March 1st I was birdie bashing in shorts, but March 3rd is a different day…
Johnny, Whitney, Robert, and I teamed up for a little doubles action on the Harrison Road course today:
Why is there a car parked near the #2 basket?
Johnny about to uncork a bad drive on #3
Whitney makes a great approach shot on #4
My drive on #6 was close, but no cigar
Johnny threw into the creek every chance he got
Overall, it was a fun disc golf outing – the weather just made it better!
The Harrison Road Vibram Birdie Bash was a big success! We had a big time and made a little money for the club. As the Tournament Director, I had fun – this in spite of the heavy mantle of responsibility I carried. The reasons I had fun was: 1) everyone had a “what can I do to help attitude?”, 2) I played rounds with fun people, and 3) I was throwing discs.
The Vibram Birdie Bash crew, 1 March 2014, Harrison Road DGC, Martin, TN.
After swearing an oath of allegiance to Vibram discs, we began to play. Players chose two Vibram discs ( a putter and something else) and these were the only discs we were to throw in the tournament. I had never thrown anything but Vibram putters before, so I was surprised how much I liked my Vibram Trak (fairway driver). I found the Trak to be very easy to control, felt good in hand, and threw farther than I anticipated. My putter choice was a Ridge – which is my normal putter currently. The new Ridge was scared of the chains and hasn’t been taught to enjoy the chains like my old putter, so I had some frustrating moments where I wasted great drives to poor putting – like that has never happened before…
When you look at the group photo you will see that Vibram sent everyone very bright and unique discs. It was pretty funny because they were so bright and unique that they all looked alike – without our names in them I am certain we would not have ended up with the discs we started with.
These are the Champions of the Harrison Road DGC Vibram Birdie Bash.
I think we all won because it was a really fun day of disc golf. Charlie and Colin won the champion’s discs. Colin also won a CTP backpack and the Spirit Award Disc. The Spirit Award celebrates disc culture and everyone exemplified that at our Birdie Bash. Colin was voted this award by an overwhelming majority. A typical example of Colin’s Spirit Award attitude was when he shanked his third drive in a row into the woods off of the #17 tee box, Colin’s response was: “this will be a great opportunity to test my skills”. Colin is a special disc golf player (and person). He is proudest of his Spirit Award disc, and I am really glad that Colin chose to come play in our Birdie Bash.
There are Vibram Birdie Bash events coming up in Milan and at Muse Park in Jackson – perhaps we will see you at one of them?
Tonight during glow league while playing in the wind and rain, something magic happened…
Last night i played a pretty rough round of disc golf. The big problem was putting…
Should have been a birdie.
It doesn’t look so bad…
One of the drawbacks of a soft putting style…
After two weeks in the frozen north, it was good to get home and play on the Harrison Road Course. Of course it had to snow the night I got back and the tee pads were very icy. Still, I had a great drive on the first hole and got my par, followed by a great drive on #2 with a birdie – it looked like I was in for a good round. On hole #3 I threw an overhand shot which was passable and had a decent approach shot. My third shot hit the dreaded ‘Innova band’ at the top of the basket and rolled down to the #4 fairway. My fourth shot also hit the ‘Innova band’ but dropped onto the ground without rolling, I would get off #3 with a score of 5.
The view of the #3 basket from the #4 fairway. We have all seen this view and we all know it isn’t pretty.
I ran into Robert and we played together, which was fun. On #7 It took me three putts to get into the basket – double boogey. On #8 my drive kicked off into hell – it took four more shots to get out of hell – end result quadruple MEGA boogey. On #9 it just seemed more fun to 3 putt the hole (hitting chains each time) turning my certain birdie into a boogey. On #12 I managed to have a bad kick put my approach shot into the #13 fairway, but I came back pretty well and managed to just have a simple boogey on 12. After #12 Robert had to leave, so I was back on my own.
On #16 my drive didn’t anhyzer and managed to get through the trees and hit the ball diamond fence. I threw a big anhyzer out over the ball field that landed near the basket, but still took two putts to hole out for yet another boogey. On #17, my drive hyzered into the #14 fairway. I threw my next shot directly into the closest tree. My next shot put me well into the woods. My fourth shot on the hole was supposed to go where a bad approach shot ends up on the #13 fairway, but I threw it a bit hard and it ended up near the basket – I made the putt for a boogey. Hole #18 was pretty uneventful except that my putt hit a tree square on and rolled back to almost where I threw it from – ending this round with yet another boogey!
It is good to be home.
