Sweet Six and Social Scores

This morning I worked on Hole 6 before the Social -- widened the fairway a bit, cut down an ugly, gnarly, scrub oak mess, and trimmed some overhanging branches. I left the piles and we spent a few minutes during the round to clear them away. See, I'm learning how to enforce a quick mini-workday!

Dave, Donnie, John, Brent, Pete (Arty joined us on 10)


Donnie and Pete caught fire early and never looked back. They tied the SS dubz record with a 51. Nice job, guys! Dave and John finished with a 54 and Brent and Arty had a 61.


Pete drives on Hole 7



Donnie flicks his approach on 7



The "Life is Good" Guys played thru on 14: "Your course is like Rindge on steroids!"



Dave putts on 15



Donnie's drive made it more than halfway down the hill on 18. Nice!

18 Gets Cleaned Up

Saturday we had a tremendous turnout for the workday: Jim Bobka and me. Sigh.

We did a buttload of work and cleared and tidied 75% of Hole 18. Another hour or two and we will be done. Jim is a workhorse and I appreciate his help. Dave J gets bonus points for bringing us some food when we were done and scouting out short tees for our Ace Race (reg by this Thursday!).

Hole 18, 7:52 AM



Hole 18, 9:50 AM



Later, I bumped into these two guys from Fitchburg out on the course for the first time.

Where's the basket?

Thanks to Dave McHale, I've got a photo of the hole I aced at Sugarbush. Funny thing is that a guy in his group also aced it! The basket is that tiny band of yellow down there just above the grass. See more photos from Dave.




And here's the disc.

Ride needed for Sunday Social

Can anyone help out James? Email him if you can.

I'd like to play in the league this Sunday but do not have a car this weekend (gf). I live in Porter Sq Cambridge. Anyone live around there willing to give me a lift? I can also travel via T if necessary. Thanks.

Workday this Sat. 8AM - Come help!

It's our last push to finish fine-tuning the course.

The more hands we have, the faster we'll be able to play a round. Here's what's on tap:

• Clear branch piles on 18
• Tidy and trim 6, 16, 17
• Put orange stickers on baskets
• Work on teepads
• Mark Rec tees for Ace Race

If you have told me in the past "I'd love to help work on the course. Let me know when the next work day is", well now is your chance. I know who you are....

• 8 AM, Sat. Sept 29 Depending on helpers, I'll probably be there a good chunk of the day.

I'll probably drive my truck in, so call when you get there or just come find us. 978-433-6133

Jim Bobka is coming. Who else can I add to the list?

Even Climo gets robbed once in a while

The best golfer on the planet got a bit of tough basket love Friday as his putt was rudely rejected on hole 5 at the Sugarbush Open.

Ace!

Luke Adolph reports that he aced Hole 13 on Friday, Sept. 21. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses for his first career ace! Oh, too bad! :)

I hit my first career ace on hole 13 at devens today (Friday). Right up the middle in between the small cluster of trees towards the end, skip off the ground and in! Unfortunately, no one was around to see it!

Looks like our course is the place to play if you want to get your first ace. Two aces, two cherries popped!

Sugarbush was sweet!

Man, what a great weekend of golf and good times I just had. I am still smiling.

Dave James and I headed up to Sugarbush Mt in Warren, VT Friday morning to watch and play in the Sugarbush Open, a National Tour event. It was a three-day event with the pros playing Friday-Sunday and us AMs just playing the weekend.

The courses were amazing, especially the Peak course which plays down, across, and up the 4000-ft mountain. You have to take the chair lift to get to hole 1. There are beautiful views in every direction.

One pro tee plays downhill something like 1400 ft and the AM tee is around 900 ft I think. It sounds crazy, but it is totally doable if you play cautiously and accurately. One bad throw though, and you end up deep in the woods or half a mile down the mountain. Seriously.

I liked the Peak course a lot because it requires good touch and control. It was hard not to crank a driver off the teepad sometimes and go with a putter or midrange instead, but in many cases that was the smart throw. The Base course was more like a normal course, hilly in places, open and flat in others, with a few tough holes sprinkled in. The back 9 is similar to Devens in that many of the holes are heavily-wooded. Not surprisingly, I played better on these holes. Trees? What trees?

