Minneapolis Chapter of the Order Hosts Leonard

The Minneapolis Chapter of the Order of the Jags hosted a mini-disc event this week, with Leonard “I’ve-been-spending-an-hour-a-day-average-on-disc-since-Madison” (actual quote) Blackburn in town on vacation and Prospective Jag Mark Ehling always eager and at the ready to join in.

On Wednesday afternoon Leonard, Mark, and Eric (no T-Town on this one) played Bryant Lake Park in Eden Prairie, which has become the go-to course of the summer for Mark and Eric (playing it about 6 or 7 times thus far).

No photos of note (see past blog on this course for hole-by-hole visuals and analysis), but here is a Cliff’s Notes of how the round shaped up.

* Leonard had the fewest number of double bogeys (1). Mark and Eric had two.
* Leonard also had the only birdie of the day (Hole 10).

However, Leonard never led at any point during the round, and, after 9 holes, it was Mark at +5, Eric at +6, and Leonard at +7.

Eric then cruised to 5 straight pars to take the lead by one through 14 holes, with Mark up to +7 and Leonard at +9.

Eric had already lost two rounds to Mark this year at Hole 18 and the last four holes have given him fits generally all summer.

Sure enough, Mark ended with two pars and two bogeys, Leonard with four bogeys, and Eric with three bogeys and one double for a final score of:

Mark: +9
Eric: +11
Leonard: +13

Overall, this was one of the 2 or 3 worst rounds Leonard has played in the past 3 years. His drives were off (on several occasions Eric outdrove him, which is not normal). However, Leonard did have some impressive long putts, a few from the PBS (Patented Blackburn Stance) in the woods, that clanked metal but didn’t ring in.

Mark, as always, was very solid putting and throwing pretty long drives in general, with the occasional 1 in 8 that shanked far right on him...though still traveling quite far.

One note: Eric had by far the worst shot of the week (Rob: No, you still hold the Gigli Title for '09). It happened on the drive at Hole 17, the glorious 542 foot “cliff hole.” Basically, any drive can go 250-300 feet from this hole….assuming you don’t hit the ground first. Which Eric did at the edge of this teebox:


The disc shot up in the air 20+ feet, and, fortunate for Eric, rolled down approximately 85% of the hill (which has 114 steps), to enable him to save double and only lose one stroke on Mark and Leonard who missed their par putts.

On Thursday, the Jags cruised out to Cottage Grove to play Oakwood Park, which is T-Town’s home course, about 1.5 miles from his house.

Note: T-Town had only played one round thus far in 2009.

Eric estimates Leonard had played this course about 3 or 4 times prior, while Leonard claims only once or twice. Eric's records indicate Leonard last played it in on September 14, 2002.

Ander has played this course a good 4 or 5 times, and Mark Neely, T-Town, and Eric got in a round at the onset of Neely’s resurgence in August 2007.

Things did not get off to a good start for Leonard at Oakwood – testing out one of his news discs (a Surge?) that got caught up in a tree, which he tried to retrieve with his Gatorade bottle.

With no official, handsome Ander scorecards for the course we made do with some nifty graph paper Mark happened to have in a notepad in his bag.

Leonard’s bad luck continued at Hole 1, an easy birdie hole that none of us birdied, with Leonard getting a double and the rest of us getting par.


Hole 2 reverses course with the pin straight ahead. The last time Ander played this course it may have been pre-shrub/tall grass/tree cutting. It’s now a simple shot, playing a bit longer than the previous downhill hole.


Hole 3 we jagged up – having previously played the pin that is for Hole 18 the last 5+ years by mistake after they revamped the course around 2003/2004. We decided to play it at the end of the round so as not to get behind a stampede of other Jag Quartets that were piling up behind us.

Hole 4 is one of the longest on the course. The pin is straight ahead, well past the big round beautiful tree on the right of the fairway. The woods on the left is treacherous. Mark had a crazy long drive and saved par while T-Town and Eric had their first bogeys of the day (T’s actually a double).


Mark continued his great play by notching a birdie on Hole 5, which is a straight shot up into the woods, slightly complicated by a few bushes in the middle of the fairway. T-Town got back the stroke he lost to Leonard on hole 4 in the early battle for 3rd place as Leonard’s drive sailed right in the woods for a bogey.


Now, the woods.

Here is where the game began to change, although our spirits did not. Even though he began the wooded excursion by chopping his first 3 shots on this short hyzer hole (following the path, below), Mark remarked that this was a course in which the holes in the woods all had a point to them – lots of character etc. Leonard was the only jag to par Hole 6 and Mark doubled.


Hole 7 is a not too long slight anhyzer, with the pin about 35-40 feet up the slight hill in the background. Mark, the Woodsman of the round, chopped his way to a 4, while the rest of us got par.

Hole 8 is a doozy – VERY long with a very narrow fairway (it is straight back, but not really visible from the tee). It is this hole, some seven or so years ago, where T-Town had hit his disc golf peak, but then lost his favorite driver in the (now dried up) swamp in the foreground. I don’t know if he ever replaced the driver, but his game has never quite been the same since. Mark impressed on this one, getting the only non-double among the bunch (4).


