One Grand Disc Golf Tour

09-30-08

Stoney Hill (#997) is not only the name of the dgc but also the community.  David Sauls was nice enough to put me up last night.  He lives on top of a hill waaaay out in the stix.  The stars were shining and the forecast predicted a zero percent chance of rain.
About 1:00am…it rained.

The course was pretty muddy. Plus the city boys turned country had broken all of their mowers and brush hogs were broken, so the grass was pretty high.  This is a course in progress which is one distinct advantage of a private course.  The owners can take their time in finding the jewels in the rough, allowing the course to evolve.  Public park courses rarely have the opportunity to tweak the course until it takes full advantage of the available land.
There are some very cool holes at Stoney Hill.  David’s favorite course was the Gran Canyon and he wanted to follow much of the same ideology that he saw out there.  I look forward to seeing how the course plays in another couple of years.

I got outta there and headed up to Winthrop College for one more assault on the Gold course before the USDGC starts tomorrow.  I took a lot of practice throws.  I think my first throws scored about an 80 and my 2nd closer to 65.  I think I’ll throw my 2nd shots first tomorrow.

Tomorrow: USDGC Tee time 10:32am

09-29-08

I unloaded most of my van at the campsite because water had gotten in and I needed to not only air it out but repack things.

My first stop was at North Greenville University (#???) Apparently, this is only a temp set up so there was nothing to play.

My 2nd stop was Century Park in Greer, SC (#???) Don’t know what’s happening here.  They have a nice sign but the pads have been pulled and the tee signs are laying in a pile near what used to be tee #1.  I looked for a phone # in the directory…nada.  I tried the blog site…the last update was 08-21-08 and it seemed as if they were still working on the course.  I just got the word from Innova that the course was pulled for a complete redesign.  Whew!

Due to repacking and the other two courses being non-playable, I didn’t get my first round of the day in until around 2:30 pm.  Despite severe cramps in my left hip and right shoulder, I ran the 9 holer at Holmes Park (#993) in hopes of warming up the muscles.  Holmes is a fairly short rec course around a ball field but and tennis courts.  It doesn’t bring them into play (much).  The transition to hole #5 is hard to find.  (Go left around the tennis courts.) I shot a –8 in 14:48 because I probably wasted about half that time trying to figure out where to go next.

Gower park dgc (#994) is another short neighborhood 9-hole rec course utilizing woods and grassy areas alike.  I didn’t shoot well on it (-2/25 in 7:49) but I expect another go around with some concentration would yield much better results.

Fleet Links dgc (#995) at Erskine College in Due West, SC is a mostly short 9 holer on campus.  The holes flow fairly well but #9 ends up around a 1/4 mile away from #1.  The targets are the Lightning DB 18’s that were not quite welded together correctly.

Lander University dgc (#996) sports custom blue-banded DISCatchers place sporadically around campus.  The disc golf course should be used to give new students a tour of the campus.  Most of the holes are pretty nice though the flow is possibly the most disjointed of any course I’ve played on this tour.  There isn’t even the remotest chance that someone without a map could find hole one at dawn and finish by sunset.  Huge walks to the next hole, sometimes passing the basket that you are to throw to.
They were out of maps but thankfully, after I informed them of my quest, they gave me the map on the bulletin board to find my way around.
Just for grins I decided to play the 18 holer as a par 2 and ended up +3.

I headed over to Stoney Hill to crash at David Sauls’ place.

Tomorrow: Stoney Hill and USDGC player’s meeting and banquet.

09-28-08

I failed to find a campground and settled for a Wal-Mart parking lot. Wouldn’t you know, I had to pick a town where the Wal-Mart parking lot is “thee” place to hang out. At around 1am, I felt privileged to bear witness to a shouting match featuring a woman spewing so many expletives it would have made a sailor blush. I’m sure she was just upset to find that she had not been accepted into Oxford.

I started my day by driving through Caesar’s Head State Park. I’m not certain what Caesar’s Head had to do with naming the park other than if Caesar had seen this area on this fine September morning it would have blown his mind as it did mine.

