King of the Hill - April 18

This one is sure to sell out since it is a double NEFA points event, so don't wait to register.

Don't let today's snowstorm fool you, Spring is coming!

• Event flyer (PDF)
  
• Register online or by mail

Ace Race disc approved for tournament play

For everyone that played in our Ace Race back in October:

The 2008 Discraft Ace Race prototype disc has now been approved for PDGA tournament play. The disc may be released to the general public in the Spring of 2009, under the possible name of 'Nebula'. All existing copies of the disc are now legal for PDGA purposes.

I've been using my a lot this winter for short flick shots around corners. Plus, it's easy to find in the snow since it is bright orange!

Fore! Bad drivers ahead.

The only thing this has to do with disc golf is the word "drivers".

After the first one, my favorites are at the 2:00 mark and 2:50 mark. Oh who am I kidding, they're all pretty funny. Fore!

All the kids are doing it, so why not us?

Join the Devens Disc Golf group on Facebook. Don't fight it. Facebook is calling you.

• Search for Devens Disc Golf on Facebook.
  

Woody has been busy

A woodpecker or two has been going crazy on the course. Pretty impressive stuff over near holes 3, 12, and 18.

A few new photos and an afternoon round

I've added a few new ICO prep photos to the website featuring Rob, Gags, and Tommy.

I'll also be heading over for a round today about 1:30 if anyone wants to join me. It is too nice out not to go play.

55 degrees in February. Hill Yeah!

Ice Cube Open '09 Wrapup

Here are the final numbers from the ICO. This year we raised $500 -- that's $200 more than last year. Thank you golfers and sponsors!

• 32 degrees, sunny, breezy, 10 inches of crusty snow
• 30 golfers, 6 divisions (21 AMs, 9 Pros)
• $240 payout
• $500 donated to charity ($300 to ARC Community Services, $200 to Loaves and Fishes)
• 200 cans of food donated to Loaves and Fishes

• The Disc Grab Bag raised $145. Rob Curtis went home with 20 new-to-him discs. About 25 of 30 golfers participated.
• About $55 extra cash was donated.
• Photos here

RESULTS

• Ring of Ice, Pro/AM1: Davis Johnson
• Ring of Ice, AM2/Rec: Rob Curtis
• CTPs: Jason Purdy, Luke Adolph, Rob Walker, Mike Dussault, Jeremy Travis, Davis Johnson
• Some AM winners also won merchandise. All 1st place winners won new Innova plastic courtesy of Bradley.
• Thank you Ken, Dave, and Mike for donating prizes.
• Thank you to our sponsors: Devens Grill, Harvard General Store, Breakmark, Dunkin Donuts, Old Sturbridge Village.

PRO OPEN
1 Mike Dussault 54, 58, 112 ($45)
2 Dave James 59, 62, 121
3 Phil Vilmorin 64, 69, 133


PRO MASTERS
1 Ken Gary 64, 57, 121 ($45)
2 Davis Johnson 64, 60, 124 ($25)
3 Bradley Arnall 65, 62, 127 ($20)
4 Pete Anderson 64, 69, 133
5 John Hart 68, 66, 134
6 Mike Connell 69, 67, 136


AM MASTERS
1t Paul Sullivan 71, 67, 138* won playoff ($10)
1t Chris Gagne 67, 71, 138 ($10)
3 Gary Seldon 71, 74, 145 (new bag)
4 Steve Walker 81, DNF


AM1
1 Arty Graustein 58, 68, 126 ($15)
2 Tushar Patel 64, 64, 128 ($10)
3t Jason Purdy 63, 69, 132 ($10)
3t Donnie Phillips 70, 62, 132 (merch)
5 Eric Kevorkian 65, 73, 138
6 Rob Walker 66, 74, 140


AM2
1t Luke Adolph 64, 67, 131* won playoff ($15)
1t Joe Atwood 68, 63, 131 ($10)
3t Pete Nevius 65, 70, 135 ($5)
3t John Rodenhizer 68, 67 135 ($5)
5 Brian McNulty 67, 76, 143
6 Rob Curtis 78, 69, 147
7 Ray Karkman 74, 78, 152
8 Brian Anderson 73, 84, 157


REC
1 Jeremy Travis 79, 80, 159 ($15)
2 Tim Seiger 80, 81, 161
3 Matt Muller 88, 77, 165

ICO photos ready

Here are some photos from the Ice Cube Open. Feel free to add a comment or two and let me know what you think. (I'm testing out this photo gallery application.)

• 2009 Ice Cube Open photos
  

What could be more fun than disc golf?

