Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages. The hour is upon us. Ti's the season, SPRING! When a young mans fancy turns to....(opps! wrong blog!) When those of us addicted to chasing the 'little white pill' head out to the course of our choice and spend somewhere around 4 hours or so in the great out doors trying to beat the daylights out of our best score ever, our playing partners in a 4 some, the course we're playing, or perhaps the club that caused our last bad shot. For most players, avid or otherwise, everything in our lives appears to disappear while we burn off that period of time used to pursue the objective of the day. Objectives of course vary with the level of experience and expertise of the golfer striking the ball.

We in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas are blessed with an astounding number of public and private Golf Courses available for play. Not three miles from my office is the old tried and true ( http://www.allentowngolf.org/) Allentown Municipal Golf Course. Why tried and true? Well, the course will always be special to me as it was the first course I ever played in my youth. Every summer my friends and I would walk, bags in tow, from our homes some 4 to 5 miles to the course at the age of about 12 or so. Put our $4.00 down, grab a half and half (ice tea and lemonade) and do 18+ holes until dusk, then walk home. We did this nearly every week, at least once, maybe two or three times, for 4 years until the first of us got our licence to drive. Then it was look out Lehigh Valley Courses, here we come!

http://www.ironlakescountryclub.com/rates.htmlWas the next course we attacked. Of course at the time it was known as Twin Lakes. Several of my friends worked as bus boys for the restaurant that was there. So the convenience of playing it was terrific. An unusual feature of the course was that there were no yardage markers. Legend had it that the owner would invite his friends to the course to play for money and didn't want them to have the advantage of knowing as much as he did about the course. Today, as Iron Lakes, yardage is marked, the staff is pleasant, and the course can be a great starter course or a terrific ego booster for an avid golfer.

http://www.centervalleyclubgolf.com/Can be reached by traveling Rt 309 where 309 meets 78. Some 18 years ago I had the opportunity to walk this course during the stages of its construction. A friend of mine was on the construction crew for the course and took me to see what they were doing a few times. The result of that construction was amazing to observe when the course began play. The 1st nine holes are links style, while the back nine is traditional. I have always found scoring on this course to be difficult. However, I did enjoy my lowest nine holes of all time on the front nine in 2001, a 33. Don't ask how I did on the back. ERRR...

The list of golf courses in the Valley seems endless! Locust Valley, Shepard Hills, Willow Brook, Wedge Wood, Butter Valley, Fox Hollow, Bethlehem Municipal, Green Pond, Morgan Hills, Berkliegh, Golden Oaks, Old Homestead, White Tail, Arrowhead, Upper Perk, Indian Creek, Southmore, Sawmill.........Good Lord we got a lotta golf courses!!!  This is easier http://www.lehighvalleygolfer.com/Courses/Courselist.asp?areaID=5 Yet it continues to take 5+ hours on many public courses!?!*#(*!)*!  If your lucky, your a member , or know a member of a private club, Saucon or Lehigh for those with pockets deeper than most. Brookside for those who have the mid-range pockets. Or Blue Ridge for those with the shorties. A walking round at virtually every private course is generally just slightly over 4 hours 15 minutes.

If your a local golfing enthusiast, get out to these courses early and often. Before you know it, October will be here and the season will be shot. I can't tell you how many times I have said and heard, "I just didn't get out this year." Not in 08, no, no, not me! Saturday I'll play round #15 for the year. Who nows how many I'll close with? Dang that little white pill!!!!!!

My name is Scott Geary, a Mortgage Broker serving Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton & all of Pennsylvania!