Brevard, NC’s Brevard College (#988) course winds though campus between some buildings and along a brook, then around the football area. With an average length of nearly 380, a Swede would KILL this course. But I don’t think this one is built for the intended demographic, which is the students (red players). There are some fun holes but most are open crushers and a few around the running track are too close for comfort.

The coolest part of the course was the WHITE SQUIRRELS running around on campus. There’s a first for me.

Crookston dgc (#989) in Fletcher, NC is possibly one of the most useless courses I’ve seen yet. There are no deuceable holes on this course! To my recollection, only ONE hole is less than 400 feet and even that is not really deuceable. Most are around 430’ or so in a wide open field. A couple of baskets are not merely NEAR a running path…but ON it,

The only well designed hole on the course had picnickers on it. Basket #1 sits 15 feet from a Tot-Soccer field and the hole is well over 400 feet wide open. Here is my prediction for this course. “There will NEVER be a 1000+ rated disc golfer that comes from playing this course exclusively. The only strategy is throw hard, upshot, putt. There are no golf lessons to be learned from this course. The only thing they will learn to throw off a tee is the mac-daddy drivers. You may, however, see a competitor in the distance competitions from Fletcher, NC.

Enka High School (#990) near Asheville, NC has 10 baskets and 18 tees. One of the few school courses that actually used the available woods instead of wide open field shots. Good use of the topography and several holes with very tight lines. As school campus dgc’s go, this is one of the better ones, but I had to wander around for quite a while to figure out the flow. I probably switched between front and back at least 4 times.

Richmond Hill dgc (#991) in Asheville, NC is a BIG course. As I mentioned before, there are tight courses and there are North Carolina tight courses. There are fair lines to many of the holes but most are unforgiving for a few degrees of error. The tees are 5’x10’ artificial turf. They look great but I was sliding a lot. (probably just had the wrong shoes) I liked the course but I think there were a few too many linear across the gulley shots. I would like to have seen more shots that carried across the side of a hill rather than mostly up and down them. Still, it’s definitely worth playing.

Black Mountain dgc (#992) starts off with a 390’ (or so) bomb shot across a field and then settles down into a short little pitch & putt rec course. They didn’t have a lot to work with but they utilized it well. Many of the holes run along a pretty little brook. #2 carries over an elbow of the brook. Big kudos for one of the more creative finishing holes. From the tee you can see the bright yellow DISCatcher band through a large diameter pipe under the walking path. Sure, it pushes my safety buttons, but it is cool.

Tomorrow: Back into SC

09-27-08

I rolled into the tourney site around 9am still mowing on a Wendy’s breakfast burrito.  After signing up and the obligatory warm-up, I got a few throws in on the back 9, which has less BIG holes than the front.  But they also have more gotta-get-em deuce holes.

I missed most of the players meeting because I was looking for a lost disc.  Unfamiliarity with the course cost me some strokes but I finished strong with 3 birdies on the last 4 holes to finish –3.  I felt lucky to be only 3 strokes out of the lead after the first round.   A local player by the name of David shot a solid –6/48 by delivering strong backhand and sidearm shots.  SC’s Zack “Cuban” edged me out for 2nd.

I like the Seneca dgc (#985) at Shaver Recreation center course.  There’s no poke-n-hope.  All the fairways (save one) have “fair-ways” to get to the pin.  There is a very well balanced left & right ratio and there are a few lefts that actually work better as turn-over sidearms and vice versa.  There are a couple par 4s and a couple of short downhill holes that are infuriating because they should be easy but are not.  There is plenty of variety and the course will reward a well-executed shot.

The 2nd round was the time to make changes to the game plan based on what I learned on the first.  Around hole 5, I said something to the group about tomorrow’s rounds.  They informed me that THIS was the final round!  Oh…guess I’d better tighten up NOW!   I reeled in my focus and shot a –6.  David started slow, then hit an ACE on #9 and then bogeyed the next two fairly short holes.  Aaron Cunningham has a very smooth sidearm and came back to shoot a –4 to take 2nd.  I ended up winning it by 3…I think.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Carolinas are having some serious problems with fuel availability right now.  So, since people weren’t traveling, there were only 4 playing in the open division.  First place paid about what I had spent on gas and hotel but several people picked up some CFR discs, making my trip at least a bit profitable.