Hole 9 is very birdie-friendly hole, but only Mark achieved this feat. (With Mark it seemed to be feast or famine in the woods).


Through Hole 9 (though remember we skipped Hole 3), the scores were:

Mark: +2
Eric: +4
Leonard: +6
T-Town: +6

Not amazing scores, and the tough holes were yet to come.

Eric got on the board with a birdie at Hole 10, a short and straight hole, but with enough trees to make it interesting.


Hole 11 is pretty tough, though Mark had the best anhyzer of the bunch. The pin follows the path, up a hill to the right, and then sits about 70 feet down the base of the hill on the other side. T-Town was up one stroke on Leonard at this point in the match (Leonard and Eric doubled this hole).


Hole 12 has a lot of trees for your chopping pleasure. Eric took the right path, though the pin is basically straight ahead of the left path. This is one of the few holes (of the summer) where Mark’s putter failed him, ending up with a double, and Leonard’s par was the best of the group.


Hole 13 is probably the third or fourth hardest hole on the course, and quite long. The pin is at the very end of the path, slightly to the left, but the fairway is pretty narrow throughout. Our average score for the group was 5.0 on this hole, with T-Town providing the triple and Mark impressive with a long putt for bogey.


We’re back out of the woods for a brief moment on Hole 14 – the pin is tucked away on the left near the end of the group of trees. Eric got his second birdie of the day here (first ever in his career on this hole), with Mark and Leonard notching a par. T-Town continued to fade after a valiant effort through 11 holes with a bogey.


Hole 15 requires a very straight drive, which Eric and Leonard were able to pull off and sink short par putts at the pin at the top of the hill back inside the woods. T-Town and Mark bogeyed.


Heading into the Hole of Death, the scores were:

Eric: +7
Mark: +8
Leonard: +10
T-Town: +13

Hole 16 is indeed the Hole of Death. Eric has probably averaged over 6 strokes on this hole over the 10+ rounds he has played this course. The average for our group today was 5.5, with three doubles and a quadruple bogey courtesy of T-Town. You basically need to just follow the path straight ahead, but there is a notable slope to the fairway, and enough trees to make this one just plain nasty.


As you can see, neither T-Town (shades) nor Mark (towel) wanted to show their face on this hole…


Hole 17 brings us back out into the open, with a longish hole and the pin sitting just beyond the 3-4 small bushes straight ahead. Leonard continued his feverish march towards the top of the pack with the only par in the quartet. But was it going to be too little too late?


We used to play Hole 18, as Ander may recall, to a pin straight at the top of a steep hill, just off the parking lot. Turns out that is the pin for Hole 3, and Hole 18 is on a slope over to the right a bit. We averaged 5.33 collectively on this hole, with Mark trying to make do with a drive that sailed a long, long way right, essentially playing the fairway on Hole 4 on his way to a triple, while the rest of us doubled.


Our return to Hole 3 was anti-climactic, with three pars among the leaders.


And thus, the final scores read:

Eric: +12
Mark: +14
Leonard: +14
T-Town: +22

Though Eric doesn’t look all that happy, for some reason, even though this was only his 4th win in 19 attempts against Mark this year.


Also, for the record, 2009 marked Eric’s best yearly winning percentage against Leonard dating back to our first rounds in 1998. By year:

1998: 2.0% (1-49)
1999: 11.4% (5-39)
2000: 0.0% (0-9)
2001: 11.1% (2-16)
2002: 0.0% (0-12)
2003: 31.0% (9-20)
2004: 0.0% (0-4)
2005: 0.0% (0-5)
2006: did not play
2007: 14.3% (1-5-1)
2008: 12.5% (1-6-1)
2009: 36.4% (4-7)

09 Worlds

Play began today at the 2009 World Disc Golf Championships in the Kansas City area. Tee-off was at 8:00 am. The first ace recorded was at 8:01 am.

Catch all the action at the PDGA Worlds Media page.

Two pieces of disc golf information I'd like to juxtapose for you:

1. A couple of days ago, I recorded my longest flat-ground, non-wind-aided, backhand drive of my life: 300 feet, measured to the nearest foot.
2. The long distance throwing event was held at Worlds yesterday. The winning throw for girls aged 16 or under was 324 feet.
   

Some other winning throws:
Men's Professional: 577 feet
Boys 13 and under: 462 feet
Women's Professional: 396 feet
Boys 10 and under: 359 feet

The only category that posted a winning throw that I could reach was the Women's Grandmaster (50 years old and older) Advanced division. 243 feet. Even then, I'd probably need several throws to beat it.

EIU Disc Golf Course in Charleston, IL

I drove 50 miles a couple weeks ago to play this course. First, the specs:

• Built in 2007
• 9 holes (3 under 300 feet, 4 between 300 and 400 ft, 2 over 400 ft)
• Total length = 3450 ft
• Nice baskets, concrete tee pads
• Trash cans at every tee
• Very nice signs with distance and picture of hole at each tee
• Well maintained
• Boring, flat "landscape" with scattered trees
• Walking paths and small roads border some holes and are O.B.
• No nearby parking.
• The course is difficult due to length, trees in your way, and wind.
  
