The Adventures of the Repeatedly Burned Geologic Disc Golfer

[Craig Smolin]

Hey all,

Thought I might try something that I haven't seen much of on this board, that being a continuously updated "travel blog" of courses we've played. As the Wickites know, my job as an environmental consultant involves frequent travel to such obscure destinations as Barbourville, KY; Denver, CO; and this past week, Boise, ID. I figured that a report on the courses I get to play on these sojourns, would be A) beneficial to other travelers (who are also encouraged from the start to post here) and B) hopefully a little bit interesting to read. I guess the only kind of guideline would be to report on a course that is outside of your home territory, meaning a course that is within two hours of home is out, but one that you would drive three hours or more for is definitely open.

That said, on to the first entry...

Flew into Boise, ID this past Monday after a short two hour layover in Seattle. Checked in at the Holiday Inn Express (good rates, free breakfast, USA Today, and easy checkout keep me coming back to them), washed and changed, and immediately went to check out the local course at Ann Morrison Park. The weather was high 60s and sunny. The course had a pleasant atmosphere, with very little cross-over between the multi-use fields and the disc holes. Fairly basic course, almost no elevation changes (mostly a condition of Boise being in a river valley), nicely manicured, with challenging pin positions. Also, excellent usage of water hazards, as a meandering canal winds its way alongside several holes.

Amazing usage by the locals. I saw numerous college students (both male and female), families, a few course pros, and the occassional "Endless Summer" type Met up with some good people for two rounds on Monday and one on Tuesday, and happened to meet one of the Board members - a guy named Charles Logan. Talked courses, organizations, discs - the guy has even ordered discs from Marshall Street! Go Jason! This is actually the second time I've met someone in the Pacific Northwest that has ordered from Marshall Street (first time was a guy in Seattle). Told him about the DVD, and he said he'd check it out. And for his organization - check out Gem State disc golf (easy found link on the PDGA course page).

So, though this is just the first course in the Boise area, I can see a big scene materializing soon, as the mountains are about an hour away, and would make for an incredible challenge. One that would actually make Campgaw look somewhat tame by comparison. Would I recommend Ann Morrison Park? If your travel schedule and the weather permits it, I would say absolutely. Though not the hardest course, it offers enough of a challenge, and I think the people were incredible. One guy named Lane spent a good 10 minutes wading through the muck in the canal to find my errantly tossed Rhyno.

Next entry: TBD - but maybe New Orleans, LA; Oakland, CA; or who knows where?

PS: Please tell me what other info all you NEFA people would like to see.

[ekap]

Have you ever played the "Badlands" in Denver? One of my former home courses.

[Seamus Scanlon]

Ekap,
I'll be in Denver in a few weeks please elaborate. I plan on playing my way out to Moab UT and back to Denver, thats my disneyworld. I lived in Colorado for many years but never explored the state as a disc golfer.
I know where to get the info on courses for my journey but a personal reference will go a long way.
Thanks

[Craig Smolin]

Ekap,

I was in Denver for a project a few months ago, but since it was presumably winter, I neglected to bring any discs with me. Needless to say, the day that I was there, the weather was high 50s and sunny, perfect for a round I may be going back there in the very near future for a new project, and I will definitely check out Badlands if I have the time.

[John Mucciarone]

If you have some extra time, trek to Billings MT and hit DIAMOND X.
Its completely surreal. Spokane WA has an excellent course as well,
Downriver I believe. I am playing in the Willamette Valley in Oregon next month, keep the travel blog alive.

[Jeff LaGrassa]

If you make it to New Orleans, the disc golf pickins are slim. There used to be a great course (Rivendell Farm) just outside the city but it has closed. There's a course in Metairie (Lafreniere Park) very close to the airport but I don't think much of it. If you're up for a bit of a drive, I can personally recommend the Highland Road Park course in nearby Baton Rouge - it's fantastic. If you make that drive, also check out the Greenwood Park course in Baker (north side of Baton Rouge)

I've never been there, but I hear that the Wildcat Trace Disc Golf Course in Poplarville, Mississippi is supposedly really nice.

[Craig Smolin]

I do owe you a bit of inspirational debt, Jeff. After reading and re-reading your course reviews several times, I figured I might take a crack at doing something similar, but with my own approach. As it turns out my dept. manager is taking on the New Orleans job, so that trip is out. But I could definitely use the rest after going to Boise this week and going to Chicago last week.