There was daylight left, so I drove south to Anderson SC to play the City Beach dgc (#986). Holes 1 & 2 didn’t have what you’d call a fairway, just tight lines between random trees.   Around holes 6 & 7 the fairways came within a few feet of picnic tables, which had a nearby sign on a tree which said, “Beware Flying Objects”.  What it SHOULD  have said is “Beware newby dg course designers”

I had heard people speaking well of the course in Easley, SC, so I drove up there and pulled out the entire bag for the round.  I liked the Foothills dgc (#987) almost immediately.  I probably wouldn’t have done certain things but I didn’t mind that THEY did.  There were a lot of fun holes with big elevation and tight lines.  Hole 10 is 800+ feet and has a big elevation drop to a wide-open field and another crush shot into a well defined sewer line easement.  By the time I reached #12 it was getting too dark to see.  I 4’d one short one and deuced another.  I had to go back for a flashlight to finish the round.  As I ran back to my bag, I stepped into a 12’ deep hole and could have snapped my leg.  I had to do a systems-check to make sure I was OK, but it’s all good.  I finished the round following the disc in flight with flashlight.

Tomorrow: Asheville area

09-26-08

It started drizzling last night and the faucet stuck open through-out the night and into the next afternoon. Most of that time I spent deliberating over weather (get it?) or not to take a chance and go to the tourney in Seneca, SC. I had a half a tank but wasn’t sure if I would find more.

After a short visit to Innova, I came to this realization… This ENTIRE TRIP has pretty much been about taking a chance and just going for it. So far, I must say, things have had a way of working out pretty well.

So, I did.

2 blocks after I decided I was going, I found gas. Circus though it was, I made it to the pump and headed west through the pissy conditions.

I made it to the Shaver Rec center at dusk and had enough time to walk the front 9 and have a brief chat with some local players. The course looks it should be a shot makers course. But the fairways had not the first bit of grass. If it continues to rain through the weekend this looks it might be a 6 golf towel weekend!

Tomorrow: Golden Corner Classic

09-25-08

John McDaniel (not actually Stan’s dad despite the rumors started by Stan) and I did a Frisbee/disc golf clinic at India Hook Elementary School (#983).  Despite the fact that the winds were really kicking up we had around 150-200 kids.  I showed em the “Frisbee Museum” and got a bunch of em throwing backhands and sidearms. (downwind, of course) The kids seemed to have a lot of fun as did moi.
Afterward, we went around their school course.   Hole #3 is up on a mound and was a significant challenge with the 35-40 mph headwind. I hit a –9 on the 10-holer

The howling winds continued through a round at Winthrop Gold where the ropes signifying O.B. are getting tighter each year.  Sure hope that doesn’t continue through championship week.

Several of we “Team Champion & Team Star” members went to Sake Express and then raided the shelves at the Innova warehouse.

I dropped my van off at Matt Peckham’s place and he, Val and I went out for food.  On the way, we drove by Ebinport Elementary school (#984) course I wasn’t able to play yesterday so Matt suggested we go around it before food.  We broke out three 130 gram Sharks to go around in the ripping wind, fully realizing that we’d have to navigate the footballers as well.

We picked a tee behind the cat walk. I threw first and weaved one through the support poles.  Val threw and NAILED one of the posts with a resounding claaang!   Matt decided to go over the cat-walk and the wind picked it up and landed it over the schoolyard fence in a neighbor’s yard.  First throw and he’s OUT!
But then…by the first basket was another disc, though decidedly less aerodynamic.  It was hard enough throwing the 130 g sharks but THAT disc had to be thrown upside-down just to get it to flip over to right-side-up and then flip over upsidedown again.
To say it was amusing would be understating matters by a Sandstrom crush or so.