Ken Climo and his signature form


We got there about 1PM and decided to wait on base course hole 4 for the lead card of Ken Climo, Marcus Källström, Steve Brinster, and Avery Jenkins so that we could walk the course while watching the top players on the planet play them. It was pretty cool finally seeing Climo in person, and after a few holes I realized that he's just a regular guy (who can huck a disc a lot better than me) and the gee-whizziness of the moment passed. He even missed a putt. Good God! He's human after all!

Climo, Jenkins, Källström
It definitely was great to see all these pros in action and up close. I love watching their technique. Now if we could just get them to announce what disc they were throwing each time, that would be cool.

After the round, we met up with the rest of our crew (Tim Walsh, Daniel Marcus, and Phil Vilmorin) and headed back to the condo for some dinner, adult beverages, and a few hours of poker and BS-ing. It was my first time playing poker and thankfully they were patient with me. I almost pulled the upset of the decade and beat Tim, but missed out by a hair on the last hand.

Saturday the AMs played R1 on the Peak course. I think I represented Devens pretty well and ended up on the second card to start round two. I even aced peak hole 3! It was a beautiful, downhill 180-ft laser with an Aviar. Besides my group witnesses (including Pyebrook JD), pros Leslie Demark, Bard Soleng, and Steve Brinster also saw it go in. I think they were more excited than me! Dave James had a rough morning and left himself some work to do for the second round, but vowed to do better.

After lunch, we played the base course and I think I finish tied with 5 other guys on the second card. The top three cards were all pretty close -- I think a 5 stroke difference, so it still was anybody's ballgame.

Kevin Lord reunited with his old college friend, Jay Reading


Saturday night we went down to the players party for dinner and fun. I had a really good time getting to know some more NEFA people a little better and liked swapping war stories from the day. I brought my ace disc with me and had most of the big pros (Des and Jay Reading, Val Jenkins, Leslie Demark) sign it and I ended up chatting with eventual winner Markus Källström for a while. He also nailed an Ace on Friday.

Back to the condo we went for more poker. They weren't so patient with me this time and I quickly ran out of chips. But hey, I didn't care - I got an ace! :)

Sunday morning was another beautiful day and the AMs had early tee times on the base course so that we could watch the Pros play the Peak course later. Unfortunately, I lost confidence in my putting and missed a few that I shouldn't have. I dropped down two spots in a 5-way tie for 8th and finished -3 for the weekend.

Even so, I'm pretty happy with that! Hell, it was 72 holes on a mountain. Nice! (full results)

The weekend ended perfectly when we ran into Climo in the parking lot. He signed my ace disc and said something like, "That's a good one to get your second ace on." I replied with an eloquent "Yeah, thanks." Dave hit him up for a few sigs on his KC Eagle and new Destroyer and made much better small talk than I did.

All in all, I met some great people, played some great golf, watched some of the best golfers in the world, drank some good beer, and enjoyed some beautiful Vermont scenery. Did I mention I had a great time? You should go next year.

Here are some more pix from the weekend:

Avery Jenkins putts on base 17



Climo nails his putt on base 17



Tim comes in for his close up



Everyone lean! Phil, Dave, Daniel, Tim, John

Nut Plays Rindge

Last weekend, Brian McNulty, one of the main driving forces behind Devens Disc Golf course, played his favorite tournament, the NH States at Hunt's Mean 18 in Rindge, NH. This tournament has special meaning to him and in effect to Devens Disc Golf.

Read about how Rindge and Devens are related in Brian's weekend recap:

The story of the DDGC can be traced back to Rindge. In college when Rindge was built I used to play the course when it was open to the public. In fact the only two tournaments I ever went to more than once (I've been to about 20 all together) were Rindge and the Doug Russel's Frozen Fruits Classic. I saw Doug this weekend. My first Rindge tournament was probably around 1993.

