A Very Socialable Sunday

What a great day Sunday was for the course. First, we had seven guys (and one dog) show up for doubles and we collected about ten cans of food for the Devens Loaves and Fishes. Thank you!

Back: Dave, Rick, Pete, Phil.
Front: John, Brent and Dotty, Chuck


Phil Vilmorin and I squeaked out a one-stroke victory over Dave James who was playing cali. Phil made an absolutely amazing birdie shot on hole 7, banging the chains from at least 150 ft around some trees. Wow!

After an awesome drive, Phil V hits an easy deuce on Hole 15


Here are the results:

• Phil V and John B: 51 (ties course doubles record)
• Dave J and Cali: 52
• Chuck and Pete N: 57
• Rick and Brent: 63
  

As the doubles crowd drove off with their AC cranking, a group from Rhode Island showed up and convinced me to play tour guide. So, Phil and I headed out again to show big arms Dave Kurtz, Matt DeAngelis, and Todd C the Hill.

Phil, me, Dave, Todd, Matt


We played a relaxed round of singles in the brutal heat and humidity and it was fun playing with these guys. I had been hearing in NEFAland circles that Matt could throw a mile and damn are the rumors true. Dave is no slouch either, as he proved by bombing a laser straight up 15 and landing 2 feet from the basket. Damn, money.

Fig and Greg


At the turn on 3/5, we bumped into Paul "Fig" Grimes and Greg Dowdell who were making their first visit. (See Fig's comment below in the Press post). They're the ones who told me about the latest article.

The Flip Flopper Fivesome


Following them was a fivesome who were also here for the first time. One guy was wearing flip-flops and later paid the price by gashing his toe. Ouch! It didn't seem to bother them much though because we could hear them laughing and having a good time throughout the course.

Later, when we were walking out, I couldn't help but smile. There were 11 cars in the parking lot.

And now for the mandatory out-of-focus action shots, plus one of a tiny robin's egg I found on hole three.

The Egg



Matt on 18


Dave


Phil


Todd

More press for the Hill

I met Devens newbies, Greg and Paul, on the course yesterday.

They told me they came to play because they saw our latest article in the Sunday MetroWest Daily News.

Glad to see the power of the press really works! Read the article here.

Sunday, 3:09 PM

If you build it, they will come.

Birdies and bees

Just got a note about a bee's nest near the bench at the tee box for #2. Watch out! I'll gas it tomorrow if I make it out there.

The new phone book's here!

"The new baskets are here! The new baskets are here!" Or so says UPS, anyway.

We may be having a mini-workday tomorrow between the raindrops. Stay tuned.

Be social and bring a can of food.

Since the Devens Loaves and Fishes is our official charity, we thought it would be nice for Sunday Socialites to bring a can of food to the Social from now on. Dave James has volunteered to drop off our donations each week.

Please donate if you'd like, and see you this Sunday for 9:30 doubles!

Kiddie Depot Kids Love Disc Golf

DDG Board member Dave James recently did a demo for the kids at the Ayer Kiddie Depot, a sponsor of the course. Sounds like he had a great time! Here is his report:

I showed up after getting a reminder of where it was located from a local police officer. Good start. I had two portables with me, a bunch of putters, and a pile of freestyle discs. It was a hot and sunny morning. I did the basic directions in the shade and then we started throwing.

I set up two stations -- a freestyle one where the kids and some of the staff experimented with some spinjammers (easy freestyle disc), and a putting station with two baskets. I went back and forth making helpful comments and after 10 minutes they switched stations. After 10 more minutes, I gave them a choice to repeat the one they liked.

Next we took a short water break so I could set up a two-hole course. The kids ranged from 6-11 years old so the holes were age appropriate. I sent them out in threesomes and they reported their score as they retured.

How quickly they learned to cheer for a birdie, no matter who it was! A few days later I got a very nice thank you card in the mail. I plan on offering this to them again next year.

Stats page up again

I've restarted the Stats page, so start sending me your scores. See where you fall in with the other Hill People.

Matt Stroika currently holds the unofficial course record with a 52 (-2). You're not going to let a Green Bay Packers fan hold the record, are you?! :)

Our baskets are on their way!

UPDATE: Baskets should arrive Sat.

I just received an email with some great news -- our last nine baskets have been shipped. Yahoo! Good timing too since I'll be on vacation next week and no doubt will be working on the course for a good chunk of it.