Yesterday, during the epic Martin Disc Golf Club bag tag Saturday challenge round, I found 
lots of garbage. I was picking up candy wrappers, pop bottles, beer cans, and the like because I like to see the Harrison Road Disc Golf Course look nice, not necessarily because it improves my tag standing.
Bill commented that what we needed was more trash cans out on the course. My response is that we had too many already, what needs to happen is that people care. There is a great big ol’ dumpster in the parking lot at Harrison Road that can hold a lot of garbage and should suffice for playing the entire course. At Harrison Road you play two nine-hole loops, this means you need only carry your garbage for nine holes tops. The fact that there are garbage cans on every third hole makes the golf related litter almost inexcusable. You manage to carry your golf discs the entire round, you can probably manage to pack out whatever you have packed in. Your cigarette butts, chew cans, beer bottles, lighters, pop cans, and the like do not enhance the experiences of other course users – please try to make our course a better place.
Picking up garbage on the home course is one thing
I can do to help make the course a nicer place. Sometimes it seems hopeless, but I also don’t like seeing the fast food containers on the course. On a grand scale, littering is a minimal issue. Throwing something away, doesn’t mean it goes away. Whether the beer bottle is on the side of the 7th fairway, or in a landfill, it still exists. The better solution is to reuse or recycle or simply avoid disposable packaging to begin with. However, every good thing starts with baby steps. The baby step I am asking for is that people not just throw their garbage down on the ground and take some pride in the Harrison Road Disc Golf Course.
Rant has ended.
It is always fun to go visit Kelly’s family for the holidays. This trip was pretty crazy and we
Other golfers enjoying Harrison Road
ended up staying longer than planned, but it was a great visit and trip. I always enjoy Louisiana: the people, the food, the landscape – it is a very special place for me. However, there is no place like home, and after a week it felt good to stretch my legs on the home course: Harrison Road disc golf course. The first day home (27 Dec 2013) was a gorgeous, warm (40 degrees F) day and there were four other vehicles in the parking lot. It was OK, I can share the course with other people (sometimes). I played really well today – I normally don’t talk about score, because I play for fun, but today was a good score day too (and that can be fun).
My drive on hole 17 shot the gap, but didn’t anhyzer like I wanted. Oh well, no biggie –
This could have been worse, but it would have difficult.
at least it isn’t in the creek and it should play out of the woods just fine. When I got to where I thought my disc was, it wasn’t there. When I found it, it was in a very bad situation. I flicked an anhyzer shot that amazed me – through the trees and up the fairway. Then I threw an unbelievable approach shot and landed within 4 feet of the basket. After a really bad drive, I had a drop in putt for par on hole 17 at Harrison Road! That is a really big deal. There is no place like home.
I could have titled this posting: “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”, but then again maybe “Slip Slidin’ Away” is more appropriate…
Last night we got a little more ice last night and today (8 Dec 2013) it warmed up to a balmy 32 degrees F – excellent disc golf weather. The tee pads are so icy that you can’t even begin to move your feet on most of them. The ice coating the ground does give you some excellent skips and slides – I had a shot on #3 slide all the way down the hill – twice – which allowed my to turn a par into a triple bogie. On the number 11 tee pad I slipped and hit a tree next to the pad (I didn’t know that was even possible). I shot a +16 for 18 holes! It is a good thing I was out for fresh air and exercise…
Ice has weighed down the branches on the pine trees…
The ultra-treacherous #11 tee pad at least gives one hope the ice isn’t permanent.
A great approach shot leaves me with an easy drop-in bogie!
The ice storm quit. Martin didn’t get hit as hard as some areas, but our roads were very slick and so was our disc golf course. The photo shows the number one tee pad, what
It looks white like snow, but the tee box is covered with ice and very slippery.
looks like snow is ice. It is pretty slick and you will get no power from your run up – and there is the strong possibility your run up will become a fall down. The lack of distance you receive from your drive is made up as your throws skip and skid along on top of the ice.
Believe it or not, temperatures below freezing, a bracing breeze, and an ice-covered course did not keep the disc golfers away. I ran into Charlie and Derrick out on the course! The game was very different under these conditions. Charlie had a putt hit the chains on number 3 and gently fall upside down next to the basket and then slide all the way to the number 4
Number 3 basket – it is icy-slick here!
fairway on the ice. For my uphill drive on number 5, I threw a disc I knew would skip up the hill, the problem is that after skipping up, it also slid all the way back down. I threw a pretty nice drive straight down the fairway on number 11, but I didn’t get to watch it at all – as I released the drive I lost my footing on the ice-covered tee pad and was slipping and spinning-sliding for what seemed like a full minute. I managed to stay upright, but just barely.
