2007 Disc Golf Trip--Wrap Up

Finally back home after two long days of driving.

Tallies:

States Visited: 10
Courses Played: 11
New Courses: 9

Total States in Which I have now played disc golf: 37

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Illinois

It is ironic that in my quest to play disc golf in all 50 states that Illinois was the last state I played east of the Mississippi. (Because Cindy and I lived in Illinois for 10 years.) I was planning on playing in the trip we took with the Truffins several years ago, but rain prevented it.

Cindy and I played 9 holes at Long View Park in Rock Island, IL. The park was wide and spacious, and the grounds were immaculately mantained, but we couldn't find tee markers. (They were set in the ground to allow mowers to go over them.) Because the holes were so long and there were so many up and downs, we spent more time looking for tees than throwing the holes.

Despite some long holes, we did manage to play par golf over nine holes, thanks to a booming downhill drive on #1 and a long putt on another hole. Just walking the course was a challenge, and the time constraints sent us on to DeKalb without finishing the round.

My friend Mark and his son Chris went out with me to Kirkland, Illinois to play a new ocurse there. It was surprisingly fun, little course, but there were a bunch of geese on the river, so the course was overrun with goose droppoings. I threw an SE Leopard into the Kishwaukee. (Grrr.) It wasn't grip lock, just a matter of not knowing the hole and realizing where the shore line was.

I did get some nice birdies, and Illinois is on the board, raising the total number of states played to 36 or 37.

Longview Park; Rock Island, Illinois

2-4-2 4-4-3 2-3-3 (27) Out

Pioneer Park; Kirkland, Illinois

2-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-2 (25) Out
3-4-2 4-3-2 3-2-3 (26) In 51

2007 Disc Golf Trip Day 9: You Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try

I happened to notice last night that there was a Play It Again Sports in Burnsville that was advertising a big sale, so we waited until 10:00 a.m to get on the road. Unfortunately none of the discs were on sale. I did see a few Jaguars, though. I haven't seen those discs in years.

The drive was brisk to Ames, and after lunch and much agonizing over which of two nearly identically described courses to play, we settled on the Carroll Marty DGC. I was thinking it might have less traffic than the course on campus, but it was actually pretty crowded.

The course was nice enough, but we hit it in the heat of the day and there were more than a few hidden pins that caused us to walk 1/2 way up fairways. That, combined with the numerous elevation changes kind of wore me out for a short course.

Cindy and I shot a 49, the odd thing about which was that we birdied holes two and three and then parred about 11 consecutive holes before getting deuces on 14, 15, and 16. Two of these were longer holes that wouldn't necessarily be ones I would think of as gimmees, so I really need to heed Cindy's reminder that you don't always know where your birdies are coming from. I remember how disappointed I was in Fargo that I deuced the first three holes and didn't get but one more the rest...would I have cared if I had got one on the front nine and then got three in a row in the middle of the round? Sometimes shorter holes are harder to calibrate on the fly and a longer, more open hole can be easier. The last hole we deuced was a 300 foot pinnacle to lower elevation shot, and I've noticed that a lot of these Midwest courses are enamored of these sorts of holes. (One park in Minnesota had three of them, I think.) The eighteenth was a 270 or so uphill. Nothing too impossible, but the walk up to my approach was tiring. We went into the clubhouse and Cindy got another Skeeter but I didn't get anything.

We got into Des Moines about 4:00 pm, but the course I was thinking about playing was actually on the other side of town and we were a little tired, so we decided to get a nice dinner and do laundry in the free facilities.

Speaking of which, Priceline has treated us nicely this trip. Despite a preponderence of surly check in people (in Minnesota and Iowa), the rooms have been really nice, and the Candlewood Suites in Des Moines has been especially good. I'm not sure I can use Priceline to save money at the lower end anymore, but it does tend to get me a nicer room for roughly the same price I would pay retail for a bargain hotel.

Going by Penzy's tomorrow, but we still haven't decided whether or not to play Des Moines in the morning or a course just across the border, such as Moline or Rock Island.

Carroll Marty DGC; Ames, Iowa

3-2-2 3-3-3 3-3-3 (25) Out
3-3-3 3-2-2 2-3-3 (24) In 49

Disc Golf Trip: Burnsville, MN

Little bit of a transition day as we made our way back to Minneapolis before turning South. Was a hot, humid day, and I only ended up playing Alimagnet Lake Park near Burnsville (Minneapolis suburb). It was only twelve holes and fine for a neighborhood park. I took a +1 (three birdies, four bogeys), which was irritating because I just wasn't concentrating on easy approach shots or didn't know particular layouts which affected approaches.

