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.

When's the last time you played golf down a 4000 ft mountain?

If you are looking for a great tournament to play this summer at a spectacular venue, sign up for the Green Mountain Open. It is on three awesome courses in Vermont.

• August 1-3
• North Calais, VT and Sugarbush Resort (Warren, VT)
• PDGA A-Tier (Pro) and B-Tier (Am)
• Website and event flyer
• Course info
  

Last year was such a great time that a few of us from the Hill are going again. You should too.

The TDs really need you to register now so that they can finalize a bunch of details, so sign up now.

At first it may seem like an expensive weekend, but if you get a few roomies or bring the family, it makes for a relatively cheap summer vacation. Dan Doyle and Chris Mayone put on a great time and have lined up some bigtime sponsors like Coke and Magic Hat, so you know you'll go home with plenty of free stuff and a ton a great memories. Don't miss it!

Usage Up, Donations Down

While we are happy to see the course being played by more and more people, we're a bit sad that no one has shown their appreciation or support by donating a single red cent over the past several months.

Although we'd love to use your donations for iPods and beer, we actually put it toward other important things like our rather large insurance bill and State registration fee.

So, how about it? Pass up that extra adult beverage or Gatorade and throw a few bucks to your favorite disc golf course today. Go ahead, click that PayPal button to the right, you can do it. Thanks !

Freestyle Frisbee Demo and Workshop Friday

Come see NEFA co-founder and World Freestyle Champion Todd Brodeur this Friday at the Groton Public Library. Todd Brodeur's website Groton Public Library website

Friday June 27, 2008

6:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Lawn

Frisbee Show and Playshop with 2-time World Freestyle Champion Todd Brodeur. Experience the fun and excitement this simple yet space-age object can bring. Come and watch a master of the craft and learn a few tricks yourself. This program includes demonstrations of simple tricks, then Todd will show some harder moves and combinations. He will have a collection of various types of different Frisbees, some have stories that go with them. He then will show some tricks and games that everyone can try. World Class Frisbee Shows and Playshops are enjoyed by all ages. It's a great introduction to Frisbee for beginners and brings back some great memories for seasoned saucer tossers. Todd brings all the Frisbees needed and always have some for sale to autograph.

The many ups and downs of the Hill

A few weeks ago after the WW, we met Mark who had been taking a run around the course. He had a few gadgets attached to him and it turns out they track all kinds of data like calories burned, distance traveled, GPS coordinates, and most coolly -- elevation changes.

He sent me these nifty charts of his last run and promises to take more readings in the next few weeks, average them, and then supply us with our official elevations. How cool is that?

The Hill looks even more hilly and dramatic when you see it represented this way, doesn't it?

Can you guess what holes these are? Hint: He only sent 9-18.

A.




B.




C.

WW

Another great night of golf Wednesday, especially for me as I shot par for the first time. Yeah baby!

The "Next Tee" signs are looking good too. Nice job, Dave. The Hill was very generous Wednesday as Josh also found Luke's sunglasses and I found Mark's lost disc wedged under a log. Ken even found a disc of his that he lost 3 weeks ago!

Results:
New/Name/Score/Old

• 1 John 54, 2
• 2 Dave 57, 10
• 3 Ken 59, 11
• 10 Jim, 61, 3
• 11 Rob, 64, 1
• 12 Pete, 64, 12
• 14 Josh, 66, 14
• 15 Luke, 68, 15

Pete won both CTPs this week (Magazine, Coozy) and Rob won a cookie for FFP.

Jim parks 11



Rob birdies 9

Nice job, boys!

Devens Day Spa says "Ahhhhhh!"

A big thank you to our latest Birdie sponsor, Devens Day Spa, a full-service beauty salon and day spa!

After a tough round on the Hill, you're going to need some pampering, so stop by the Spa for a massage, a haircut, some new nails, or a refreshing enzymatic peel!

Just because your game looks bad doesn't mean you have to also! Thanks again, Mark!

Webelos say, "Thanks Dave!"

Just got this great email from Den Leader Will Rolfe. Hmm, do they have a disc golf activity badge yet? And I learned that Webelos stands for "We'll be loyal Scouts." Huh, you learn something new everyday.