Sunday Social Results

We had a good turnout yesterday that including some more new faces. It was a beautiful sunny morning and doubles play was fast and furious on two cards.

Chuck and I caught fire early and never looked back, shooting a doubles course record of 51. Yes, it's the first time organized doubles has been played at the Hill, but we're going to claim the record anyway!

Results:

• Chuck/John: 51 (-3)
• Steve/Pete: 56 (+2)
• Rick/Dave: 59 (+5)
• Don/Brian: 60 (+6)

Back: Don, Pete, Rick, John
Front: Dave, Nut, Chuck, Steve

See you next week!

World's Tallest Man at Devens Sunday

Ok, that's not true, but you can watch a news story about the world's tallest and shortest men meeting and about two brothers from CA who got gored at the same time in the butt during the running of the bulls in Spain. No, it has nothing to do with disc golf, but I thought both were pretty amusing.

Go here: http://tinyurl.com/23hxbp. (Best results using Internet Explorer)

We will have a prize for the tallest person to show up at Sunday's Social, however. See you then, be ready to go at 9:30 sharp.

I am off to the Beauty Hill Challenge in NH on Sat. if anyone wants to carpool. There are still plenty of spaces left in the tourney. Everyone else, keep an eye out for Nut on the Hill as he continues shredding brush from the fairways. Have a good weekend!

Comrex Nails a Birdie

Another Devens business has joined our excellent list of sponsors. Comrex signed on for a $300 Birdie level sponsorship! Thank you!

Comrex has designed and manufactured broadcast equipment since 1961. They have had a long tradition of providing a very down-to-earth answer to a universal broadcast need – bringing high quality audio into the studio from virtually anywhere, economically, at a moment's notice.

Maybe we can get them to teach us how to do a live broadcast for our first tournament? :-)

Speaking of tournaments, we are shooting for something in mid Sept. Stay tuned!

Amazing Freestyle

All of this is amazing, but the stuff around the 3 minute mark is outstanding. Wow!

Sunday Social Results

We had 5 show up for our first Sunday Social this morning. We decided to play singles and then play doubles next week and alternate until we have enough people showing up consistently.

It was a good time, a bit breezy, hot, and humid. We all seemed to make some incredible shots and all went home with at least one birdie. Rick made an awesomely long uphill putt through some junk on 10. Very nice! Jay Hooch Huchowski came up from Buffumvilleland to try the Hill for the first time. I was glad to see my old competitor from back in my AM2 days.

Results:

• Dave James 59
• JoBo 60
• Hooch 67
• Ultimate Pete 72
• Rick "Do not post my score!"

Matt Stroika and his son showed up a little late and played a quick round on their own. Matt shot a sweet 56 and Matthew shot a 75.

When we were done, two more groups were getting ready to go out, and there was at least one other group already out there. Damn, this course is getting popular. Oh yee-ah.

Jay, John, Rick, Pete, Dave



Matt and Matthew



Ray, Dave, Phil are ready for a round



Dave putts on 2



Pete lines up his shot



Jay is so happy to finally play the Hill he does a little dance (sorry Jay!)



Dave tees off on 18



Brian spent his weeknights this week cleaning up 18. Nice job, Nut!

Work, work, play

This morning I got a buttload of work done on holes 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 16. I did more fine-tuning, opening up flightpaths, and creating better approach shots.

I met Andy and Bernie, two more local guys who work down the street in Ayer and were out on the course for the first time. They were pretty excited about having the course so close by and heaped many compliments on everyone involved in getting it in the ground.

A few minutes later, Jim Wills and his buddy Pete from down around Plymouth, MA played through. Jim was impressed with how the course has progressed since he last played it way back in the early bucket days.

Next to play through was Rick Hobbs. Rick helped early on one day scouting out holes and was back for the first time since then.

Later on, Jim and Pete helped me cut down that pesky tree just off the tee on 16. Now the hole really opens up up top. Sorry, we couldn't do anything about that 50-ft vertical drop to the pin.

Pete and Jim listen to the tree's last words.


All in all it was a great morning. I got a lot done, met some new golfers, and actually played a few holes! Next up, tomorrow's Social at 9:30. Be there!

We make it easy for you to donate to the Hill

I got a great suggestion the other day from someone I met playing a round at the Hill. He said that although he couldn't afford a full $300 sponsorship, he still wanted to contribute a little every so often to show his appreciation for us building such a great course.