One of the baskets was stolen. I noticed at Fargo that there was a reward being offered for four stolen baskets and wondered whether basket theft was more popular in certain areas.

Couple of random trip notes:

--saw a deer near an exit at Indiana.
--in Wisconsin saw a blur running across a field. Looked at it and realized it was a bear. Wow, cool animals.
--notice on the map that we were near Mankato and Sleepy Eye, but I couldn't find Walnut Grove, which I might very well have made a sojourn to see. (Todd and I went to Sleepy Hollow but skipped Robert Frost home.)
--I would have thought I was making hasty generalizations about the way Minnesotans drive (not well) if there hadn't been a stand at the welcome center offering me tips on how to cope with "aggressive drivers."
--According to the rules of the 2007 Mashed Potato Scupture Contest at the Potato Days Festival in Barnesvill, MN, entrants may "embellish" their sculptures with "materials of their choice" as long as those materials don't include paint or more potatoes.

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Days 6/7; Wisconsin, Minnesota, Fargo

Lot of driving and disc golfing and not much else.

Played Deforest, Wisconsin. It was a traditional ball golf layout. Wide/generous fairways, slightly longer drives than I could make. Some obstacles but not tight. I think I threw the Sidewinder like 14 of 18 drives. Nice signage and well thought out, but not too exciting. Definitely the sort of course that the better player would win, since there isn't much here to punish less than good shots, so it's about making good shots (longer) consistently. I think Cindy and I threw a 53 or so.

Played Acorn Park in St. Paul. It wasn't as short as I thought, and the signage made it unclear as to which tees to play. We ended up playing some combination of longs and shorts, I think. We shot a 50, including throwing in a 80 foot chip or so with the Roc.

Played Oak Grove Park in Fargo. Got there late in the day and started on Hole 10. Birdied the first three holes (10, 11, and 12) and missed a makeable putt for birdie on the next. Then settled down. Muddy course (on Red River Bed, looks like it floods some time), but I settled down after that and took an irritating five on 560 foot hole 18. Finished with a 51.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are really quite beautiful this time of year. Lots of huge farms which look majestic rather than dull because of undulating hills rather than perfectly flat land.

Been playing some good golf, but I think the "great" round may be trying to get out.

2007 Disc Golf Trip Day 5--South Bend, Indiana

The day began with two pleasant experiences: more complaining about Ada, and a leisurely breakfast with the Truffins before departing Tiffin.

On the former...I took seven to eight penalty strokes at the tournament, only one of which was caused by gong out of bounds in a meaningful sense. Yes, the two meter rule was in effect (first tournament I've played that chose to have it), and yes, I lost a stroke to it. The annoying thing was the sidewalks. Picture this computer screen as the playing field on which a hole is set up. Now blindfold a four year old and give her four to seven seconds to randomly scribble on the screen. These are your Ada sidewalks, and they are all OB. I'm all for giving right of way to pedestrians, but when it's a spaghetti latticework of four foot strips of concrete running through the course that has nothing, really to do with whether or not you threw a good shot or a bad one, I figured you could just as well have each group throw their respective minis in a plastic bag before each hole, draw one at random, and assess its owner a penalty stroke.

I did, however, check the PDGA results and see that despite throwing rollers and thumbers and being dreadfully bored hobbling around on blistered feet, I threw within a stroke of my PDGA rating, so at least the experience won't kill my rating.

The drive to DeKalb wasn't too long, so we decided to stop at Rum Village Park in South Bend, Indiana. I had one bad approach shot that cost me a four on a 260 foot (or so) elevation to elevation shot, but I got a three on the looooooong ninth hole (no yardage marked, but it felt like 550 or so downill). All the pins were in the long position, making it a bit more challenging, and I just missed on some long putts. Still, Cindy and I managed to throw a fifty-five. Normally the double nickel is my least favorite score, especially on a new course, but there were enough long holes here that I had to concede that this was a pretty good round. (Cindy nearly holed a three on her own for a 365 foot downhill hole and is throwing the Skeeter very nicely.) I suppose on some level, I needed to throw a challenging courses a well more than I needed a pitch and putt. I mean, after you throw a 91 in a tournament round, I think you need some evidence you are not a total loser, even if that 91 was on 21 holes from ridiculous long tees in 25 mph winds.

The worst part of the day is it took us about an hour to drive the eight miles or so between Gary, Indiana and the Illinois border. As near as I can tell, it was all just a bottleneck from losing one lane to road work. Grrrr.