[John Borelli]

Last month I was down visiting the in-laws in Parkersburg, WV (across the Ohio River from Marietta, OH) and played a fun course at Mountwood Park. It is only a 9-holer, but has alt tees to make a full 18. Basically, it runs up one side of a stream and down the other.

Nothing too tough, just the ever-present stream to worry about. Overall, it's a good course to work on your short game. They also have a remote control car race track in the park and it was pretty cool watching the cars zip around. These guys take their racing serious down there.

I met some friendly locals -- Dave, John, and Mark Buck -- who met me later in the week at Forked Run State Park in Reedsville, Ohio. Coincidentally, John had played with FARF and Corey D last year at the Deaf Nationals!

Forked Run (pronounced "four-ked") is a full 18 and has both a tight wooded section and an open section. One hole is a bit nasty with the basket surrounded by brush on the edge of a steep incline that quickly goes down to a muddy river. The hole is short, so you really have to be careful judging the distance, especially due to the slope. The only "bad" thing is that hole 6 is a good long walk down the road from hole 5 and I probably would not have found it on my own.

Mountwood Park:


The nasty hole at Forked Run. Basket is left of his ear:


I gave a little too much "umph" on this drive at Forked Run:


For big pix, go here:
http://www.dogdaydreaminn.com/sub/dg-mountwood-wv1.jpg
http://www.dogdaydreaminn.com/sub/dg-forked-run-wv1.jpg
http://www.dogdaydreaminn.com/sub/dg-forked-run-wv2.jpg

Video: Came close on this one! (File is a bit big: 2.7M)
http://www.dogdaydreaminn.com/sub/MVI_2923-forked-run.AVI

[Ken Dawson]

Seamus, I was in Denver last Aug. Badlands is a must play course. Most holes have 4 or 5 pin placements.

[Seamus Scanlon]

Badlands it is!
Thank You

[Craig Smolin]

Yes Folks, the Geologic Disc Golfer is back for a new story, this time coming from the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. Wearing my beat-in Michigan Hockey hat, I ventured out to Brent Hambrick DGC, site of a NT event in July, with the hopes that I would not get jumped by a lunatic Ohio State Buckeye fan. Needless to say, my fears were unwarranted, as I joined up with a couple OSU natives for my round, who thought nothing of me wearing my Michigan hat.

BHDGC is located in the shadow of Hoover Dam (not to be confused with the massive monstrosity known for its Dam Tour out in Nevada), but unlike Barre Falls, doesn't make use of the floodplain, as there really didn't seem to be any. Fairly basic course layout, with some unusual and difficult pin positions. Nos. 4 and 7 are located at the top of small hill, with a drop-off to the right side of both pins of about 20'. Enough so that a turned-over approach will be in trouble.

No. 8 starts out as basic left-to-right hole, with the pin tucked in the tree line running the entire right side of the fairway. Except that the pin is located 5-10 feet below the edge of the fairway on a leveled slope. I tried to drop in a few putters just over the edge, and misjudged them short every time, which left a putt straight down the slope. Just a little blow-by and you're looking back uphill anywhere from 5-25'.

The back nine played through some tight woods, but contrary to New England tree holes, there typically wasn't a branch/leaf ceiling to limit the height of the shot. That said, the fairways typically were no wider than 25 feet, with sheltered pin locations. Lastly, hole 18 from the pro tee was 584 feet, wide open, with an OB road and tree line on the right side, which slightly limited big hyzers. That said, I had a 40 footer for a solid three, which I just missed to the left. Still a satisfying bogey considering the wind whipping at the time.

I can definitely see why this a NT event caliber course, excellent course, but it's missing something that would truly separate it from the pack. Maybe it was the fact that I really didn't see a "signature hole", although No. 2 would be close, as it plays towards the dam, though shorter than it looks. Still, very easy to get to off of I-270, good usage by the locals (I saw plenty of rec, am, and pro caliber players), and good mix of open and tight holes.

My $0.02 worth...

Next mission: Wickham Park Original, Melbourne, FL (also a NT event stop this past April).

[Jeff LaGrassa]

There's definitely a signature hole there. From the long tee, hole 2 is 489 feet with the dam lining the entire right-hand side. The last 200 feet is slightly downhill, and strong throws can reach the polehole, although there's heavy woods left if shots go errant. You get a great view of the water spilling over the dam down by the polehole.

