Cincy Trifecta: Mt Airy, Idlewild, Banklick.

Are we ready...?

Mark and I rolled into The Nati (also the name of the local pro shop). Mark has GPS now so doesn't get lost all of the time, except for when he ignores the GPS or just doesn't listen to the English woman's voice. It's weird knowing a Mark who isn't always lost. I guess that's progress, but I am nostalgic for the bewildered, mumbling Mark, his head on a swivel, searching, searching, as we take yet another extremely wrong turn.

First course is Mount Airy.

Established in 1993, it has the pro shop (owned by a local pro) and wonderful hardwoods and valleys and grassy stretching alleys, and also a two-lane driving range area with a net to catch your disc. Never seen that before.



Ander right into a giant fishing net!

Ander arrived and then Aaron and Rob. We learn that Andy had E Bola virus or some shit. Lots of beer exchanged. Aaron can make some wicked-ass beer, I'll say that.

Now onto the course...

Of all the courses, I remember Mount Airy the least, which says less about this course and more about the next two. I found Mount Airy to be very good, with several great holes, but also many that were just OK. Like all the courses we played, design was obvious--you had to THINK your way around these courses. If you decided to let your mind wander, you paid in blood.



Hole 1 is a 512 foot shot up that hill you see, with cars on the left and shizazz on the right. You MUST make the top of that ridge to have a shot down and right to a tucked basket. The basket is surrounded by blown-down trees, rip-rap, shrubbery, a distressed forest look, and this was common for the course. If you were in the woods, it was clunky woods.

Most of Mount Airy is grassy winding fields. LONG shots, with OB in play every hole (usually in form of a serpentine road, or a parking lot). Example HERE:















This is hole 5, easily the most bitch-ass hole on the course. 700 feet long. OB on left, total stickemup/thorny/trees on the right. IF you land in the fairway, it is meaningless here. Your next shot will be through a wall of trees, with, wait for it, OB on left, total stickemup/thorny/trees on the right. The highlight of the round happened on this hole. Mark hit a truck, hard, with a champion plastic driver. Wow!

You want to see what I mean by hardest hole? Here are the scores for our quintet on this one hole:

Aaron: 5. Ander: 5. Mark: 7. Rob: Snowman! Sean: 5

You got it now?

At the turn, we had a big battle of bunched folks (Mark +11, Aaron +9, Rob +12) and I (+7) was trying to figure out how to catch Ander (+3). He was playing very tight and I wasn't putting so well, so was a bit discouraged about my chances for a rally.

Other highlights? Rob made a bomb putt on 3. Ander got a par run going holes 6-12. Unless you played this course, you can't understand how impressive this feat. Hole 15 was beautiful, a manicured sweeping L to R at 560 feet--it looked like a ball golf par 3 hole. Not sure why I didn't take a photo. After 15, we all got VERY lost, skipped a hole, and spent maybe 30 minutes figuring out what the hell was going on.

Here is one of the only tech holes, 16, a 404 arrow shot through woods, ravine on the right. You want a slight R to L shot, going long. Aaron is clearly throwing the wrong type of shot here. He will pay.



So, that was Mt. Airy, ending--oddly--on an innocuous 320 foot turnover shot. Mark missed about a 10 foot (or less?) putt here, which made a difference, as you will see. Ander tried to cough up a few strokes on the back nine, but I couldn't catch him, as you will see. The course is fucking tough to score on, as you will see...

Aaron +20 (ouch) Ander +7 (a hell of a score for this course) Mark +19 Rob +19 Sean + 10 (double figures! fuck me)

Let's move on, to the SHIT! The mother-fracker of all courses. The Kentucky Whore, Idlewild!

Rated 5 of 5 stars!

Comments of other players include:

"It can be a bit of a confidence breaker."

"...it can be both mentally and physically devastating."

"Don't bring your beginner friends."

Well, fuck you, Idlewild! We aren't beginners! Bring it! Come on, punk! What you got, huh?! This is Sean Lovelace, representing Muncie, Central Indiana in your Skizzy, so eat my plastique, fool! Whoa...wait a minute, is hole one 640 feet long and am I in a gnarly tree right now?



Yep. Hmmm...Are you people ready for some higher math? There will be a 1001 foot hole (and, you know, 640, 672, a 609). There will be a 9 on the scorecard (and all kinds of 7's). Multiple discs lost. That type of mathematics.

Idlewild is an odd course, with LONG winding, turnover shots (very few hyzers), up massive hills, along multiple OB creeks and tree-lines and embankments (the layout people went a little nuts with OB on this course) and then a smattering of little tech holes, like 142, 190, 240 foot holes. You need very shot here, but, as I said, a turnover is essential, or a very tight forehand. You MUST get your birdies on these tech holes!



Mark on hole 5, a 510 foot thinking man's shot. You MUST land your drive down in that wooded valley. Everything around the landing area is OB. IF you land correctly, you will now play directly uphill through a tight chute of forest. Mark played this hole well, landing his disc perfectly. Most of us threw OB here.