That means we arrived in DeKalb later than anticipated, but fortunately we gained an hour from going to Central time. Entering DeKalb isn't much at all like revisiting Toccoa. My memories of Illinois are pleasant, if not overly rose-colored, but I still get that same disconnect of trying to fathom, you know, actually living in a place in which I'm now an outsider. I told Cindy that sometimes it doesn't feel like a lifetime ago so much as it feels like we've led several different lives, and I'm trying to remember that one.

Rum Village Park; South Bend, Indiana
2-3-3 3-3-3 4-3-3 (27) OUT
3-2-4 4-3-3 3-3-3 (28) IN 55

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Day 4; Ada, Ohio

Found out at the last minute that masters had to play round one from the long tees. 797 feet to an open hole with 25 mph wind gusts. Bleech.

The grounds were immaculately maintained, but the design, especially the long tees, was boring. Lot of 500-800 foot holes with not much variety. I've never thrown so many rollers and thumbers.

Can't say I enjoyed it.

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Day 3; Tiffin, Ohio

I returned to Hedges-Boyer with Todd and Cindy to play some singles, and I was happy to throw a 56 (1 under par for 19 holes). I threw in two longer putts, but I chunked two approaches. Overall, I was very happy, carding five deuces on a longer course and getting in a round under par. (I hope I can keep up the putting at Ada tomorrow.)

I looked up the course stats on the PDGA site, and 56 was a 909 rated round in their last tournament, which feels about right. I could easily have been 3-4 strokes lower if some putts had fallen, but I could also have been 2-3 strokes higher.

I'm still thinking about not knowing what my strengths are. I don't think of myself as being good or better at longer courses...but I seem to be getting good results on longer courses. (There is less margin for error on short courses, I know.)

Hedges-Boyer Park; Tiffin, Ohio (19 holes)

2-3-3 3-3-2 3-3-2-4 (28) OUT
3-2-3 4-4-3 3-2-4 (28) IN 56

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Day 2: Columbus, Tiffin

Day two began with a change of plans. We decided rather than drive to Tiffin and spend a day in Columbus on Friday, we would meet the Truffins in Columbus and get back in time for Todd's doubles at the Tiffin course.

In addition to my chimerical goal to play disc golf in all fifty states, I have a slightly less obsessive one to track down all the Artemisia Gentileschi on public display. So we met the Truffins at noon at the Columbus Museum of Art, which holds Artemisia's David and Bathsheba (1651).

The painting was a good one, but it was a bit harder to warm up to than some of her others. Perhaps it was the outdoor setting--certainly the museum had it in a room that was a bit too small, making it hard to take in the painting whole without a bad glare on one part. (The reproduction linked above is a poor one, but what can you do?)

I wrote a poem that got me paid a dollar for being reprinted in an art journal after seeing my first Artemisia, so my tradition is to write a poem for each new painting of hers I see. (I don't normally write poetry, but this is a nice exercise.) Here's my poem about this one:

"On Viewing Artemisia Gentileschi's David and Bathsheba at the Columbus Museum of Art (July 12, 2007)"

When did you know something was wrong?
Did others go before you to prepare the way that was not so clear?
Or did you forge ahead,
Oblivious to the flaccid foundations of your fragile refuge?

Did your women's intuition--that Biblical Spidey Sense--tingle,
Telling you it wasn't alright,
When all the powers of earth and heaven said that it was?

Did your fear recede when you knew it was him?
A friend of the family.
Trusted.
Or did you sense even then the shadow of lust he hid even from himself?

Did you grow to love him as love grew inside you?
What shadow passed between you and your father,
As you were punished for his sin?

You will never be alone again.
History will absolve but never clothe you.
Blessed be the man who need never face
The torturous peril
Of a solitary woman
Taking a bath.
*****************************************************


After a nice lunch (and a pile of nachos higher than my head), we made our way to Tiffin and did manage to venture out for the Thursday night doubles. It's always weird being the new guy at club doubles as people don't know whether to be happy or sad they drew you. I exonerated myself nicely, shooting -4 with my partner (winning number was -8), dropping in several long chip shots and putts to keep us in the running with the other group up to the very last hole.

The course was a bit long and open--in other words, it didn't play to my strengths, but I had fun with it, throwing a thumber approach on one hole and a roller on another drive to net a 300 foot plus deuce.

Tomorrow it appears that we will stick around Tiffin, so maybe I'll play the course again.

2007 Disc Golf Trip--Day 1: Winston-Salem

Cindy again decided to join me on this year's summer disc golf excursion, mostly because I was going by North Dakota, the only continental state she has not yet visited. My goal is to play disc golf in all fifty states, and this trip should add six to my current total of thirty.