Download Quicktime videos from the 2003 Brent Hambrick Memorial Open and you can watch both Bamba Rico and Steve Rico park the sucker.

[Craig Smolin]

Upon second thought, you're probably right Jeff. Hole 2 definitely impressed me, as did most of the course all in all. I think the biggest short-coming in getting to play these out of town courses, is that I only get to see them once, and I don't really get to appreciate their design as much as I would if I played them everyday.

By the way, I noticed a memorial marker for Brent Hambrick at No. 8. Do you know who he was, Jeff? Or why he honored with a course in his name? I'd presume he was disc golfer?

[Josh Connell]

Brent Hambrick was a big-time promoter in the Columbus area through the late 80s and 90s until he succombed to cancer seven or eight years ago. He was an integral part of the building and improvement of the course at Hoover Dam and I believe he was the original TD of the Columbus Open (now the Hambrick Memorial NT) that has been played at Hoover for years.

This is just information I gathered in my years living and playing in Ohio. I never met Brent, but I have met and played with a few people who knew him well. The course is a great testament to his dedication to the sport. It's one of the many great courses in OH that I miss getting a chance to play on a semi-regular basis. Glad to see you got to enjoy it, even for one round.

--Josh

[Dave McHale]

There's definitely a signature hole there. From the long tee, hole 2 is 489 feet with the dam lining the entire right-hand side. The last 200 feet is slightly downhill, and strong throws can reach the polehole, although there's heavy woods left if shots go errant. You get a great view of the water spilling over the dam down by the polehole.

Download Quicktime videos from the 2003 Brent Hambrick Memorial Open and you can watch both Bamba Rico and Steve Rico park the sucker.

as i was reading your post jeff i thought that sounded awfully familiar... and then you posted the link to the vids where i remembered seeing that hole. Ive never played there, but ive watched those clips more than once watching guys better than me playing some great golf 8)

[Craig Smolin]

Just watched my copy of the 2003 NT DVD last night (again), and realized why my opinion my have been skewed slightly... On the DVD they are playing a SAFARI Final 9, which has completely different holes than the ones that I played Monday night. They show the women teeing off from the top of the dam, which you don't otherwise get to do. Also, the last hole plays to No. 18's basket, but they tee off from somewhere (I think) near the basket of either No. 4 or No. 7, which makes it even longer than the 584' it already is. Jeff, does this sound about right to you? Finally, I played most of the course from the AM tees Monday night, which definitely eased up the difficulty after having a chance to play the front nine on Tuesday (before my flight home) from the pro tees.

As I posted last night, the more you see a great course (like Wickham, Warwick, or Campgaw) and play it on a daily basis, one tends to compare all other courses to those three, and they usually fall a bit short. One last point, those three courses tend to not share fairways, whereas Brent Hambrick has shared fairways all over the place, which is something that I personnally do not like.

[Craig Smolin]

Thought I'd pass along my thoughts about this great Florida course located in Melbourne, FL. Though it shares the same name as my spawning ground in Manchester, CT, they could not be two different courses. CT has sick elevation changes, tight holes, open holes, and everything in between. FL is completely flat, but gets its challenge from pin placement amongst tall palm trees and razor-sharp fern stands. I was definitely impressed with it, and found myself really appreciating this type of course more than I anticipated. Though the weather kinda sucked (intermittent showers, oppressive humidity), and the course was soaked from three straight days of rain, I'm glad I made the time to play it.

Bonus: Met up with some locals who A) had heard of Marshall Street AND owned the DVD and B) had a friend who had played CT. As his story goes, "Dude, I'm in CT playing disc golf at WICKHAM PARK!" From their perspective, a surreal moment.

Steve / Jason - You'll be happy to know, that everywhere I go I try to spread the gospel that is Marshall Street and the MSDGC. So far I've met people from Seattle, WA to Louisville, KY and now to Melbourne, FL that know of MST and the MSDGC. I love getting to brag a bit and tell them I know a lot of the people on the DVD, and am proud to call them my friends.

[Dave Mourad]

Man, you really get around! That's quite a goof that you played the course down there. I think the Wickham course in Fla was estalbished sometime in the mid-to-late 90's and is the reason that the course in Manchester officially reads "Wickham Park DGC" in the PDGA directory - the database doesn't allow verbaitum duplicate names. I haven't been able to find much information on that course online though. There used to be a site but it seems to be down at the moment.