We hit a Thai place and then the sports bar next door for beer and online trivia.  Matt crushed us.  I think he’d been there before and memorized the answers…or his life has been dedicated to useless information even more than my own.

Tomorrow:  Should I stay or should I go now????

09-24-08

I dropped by my sponsor, Innova Champion discs to speak with a few people about various projects etc. That only took about 3 hours.

It was nearly 3pm by the time I got to Boyd Hill Park (#978) A couple of kids were laughing at an old man stretching (me) but I ended up getting them to grab a disc from the rec center and accompany me on the round.   The girl only lasted about 2 1/2 holes before her interest waned and she wandered off to look at something in the creek.  The boy (Lorenzo) however was totally into it.  Not to mention that he had an impressively smooth backhand delivery.  His sidearm wasn’t bad either.
There were some interesting challenges for such a small course, including a hole with a set of “mando” gates.  There was a big 405 footer and some shots into and out of a gulley.   Criss-crossing fairways aside this was a fun course worth playing.

I met with John McDaniel who will be running some clinics tomorrow which I will be helping out on.  He drove me right past York Elementary to Rawlinson road middle school. (#979) They were preparing for a big football game so I had to weave around cop cars, cheerleaders and adoring fans (parents) but it is one of the “bigger” public school courses in the area.  Most tees had signs but many did not.  There is a great patch of woods behind the current area that would be excellent for a course but most courses at schools keep the playing area well in sight.

We moved on to Tirzah Church (#980) where the first 4 holes are on the NW side of the church and 5-9 are on the South side separated by a playground and cemetery.  Mostly short putter or Roc shots but hole 8 has an extra long lower pole and 9 is 400 + feet.  The tee pads were either brick or cement and the tee signs were marble slabs with Biblical verses.  I thought it would have been cool if the versus numbers worked out to be the same as the distance of the hole.  Would that be blasphemous?

Mount Gallant Elementary School (#981) has 5 holes pretty much in the wide-open behind the school.  No apparent tee areas but John knew where they had been once upon a time.  We used basket ball courts as fake lakes and the double posts for the hoops as gates.  After USDGC this one is slated for a redesign.

Westminister Church (#982) has 11 custom DISCatchers placed around the football field.  #2 goes through a massive power tower.  Most are open but #4’s pin is elevated and tucked into some trees, and #5 is a 52’ “ace-run” that will probably get more kids hooked than the most well-thought out par 4.

Tomorrow: School Clinics and maaaayyyyybbbbeee to Seneca, SC for a tourney but then again, there’s this whole gas…uh, is it a shortage?

09-23-08

Got a late start due to more van electrical conundrums.

The Doral-Cavalier dgc (#973) rests on two sets of apartment complexes separated by a creek. The dgc is in poor shape but apparently not as bad as the apartments. Many of the apartments on the Doral side were deemed inhabitable and the entire Cavalier side was closed. I guess they were a bit cavalier about keeping the place up to code. Actually, I’ve been told that the creek floods pretty badly in a big rain.

There were “NO TRESPASSING” signs posted all over. Naturally, I trespassed. At least long enough to approach the parked security guy’s car and asked to play it. He said his Sarge was enroute and wouldn’t dig me being there. So I told him I’d run it and get out, which I did.

D-C dgc utilizes Chainstar baskets (7 –Cavalier, 5 Doral) and was very short without much in the way of challenge other than avoiding crack addicts that may still be lingering in the apartments.

A few miles north in Cornelius, lies Bailey Road park (#974), which a few Charlotte local pros hadn’t even heard of. In fact we drove right by it on the way to Stumpy Creek last week. It’s a pretty clean beginner course. I walked onto tee one expecting another run at a 9 under. After missing an easy putt on #2 and then stepping up to the 430’ #3, I changed priorities. I would say that a pro of any caliber might find it tough to hit a –9 but –6 or worse would likely be disappointing.