I'm still a bit sore from The Great 8, so we are easing into the disc golf part of the trip. Today's drive went from Fuquay-Varina to Charleston, WV, with a stop in Winston-Salem to play Horizon's Park.

I've played the course twice before, and the first time I did I shot a 49. Cindy and I play doubles and we shoot a 49; it's hard not to look at that as signifying that I haven't improved. I know I have, though. It's a very windy day, so conditions aren't great. There has to be some other indication of improvement besides continually raising the bar on your best ever. While I'm putting well, I'm approaching poorly and I make two mental errors. So perhaps one mark of improvement is that I tied a previous "hot" round even though I'm struggling. I make two long putts, but I'm beginning to notice that some of my approaches in the 100-150 foot range are not as precise as they should be. I also still pick the wrong disc on occasion. We take three fours (inexcusable), and one is on a hole where I remind myself that the only way to get a four is to go in the bush to the left of the hole--which I promptly do.

To focus on the positives: I am increasingly my distance a little, especially throwing uphill. I get a birdie into the wind on a right turning uphill hole that I probably wouldn't have reached before.

Overall, it was a good way to break up the drive, and a fun course to play to get into the flow.

Horizon's Park: Winston-Salem, NC.
2-2-4 2-3-4 2-2-3 (24) Out
2-2-3 3-4-3 2-3-3 (25) In 49

The Great 8

On Saturday, I played in the Great 8--a marathon disc golf tournament in which players begin at Zebulon Community Park and attempt to play eight courses in one day.

Despite playing some great golf and literally running the last course and a half, my partner (Cliff Patton) and I took a DNF by six holes. We were on hole 13 of Cedar Rock when time was called. This ending was incredibly frustrating for an otherwise great experience. It was not any one thing that caused the delay, rather an accumulation of little things. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to finish (barring an accident) if I play next year, and I've ironed some of the issues that caused delays already.

This year's scores:

Zebulon Community Park (Starting Hole 16)

4-2-4 2-3-3 3-4-4 (29) Out
3-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (26) In 55

Cedar Hills (Starting Hole 1)
2-3-2 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
3-2-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (26) In 48

Kentwood
2-3-2 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
2-3-2 3-3-3 3-3-3 (25) In 47

Buckhorn
3-2-3 4-2-2 3-2-3 (24) Out
2-2-3 2-3-3 2-3-3 (23) In 47

UNC-Chapel Hill (Beginning Hole 8)
3-3-3 3-4-3 2-2-3 (26) Out
3-3-2 3-3-4 3-2-3 (26) In 52

Valley Springs (Durham)
2-2-3 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
3-3-2 3-2-3 3-3-3 (25) In 47

Wellspring (Running!)
3-3-2 3-3-3 3-3-2 (25) Out
3-3-2 3-3-3 3-4-3 (27) In 52

Cedar Rock (Skipping Holes 8&9/7to10)
3-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (27) Out
3-3-3 DNF

This blog is rated...

Damn! I can't believe my blog is rated "G."

Hey, maybe it's PG now, since I said "damn."

Not bad odds, when you think about it...

34%

Competitive Eating

Why, every fourth of July (and sometimes at other times) are we subjected to coverage of this nonsense? Why with famine in the world, obesity prevalent in America, and a general ignorance about the most mundane matters of health, do we get front page coverage on guys trying to eat 60 hot dogs in twelve minutes without throwing up.

Shame on Sports Illustrated, especially for featuring this prominently on their web site.

Double shame on ESPN for broadcasting it.

Hey guys, why not show clips from a DISC GOLF tournament instead?

2007 Cha-Ching & Zing

I had pretty much decided not to play the 2007 Cha-Ching & Zing.

Zebulon has always been a long course that pretty much kicks my butt, I had had faded badly at a tourny in Kinston earlier this summer (and resolved to not play any more two day tournies), I was getting ready to play the Great 8 and go on vacation....

But the PDGA ratings came out and I went down 4 points (877 to 873), I got an unexpected cash flow problem worked out, and I didn't want to leave for vacation with that bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I had one of my better rounds at Zebulon during the Dogwood Crosstown Challenge last year, making me wonder if maybe I wasn't better off on a long course.

Well, I took a 6 on the very first hole, and I thought I was in for a long weekend. It was a long weekend, but I somehow managed to hold it together. I played three mediocre/poor rounds (70, 68, 70 on 19 holes) and one great for me round (58 on 18 holes).

To give an idea about the last round:
1) It was the highest rated tournament round I've thrown, ever.
2) It was the highest rated round for my division (Advanced Masters) that weekend.
3) It tied or beat 6 open players and 6 Open Master players. (Not that my overall score was anything close to them...just saying on a given round if I play over my head and they have a terrible round...)