He suggested I add a Paypal donation button on our website and blog, so I did! I figure if players donate a few bucks after every couple rounds, it will definitely help us with our yearly insurance bill.

Great idea and thanks for supporting our course!

The Hill is Hopping!

Brian and I were interviewed by the MetroWest newspapers on Tuesday and met their photographer at the Hill last night for a few photos. He arrived in his Mini Cooper with three of his sons packed in the back. Even after the relatively long ride stuffed in a Mini, the older teenage kids were too cool to be bothered to get out and see what this Frisbee golf thing was all about, but the younger one tagged along with Dad and thought it was pretty cool. I gave him a putter to play with and he was a natural. Add one more disc golfer to the world!

The skeeters were enjoying the muggy conditions, so we headed straight to hole 1 where the photographer took a variety of shots ranging from far away actions shots, posed close-ups, and some typical putting shots. This guy was good and really tried to show how hilly and challenging the terrain is. He got a good one of Brian nailing a nice downhill putt through the trees that I bet they will use for the article.

When we were done I suggested a fun shot where we'd toss a bunch of discs in the air over our heads. He liked that idea and we tried a few of those back at the soccer field. I'm anxious to see how those came out.

After the photographer left, DDGC Board member Dave James emerged from the woods after a turbo round. He said had been shooting great until 18 ate him up with a 7 and he ended with a 60. Ouch, but great shooting none-the-less, Dave! There was also another group out there that Brian had chatted with earlier. They work on Devens, I think.

With twilight approaching, Brian headed back to 18 for more brush cutting and I headed to hole 1 for a few quick holes. I was on fire and finished -1 after 5. I finished on 18 with a sweet drive but blew my downhill putt for par and got a nasty roll, finishing with a 5. Yuck. On the bright side, I found my pruners I lost on 3 last week.

Hole 18 is looking good now that Brian has cleared all the low-lying brush. I plan to drag the crap away this Sat. morning. You should come and help!

Back in the parking lot I met Russ from Groton who has played the course a few times and is excited to be playing again. He used to play back in the day with his buddies who are hopefully coming out this Sunday from Springfield.

So, what I'm trying to say is, the Hill is hopping and that makes us happy!

Let's Get Social (Sunday)!

The Wednesday Weekly is dead. Bring on the Sunday Social!

The poll has spoken. Sundays look like the best time to meet each week for a fun, casual round. Meet some fellow local golfers. Wow them with your skills, or lack thereof. Who cares! Just get outdoors and have some fun! Newbies welcome. Discs available to borrow.

See you this Sunday, July 15 at 9:30 AM. Come early and help tidy up the course. Earn some disc golf karma too!

Nine New Baskets Ordered

We just ordered nine new Chainstar baskets and they should arrive in a couple of weeks. That will bring us up to 18 Chainstars and two practice baskets! Nice. Now we just need some help installing them.

Website and Pye

We now have an official website. Basic stuff up there for now. More to come.

• devensdiscgolf.com

Steve and I helped out at Pye Brook's Tournament of 7s tourney yesterday. It was good to see what goes into putting on a great tournament. Since we were spotters on a few holes, it was cool to meet each group coming through and putting a lot of names to faces. Can't wait until our first tourney, hopefully this fall.

New Course Map Available

I've added a pretty rudimentary course map that should help you get around a little easier your first time on the Hill. Get it here, in the Links sections to the right, or off the the main website.

Here's another version. Click to enlarge.

Are you a local?

Then take the survey in the right column. When is the best time for you to meet for a weekly round?

Rumor has it that there has been a lot of people out on the Hill the past few days, so I know there are some locals playing. That's great!

Thanks for the emails with suggestions and criticisms too. And yes, I will whip up a course map soon. Believe me, it's on a very long To Do list!

More press for the Hill

Katrina Folger's article on her visit to the Hill has finally been published. Check out this week's Ayer Public Spirit, Shirley Oracle, Pepperell Free Press, Groton Landmark, Harvard Hillside, or Townsend Times that should have showed up in your mailbox this past Friday. This is one of the most entertaining article's yet. Thanks for the ink, Katrina!

The print version has a photo of Rob Walker putting while I stand to the side watching.

• Read it here (It starts after the fourth paragraph.)