No doubt Rindge is a unique place and a great scene. The only reason I go however is because my personal buddy's have attended ever year. Peter Anderson who ran the Rindge operation for 7 years was there and is the conduit between myself and John Borelli. Scott Berman is another person who has not missed a year and is the person who introduced me to the game of disc golf. Without these two people there would be no course on Devens since they enlightened me about the world of disc and helped me start our effort once I moved to Devens.

The best part of the weekend was all the good feedback I heard regarding our course. People seem to really like it. The folks who have played it want come back for another round and the people who haven't had the chance are making plans to try it out. Some even told me they would make their first trip on the day of our first tournament on October 20th. Most notably, Jason Southwick said he's in and I particularly enjoyed speaking with him about our story around the camp fire.

My Rindge weekend started out on Friday when I met Chris "Gags" Gagne for a practice round. I ended up shooting my best score of all time (61) and I was fired up for the tournament. As we all know, many factors come into play during a round and I wasn't able to match that score when it counted, but I do have witnesses.

Of course I recognized many faces from my years at Rindge and saw some familiar faces from the DDGC. Such as Scott Pyle, Bill Bureau, Pete Huck, Mark Mudgett, Scott Leroy, Matty Caruso and others. Also for the first time in my life (the DDGC not withstanding) I've turn on my first person to the game. My buddy Doug Solman made the trip from Portland, ME to check out Rindge. His first game was on Devens back in July. Although he didn't play during the proceedings he did love the Glow Round.

Since this is my first official blog entry (it only took 3 years) I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has helped make Devens a reality. There are lots of reasons why I love our course but certainly one of them is because it's very similar to Rindge.


Nut
Resident & Founder

Just how long is it?

We finally got around to measuring the holes last week. Total length comes out to 4952 ft. (just under 1 mile).

Overall, we have:

• < 200ft - 4
  
• 200-300 ft - 7
• 300-400 ft - 6
• > 400 ft - 1

The official lengths:

1. 205
2. 135
3. 345
4. 230
5. 310
6. 370
7. 310
8. 255
9. 145

10. 215
11. 130
12. 305
13. 270
14. 310
15. 260
16. 260
17. 180
18. 410

Two more golfers show the Hill some love

Thanks to two generous and appreciative disc golfers, we've added a few more dollars to our course insurance fund this week! Big thanks to Mr. Anonymous and to Jay Duffner for your contributions!

If you like our course, please donate a few bucks every couple of times you play. The more you donate, the more karma you'll build up and the fewer trees you'll hit! It's a proven fact!

Go ahead -- click that PayPal button to the right!

One Disc Ace Race & Nature Walk Doubles Tourney

Ack! I just realized that I never announced this on the blog! We're having our first (and second) tournament at the Hill, Saturday, Oct. 20!

• Morning: Discraft One Disc Ace Race - 2 rounds, 1 disc, 1 throw on each hole from short tees. ($20, includes two prototype discs, mini, and a hat)
• Afternoon: Nature Walk Doubles - 1 round, regular tees, bring your own partner or find one on Saturday. (Pro Open $40/team; AMs $20/team)
• Please bring some food or toiletries to donate to the Devens Loaves & Fishes, our official charity.
  

You can play one or both events. Your choice!

No NEFA points, no PDGA fees, no frills. Just good, old-fashioned golf on New England's newest course!

More details and registration info coming. CTP prizes and sponsors welcomed!

Come play the Hill!

Rainy Social

Despite overcast skies and about 15 minutes of rain, we got in a good round this morning. Rick had the shot of the day with a 50-ft (at least) putt downhill on hole 10 for a deuce. Nice!

Ruz, Nut, Tom, Pete, Brent, Rick, Arty, John, Chris


Brent and John blew up on 18 and left the door open for Arty and Brent, who ended up winning by a stroke over Chris and Brian. Nice job guys! By the way, the winners now get $5 off their bill at the Devens Grill, not half-off. I misunderstood our agreement. Hey, that's one free pint at least!