Check out our latest par-level sponsor, Learning Express Toys, for loads of fun educational toys. While their corporate headquarters are on Devens, there are over 100 locations across the country, including one in nearby Acton.

Visit their website to find one near you. Thanks for your support Sharon!

Ice Cube Open results!

Thanks for coming out yesterday, golfers. Here's the short story:

• 30 golfers
• 32 degrees, sunny, and breezy
• 10 inches of crusty snow on a layer of ice
  
• About $450 to charity
• 200+ cans of food
• Lots of CTP prizes donated

Results:

• Pro: Mike Dussault, 112
• Pro Master: Ken Gary, 121
• AM1: Arty Graustein, 126
• AM2: Luke Adolph, 131
• AM Master: Paul Sullivan, 138
• Rec: Jeremy Travis, 159

We forgot to present possibly the best trophies ever awarded at a disc golf tourney -- personalized ice cube trays complete with ice! We forgot they were in the cooler. Ugh.

Luckily we caught up with Mike D at the Devens Grill. We'll get everyone else yours, don't you worry!

Open winner Mike Dussault


Mike D writes:

Fun times in the cold and slippery conditions. The Hill is a lot of fun! A hidden NEFA gem for sure. Looking forward to another visit without snow!

Final results



More later.

Fire!

We got a permit for a fire! Now all we need is a fire pit and some wood...

Let me know if you can help (email). In any case, bring something to add to the fire.

A few prizes to shoot for

Here are a few prizes that have been donated for Saturday's Ice Bowl. Simpsons stuff, Bunratty Potcheen 90-proof Irish booze, hats, and Dunkins. Nice!

Do people call you "bagless"?

Thanks to course sponsor Dave James of PreSeason Speed, you may not be called that after the Ice Cube Open. Dave is donating a new disc golf bag to the golfer with the best score who doesn't already have a bag. Thanks Dave!

Rumor has it that one of New England's top pros is attending the ICO. Hey all you Open players, are you going to let Mike D walk away with his first win of the year and collect all those Green Jacket Series points?

Check Yo Self

A little Ice Cube to get you in the mood for Saturday.

Check Yo Self

Ice Cube |MTV Music

Or maybe Vanilla Ice is more your style. Let's hope not.

Vanilla Ice |MTV Music

ICO added to Green Jacket Points Series

The Ice Cube Open has been added to the Green Jacket Points Series. If you play in this event, you'll earn points toward a final tourney later in the year. Costs nothing to get involved and if you finish in the top 30 of your division for the year, you'll receive an invite.

• Info from last year

Thanks for the add, DanO.

Harvard General Store donates food and prizes

The Harvard General Store has donated 3 gift cards for ICO prizes, as well as food and drinks for our thirsty and hungry golfers. Thanks for your support!

One week to go. Let me know if you plan on taking on the Hill. We are up to 19 golfers - the same number as last year - so let's break our record and support Loaves and Fishes and ARC Community Services!

Pre-registration list

Pro
David James
Phil Vilmorin $
Daniel Marcus $
Mike Dussault $
James Lane $


Pro Masters
Ken Gary $
Mike Connell $
Bradley Arnall $
Chris Gagne $
Davis Johnson $
John Hart $


Am Masters
Paul Sullivan


AM1
Tushar Patel
Donnie Phillips
John Borelli
Arty Graustein $
Rob Walker


AM2
Pete Nevius
Brian McNulty
Brian Anderson
Luke Adolph
Ray Karkman
John Rodenhizer
Rob Curtis
Joe Atwood $
Gary Seldon


AM Women
Marcy Buchanan


Rec
Jeremy Travis
Matt Muller
Tim Seiger

See how they played disc golf in ye olde days

For the second year in a row, Old Sturbridge Village has donated two adult admission tickets for the 2009 season. That's a $40 value! Thank you OSV!

Old Sturbridge Village is a “must-see” destination to experience early New England life from 1790-1840. One of the country’s largest living history museums, OSV has a large staff of historians in costume, 59 historic buildings on 200 acres, three authentic water-powered mills and two covered bridges. Visitors can ride in a stagecoach, view antiques, heirloom gardens, meet the farm animals, and take part in hands-on crafts year-round. OSV is located at the intersection of I-90 (MA Pike) and I-84 just about an hour west of Boston.

Breakmark donates gear to Ice Bowl

Course sponsor and local Ultimate apparel supplier, Breakmark, has donated a number of hats and other goodies for the Ice Bowl. Thanks Mat!

If you play Ultimate and are looking for some fresh new clothing designs for next season, check out Breakmark today!