Hi
I wanted to thank Dave for the great Demo and instruction he gave to the Webelos Scouts from Ayer on June 1. They had a great time learning a new sport. I'm sure you will be getting more calls from the other Dens as well as the Jr. Girl Scouts, and possibly one of the Boy Scout troops in town.

Thanks again

Will Rolfe
Den Leader
Pack 32 Ayer

Lost stuff alert!

Got two emails this week about lost things. Keep your eyes open and if you find anything, give Luke or Mark a call. Karma will bestow great things upon your weenie arm if you do.

From Luke:

I just played Devens DGC tonight for the first time, and it was a great course and well worth the drive from Boston. But sadly, I lost my nice sunglasses somewhere in the (probably) back nine of the course. In the fading sunlight, I looked extensively around holes 13-18 and couldn't find them. There's a good chance they're near a tee box. I'm just writing to ask if you could post it on your blog, or keep an eye out for them at the next league night. They're black and are made by H2Optix. If anyone finds them, I'd be glad to go pick them up, or pay for shipping, and give them another $25 for their troubles. My cell # is 651-303-9002 if anyone needs to call.

Thanks, and other than this huge bummer, I really enjoyed my round at Devens. (Email Luke)

From Mark:

Hey John, Wed. June 11 5pm, old faded yellow cobra, beautiful drive off 7, just over hill, slightly turning right towards basket, traveled a while before I heard it hit ground, couldn't find it. Prob: My son scribbled his name "Will" and home phone number on back, my cell would be better if anyone finds it: 978.302.6366. Much obliged, Mark (Email Mark)

It's a MicroBirdie!

Sponsor John Knowles of MicroVision sent in this motivational poster he made using a photo of him nailing his first birdie on the course.

Keep up the good work, John. There's many more out there waiting for you!

WW Results

Another rainy evening tonight, but by the time we started it was barely misting and finally nothing. Just dark, damp, and gloomy. No bugs though!

There was lots of movement tonight with the top tags sinking and the bottom tags rising up. Revolution!

• 1. Donnie 60, 8
• 2. Bobka 60, 14
• 3. John, 61, 13
• 8. Dave 62, 1
• 12. Pete N 64, 13
• 13. Mike C, 65, 3
• 14. Josh, 74, 18
• 18. Marcy, 75, 2

I have to give props to Marcy who played all holes from the regular tees for the first time and did great. She even out-drove Donnie, Jim, and me on holes 3 and 5! We may have our next pro woman in-the-making here...

• CTP hole 1: Josh, t-shirt
• 2nd shot CTP hole 18: Pete N, Princess Leah action figure

Jim started the night off with a nice putt on hole 1



Marcy checks out her second shot on hole 2



Welcome to the Gallery of Hole 3 Goofy-Looking Follow Thrus!



Donnie flicked up his drive here on hole 4



John on Hole 4

Ok, then. Don't tell me where you live. ;-)

Where are you?

I was looking at the ClustrMap this morning that shows where visitors to this blog are from. I think it is pretty cool how readership has slowly spread across the globe, especially to Europe and spots outside of New England. Devens Disc Golf is worldwide, baby!



Anyway, I thought it would be fun to see where all my faithful readers are from, so do me a favor and post a comment with your hometown and local course (even if you are in New England).

And if you have a free place to stay, let me know too -- I've always wanted to play DG in Germany! :)

See what you're missing

I really wanted to take a lot of photos last night at the Weekly, but my camera crapped out again. Luckily I had my cheapo minicam with me, so I shot a few videos just so you non-locals can see what you are missing.

Why we call it the Hill -- Walking up 14



Donnie flicks up 17



Dave boinks a tree on 18



John cuts it too early on 18

WW Results

Another beautiful evening on the Hill and another record turnout of 14 players. Yeah baby!

Results (Score/Previous)

• #1 Dave J: 58/3
• #3 Mike C: 59/1
• #4 Pete T: 59/?
• #5 Rob W: 60/?
• #6 Arty G: 62/?
• #8 Donnie D: 62/8
• #12 John B: 62/13
• #13 Pete N: 62/19
• #14 Jim B: 63/4
• #15 Luke A: 68/20
• #18 Josh: 69/14
• #19 Dan: 69, 15
• #20 Brent (no show)

Non-taggers:

• Mike: 69
• Eric: 90

CTP Winners:

• Pete T: Adult beverage glass courtesy of Prime Discs
  
• Pete N: Pint of Adult beverage courtesy of Dave James
  

FFP Winner:

• Donnie D: Bag of NY Yankees peanuts courtesy of Jim Bobka
  

A Pretty Social Sunday

Someone famous once said, "If you play for money, they will come." Well, that's what happened Sunday at the Social.

