PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – (July 3, 2017) – Most sites selected by the United States Golf Association to host a major national championship are time-honored venues. But one, Moselem Springs GC in Berks County, Pennsylvania, made a meteoric rise in the national rankings to host the 1968 U.S. Women’s Open.
In a nostalgic look back at the George Fazio-designed gem – and a revealing look at its recent resurgence as one of America’s great golf courses – Moselem Springs becomes the focus of the July episode of the award-winning Traveling Golfer television show.
When Moselem Springs was completed in 1964 by Fazio, the PGA Tour player-turned-golf-course-architect, it immediately got national acclaim. It became Fazio’s first Top 100 golf course design. And it caught the attention of the USGA. Less than four years after it opened it was awarded the 1968 Women’s Open.
“I can vividly remember working on that golf course,” says world-renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio. “I was an 18-year-old kid, fresh out of high school, and I was learning the design business faster than you could ever imagine. It was a hands-on learning experience and Moselem Springs was a huge part of it.”
“We were blessed with a wonderful piece of property,” continues Fazio, who has gone on to become the most accomplished golf course architect in the world. “It was a great golf course from Day One and I remember the players in the Women’s Open raving about it. Certainly Susie Maxell Berning loved it. She won the championship and her name has been associated with the course ever since.”
Recent renovations – especially the removal of hundreds of trees and the installation of decorative, out of play fescue areas – have greatly enhanced the course. The greatest beneficiary of the renovations has been the turfgrass conditions. The level of conditioning at Moselem Springs ranks with the finest courses in the country.
“I hadn’t visited Moselem Springs in about eight years,” says Tony Leodora, host of The Traveling Golfer. “It was always a great layout but I was so impressed by the changes. The course is the best it has ever been.”
In addition to its traditional membership program, Moselem Springs has always been noted for its non-resident membership – offering a greatly reduced membership fee to anyone who resides more than 35 miles from the club. Situated in-between Allentown and Reading, and only 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia, that makes the club an attractive option for golfers who do a lot of business in the region. Also, Moselem Springs now offers very reasonable stay-and-play golf packages to visitors, through special arrangement by the PGA professional at their home club.
A main segment of the show includes an in-depth interview with Tom Fazio. His insights shine a very special light on the course.
The episode from Moselem Springs – including a peek at the charm of the surrounding Pennsylvania Dutch countryside — begins airing July 1 and runs throughout the month on the Traveling Golfer network of websites … including The Golf Director Network (see full list of sites on travelinggolfervideo.com). It also will air on Monday, July 10 as part of the Press Box television show in Myrtle Beach, 5 to 7 p.m. on HTC Ch. 4. The Traveling Golfer also airs as a scheduled weekly feature show on Comcast SportsNet and The Comcast Network throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Comcast SportsNet airings are 10:30 a.m. Sundays and 4:30 p.m. Thursdays. The Comcast Network airs the show at 6 p.m. Mondays and Fridays.
As part of every Traveling Golfer show there is the additional feature, “Tech Talk”, hosted by Tour Edge Golf experts, such as President Dave Glod. With years of experience as a club maker, Glod presents an inside look at the research and development of high-quality golf equipment.
Responding to golfers’ never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. The show repeated for the second straight year as the No. 1 Golf Television Show in America in the prestigious International Network of Golf Awards, presented at the PGA Merchandise Show in January.
The Traveling Golfer is a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora, who has 16 years of experience in televised golf. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. The old shows are archived for continued viewing on home website, www.travelinggolfervideo.com.
For more information about the Traveling Golfer, or to find out how a property can be featured on the show, call TL Golf Services at (610) 279-9220.
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