Dunkins kicks in a few prizes for the Ice Bowl

Course sponsor Dunkin Donuts has donated a couple of gift cards for prizes! Devens Disc Golf runs on Dunkins!

Register for the ICO now!

Chili for lunch courtesy of the Devens Grill!

Course sponsor Devens Grill has donated a batch of their award-winning chili for lunch at the Ice Cube Open. Yahoo!

They've also donated $5 coupons for every golfer (good for beer or food) and 2 gift certificates for prizes. Thanks very much, John and Elaine!

If you'd like to donate a prize or food item for our Ice Bowl, send me an email. And let's get that registration in while you're at it!

Registrations trickling in

We received a few more signups over the holidays, so what are you waiting for?

Don't forget about the Disc Grab Bag. Donate $5 and a new or used disc for a chance at winning everyone else's unwanted discs.

Get rid of some plastic and maybe go home with a bunch of "recycled" plastic. One man's pink Wraith is another man's tie-dye Roc. All cash goes to our charities.

Register online for the ICO!

You can now sign up for the ICO with a couple clicks of your mouse using the form on the right side of this window or on our main website! Credit card or PayPal payments accepted.

That pretty cool, eh? Ha, get it? Cool... ice cubes... man I'm funny.

Save $2 a golfer by signing up the old fashioned way with a check.

Ice Cube Open registration now open!

Get your registration in for our second annual Ice Cube Open Ice Bowl! This will be two rounds of straight-up singles play for all divisions. No mulligans this year. (Sorry Pete!)

We are keeping with the Ice Bowl philosophy and producing another fun, low stress tournament, so first-timers are definitely encouraged to enter.

Our goal is to raise $750 for the Devens Loaves and Fishes and ARC Community Services of Fitchburg. $10 of every entry is going directly to charity!

• Saturday, January 24, 2009
• Pros: $30 (Open, Masters)
• AMs: $20 (Masters, AM1, AM2, Rec)
• Bring your own lunch or something to share.
• Complete details
  

Disc Grab Bag raffle
Also new this year is a Disc Grab Bag raffle. Enter for a chance to win a box full of new-to-you discs! The more people that enter, the more discs you may win! Tickets cost $5 plus a decent new or used disc or 5 cans of food. If you don't want to part with any of your own plastic, you can enter for $10. Not a bad deal if you win! Winners get the discs, charities get the cash.

Send your name, division, contact info, and check made out to Devens Disc Golf to:

Devens Disc Golf
c/o John Borelli
40 Cranberry St
Pepperell, MA 01463

Only received entries will be marked as registered. Thanks and see you at the ICO!

Devens survives ice storm; other local courses not so lucky

Mother Nature was kind to us this weekend as it bypassed our course for the most part. Although every town around Devens was or is currently still without power due to downed trees and mangled power lines, the Hill survived with just a few scratches.

After clearing a couple of trees from my driveway, we headed over to the Hill to see how she fared. Happily, there were only a few branches down on the fairways and the worst was on the path from 12 to 13.

Any trees that had snapped or toppled were out-of-play in the woods. Hole 5 now has a nice stream flowing through it, but that is typical after any major rainstorm.

Other courses like Amesbury and Pyramids weren't so lucky. According to some posts on the NEFA board, Pyramids suffered major damage to baskets and fairways.

So, for those of you that need to get your disc golf fix, feel free to come to Devens. Or better yet, stop by another course and help them clean up and earn some disc golf karma.

These manly men braved the cold on Saturday to play a round



Thankfully this was the worst "damage" we suffered. This sapling snapped and landed on the basket on hole 5.



Mother Nature nailed this putt on hole 15



Hole 5 now has a water hazard!



More "damage"



To the left of hole 11 near the Ace tee



Just off the path from 12 to 13


PS. I love electricity and am happy to have it back at my house. Another night sleeping in 39-degree cold just wasn't going to cut it!

World Trade Center flag flies over Fort Devens

How cool is this? Never forget, disc golfers.

Please take a minute today to remember all military personnel who have passed through Fort Devens over the years. God bless America.

World Trade Center flag flies over Fort Devens
By Gayle Simone
Staff Writer
Nashoba Publishing
Posted: 12/05/2008 08:35:00 AM EST

DEVENS -- As the sun went down, the American flag outside United States Army Garrison Fort Devens Headquarters was lowered in a brief ceremony with Department of Defense police and two Marines.

The flag was not one of everyday issuance and it was not removed because it was old and tattered.

The flag was actually one of the three Twin Towers flags flying on Sept. 11, 2001.

