KC: Day 1

I've been up a very long time. Some of this may not make sense...

Saturday night I was like a kid on Christmas Eve lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, but couldn't. After a patchy four hours of dozing, we got up at 3:45 AM and were soon on the road to the airport thanks to my man, Donnie Disc Golf. Thanks Donnie!

After a rather uneventful flight through Chicago (not counting the woman behind us who couldn't stop talking about her husband, the ex-pro QB who got drafted by the Dolphins but then got cut and spent his career playing for the Denver Crush blah blah blah), we touched down in Kansas City to sunny, breezy, upper-80 degree weather. I had figured that KC would be flat, but it is pretty hilly. More rolling hills than steep New England hills.

As we waited for our luggage, Chris's plane landed and pulled up next to ours. Marcy's luggage, on the otherhand, did not arrive and was still on some conveyor belt at O'Hare. After they promised to deliver it later, we headed to the city in search of our hotel and some lunch. We later found out that Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was on Chris's flight.

The hotel lady recommended Gates Bar B Q across from Conklin Fangman Cadillac. Great choice. Marcy and I each had a Burnt Ends sandwich (crispy burnt brisket ends on a roll) and Chris had

some triple meat sandwich concoction. Damn was it good and we were stuffed. Fangman!

Next, we headed down the street Lincoln Memorial Park where the long drive, putting, and mini course contests were being held. It was a large open park atop a hill with memorials to past wars. The main structure is a tower with horses or something carved at the top. Pretty cool.

We headed over to the long drive contest and watched a couple people chuck over 500ft.

We timed it good and got to see Avery Jenkins, Paul Ullibari, some little guy from Japan, and Markus Kallstrom drive. Not sure who won, but the guy from Japan chucked it pretty far. I think 570? Not sure though.

Meanwhile, Marcy walks over to Chris and I (we're watching Val Jenkins drive) and tells us that Nate Doss just showed up and is with a bunch of other top golfers.

We go over and she walks right up and pretends that she's known all these guys forever. They are happy to take their picture with us and joke around with us for a minute. It was pretty cool.

Photos in camera, we head over to tourney central at the Westin and pick up our players pack. Wow! A couple shirts, 7 or so discs, a small bag, minis, coupons for money off new products at the Flymart, and a coupon for a free Worlds San Marino Roc. Again, it is like Christmas.

Giddy, we head out to find the first course we are to play on Tuesday, Shawnee Mission Park. But first we need to stop and grab a Gatorade from a convenience store before we get on the highway. As luck would have it, there was none to be found. Plenty of Chinese restaurants and hookah bars, but no stinking 7-11s! We start telling stupid 5th-grader jokes. We laugh hysterically. We are overtired and thirsty.

Shawnee Mission Park is a nice course on rolling hills. Not too long and not too short. Breezy and sunny. Mainly open drives with a well-placed tree or two in the way. We walked a few holes and played a few. The course is busy and most people we talk to are scouting out the course too. It was a good vibe and made me look forward to meeting more people on Game Day. Some guys we watched could really huck it.

We met some younger guys from Illinois who tell us that this course is the shorter and easier of the five others we will play. They warn us about the elevation and trees. We tell them we are from MA and play courses like that in our sleep. They are unimpressed.

We head back to the Residence Inn, go for a soak in the pool, eat dinner, and unwind. Tomorrow we are going to scout out Prairie Center, Waterworks, and Wyco-something before the players meeting at night. Thank you. Good night.