castle has good eats but was never there. My favorite restaurant there is a little Italian place called Mom Chaffe’s Cellarette. Public golf options include Reading Country Club (it’s okay, used to be private and I got married there) and Golden Oaks (was supposed to be private but went public instead and was a nice track – I haven’t played it in a long time). The worst course there (and one of my lowest ranked dog tracks) is Flying Hills. The houses on this course are so on top of the course that they factor into your play.
Golf Scrapbook 