Hopping Hill

Tons of people were out playing the Hill last night -- definitely the most I've ever seen. We only had eight bagtaggers, but there were at least 12 others either playing with us or on their own. That included seven kids ranging from grammar school to high school. Nice!

Lots of low tags were up for grabs and that brought out some solid competition in our foursome of Arty, Luke, Pete T, and me. Luke started off on fire and was nailing putts left and right. The rest of us were just playing our game, nothing fancy, although the trees were angry at Pete.

Once we bumped into the reporter and photographer on hole 9, it felt like everything went to crap. Too much pressure of looking good for our public, I guess. In reality, our scores didn't suffer too badly and once we hit 17, Luke and I were tied at +2.

After I parked my drive for a drop-in deuce and Luke carded a 3, we headed up to deadly 18 where good rounds have been made and destroyed. All I needed to preserve my lead was a good drive, a good upshot (or would that be a downshot?), and an easy putt. Anything more than that would open the door for Luke.

I let loose an Avenger SS nice an easy and it cruised down the middle of the fairway. It started to turn right a little too late but made the crest of the hill and crashed into the trees on the far side. Luke's drive cut right too early, clipped a branch, and spit out into the fairway. I started to breathe a little easier but still knew I needed to throw a good controlled floater down the hill -- something I've been having trouble with lately -- for a chance at a doable putt.

I ended up in a slight clearing on the edge of the fairway, but still needed to throw an arcing shot around several trees to reach the pin. So, out came my trusty Aviar and happily it did what it was supposed to do and landed about 20 ft above the basket -- with no evil roll! I nailed the sorta scary downhill putt and Luke managed to salvage a respectable 4. Victory and the #1 tag was back with me. :)

Here are the results:

• 1 John 55, 10
• 3 Luke 57, 5
• 4 Dave 58, 1
• 5 Donnie 59, 3
• 6 Arty 59, 13
• 8 Mike C 60, 8
• 10 Ed Ho, 61, 6
• 13 Pete T, 62, 4

Dave's wife Kari hit chains from the Ace Race tee on 7! Blammo!! Great job, Kari!

Look for an article next Friday in the Acton local paper and its sister publications.

Dave, Marcy, and I are off on a mini-roadtrip to the two-day Green Mountain Open at Sugarbush and N. Calais in VT this weekend. Check back next week for pictures of us hobnobbing with the beautiful disc golf people of the world.

Come get your 15 minutes at the WW

Here's your chance to get your name and face in the local newspaper. A local sports reporter may be coming by the WW to see what we are all about.

Be sure to wear your Wednesday best!

Dave has also declared tomorrow as Ladies Night, so bring your lady, your sister, your niece, and your Mom. Not quite sure what he has in store exactly, but I'm sure it'll be good!

Amesbury update

The Amesbury Park & Rec board met lat night and decided to punt the decision on building the ice rink in the middle of the course over to the Mayor, even though he has not been in attendance for any of the meetings.

• Updated article
  

There was a good turnout, and I am proud to say that a handful of Devens regulars attended or worked the phones the past few days in support of Amesbury. Thanks, everyone.

New old photos posted

I've reposted some photos on the website from the "early" days and added some more recent ones. Now I'm only 4 months behind. Jeez...

Check out the photos. Maybe you'll see a familiar face, or at least reminisce about our glorious Orange Bucket Days.

Top Pros in Leicester for NT event at Maple Hill

Many of the world's top pros will make Leicester, MA their home for the next few days as they compete in the Vibram Open at Maple Hill. This is the last stop on the PDGA National Tour and is definitely the biggest tourney to hit New England in a while. You should go watch! Fri-Sun.

No rain for WW

The rain stopped about 5:10 tonight. If you had not wussed out, you would have seen Pete N hit a 150-footer on hole 6 and Jimbo Bobka unleash a monster drive on 18 that made it at least 2/3 of the way down the hill. Both beautiful shots.

You could also have almost been decapitated by someone with extreme griplock.

