Wed July 12, 6PM: Steve and I will be moving cut trees into one big pile on holes 13 & 14. Play follows.
EDIT -- Sun July 16, 9AM: T.M. is driving up from RI with chainsaws and other tools of destruction. Many hands needed to drag stuff away. T.M. is a pro tree guy, so we should whip through the course. This is great news. Thanks T.M.
Hope to see you non-GHDGO players out there. We are SO close to getting phase I done. Thanks!
- John
Edit: Sorry, I had wrong day. Should be Sunday.
Last edited by John Borelli on Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
John,
I'll be down there Wed. night to help move trees. I dont know if I can swing saturday (hangover), but I look forward to seeing how it looks thus far.
I was able to check this course out a couple of weekends ago. It looks like it is going to be a gem. Challenging for all skill levels with excellent usage of the hilly terrain. I can not wait to get out there again soon.
Thanks Matt! Glad you came to check out the course.
Just a reminder we are gathering Sunday at 9 to cut, drag, and play. We'll have actual power tools this time. Question is, how long will we last in the 90 degree heat? Yuck.
Brian and I had a great interview with a reporter doing a follow-up story on rainy Wed. A photographer may come Sunday, so be sure to wear your Sunday best.
And StevieB, good luck at the GHDGO. Make Devens proud.
Hot damn! And I do mean hot damn. Yesterday's workday was brutal in that 90-degree heat, but not as brutal as it could have been without T.M.'s chainsaw and monster Gravely Brush Hog. Man, that thing was awesome!
T.M. picked a great time to drive up from Rhode Island to help us out since we were working on the baddest hole on the course, a 320+ uphill mofo with lots of saplings and brush to clear. T.M.'s Hog whipped through that stuff like butter and the fairway looks amazing. Definately the nicest-looking hole of the course so far. I appreciate your help, T.M. Power tools rock.
David, Matt, and Rob also braved the heat for several hours dragging branches here and there, cutting limbs, and doing some weedwacking. After working for about 6 hours, we called it a day and TM, Rob, and I played a round. Not some of our best golf, but we made it through...
Words for today: aching, dehydrated, sunburnt, leg and arms of lead.
BTW, join us for our first Wednesday Weekly, July 19, 6PM.
Today while Bill and I were finishing up Hole 2, a guy dressed in military gear walked up the fairway with one of my Devens DG flyers in his hand. Joe was just checking out the course so he could come back later and play. That made me feel great! Joe said he'd also spread the word among his other Devens military buddies.
After we finished, there was another car in the parking lot. Don't know who it was, but it's cool that word is getting out.
I forgot to mention that a reporter from the Lowell Sun is coming to the Wednesday Weekly tomorrow, so it would be nice if she had some people to interview! DaveJ, MarkH, and I can't make it so we are counting on you...
EDIT: Ack! She just cancelled! We'll try again in August.
I got a chance to finally check out Devens last Wednesday and enjoyed it thoroughly.
There are only 13 playable holes but I found the course is very interesting with a lot of potential. I especially liked holes 8, 13 & 14. Naturally, being a work in progress, it's going to take a bit more clearing and touching up but it's going to be a fun course when complete. It reminded me very much of Hunt's in Rindge NH, very woodsy and very tight. The elevation changes and interesting rock formations add a lot to the feel of the course.
You guys have done a lot a good work. I'll definitely be back.
I echo (somewhat) Mike's reply. What he didn't let on was all the swearing he did trudging up and down the fairways, and questioning my ability to know any CPR. "Only for infants" I had told him, "so it looks like you're on your own."
Nice job, John. Definitely some potential as time progresses. I also love the rock formations and the workout this course will give the player.
I also want to apologize for not helping out in the spring; too many things were going on and not enough clock. I'd love to make it up in the fall, however. lemme know.....jim
Just another old TullyRockStar livin' the dream...
Thanks for the kind comments, Jim. Don't worry, I know we'll see you out there soon enough. But don't wait too long, we only have 5 more fairways to clear.
Wednesday Weekly: Just Mark and I played last night. Too hot for everyone else I guess. We played pretty even golf and each bonked hard on different holes. See blog for more.
Our round with Jennifer the reporter went well on Thurs. Her photographer got some good shots too. Her article may appear Monday or Tuesday "as long as no one is murdered in Lowell over the weekend."