Now this is strange. It goes against several "conventional wisdom" points I've developed...specifically a) I do better on short courses than long (because I can putt and can't drive over 260 feet consistently; b) I have to start hot and hold on because I wilt over time as I get tired; c) I do better if those around me are playing better.

Granted it may just have been a strange biorhythm day or something, but I felt strong and despite having some ups and downs and not getting a good score in the morning, I was still able to finally break through and shoot a good round on Sunday afternoon. The last round should erase the other three as far as my rating (all four average 870) tourney should help my rating a little, I think, and I'm glad I went. Next stop, the Great 8:

Saturday
RD 1 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2B)(837 rating)
4-2/2-5 4-4-3 6-3-4 (37) 6-3-3 3-3-3 4-3-5 (33) (70)

RD 2 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2B)(866 rating)
3-3/3-4 2-5-3 3-3-6 (35) 3-3-3 3-4-4 4-5-4 (33) (68)

Sunday

RD 3 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2b) (841)
4-3/3-6 3-4-3 4-3-6 (39) 3-4-3 3-4-3 4-3-4 (31) (70)

RD 4 (Starting on Hole 14)(18 holes) (936)
3-2-4 3-3-3 4-3-4 (29) 4-3-3 3-3-3 4-3-3 (29) (58)

A couple of things I learned, too:

If I'm having mechanical problems, I need to fix them with the mechanics, not by changing discs.
A stroke counts the same no matter where you get it. We tend to think that the blow up holes are the ones that get us, but I felt like I was doing well in Round 3 but flubbed a few approaches and had two penalties for OB making 4s out of 3s and a 6 out of a sure 5 and maybe a 4. Every hole counts.

"R.I.P. Tony Soprano"

My thoughts on the series finale of "The Sopranos" are now available at "The Matthews House Project." Follow this link to read the article.

2007 State Games of North Carolina

Ugggh.

I had hopes for a better showing here, especially since my highest rated tournament rounds were at a short course. (Though I did have comparably rated rounds at Zebulon.) It was a one day tournament, so I thought fatigue would be less of a factor and it was a short course. I just couldn't make a 10 foot putt all day (for birdie, anyways, I made a few 15-20 footers for par). I think that's just a concentration issue as well as being tired. There's no reason to miss putts of that length. (Instead of putting the disc you just open your hand and gravity almost immediately makes the disc drop.)

Plus it always seems like someone is having a bad round and hence in a foul mood.

Still, I did get the ace in my warm up round Friday, and any round below par is a good round, even if it's an 850 rated round.

One being the number of my strokes and the number of my strokes being one...

Career Ace #4

June 22, 2007
Johnson Street Disc Golf Course; High Point, NC.

Hole #16--White Tees--179 feet.
Disc: Champion Roadrunner
Witnesses: Cindy

Was I upset that I got the ace while playing a practice round for tournament tomorrow? I was not. The rest of the weekend is gravy.

Best...round...ever.

So I was fortunate enough to get paired up with Wes at tonight's blind-draw, best shot doubles at OT Sloan, and found myself on the winning team for the second time this season.

We shot a 40, which is, I'm pretty sure, my lowest round of disc golf, ever. (If it isn't, it's tied; Chris Temple and I might have shot a 40 at Higher Ground two years ago.)

What made this one especially gratifying is that I actually contributed to the team effort, making a few medium range putts, a solid approach on 11, and a handful of drives that led to birdies. I usually joke with Wes that my strategy is for him to shoot a -11 and I'll promise to get one of the seven holes he misses. There's more than a grain of truth in that, but I'm finally getting to the point in my game where I feel like I can be an asset to a pairing and not just along for the ride. I'm still not going to carry anyone to victory, but (I hope) I can let some of the better players be a little loose, knowing they don't have to make every shot.

Im a...what's that other thing, you know, the opposite of a loser?

Probably less than twenty showed up for this month's monthly at OT Sloan (all up in Winston-Salem, I guess). Well, I heard the ace pull was over $200, so I figured I'd go play even though there wouldn't be enough players for an Advanced-Masters division.

Because it was a monthly (I guess) we did have a division of two Masters...but it was played as Pro Masters because that's what the other guy played. I figured, okay, only real difference between that an playing open was who I gave my money to. Well, I won. (Last tourny victory of any kind...not weekly doubles...2002 Shenandoah Shag Intermediate division.)

I did manage to place in the prizes at Advanced once in a monthly...but little did I know, I have now won a pro division. (My take...$8 [paid in $12 got back $20]).

Unfortunately nobody hit the ace pool, so back for doubles on Monday.