Though the flag is visibly damaged, with smoke stains throughout the colors and the bottom red stripe has been torn and repaired, it's considered a traveling memorial and has seen over 12,000 miles since it was first presented to veteran Bob Dunsmore of the Lakota Nation when he created an honor guard to travel to different pow-wows.

Law Enforcement Station Commander Lt. Kevin Cooney, police officer Rusty Simoneau and Marine Lance Cpl. Tyjuan Newsome presented arms as Marine Cpl. Brian Warren lowered the flag while "To the Colors" played over the Devens' sound system.

Newsome began folding the flag, bringing it closer to the waiting hands of Warren, as Department of Defense Police Sgt. Andrew Seropian held the glass box the flag travels in. Warren then presented the cased flag to Lorena Novak of the United Native American Cultural Center on Devens.

"On behalf of the Unites States government, it was an honor for us to fly this flag today," Cooney said. "We now return the flag to your possession."

Before flying at Fort Devens, the memorial flag was presented to Marine Sgt. Troy Schielein, who brought the flag to the Marines' Military Ball, where the flag was used as the center piece for photographs of the couples.

The flag flew on Fort Devens for the Marines' birthday on Nov. 10 and Veterans Day. The flag was given to fire Chief Thomas Garrity after being lowered from Fort Devens Headquarters, where it then flew over Rogers Field.

"We flew the flag for all of our fellow firefighter brothers who had fallen that day," Deputy Chief Joseph LeBlanc said. "We honored them, as well as any member of any department."

The flag had one more stop on Devens, the State Police barracks, before being shipped to Dunsmore who will continue presenting the flag at pow-wows in South Dakota and around the United States.

Borelli Bombs Bonanza! Hill Yeah!

After almost a month on the disabled list, I made a very successful return to the Hill Saturday as I won our Bag Tag Bonanza and laid claim to the #1 tag for 2008.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous heading out for round 1 with the other top dogs of Devens Ken Gary, Pete Tolvanen, and Phil Vilmorin, but I started off pretty well and never looked back. I got a little too confident in round 2 and gave up a few strokes toward the middle of the round to Ken, Donnie Phillips, and Dave James, but in the end cruised to a 6-stroke win. Besides the #1 tag, I also took home a great custom-made Bobka trophy.

Since we had no aces during the Bonanza, Dave decided to split the ace pot collected from the Wednesday Weekly three ways: lowest score for the day, highest number of birdies, and a final group CTP on hole 1. I continued my hot streak and won all three of these too. (112, 9 birdies, 10 ft or so). Pretty funny.

We also had 8 CTPs that Marcy, Donnie, Dave J., and Ken donated ranging from a snazzy grilling set, a portable grill and cooler, Nalgene bottles, hat, discs, magazine, CD, cigars, and glasses. Pete T (2), Pete N, Luke, Ken, Arty, Jim, and Dave were among the winners.

After things wrapped up, about half of the guys headed out for some dubs and could be heard laughing and hitting trees while the rest of us enjoyed some extremely hot chili and a few adult beverages by the Weber grill.

• More photos from the day

Overall, it was a fun day full of good golf, good friends, good food, and lots of laughs. Thank you everyone for making our first tag league a success. Next year will be even better!

Most of the Baggers


Results:

• 1 John Borelli 55, 57, 112
• 2 Donnie Phillips 60, 58, 118
• 3 Dave James 57, 62, 119
• 4 Ken Gary 60, 60, 120
• 5 Phil Vilmorin 61, 59, 120
• 6t Chris Gagne 65, 58, 123
• 6t Rob Walker 61, 62, 123
• 6t Luke Adolph 64, 59, 123
• 9 Pete Tolvanen 64, 63, 127
• 10 Jim Bobka 68, 63, 131
• 11 Pete Nevius 61, 72, 133
• 12 Brian McNulty 70, 64, 134
• 13 Dave Mallen 65, 74, 139
• 14 Arty Graustein 63, DNF, DNF

When men wore short shorts

If you want to relive the good old days of pro ball, search for Bird or McHale on YouTube. Man, Bird was a great player.



Johnny Most goes crazy.

Bag Tag Bonanza results

From 2008 Bag Tag Bonanza

We'll post a recap later. Until then, here are some photos!

About half of all taggers are in. How about you?

Fifteen of the 30 or so bag tag holders have confirmed that they are in for this Saturday's Bonanza.

Let me know if you'll be joining us or not. Thanks.

See you at 9!

Bonanza Bump

Don't forget about our Bag Tag Bonanza next Saturday. Please RSVP today!