• Arty/Brent: 56
• Chris/Brian: 57
• Ruz/John: 58
• Pete/Tom: 63
• Rick/Cali: 67

Ruz flips one up on Hole 17



Arty goes for a deuce on 17



Brent flicks off the tee on hole 18



Ruz goes up high on 18



Nut putts on 18



Chris saves par on 18



Tom misses just right putting back up hole 18


We also saw a few other groups braving the dreary day, so that was great to see! See you next week!

What the?

This morning I worked on the right fairway of hole 15 and cleared out a number of small trees and overhanging branches. I almost got all the way to the end (the big rock near the basket) before my friggin' saw broke.

It was probably a good thing since I was reaching that point in the workday where branches start poking and tripping you and you start swearing a lot and you end of doing something stupid and hurt yourself. I also got attacked by some red ants I de-homed after I pulled out some brush. They must have been drawn to the blood dripping down my shin thanks to a friggin' scrubby-ass oak branch shiv.

• One Angry Tree (PG-13)
  

I was about to head home when Pete Tolvanen pulled into the parking lot, so I played a round with him. We played pretty even but Pete finished with a 57 and I probably had a 60 or so. Back in the parking lot we met Mike Murphy who was visiting the course for the first time. I was too pooped to play any more, but Pete went out again with Mike.

We hope to see some more new faces at the Social tomorrow! And don't forget about our Ace Race and Nature Walk Doubles tournament Oct 20.

Play the Sugarbush Open NT / B-Tier Event

Have you signed up to play in this event? Looks like it's going to be an amazing time. This is your chance to rub elbows with the best national tour players in the world on a brand new course that plays up and down Sugarbush Mountain in VT. Sept 22-23.

• More info here

Look at the prereg list: Ken Climo, David Feldberg, Steve Brinster, Avery Jenkins, Jay Reading, Des Reading, Valarie Jenkins, and more! Wow!

A few of us Devens Hillfolk are headed up for the weekend to play. There are still spots left and lots of player perks. Don't let the long drive scare you away. It'll be worth it. Plus it's Autumn in VT. Nice. When's the last time you threw down the side of a mountain?!

The Hoff

How did I get from David Hasselhoff to Devens Disc Golf you ask?

Well, it's a stretch but don't worry, there is a connection. Here it is: board member Steve Berthiaume works for a high-end custom flute manufacturer in Chelmsford, I used to watch Knight Rider religiously, and who doesn't like a little beatbox? Gary Coleman, well, that's for another post...

So, there you have it! I give you: Knight Rider Beatboxing Flute.

Looking for Devens Team Challenge Members

For the past year or two, several courses in NEFAland have challenged each other in the off-season in the Team Challenge. Each team plays at least once a month against another course in a mix of singles and doubles.

There are rules as to when and where you play, but overall it sounds like a good time. There is a Finals event at the end where all teams go head-to-head and much fun is had.

Andy G. has offered to form a team from Devens and serve as captain. We'd like to form a semi-competitive team, but since this is last-minute and our first year, we won't be too picky!

Email me or post if you are interested. We need about 6-8 players plus a few more for subs. Cost is $200/team and matches are one Saturday or Sunday per month from around October to March I think. Deadline is this Friday, so don't delay!

Finally, our first ace!

We had another record turnout this week. Twelve golfers joined us on an absolutely perfect day for golf, including Ranger Dave, Ken Niu, and Guy Deveau from Borderland golf course. Thanks for coming up guys. Thanks also to everyone who brought food donations for the Devens Loaves and Fishes.

Ken, Tim, Dave, Rob, Guy, Donnie, John, Brent, Pete, Ken


The day was extra nice since I hit my first career ace and the first known ace on the course too. It was a beautiful line drive on hole 2 that hit dead-center. Before I teed off I said, "Ok, I'm going to ace this" like I usually do, except this time it actually happened. Let's hope it's not another 10 years until my next ace.

Ace Boy


Here are the results.

• Ranger Dave & John B - 51
• Ken N & Ken G - 54
• Pete N & Donnie - 55
• Guy D & Brent W - 55
• Rob W & Tim S - 58
• Bill & Brian - 61

Ranger Dave



Rob on 15



Ken and Ken putt back up 18