We mixed it up tonight with 3 Disc Dilemma. You could only bring three discs out. It was fun.

Results:

• 1 Dave, 56, 1
• 10 John, 58, 12
• 12 Jim, 63, 10
• 14 Pete, 68, 14
• Marcy shoots a 60 from the mid-tees.

Here's another wuss:

Amesbury Pines course could close!

In a brilliant planning move, Amesbury, MA town officials have given permission for an ice skating rink to be installed in the field between holes 9, 10, and 11 of Amesbury Pines disc golf course. Brilliant!

Help DanO save his great course!

• Read the newspaper article
• Read Dan's post on the NEFA boards

Main points from Dan's post:

So here I am writing this to everyone asking for your help. I need your support. I need everyone's support. How can you help? Here is how:

• Contact the mayor's office and cast your support.
• Contact the liaison for the P&R and voice your support. Her name is Kathy Crowley and her # is 978-388-8137.
• Commission Chairman Jon Manakis: 978-270-8249
• Sam Wilmot: 617-312-6514
• Mark Tanzella: 978-204-0382

Take a second and call these folks, leave a message or whatever.

IF WE DON'T VOCALIZE THEN WE DID NOT TRY HARD ENOUGH!

Anyone who is willing to come and support me on the 28th I will make you dinner for your time and willingness to support me. I want to cook a monster dinner for all of you so please gather together, carpool, call, cut and paste this thread and article everywhere and together we can make a difference. I can be reached at 603-396-1157.

I would really appreciate your efforts in any way you can help.

Disc Golf 101: Throw Far

Yet Another Ace in the House!

Holy crap! This must be National Ace Week at Devens. Donnie aced hole 9 on Sunday too! Nice shooting, boy!

Another Ace in the House!

From Arty:

Last night, Ruzbin Martinez nabbed the second ace of his short disc golf career on Hole #2. He threw an Epic thumber that wedged into the basket. New ways!

Nice job, Ruz! That's two aces in two days at the Hill!

Ace in the House!!!

Devens was graced with another ace this morning! Dave James nailed hole 9 and also shot a personal best of 52. This is Dave's second ace at Devens! Way to go, Dave!

This is the fourth ace on hole 9 this year. How about we give another hole a chance, people?!

Crappy music plagues the WW

A record twelve bag-taggers were forced to listen to some really bad music tonight coming out of the Shriver Job Corps next to the course. Quality songs with lyrics like "I want a lap dance, give me a lap dance. You're a lap dancer" and a bunch of crappy Spanish rap floated over the back nine, making for some interesting mini dance moves before and after some putts.

But anyway, back to the golf. Dave J reclaimed the #1 tag with a snazzy 56, followed by Ken also with a 56, and Donny with a 57.

Lots of CTPs and CTTs were up for grabs tonight donated by Pete (Meow sticker), Prime Discs (water bottle), Marcy (bag of caramels), and the course (an '07 Ace Race disc).

Results:

• 1 Dave J, 56, 2
• 2 Ken, 56, 3
• 3 Donny, 57, 5
• 5 Luke, 58, 18 (Great job Luke!)
• 8 Mike C., 59,13
• 10 Jim, 60, 10
  
• 12 John, 62, 1
• 13 Arty, 62, 24
• 14 Pete, 65, 8
• 18, Josh, 67, 14
• 24, Dave, 69, 12
• 26, Mike, 69, 26
  

CTPs: Mike C (water bottle), Donnie (Ace Race disc), Arty (caramels)
CTT: John (Meow sticker)


A full moon rises above Devens



Ken, Dave, Dave, Pete



The Bobka Clan



Tonight's tags

A kinder, gentler, more rewarding Hole 4

Hole 4 just got a little more friendly, fair, and rewarding for those that throw straight and long off the tee. After a few experienced golfers I respect commented a few weeks ago that accurate drives were being punished by the many guardian trees in front of the basket, I saw their point and decided to thin it out some.