Earlier in the week, Dave announced that from now on we'd be playing for $7 each, with 5 going to the pot, 1 to the Sunday Ace Pot, and 1 to the course. He even has a spiffy payout table and everything to make it official.

This chance t0 win "big" money evidently worked and we had our largest Sunday turnout yet -- 11 golfers. In reality, it may have been because it was a holiday weekend and absolutely gorgeous out, but we won't tell Dave that.

Mike Connell (playing Cali) continued his domination of the Hill by tying for first with Gags and KenG. They decided to split the pot instead of playing any playoff holes. Gags' son, EvanG, and MarcyB stepped up and played from the long tees and did pretty well too!

Here's how we stacked up:

• Gags/Ken: 52 ($28)
• Mike/cali: 52 ($27)
• RobW/JohnB: 55
  
• EvanG/PeteN: 57
• John/DaveJ: 59
  
• SteveW/MarcyB: 69
  

CTPs:

• I forget who won, but thanks Gags for the Buzz and Dave for the rubber exercise tubing!

See everyone tonight at League. Tags still available. We'll have some nice CTPs up for grabs -- booze and a booze glass.

Girls Scouts Hit the Hill!

EDIT: Not sure why this never posted back in April, but here it is now. Sorry about that!

Our resident tour guide and youth sports coach, Dave James, filed this report a few weeks ago. Sorry it took so long for me to post it, girls!

On Sunday April 6, I met up with nine Girl Scouts and three adults for a tour of the Hill. Sarah M., Sarah U., Rachel, Gina, Tess, Claudia, Sophie, Katie, Trish, and I played holes 1-5 and then 15-18 from the short tees.

They showed great enthusiasm and eagerness to do better on each hole and their laughs were heard throughout the course.

Best of all they had a fun time outdoors trying a new activity!

As we walked out, the hot topic was where to get discs and talk of returning another day. Expect to see them on the hill another day!

Dave is available for group tours and demos. Feel free to email Dave for more info.

WW Results

The course was busy for a Wednesday night. Besides us Bag Taggers, there were a few kids out there with Mom and Dad and a class from the Mt Wachusett Community College ESL program (led by friend of DDGC, Katrina Folger). They got a little wet, but were smiling none-the-less! Thanks for coming out, guys!

As for league, we had another good turnout with 8 (including new guy Josh). It was kinda weird out there with the dark threatening rain clouds and spots of sunshine, but the rain held off until the last hole thankfully.

Results:

• 2. Newbie Marcy continues to improve and shoots another personal best even though we moved the girlie tees back on a few holes - 54.
• 13. JoBo - even with two absolutely ugly 6s, I shot a 58. I love my new May Madness Avenger SS!
• 14. New guy Josh has got some skillz - 61
• 17. Donnie did not get much tree love - 64
• 19. Pete had a great back nine - 64
• 20. Luke - still sad about his APO Rd 2 blowup - 65
• 21. Brent - lost his mojo - 72
• Dan - 61 (forgot his tag)
  

CTP hole 5: Vibram Open t-shirt donated by Dave J (Donnie)
CTP hole 10: Bag of coffee donated by Donnie (Dan)

We'd love to see some of the lower tags come back to play every now and then. Where are you #5 Tim?! :)

Bag tagging this weekend

A few of us Hillfolk played in two tournaments this weekend; Arty, Tommy, and I played at Pyebrook and Luke, Pete, Gags, and I played in Amesbury yesterday.

Gags is the hero of the weekend after finishing in a four-way tie for first in Advanced Masters (I think he ended up 4th after a few playoff holes). Nice job, Chris! I'll claim Goat of the Weekend by throwing a double-circle 8 at Amesbury, effectively taking me out of the running after only the fourth hole. Ack!

As far as tags go, on Saturday Arty traded up 10 tags by beating me by a stroke to take #6. On Sunday Luke had me worried with a smoking 51 in Rd 1, but I held him off in Rd 2. I haven't seen the final scores, but I think I squeaked by Gags by one. Pete drops to BOB.