I don't do windows, but Renewal by Andersen does

Thank you Renewal by Andersen for your birdie sponsorship!

They recently installed replacement windows in Nut's house. Get yourself some Andersen windows now.

Turkeys love the Hill

As you know, we are not just about disc golf here at Devens. From time to time, we like to teach you some things and help you become a slightly more attractive person. So here are some quick facts that you can sprinkle into your holiday dinner conversation tomorrow. No, no. There's no need to thank me.

• The turkey is the state game bird of Massachusetts.
• The corn muffin is the official muffin.
• Johnny Appleseed is our official folk hero.

Now go out there and impress Auntie Rita and Uncle Jim with your vast knowledge of Massachusetts state symbols! And happy Thanksgiving from the Hill!

Wednesday Weekly League Bag Tag Bonanza - Dec 6

To anyone holding a 2008 Devens bag tag:

As promised, a low-frills final two rounds of golf to determine who is King of the Hill. Spread the word. Bag taggers please respond here if you can make it or think of anyone I missed.

WW League
Bag Tag Bonanza*

• Sat. Dec. 6
• 9:00 mtg
• 9:30 tee off
• 2 rounds

• Pot luck lunch
• WW Ace Pot: If no aces, we'll split it some other way tbd.
• Lots of CTP

In no particular order: (bold=attending, italic=not attending)

Please RSVP. (email)

• John Borelli
• Dave James
• Brian McNulty
• Donnie P
• Jim Bobka

• Pete Nevius
• Artie G (definite maybe)
• Tom G
• Mike Connell
• Pete Tolvanen

• Tim Seiger
• Luke Adolph
• Rob Walker
• Ed Hovestadt
• Joy Hovestadt

• Phil Vilmorin
• Josh St. Denis
• Brent Watson
• Joe Atwood
• Sean Franchi

• Chris Gagne
• Dan Brownell
• Matt ?
• Josh Hughes
• Ken Gary

• Bradley Arnall
• Dave Mallen
• Craig
• Doug Orleans
• Mike (Bobka's cousin)

* Bag Tag Bonanza is a registered trademark of PreSeason Speed.

Believe it or not

A clip on Ripley's Believe It or Not that shows PDGA founder Ed Headrick's remains being molded into discs.

Tee (posts) for 18

Sunday was a great day for Devens disc golf. Despite the chilly, windy conditions, ten volunteers showed up to help install new tee sign posts.

I can't say how excited that makes me. I love our growing group of Devens locals who care about their course!

We had three workgroups consisting of Dave, Jeremy, and Matt; Sam, John R, and Russ; and TM, Donnie, and Joe, while Brian worked on filling the tee box on hole 4. Since I'm on the DL with a strained back muscle, I roamed around the Hill supervising.

The work went fast and it looked like everyone was having a good time getting things done. Afterward, some of us played a very casual round. Russ pointed out a common bush on the Hill called wintergreen that when crushed, smells minty. You can also chew on it to help cure a headache. Cool!

Even though it was pretty windy, there were several groups out playing in the afternoon. Nice!

Russ listens to China while Sam and John R wait for a translation.



Dave jumps for joy.



Donnie asks, "Are you going to help me or just take pictures all day?



Nut, Russ, John R, and Sam did not pose for this photo on hole 14.



Future DPW workers Nut, Sam, John R, and Russ supervise TM on the last post to go in.



Ryan keeps TM and me on schedule as we put the finishing touches on hole 13.

Workday: Sunday - Installing tee sign posts

Please come out and help install the tee sign posts this Sunday morning at 9AM. We need post hole diggers, a couple of those metal rock smasher poles, and some general muscle to lug the posts into the woods.

It shouldn't take too long. The more the merrier. Let me know if you can make it.

Kickin' it old school

It never fails. Fall rolls around and I can't help but get nostalgic for the old days. So it made my day when I heard that MTV has posted a ton of videos on their new website dedicated to -- get this -- music videos. Nice!

They have videos from the old days (they're calling them vintage!) as well as new ones. I guess that makes me a vintage golfer.

So pardon the slight tangent down Memory Lane. If you are a child of the 80s, check out the vintage videos. The rest of you young whippersnappers can go here.

Here are a few of my favorites.

New Order

New Order |MTV Music

De La Soul

De La Soul |MTV Music

Sir Mix-A-Lot: What's he saying here exactly?

Sir Mix-A-Lot |MTV Music

And for Worst White Guy Dance Moves, I give you Rick Astley!

Rick Astley |MTV Music

Now go find your own!