• I'd rate the course at 2.5/4.0 amongst 9-hole courses, much lower compared to real 18-hole courses. I'll play it again.

The course does have some minor design flaws. One tee pad was about 20 feet behind the basket on the previous hole.



On another hole, picnic tables bordered the green.



The proximity of a couple walking paths was also a little annoying. But none of this was an issue as there were few people out and about, and no other players on the course for the 90 minutes I was there late on a Sunday morning.

The locals like their cheap beer, and I can admire that.



As I walked up to the first tee, I was greeted by a nice mailbox stocked with hundreds of fresh score cards (no pencils).



The scorecards had a cool real-photo map of the course.



There's no getting lost on this course. Nevertheless, rather than playing a first round, I more or less walked the course and tried some practice shots. The wind was furious that day. As I'm terrible in anything but perfect conditions (dry, 72 degrees, partly sunny (or maybe partly cloudy), low pollen count, shoes slightly broken-in, no tag on my t-shirt, and--this is important--definitely no wind) I'm in for a tough round. I'll be putting hard and throwing my overstable Firebird.

Ok, practice over. My score-keeping round begins. I walk up to the first tee. There's a nice map of the hole carved and painted on rock.



The fairway looks long in the wind. The road on the left is O.B. but doesn't really come into play thanks to a line of trees. This fairway gives you a sense of the course:



This green is typical--tucked into a clump of trees:



I take a bogey after a short drive into a headwind and a shaky approach.

Total: +1

By the way, I'm ignoring the course pars and playing them as par threes, of course.

Hole 2 is the easiest hole. 231 feet. Little hyzer. Basket under a tree. I've got no wind skills and get a par.

Total: +1

Hole 3 is tough by virtue of its distance.



There's a walking path along the entire left side of the fairway. The picture above doesn't really show how much the fairway curves to the left. It is tempting to throw one close to the path and let it curve along with it. But the O.B. line is a magnet. Before the round, my practice throw here lands on the path.

I play it more conservatively now, but am left with a 250 foot approach. Bogey.

Total: +2

Here's a shot of the hole-3 basket sitting atop the only "hill" on the course:



Hole 4 forces you to throw 318 feet from one side of a walking path to the other, into a line of trees. Pretty straightforward. Par.

Total: +2

Hole 5 is tough. 375 ft straight, but with a line of trees about 2/3 of the way down the fairway, one of which obscures your view of the hole.



My drive falls right in front of the center tree making my 130 foot approach shot very difficult:



I miss a 30-footer for par. In the wind, I'm not making anything over 20 feet this day. The wind actually broke a branch off of the tree next to me and it came crashing down while I was trying to putt here. Bogey.

Total: +3

Hole 6 is similar to 5. There's a theme emerging. "Hey, let's put the fairway right here so that this tree is exactly in the middle of it." You can see the problem on the tee-sign:



The tree is gangling, but still forces you to throw a hyzer or an-hyzer, which cuts down on my distance big-time:



I tried an anhyzer, but the wind took my poorly-thrown disc straight up in the air and plopped it down about 150 feet in front of the tee. Hang time: 8 seconds.

My approach (second drive) did not penetrate the sentinel-like trees:



I got a bad bounce off of one of the trees and then missed the putt. Bogey.

Total: +4

Hole 7 is the shortest on the course:



But this is no gimme birdie. First of all there's another damned tree directly in front of the tee pad (did I really give this course 2.5/4.0?). Second, the basket is nowhere to be found. After walking about 40 feet to the side, I finally spot it directly behind the trunk of a tree. Di-rectly. This basket is no more than five feet from the trunk. I am surprised by the recorded aces on this hole than on any other. I just don't see how that disc can get around that tree without passing up the basket. Must be one really nice sweeping hyzer. Here's the picture:



I go way wide and par it.

Total: +4

Hole 8 is long. Oh, yeah, and there's a wall of trees in the way of your drive. You can throw a clear drive, just not in the direction of the basket.



I get through the trees and battle the wind in an open field. I surprise myself by putting together three 250 footish throws that give me a drop-in bogey. There's also an O.B. road next to this basket:



Total: +5

Hole 9 is probably the best hole. The fairway crosses a road (small, little used, no cars) and a walking path and enters a bunch of trees. Lots of trees on this hole.



The basket is tucked in nicely behind left-field.



My drive sucks. 200 feet. Straight. Stays on my side of the road. My approach hits the first branch of the nearest tree. I'm being mocked. I have a 75 foot shot for par, mostly clear. I look at the trees and fence behind the pin and then go for it with my shark. The trees keep the wind at bay. Somehow it goes in for my par.

Total: +5



I'll be playing this course again when it's not windy and I've added some distance to my drive. But I fear that par will still be out of reach for me.