Matter Park (with ace alert) 2011

Woke hungover. Sorry. I have one week off before summer classes and have been drinking beer and watching NBA. What a day. Sun like a sedan. Skipped breakfast, as is my way. Drove to Matter Park in Marion, IN to meet two Jags, Mark and Matt. (A very new Jag. Is he on probation for a year? Do we haze him? Like maybe each Jag should drive his car over Matt's putter? Not sure how that works but for now I make him carry my disc bag and call me Colonel Lovelace.)

I got my times screwed up so arrived an hour early. Oh well, really nothing blar with being at a D golf course early. I just practiced some medium-length putts. Flash a ring, baby.



Matt and Mark arrive and we begin. First thing, Matter Park looks excellent, very impressive. The woods used to be gnarly, with earthen tees, no signs. Not now. The local club, The Flying Aces, have done a shit-load of work, and the course is manicured, tight, beautiful, with great tees, signage, and the always kick-ass catchability Spider Baskets from HOF Allen Pier. My only complaints was maybe they cleared out too much brush, but much of that will grow back in--it's still early season. I would also prefer tee signs BEHIND the tee pads, not in front, but now I'm getting picky about an excellent course.

Example of Spider:
Look at all those chains, and the basket deep like a clawfoot bathtub. You need that on some of these holes. Baked dirt, sloping hills--you want the disc to REMAIN in the basket. Example:

Imagine how a missed putt rolls here...

Onto ROUND ONE:

Hole one rather ordinary. A 302 foot R to L hyzer (You could argue this course has to many R to L. Just ask Matt, a left hander) into a hidden pocket of woods, basket tucked inside. We all easily par. Then you enter the woods.

Holes 2-6 are deep in woods, mostly short, with a lot of trees, pockets of thickets, technical shots. A really fun time. A place you need to make birdies, but might easily make bogey or worse.

Here is hole # 2, a turnover you MUST get past that big tree in the center. Some of this reminds me of Heistand. This hole possibly an example of where they cleared out too much of the thickets and shaazz-up, etc. Hard to say. It's a personality thing, it's nuanced. But you don't want sanitary and you don't want impossible, right? I guess I'm saying I want things to grow in a bit more here. I like a little hot sauce with my cheese.



Hole 6. Narrow fairway, trees right off pad. You better know those two trees are in the mind.

Matt threads the needle. And here is Mark in the woods:




He makes a tricky downhill putt. That's my drive in front of him. Why yes, I would birdie. We handle the woods fine, and I actually string together birdies on 3, 4, and 5. Mark has a couple of wood birdies, too. Matt plays OK, except for hole 3, where he double-burgers. Hole 3 is nasty, 254 feet through a narrow uphill chute that then falls off hard to the left, downhill. So we exit the woods and head back out into the park, to hole 7.

Hole 7 is 266 feet, a R to L hyzer, with some weird gravel pit in front. You want to clear that pit. I throw a low, tight Beast, it clears the gravel and skips hard and....

ACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

My first skip-ace ever, thank you kindly. I have always wanted a skip-ace, ever since I saw Ander do it twice, at Old Farm. (BTW, people rate Farm course 2.9 on that site and they are absolutely full of shit.)

Happy, happy. This seems to fuel my round and I continue to shoot low. Matter Park opens up into sprawling holes, and then a few more woody tech one through gaps. Example:

This is hole 14, only 190, but creek on L and OB on R and a narrow shaft through those trees. Hole 15 is much the same. Then, oh, hole 16, 433 foot pain in the ass through massive trees, with creek behind hole. I bogey there, but everything else is tight. Matt picks up lots of bogeys on the back, while Mark plays a steady round, mostly pars.

Sean - 7 Mark +1 Matt + 7

ROUND TWO

Round two, we all played very close to one another. In fact, at the turn we were:

Mark -1, Sean EVEN, Matt EVEN.

That makes for a fun round.

Then Matt did some of this:

Watch out for that tree! Matt would explode a bit on the back 9, just as he did on the first round. Something for Matt to consider. But Matter back 9 is tough, no doubt.

And Mark went some of this:

Is that a construction zone?! Mark would double burger here, hole 11, 446 yards of pain. Toughest hole on the course I would argue.

And I just sort of bobbled along, par, par, par, blar. Most impressive was Mark's response to his double bogey. His round was nuts, with two 5's yet he shot a good score. A testament to his talent and resilience. He pounced back immediately, with several birdies. In the end, his birdie on hole 15 sealed the deal:

Mark EVEN Sean +1 Matt + 6

Matter's holes 17 and 18 really hurt the course. They are ordinary, and not a place to swap shots. Most every other Matter hole is unique, fun, with an ability to birdie or bogey. I really enjoy this course. So. I would like to say something in words, as if in stone:

THANK YOU MATTER PARK.