Did you happen to get some contact info from the boys down there? I'd love to send them a scorecard and a pencil as a memento 8) .

Fortunately the wickhampark.org website comes up atop the other park(s) - there's another one in England that is host to a ball golf course! - when typed into google . It so happens that the one in fla also hosts running events - marathons mostly - while the one here in Manchester is going to be upgrading their trail system in order to accommodate national X-Country meets. Apparently there are some parallels.

Small world, eh?

[Jinx]

I was in Milwaukee for a wedding a couple weeks ago, and had a chance to play Dretzka Park. Beautiful 18 hole course set in a city park. Nice combination of open grassy holes and narrow wooded shots. Several alternate pin placements, 2 tee pads per hole, and it looked like the locals were playing alternate tees as well. Highly recommended!

[John Borelli]

I am off to Alsip, IL (south of Chicago) and then Appleton, WI this week. Any course recommendations?

[Jack Nickel]

Appleton, Wisconsin was host to the 1997 Am Worlds. I attended and loved all courses involved. Appleton has a great layout at their town park.
I reccommend going to the PDGA website to get all info on the location. All in all we played four different courses within a half an hour of Appleton, so you will have lots to choose from. Same as well with Disc Golf in Illinois, lots to choose from.
Have fun!
jack

[Matt Stroika]

Plamann Park is the best course in Appleton. I have only played the back 9 once and it was rough then (several years ago), but the front 18 is really a lot of fun. A lot of elevation changes.

[Craig Smolin]

Guys - Sorry about being lax in my updates to this thread... I recently went out to Illinois by way of St. Louis, and got to play two courses there, unfortunately I cannot remember their names. However, I did in fact enjoy both courses, as they were nicely tended to, offered elevation changes on par with Wickham, Warwick, and Pyramids, though a bit less extreme, and the weather was perfect.

Also had to go back to Melbourne, FL, but instead of playing Wickham Park (South) again, played one of the oldest courses in Florida, Rockledge Park. Pretty narrow fairways, some blind shots, but a good challenge nonetheless. Unfortunately the owners of the park lost their lease to a strip mall developer and were just about to close up shop by the end of July. Met a few dissapointed dg'ers playing dubz that informed me of the priveledge of getting to play there.

Until next time...

[John Borelli]

Yesterday I'm playing a round in Frisco, CO (near Breckenridge) and what do I see on the practice basket? Jason and Steve, your empire is growing! And yes, that white stuff in the background is snow on some friggin' huge mountain.



Bigger version here.

[Matt Stroika]

I saw a big pile of Marshall Street garbage at Amesbury last night too.

[Dave McHale]

nice pic, borelli!

[Craig Smolin]

Way to keep this thread alive John. My updates:

Cincinnati - William Harbin Park - Fairly open, some spotty trees, decent mix of long and short holes. But nothing really all that interesting. Did park hole #9, a 390' slight downhill shot by smashing my 174 DX Beast. Not all that busy of a park, though well mowed and clean.

Kansas City - Waterworks - In a word "AWESOME." Elevation changes that are more extreme than Warwick, well mowed and maintained, offers just about every single shot in your arsenal. Definitely up in the top ten as of right now, and I can easily see why this a NT event caliber course. It has multiple pin positions, with most of them in the shorts yesterday. Best shot of the round occurred on Hole 14, a slight downhill, almost completely open shot, with a distance of about 400'. Same DX Beast, I launched one of my best drives EVER a good THIRTY FEET PAST the hole. Did I make the long comeback putt for the duece? You better believe it! Here's a link on the Play Disc Golf website to a picture of the hole:

http://playdg.com/waterworks/?h=14

That's all for now kiddies - till next time...

[John DeBois]

... with a distance of about 400'. Same DX Beast, I launched one of my best drives EVER a good THIRTY FEET PAST the hole. Did I make the long comeback putt for the duece? You better believe it! ...

Nice job Smolin!!

Perhaps we may see you move out of the AM2 ranks slightly earlier than your Fall-2006 projection?*


* Denotes my awareness that you won the inaugural MSDGC Texas Holdem event and that you won more money there than I did.

[Craig Smolin]

This time work took me to Columbia, MD, and although I had to drive down from NY, it wasn't as awful as I anticipated, though it was quite a long drive. Anyway, after finishing the project, I drove over to Rockburn Branch Park, about 20-30 minutes south of Pataspco depending upon route taken and traffic.