It was a crazy, high-scoring day. It is better to go out and play a couple sloppy rounds of disc golf than it is to go stir crazy and do bad things. If nothing else it was fun to get out for some fresh air and a walk.
MARTIN DISC GOLF CLUB newsletter 1.3
Hey club! We have a third newsletter! For the coming year, I submit a challenge to all of you: “Ask not what you can do for the Martin Disc Golf Club, but ask what can the Martin Disc Golf Club do for you!” Together we can do great things. Please send newsletter fodder to: martindiscgolfclub@yahoo.com.
CALENDAR
5 December – Glow League at Harrison Road Disc Golf Course @ 6 pm.
12 December – Glow League at Harrison Road Disc Golf Course @ 6 pm. TAG TOURNEY!!
14 December– Hott Shott State and National Championships. The event will be set up from 11am to 4pm at the Rotary Pavilion at the Martin Recreation complex, but it will only take you 8-10 minutes of throwing time and you do not have to be present the whole time.
CONSIDER IT YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO BRING AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN TO THE HOTT SHOT!! We need to have 50 participants so that we can keep the Hott Shot disc deck (it will come in handy later).
The event will be 14 December 2013 in the Rotary Pavilion at the Martin Recreation Complex from 11am to 4pm, but it will only take you 8-10 minutes of throwing time and you do not have to be present the whole time.
Hott Shott is a court game that requires concentration and practice – PDGA and Innova are providing event support. It can be played by all ages, indoors or outdoors, individually or as a team (we will play as individuals for this event). Hott Shott uses Innova DX Sonic discs tossed into a catching target. Five shots are made from each of five stations during each of two rounds. The stations are between five and 25 feet from the target. Hott Shott is being played all over the Nation on 14 December – this event is part of the State and National Hott Shott championship. This is a free event. Please bring your church group, soccer team, friends, etc – we want to have as many people as possible participate. For every video of a player uploaded to the Hott Shott site we can earn $1 for the club – so bring your camera.
Glow Disc Golf League – update
The 7 & 14 November dates were well attended and very fun. The 21 November outing was attended by a cold front, rain and only three golfers – it was still a great time! 5 & 12 December 2013 are the final dates for this run of league play. We have been playing various golf games (scramble, birdie bash), but the last night (12 Dec) we will be playing for tags and a cool, tournament glow disc will be up for grabs. The tag holder that experiences the greatest change in value will get the disc (i.e. if the #5 tag ends up with #1, ǀ5-1ǀ = 4; while if #19 tag ends up with # 40, ǀ19-40ǀ = 21. 21 > 5 so the #40 tag holder would get the disc).
1 Disc Tournament: results
The 23rd of November was cold and windy, not the best conditions for throwing large, glidey Innova condor discs. Eight intrepid souls played in the first 1 disc tournament that we have put on as a club (our first tournament was the initial bag tag tournament). The consensus was that the condors were understable into the wind, straight to overstable with the wind, and definitely not putters. I think everyone enjoyed the challenge and the simple ‘wow’ of watching these big, slow discs moving through the air. We played 18 regulation holes and 5 commando holes for fun (10 tee pad to 12 basket, 11 tee pad to 9 Basket, 1 tee pad to 2 basket, 3 tee pad to 8 basket, and 8 basket to 18 basket). It was a fun day. Justin brought four discs as prizes. Scores: 69 – Justin, 71 – Kent, 72 – Dustin, 74 – Stacey & Sean (tie), 78 – Rick, 81 – Sam, 84 – Randy.
Huckin’ Haiku
We have our first poem, a haiku from a person who does not wish to be named:
Grunt! Journey begins
Floating/flying through still air
Thwack! Another tree
Like us on Facebook
Johnny Razo has set up a Martin Disc Golf Club page on Facebook. If you use facebook you should probably head on over and check it out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MartinTNdgClub/.
We have a blog
Huck Freely (the newsletter editor) has set up a blog. It covers stuff that the newsletter and Facebook do not. It also provides an online home for the newsletter and other such things. If you have not been, you can visit at: https://www.martindiscgolfclub.wordpress.com. Once there, you can subscribe and be emailed updates when new postings occur.
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT BAG TAG STANDINGS?
Check out the bag tag file on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MartinTNdgClub/files/
Bonus: add your tag info!
Martin Disc Golf Club 