Fresh Meat and More Records!

Last night was another record-breaking night with 11 golfers showing up, including four first-timers. We ended up with three groups:

• Group 1: AndyG dominated his group consisting of SteveB, MikeC, and JimB and came within two strokes of tying the course record. Nice job Andy! Shot of the night came on 15 with Jim richocheting his blind approach shot off a tree branch and into the bucket. Just like he planned it I'm sure.
  
• Group 2: I took the four newbies out for their first disc golf experience. After a few words of wisdom from me, I set them loose. They all steadily improved with each hole and seemed to have a good time. Eighth-grader Mike (I hope I remembered the name right) showed great potential and was hucking that disc as far, if not farther, than his buddies.
• Group 3: RobW and his Dad brought up the rear. Not sure how they did, but they were first back to the parking lot!

We're going to move the start time up 15 minutes next week to 5:45pm. It got a little dark out there for the last few holes!

I'll be out there Friday morning around 10, 10:30 if anyone wants to help clear the next hole. Call me if you do, or email devensdg AT gmail DOT com.

Stats For You to Study

For you stat freaks out there, I've begun to record all the scores I can get my hands on just to see if any holes are too easy or hard. Since I was an English major and math is a second language to me, I'll let you do the dirty work. Please post any observations by adding a Comment.

• Go here for the stats

See you tomorrow!

A Record Wednesday Weekly

(L to R) Matt S, Mike L, Steve D, John B, Dave J, Andy G

Last night's Wednesday Weekly broke all sorts of course records and set many "firsts". Thank you all for coming. I hope we see you out here again!

• Number of golfers: 6 (Wow!)


• Number of groups: 2


• Number of non-locals: 2 -- Steve D and Mike L from CT


• Number of locals: 4 -- Dave J, Matt S, Andy G, John B


• New course record: Matt shot a blistering 44 on 15 holes. That's -1. "I missed so many easy putts too," he whimpered.

I was so excited when I pulled into the parking lot to see everyone there. It made my day. In fact, it took me about four holes to relax and play some decent golf. I figured I'd give the out-of-towners a personal tour of the course, so Steve, Mike, and I formed the first group, and Dave, Matt, and Andy made up the second group. We all put in $2 and Andy donated a scratch ticket for CTP on hole 10 which he ended up winning!

We had a good time and no one lost a disc, so all was good. Highlights include some nice treeless drives from Mike, some pretty long putts by Ditterman, and an impressive laser drive thrown by Matt on Hole 15 that landed about 5 feet from the pin. Lowlights .... well let's forget about those for now, shall we?

Results (Par 45)

MattS: 44
MikeL: 50
DaveJ: 52
AndyG: 55
JohnB: 55
SteveD: 58

Thanks Matt for donating your winnings to the course and good luck to you, Mike, and Steve at this weekend's MSDGC tournament.

Click here for some amazing Devens disc golfers gone wild videos.

One Info Booth Coming Up

Nik Groleau has volunteered to build an information booth for the course. Very cool! I just got the okay from Kathy and we will meet with her soon to decide where to put it. See the booth below that Nik built for the Bellamy course in NH.

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!

Come Play with a Pro

Rumor has it that local Pro Tim Walsh will be joining us for this week's Weekly. Tim just returned from a very successful trip to Augusta, GA where he finished 42nd out of 123 in the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships. Nice job, Timmay!

So, if you'd like to see how it's done, join us this Wednesday at 6pm in the parking lot. We've got 15 beautiful holes waiting for you!

And don't worry if you don't have a disc -- we've got plenty!

Directions: http://tinyurl.com/mr7cf

Innova Grabs a Sponsorship!

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)

Holes 12 and 15 Are Open For Business

What a day we had Sunday! Brian, Dave, and I worked like madmen and finished hole 15 and hole 12. We had a great system going with Dave and I cutting and Brian hauling the pieces away. It was a thing of beauty.

On 15, which is a mostly-straight shot down an old road, Dave suggested we create an alternate flightpath along the right "breakdown lane" and man, did it improve the hole. So now there are two ways to go at the pin: either straight or to the right around a row of trees and over a large boulder. We're all about choices here at Devens Disc Golf.

Hole 12 started off as nothing but a hill full of trees, shrubs, and undergrowth. After about an hour or so, we had carved out a left-curving downhill fairway bordered by trees. There's still a bit of work to be done to define it better and we may have to cut down one or two bigger trees, but for now it is playable. This hole will probably have a mando on it so that people don't take the straight route, but we'll see.

After about four hours of work, we called it quits and Dave and I played a round while Brian went home to get his son Ryan. They later met us out on hole 13, which is Ryan's favorite hole to practice his putting!

I don't know about the other guys, but I am dog-tired this morning.

(For more great animal artwork, check out my friend's site.)

We Get Some Ink

Our second write-up in the Lowell Sun was finally published today. I haven't seen the paper version but the reporter told me they ran the picture of Brian twice and identified him as me once. D'oh!

• Article is here
• Photos are here

I think Jennifer did a good job telling our story. Feel free to email her and give her some props!

Workday Sunday 8/13

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 for this one.

Wednesday Weekly Results: 8/9

David, Mark, and I played this week while also doing some tree branch trimming (thanks for bringing your saw on a stick, Mark!). David whipped us again and I won a marathon CTP. I think we pushed 3 holes. Later we headed over to the Devens Grill for cocktails and some course development brainstorming.

Next week might not happen since 2 of the 3 regulars can't make it. Stay tuned.

I forgot I had my camera with me, so only two videos this week.

Here's David driving Hole 3.

Mark fights through the trees on 7.

Thurs Night Reporter Round

Thursday night a reporter from the Lowell Sun tagged along for a round with Brian, Rob, Steve, and John. Jennifer is doing a followup article on our efforts to build the course. We had a good time showing her what disc golf is all about and were sure to show her some good and bad shots!

Things were neck-and-neck throughout the round until a lost-disc penalty for John took him out of contention. Rob remained steady on the last few holes to hold off Steve and take the win, although Brian's two birdies and a par struck fear into the leaders. Well, maybe not fear, but we were impressed. ;-)

Here are the results on 13 holes:

> Rob - 46
> Steve - 47
> John - 48 (won CTP)
> Brian - 52

Be sure to check out the photos and movies below.

Brian flips one down 5

Rob goes for 5

Steve is ... uhh ... ummm... I dunno!

Rob Flicks Up 8

Rob parts the rocks on 8 with a nice drive up through the valley of doom.

John Chops Some Wood On 8

Listen for the thunk ... and then the grunt!

Brian's Not Too Happy on 8

Sweet Steve on 7

Steve finds a way through the trees with a sweet approach shot.

Stop the Heat! Weekly Results for 8/2

Maybe this is why only Mark and I showed up for the Weekly last night. It actually wasn't too bad since a major thunderstorm passed just south of us making it nice and breezy.

We played pretty even golf and each bonked hard on different holes. Mark ended up falling short by a stroke.

> JB - 47 ($1)
> Mark - 48

I also found a fairly new blue Shark on 6's fairway which is probably the one Dave warned me about. Wow, we have an official Devens Lost & Found now!

We did a CTP on 9 and I won $1. Yes!

Calendar of Events

Click to see this month's Calendar of Events.