The course was fairly solid all around, with a decent mix of woodsy holes, open tunnel holes, and a few open field shots. Far and away the best stretch of holes was 12 through 15.

Hole 12 is a 325' open tunnel shot up a gravel road, with an open area at the top of the incline on the right side, and a protected pin on the left. After shanking a dubious mid-range shot into some trees on the left side of the road, I decided I should attempt to lay down a roller. So I grabbed a slightly used, mis-stamped 169 DX Beast, and proceeded to lay down my first really successful backhand roller. Put it down right in the middle of the road, watched tear-ass up the hill, bending slightly to the left, and the coming back to the right. It left me about 70' short of the pin, so I laid up and had an easy drop in 3.

Holes 13, 14, and 15 made use of a very old stone farm house, as well as some fairly steep elevation changes. These three holes made the course worthwhile to play. Hole 13 was a 250' downhill anhyzer, Hole 14 an uphill shot with both hyzer and anhyzer lines, and hole 15 was back down the hill, across a short field, over a small stream, to a protected pin back right inside a large cluster of trees.

That said, beyond these four holes, I can't say that the rest of the course impressed me. Hole 1 was the ONLY open-field crush shot, and even then, upon reflection, a lot of pros would probably roll due to some strong rough on both sides. Several holes reminded me of Tyler State Park and some of the woodsy holes at Wickham, just taken to an extreme - Hole 9 was like Hole 16 at Wickham, except you start 150' from the tree line, and there are twice as many trees to negotiate, and it's a left to right shot. No clear shot at a duece, and even a three would take some considerable luck.

As always, this is just one man's opinion, and as I said holes 12-15 were great, and worth the trip. Be forewarned though, the rough on this course is gnarly - very thick in some areas and full of thorny vines and creepers. Since it's in the same general vicinity, I would highly recommend Pataspco Park over Rockburn Branch if you only have time to hit of the two.

Till next time... 8)

[Craig Smolin]

Ah, the warm temperatures of Florida in late fall can do wonders for the mind and body. So yesterday I flew into Tampa to collect soil samples in Lakeland, Avon Park, and then all the way down to Fort Myers. A lot of driving and not much "environmental consulting."

On my flight down to Tampa I'm rocking my Innova Dri-Fit polo, and as I step up to the Avis counter, the guy asks me if going to play a round while in town. As I was still groggy from the flight, and I don't respond immediately, but it does ring a bell after a second or two. I tell him, yeah, but down in Fort Myers tomorrow if I have time. So he tells me, that since I'm in Tampa, I've got to play Cliff Stephens, home of Kenny Climo. I say no doubt, hook me up with directions... Across the causeway I go towards Clearwater, and lo and behold, his directions are Johnny-spot-on.

Cliff Stephens is far and away the best Florida course I've played so far (the list includes Gordon Barnett in Orlando, Wickham South in Melbourne, and the now defunct Rockledge Park), but doesn't include the Plantation or Gran Canyon (YET!!).

The course is beautifully manicured - much like Warwick and Wickham North. The mix of short to long holes is really good, but is a little lean on rightie annhyzer shots. Regardless, most every hole features perilous greens with baskets placed precariously close to canals and lakes that border about half of the holes.

Hole 5 at first glance is your basic straight with late hyzer shot. Except for the low ceiling and more than enough palms on either side to make it a technical shot. And that's not even the best part about the hole - the pin is located with five feet of the edge of 12' drop to a canal. Believe it or not, I parked my drive with my champ 167g valk about 35' from the basket. But after checking out the dangerous slope, I gave my putt a chance to go in, but basically laid it up. Hole 10 is also a hyzer shot, but you have to throw a semi-huge shot over a 250' pond, then through some palms to a protected pin.

Hole 16 might be the signature hole of the entire course. The pro tee to long pin, requires negotiating more than 600' of canals on the left and trees to the right. The short tee is still 300' of anyhyzer to the pin. And I forgot to mention the short pin located dead center of a smallish pennisula - think the PGA Players Championship course's signature Par 3 island hole - and you'll have an idea of how this hole plays.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time today to play a course in the Fort Myers area, but having attacked and been burned by Cliff Stephens, I have to give it 3 and 3/4 stars for fun holes, concrete pro and am tees. The only noticeable thing I'd have to knock are the old-school tee signs, which don't really direct your eyes in the right spot to find the pins (initially that is), and that I think some of the measurements may be slightly off. Definitely a MUST PLAY!!!