A few miles north on Main street is Davidson College (#975) in Davidson, NC. The course starts out in the “green” area near frat row and moves into the woods, circling back to the green on 18. Parking is an issue and there are rumors of parking tickets etc. I suggest parking on a remote lot NE of frat row and starting on hole 4. The paths to and from the holes are pretty well worn. Watch for cement squares in the ground marking the tees.

I figured I’d just keep heading north up to Statesville to play the Bell & Howard Chevrolet dgc (#976). The front 9 is mostly open and flat. #3 has a pretty squirrelly turn-over sidearm line into the woods which, if I hadn’t actually parked it, I would say it could rarely be done. I’m sure it won’t happen again if I get this way again.
The front and back are separated by a creek and currently there is NO bridge. You have to drive around to the park offices.
The back 9 is substantially more hilly and treed. I followed a path for about 800 feet before I realized that the idiot wasn’t the designer, it was me. The flow is pretty good. If you play the back 9 by yourself, don’t even THINK about going for birdie on 12, 13 & 15 because there are a LOT of cedars and pretty narsty schule off the fairways.
That said, I gave up on going for birdie because I NEED these discs for the upcoming USDGC. On 15 I lobbed a suweet O-Roc (from 95 Nat Dubs) down to a safe area…it still hit a tree and came up about 200 short. There was a hard left bend and a steep drop to the green. I lobbed another sidearm with my 150 avair and ran up just in time to see it tickle the chains. I giggled a bit until I walked up a little further and saw that it was actually IN! Then I just started laughing like an obnoxious drunk. Hard to imagine, huh?
16 is a nice downhill drive into the woods near the creek.

There was enough light left to drive over to Hickory and down to Lincolnton, NC to go around Betty G. Ross park dgc (#977). Unless I read the hole incorrectly, it looks like the smart shot on hole #2 is to bank a sidearm off the rec building. In fact if you look at the windows, which are about the right height for the bank shot, you can actually see the skid marks where people have done just that. (Intentionally or otherwise) #3 goes over a horseshoe pit and #4 goes over a volleyball court. There were an enormous amount of woods that might have been used, but we never really know if the designer was prohibited from using them or if they just took the path of least resistance. Either way, the course came up pretty short of impressive given the surrounding land.

Tomorrow: Rock Hill again…possibly my first assault on the Gold course since 2006.

09-22-08

Trying to catch up on life is usually reserved for Monday mornings.  Blog entries, emails, phone calls etc.

Newberry’s Margaret Hunter Park (#969) is a compact 12 holer with a surprising challenge quotient.  Some fun uses of elevation and flora along a creek.  The park is located directly between the old elementary school and the new elementary school and seems to be an appropriate design for the demographic.  Some recent rains have washed away a couple of the bridges making it difficult to cross the creek.

York County’s Saluda Trail Middle School (#970) is a wide-open track behind the school, with the exception of the tee for #9 which they stopped mowing around.  I threw from it anyway and still got the deuce and a –9/18 on the 9 holer.

A paved short cut through the woods will take you straight to South Point High School (#971) about a 1/4 mile away.  Since it’s at a high school there is more challenge built into it but not much.  A bit more topography, obstacles and length to negotiate.  Enough of a challenge that I only managed to birdie 8 of the 11 holes.  Just off Rambo rd.

I went to Finley road school but there were football teams practicing on the same area as the course.  In fact I spoke with a guy who is setting up some clinics for Thursday and we’ll be doing one of them at this school so I blew it off until then.

I moved on quickly to York Elementary School (#972), a tiny 6 holer, which also had kids practicing football but the baskets looked far enough away (and short enough to not need more than a putter) so I casually threw around them and got it in just before dusk.

I should mention that none of these are listed in the directory and for a good reason.  They are there for the benefit of the kids at the school and designed for that demographic.  Most players would deem them “not worth playing”, but these courses will spawn the next generation.  The other side to it is that some disc golfers feel that they have the right-of-way on these courses.  In a park, maybe, but not at a school, which is essentially private property when in session.

Tomorrow: Maybe Rock Hill Schools…Maybe other courses north of Charlotte.  Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.