Mark also had what I consider the par of the course. This hole. How sweet is that Y tree you have to drive through? Mark crushed one thru the Y.



But wait until you see the landing area...


OB behind. OB in the creek. You MUST land on that fucking dinner plate. Mark does, for par. Note the funeral wreath on the bridge.

At the turn, scores resemble Mt. Airy, three bunched up (Aaron +14, Mark +12, Rob +14), Ander out in front (+5) and me in striking range, but back (+9).

Let's move to hole 15, 1001 feet!



All the flowers are OB, as Rob knows. Rob would throw his drive OB. Then his second shot OB. Then his third shot OB. Then...oh, you get the idea. Smoke curled from his nostrils, etc. The sun was high. And those wildflowers lining the OB are not a joke. Note how tall as Ander walks through them on a path.




And if you do make it down this 1001 foot fairway, here is your approach to the green:



Have fun with that one. Everything R or L or long is...OB!

We stagger home. Fuck, we stagger. We limp. Bleeding, disrobed, torn in the psyche, in the flesh.

Aaron +29 Ander + 12 Mark + 20 Rob + 30 Sean + 16

Wow. Did we play Idlewild, or did it play us? I wouldn't want this as my home course. Just too much, but am very happy to have played here.

Well, that's Day One. TWO rounds in one day! I hope that tells you something about these courses. We put in some mileage, and hard throw after hard throw. You had to focus. You had to bring out all the shots, L to R, R to L, hammer, etc. It was truly disc golf.

As for scoring, no one really putted that well today. Ander took control of both rounds, and I could never catch him. He played especially well at Airy, where you feel he could probably post a truly great score if he had another opportunity. I putted for shit, and I am sick of addressing putting. I am just going to play the rest of the year and quit mentally freaking out. For now, my putt is what it is, poor. Aaron seems to have an improved forehand. Rob was launching his disc all over the fucking place, but made several recovery par putts. Mark improved as time passed, actually playing Idlewild better than Airy (not score-wise, but shot-wise).

We went to downtown Cincy and drank beer. I ate some shitty fish and chips. They used salmon. That sounds novel, but is stupid. You need a white, flaky fish for fish n chips, not fucking salmon. Well, you live and learn.

Day two: Banklick (Lincoln Ridge)

A bit hungover, but the day is sunny and fresh and ready for D golf.

Lincoln Ridge was a totally different experience than the first two courses. Much shorter (though still plenty of length), many more birdie chances, but also MUCH more techy, and I mean tech--ridiculous elevation changes, rivers lining holes, thick forest, dense brush, stray dogs, narrow, narrow fairways. While some holes were out in fields, even those had baskets tucked into shot-making areas. You needed all your shots here, period. Also, this was 24 holes, so stamina and, again, mental focus was key.



Here is one example, hole one. Looks open, but not so. The basket is tucked way down deep in the edge of the woods (we will visit those woods in a meaningful way later) and this is a massive downhill shot, so you have to have skill and experience to understand what your disc will do in this situation.

Here is classic Lincoln Ridge tech hole. Note river on right. Slope on left that feeds to gravel to river. Only Rob would throw a hammer here. It ended up fine.



At the turn:

Aaron +1 Ander +3 Mark +1 Rob +3 Sean -1

As you can see, most everyone is playing well now. Birdies are out there. Then again, so are bogies...or, you know, 6's.

Take this hole. My nightmare. Where I attempt a radically downhill putt with a Birdie putter built like a plastic wheel. I was cruising along at EVEN when I attempted this putt.



Now I am not even. I am down here...and steaming.



This "green" is indicative of many at this course, especially in the woods. Hard baked elevation/descent/gravity.

After the tight woods, the first 18 ends (remember, this is 24 holes). Our scores?

Aaron +9 Ander +7 Mark +5 Rob +9 Sean +2

As you can see, the scores go shooting up! Possibly fatigue? Or maybe the course toughens.

Six holes to go! These final holes in the fields, but you do need to shape shots and trouble abounds. Ander driving well, but then three putts a short birdie opportunity. I launch a disc way ass out in the road. Both Ander and Mark get stuck up in trees. Rob throws a disc far into a road and almost takes out a SUV. Here he is climbing back into play.



So, we conclude:


Aaron +15 Ander +12 Mark +11 Rob +14 Sean +4.

Yes, the Muncie boyz finally represent! Then again, we do love tech, and for overall weekend play, Ander was the sharpest. He had several impressive bomb drives. Aaron has improved, especially the forehand. And Rob was in trouble, a lot, but always seemed to be able to rally back the next hole, or the next (for example, at Mt Airy, answering a 6 score with a 3 the very next hole). Mark played steady, good long drives, but I have seen him putt better (in fact, he's been on recent roll). Had he been putting a bit better, he would have shot much lower.

Well, WOW to Cincy golf. I am scarred but happy. And, with good fortune, we will return!

We missed you, Andy. Get well.