John I just wanted to say that your blog is awesome. I wish I had time to piece together such resources devoted to the development of courses in CT. It gives us a vicarious experience of being there with you guys throughout the process...
I was wondering when bucket targets were going to be replaced with official basket targets...
Last edited by Dave Mourad on Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Borderland has lent Devens 4 Mach III's that were given to us by Nefa back in 2000. I would assume that they would be in place sometime in 2006 at the awesome new course at Devens. If anyone can help John out in this endeavor, that would be great, he needs it.
Thanks for the props, Dave. I've been having fun doing the blog and trying to get the word out about Devens.
And Matt speaks the truth -- I really could use a few more bodies out there helping. Your next chance is this Sunday Aug. 13. 9 AM. I am going to attack heavily wooded Hole 12. What better way is there to get back at all those trees you'll probably hit at Pokerpalooza next week? Kill, cut, maim!
Weekly results and two crappy videos on blog. Still no newspaper article.
Workday Sunday Aug 13: David and I will be there about 8:30 AM finishing Hole 15 and starting Hole 12. I should be there a good chunk of the afternoon. If you don't see my truck it's because I drove in. Please park in parking lot, however.
How about some help, fellow disc golfers of North Central MA? We'll need some saws and lopers for this one.
We are previewed in today's Lowell Sun and the article is scheduled for tomorrow.
Any bets on who makes the photo? Brian, John, Steve, or Rob? My money's on Steve.
We finally made it in. Haven't seen the paper version but the reporter told me they ran the picture of Brian twice and identified him as me once! Lordy.
played the course yesterday... After having trouble locating the first hole, eventually made it through. skipped two holes that we couldn't find (7 and 12 I believe) Bees on hole 3 with underground nest were a not so pleasant surprise, but the sting wasn't so bad after nailing the orange bucket on hole 2 for the ace. I enjoyed the course, obviously just in its infant stages. I'll get back out there before the snows come, which i believe would probably make the course nearly unplayable due to all the steep hills and rough terrain. nice work by all who've volunteered their time and energy.
Thanks for checking out the course Bear, and congrats on the first unconfirmed ace in Devens history! Everyone else, just let me know when you want to play and I'll give you a tour.
The Lowell Sun posted some pictures from our interview: four of Steve, two of Brian, and one of me and our own Greek God Rob.
I can confirm that ace, and also so could Lenny. He read the article in the Lowell Sun and came out to check out the course. He walked with us on our round, and seemed to catch the fever after watching us have so much fun. Great course, and look forward to getting out there soon. Too bad the last workday was on the same day as Buff tryouts.
John, I want to talk to you about building you a info booth for your course. I built one for the Bellamy Park in Dover, NH and one for the woods at beauty hill in Barnsted, NH. I will donate all the materials and labor you just tell me if you have something in mind and I will see what I can do for you. Talk to you soon.
Wow! That's would be great Nik. Thanks a lot! I really haven't thought that far ahead, but it's a great idea now that people are starting to seek out and play the course.
I'm not sure if Devens has any standards or requirements for their signs/structures, so if you send me a few pictures, I'll forward them to the right people and see if they're cool with it. Send to devensdg AT gmail dot com.
After reading the Lowell Sun article last Sat., Innova bigwig and two-time world champion Harold Duvall sent me an email saying that Innova would be glad to help by donating a basket. I couldn't believe it and within a day or so I had a UPS tracking number in my mailbox.
So, when I get home from work on Monday, there should be a shiny new basket in my driveway. Yeah baby. Thanks Harold!
Here are our current sponsors. Would anyone else care to join this exclusive list?
1. NEFA
2. Hanscom Credit Union
3. Innova
4. James family (pending)
5. Gemini Dogs (pending)
Thanks Nik! I just got the okay for the info booth, so go crazy. I received the Innova basket this week too. Things are moving right along, baby.
Forget Maple Hill's record-breaking league night, OUR Weekly tonight may break our attendance record with a whopping 6 golfers! Yes, you read right -- six golfers. Be part of history and join us. The Devens movement is growing!
From looking at how thick it is off the fairway in the woods, you guys have done one hell of a job clearing fairways out. It was a blast to play through thanks for John showing us around last night. Can't wait to get up there again.
Wed July 12, 6PM: Steve and I will be moving cut trees into one big pile on holes 13 & 14. Play follows.