09-21-08

TD Mitch Gaskin runs a pretty relaxed tourney, which is one of his primary goals. The field events were held from 8am to noon at the far end of the park on the soccer fields. Players could sign up as late 10:30 for any of the events. MTA and accuracy were held simultaneously and distanced capped it off.

If I recall correctly, the last time I was in an accuracy event was 1999 WFDF in Kalmar, Sweden. (and it showed!) They actually had enough Zephyrs to stack 4 at each station. This would have been great if they were all the same weight. Jeremy “Jerm” Koling and I tied for 1st (in open) with 12 (ergh) In the Master’s division, Mel Shuman had a 13. Mel also won Masters Golf and Overall.

Nobody hit a good MTA. I’m pretty sure that 1999 was my last MTA event as well. (again, it showed)
Jerm had an 8 + second MTA to take it. I only managed a 7.8 or so.

I had hoped that since we now have the Wraith etc that I might be able to set a personal best in distance but settled for breaking 400’ at 402’. Jerm threw 131’ farther than me (no surprise there other than it wasn’t farther)

Jerm had a rough 2nd round of golf and had to hope for a come-back from the 2nd group on the final round. I had a strong front 9 playing 1-3 on the original and then Crooked Creek park’s “Alternates 1-9” (#967) many in different positions than yesterday. My back 9 was not impressive by any stretch of the imagination. But it was enough to hold off the charging Zach Newhouse.

The new alt holes are currently installed around ball fields etc. Several of the holes are wonderful challenges but the park wants to change a few of them. From the long tees, holes 7 & 8 are too dangerous IMHO. A 390’ tee shot with parking very near the right side. The fairway crosses a sidewalk at a bridge which cannot be seen from the tee. Hole 8 is a par 4 where the landing area is pretty much right at a sidewalk. There is a perfect opportunity to bring the tee forward to make a very nice par three the takes the sidewalk out of play.

Since Jerm and I tied in accuracy, they called for a play-off and brought the hoop up to the rec center. We played each position head to head, meaning I throw a position, then he throws. Neither of us looked as if we had any business in the finals. In the end he got me. Had I won the playoff in accuracy, we would have also tied for the overall, which was tallied by giving event winners ONE point and lower place finishers get MORE points. Frankly, ever since I lost TWO of the Alabama State Championships a few years back where they do the same scale, I’ve never been a fan of it because it does not encourage players to participate in the field events. They get points toward the overall in each event without stepping on to the field. That is hardly equitable to the people who DO go out and work for it.

So Jerm won distance, accuracy and the overall. I did what I actually showed up to do. I won the South Carolina disc golf title, making this my SIXTH state to hold an open title. Craig Gangloff and I had been tied at 5 states each (though, with multiple wins in some states he’s had more actual wins)

I headed back to Beav’s place and we quickly took off to LD’s sister’s place a few blocks away on a spectacular piece of land on Lake Murray, which has 650 miles of shore line. They treated us to some beef stew & rice with beans from their garden (and BEER from their fridge)

Afterward Beav and I visited the Lake Murray Golf Center (#968) to play their 9 holes of disc golf on their executive 9 hole standard golf course. This little oasis is in the middle of NOWHERE! OK, apologies to anyone from Chapin, SC (or as Beav calls it… “Chip-in”) who might be reading this, but Chapin is so small that when they do their population survey, they include livestock. Yet, within this miniscule berg lies a pretty sweet golf facility. The course was immaculate, the driving range was huge and used real grass instead of pads, there was a full 18 holes of putt-putt golf, along with 9 holes of disc golf, and the entire course is LIT at night! You can play for $5 a round or $8 all day from 8am to 10 pm 365 days a year! The only people we saw were on the driving range. It was a very pleasant and almost surreal round of disc golf that I hope to do again one day. Maybe next weekend for the “Ironman” disc golf event where they will play 4 rounds in a day starting in Columbia and finishing at Lake Murray Golf Center.

Tomorrow: more courses near Chapin, Newberry and Rock Hill