In a bizarre accident, Donnie was speared through the skull by a basket flag


There was also a larger pine tree just past the midway rock ledge that was really just blocking the fairway, so after much hemming and hawing, I decided to take it down. Wow, what a difference it has made -- it's like a 3-lane highway now. :)

Now you'll get rewarded for a good drive and you'll be in position to deuce the hole, although it is still a challenging putt up and over the final rock ledge. But the secret to success still remains the same -- throw straight and stay on the fairway.

Donnie and I also installed 3 more tee box front board things on 3, 6, and 15. We tried to put one on 5, but hit a ton of rocks.

There were a handful of golfers out yesterday morning and early afternoon. I bumped into John K. with his son and nephew; two other guys from Westford; the Life is Good Guys who were on their third round of the day; and Glen R. who I hadn't seen since Sugarbush last summer. Great to see everyone out there!

WW Results

On an extremely humid night and after two really crappy bogeys to start, I bounced back to shoot a personal best of 53 (-1) to reclaim the #1 tag last night. Shot of the night was a crazy 200-ft skip-birdie on hole 12. We saw it curving down the hill and lost sight of it behind a tree. Then we heard "crash" into the chains! Damn, was it beautiful. Definitely my longest birdie ever.

New bagtagger Dave won a CTP (glass) and Pete N won yet another CTP also (hat).



Here are the results:

• 1 John 53, 3
  
• 2 Dave 58, 2
• 3 Ken 63, 1
• 8 Pete 63, 12
• 12 Dave, 68, 25
  
• 15 Rob, 69, 8
  
• 18 Luke, 70, 15

Rob checks out the new kiosk on tee 1 built by Dave James


Can you find Rob?


Ken takes the high road on hole 8


Marty McThumber played a few holes tonight


Don't mess with Marty


We met Jeff M who said he just shot a personal best. Nice job!

Can an indoor disc golf course be that far behind?

If you happen to be in the Netherlands in 2010 and want to play some indoor golf, go here.

Trip report: Burr Oaks Grove (Green Lake, WI)

Devens regular Donnie Disc Golf hit the road last week for a family vacation and has filed this trip report:

Fresh off a Midwest vacation trip, I'd like to offer up a great big shoutout to all the terrific folks at Burr Oaks Grove Disc Golf Course on the shores of majestic Green Lake in Wisconsin. These people really know how to treat people right!

As advertised, this meticulously groomed 27-hole course offers a great challenge to even the most experienced golfers. There are three terrific water holes, not including the river holes, and among these is the signature 333' water-to-willow par three that has claimed an innumerable number of discs.

Travelers to the Milwaukee or even the Green Bay area would do themselves an injustice to miss out on this must-see tour stop. When you make your reserved tee time, be sure you bring your 'A' game as Pat and cousin Justin are sure to be nearly unstoppable with their off-the-chart (never miss) 30' plus jump putts, laser sharp drives, and pinpoint layups.

Be sure too to bring some New England spirit and friendship, as I was met with unmatched generosity and hospitality.

Attack of the Killer Mosquitos

After a 45 minute rain delay, five of us hit the Hill for a fun round of golf, complete with a ton of mosquitoes who were enjoying the post-rain humidity and fresh meat walking the course. Yum.

John, Arty, Ken, Ed, Josh


Arty started off on fire, but it was Ken who lit it up last night to take home the number 1 tag, tying his personal best of 58. I had some "fun" with trees on pretty much every drive and was neck and neck with Ed H for most of the round. Josh has a beautiful drive on 12 but clanked his birdie putt! So close!

Results:

• 1 Ken 58
• 3 John 62
• 6 Ed 62
• 24 Arty 64
• Josh 67 (no tag)

Start your holiday early

Head over to the Hill tonight for some explosive golf at our Wednesday Weekly @ 5:30.

I'll be there early putting in a few more tee box things, probably on 3/5, so if you've got the time, come out and help. Call me at 978-433-6133.

God bless America and Happy 4th!

Devens concert and fireworks are Thursday (details) and Ayer's are on Saturday.