I'm glad we started this tag thing at Devens. I like having the added level of competition and bragging rights each time we play. Now at #16, I've got some work to do on Wednesday. Watch out, suckas!

And thanks John Campos for your donation on Saturday. That was an unexpected way to start my day! :)

Ka-blaam!

Last night, my dogs were tearing around the backyard so I broke out my cheapo mini-camera to capture it for when I am old and gray. Then I had the brilliant idea to film myself and see what I looked like putting.

This clip came out exceptionally cool, especially the audio. Check it out.

Another Bobka Creation

Metal magician Jim Bobka has designed us some prototype tee box markers. Plans are to reverse the current design so that the letters and numbers are black on a yellow background.

They will be held in the ground by a long metal rod inserted through the marker and attached with some sort of bolt.



Thanks for volunteering to make these, Jimbo! Jim also made our custom trophies and keychains last year. Get some for your course!

Another Ace on 9!

Hole 9 has tied hole 2 as the most-aced hole on the course with Donnie Disc Golf's ace Sunday at the Social. Nice job, Donnie!

Donnie joins Tommy G and Ken G with Hole 9 aces. When I first designed the hole, I was sure that it would become the most-aced hole out there at only 145 ft, but it's taken a while.

Donnie joins me as the second known two-time ace tosser at Devens; he also aced hole 2 last Fall.

WW Results

We had another good turnout and two new tags that joined the league: Brent/17 and Gags/18. I also realized that some short tees are just too short for league play, so we will be adding mid-length tees soon on 3 and 18 specifically.

We played the TMT on 18. Arty, Donnie, Jim, and PeteT handled their tee shots well. I think Arty said he three-d it, which is pretty friggin impressive! I flubbed it with a 6 and lost my #2 tag right there. Hole 18 proves to be a round-killer once again!

I don't remember the new numbers or scores offhand, but will update later:

• Donnie: shoots a scorching personal best 53 and keeps #1
• Marcy: 56 (personal best from short tees)
• JimBob: 59
• Pete T: 59 (had some bad rolling-putting luck on 18)
• John: 60

Not sure of the order for the other group:

• Arty
• PeteN
• Brent
• Gags

Pete N won both CTPs: a poster for Lifestyle condoms (which is fast becoming the unofficial condom of the Hill going by some trash we found out there recently) and a pile of scrap wood donated by Bobka. Pete kept the poster claiming it would look great in his living room. Me thinks his wife won't think so.

Since Sunday is Mother's Day, some of us won't be at the Social.

Whew!

Whew! What a weekend at the course.

Huge thanks to TM, Nate, Ken, and Marcy for helping out Sat. in the drizzly, raw weather. Also thanks to Arty and Tom who got there at my original morning time -- sorry for the mix-up and we'll get you next time. Nut also stopped by and dragged some brush. Great turnout!

We got a bunch of stuff done and some holes look totally different.

• Hole 12: Two lower fairways are now defined with removal of two larger trees. Bushy pine cleared at top of hole just off tee and now suckers you into throwing wide.

• Hole 7: My favorite little pine tree at the ridge curve is gone. This changes the look from the tee and makes you think you should throw straight instead of to the right. Also thinned out the area on the left before the boulder, and better-defined the path to hole 8 and tried to block off the original one. Please use the new path!

• Hole 10: Snipped some low-lying brush on the left of the fairway.

• Hole 16: Removed large tree on top tier so it is now wide open to the bottom. TM and Nate also started building some stairs down the right side of the hill. Please use them!

• Hole 17: Cleaned up downed branches and other crap.

• Home 18: Created a new super-secret Pro tee, christened "TMsT". This could be our first genuine par 4 hole. It's pretty friggin' awesome.

Then we played a round, went home, and collapsed only to return 14 hrs later for the Social. I am pooped.

And for those wondering when we are going to put up the tee and sponsor signs, rest assured that they are in the works and we hope to get them up by Summer.

Making some stairs on 16



TM and one of his Implements of Destruction






Nate shows off his two new disc bags he found in the woods


And it also works as a stool. What a concept!

Implements of Destruction

Good news! TM just called and is coming up with his "Implements of Destruction" to help cut down a few trees this afternoon. We are meeting at noonish. Yahoo!

We could use a few hands to help. The more the merrier.