Dineen Park, Milwaukee

I uploaded the text for this post as we drove past downtown Chicago at 8:,22 am on Sunday, July 29, 2007. (One and a half hours into the return trip.) The uploading of images is slow with my wireless card, but I will be sending in several, below, as connectivity permits.

The Dineen disc golf course was originally a par 3 ball golf course, turned into a public park. So it is more open than most of the courses I am familiar with, and that gave me problems because I am used to perceiving distances and angles in a more closed environment, with fewer options for approaching the target. For example, both Pete May and Rob Lee use a very effective hyzer curve drive on throws up to ~300' in length. They are very accurate, but only work when there are no obstacles on the right-hand approach. (Like a lot of the holes at Dineen.) I, on the other hand, throw much straighter toward the basket, but the straight shot takes more energy to go the same distance (I think.) and is less forgiving if you don't precisely hit your line. (I know!)
Above is the lead card, Saturday morning during the semi-finals at Dineen. Left to right, Rob Lee, Terry Calhoun, Chuck Hornsby, and Pete May. Note my great disc golf cart! I purchased it for $15 at a yard sale in Ann Arbor on the Fridy before the worlds. If you look closely near the bottom of what you can see of the umbrella pole, you will recognize Ken Climo, in bobble-head form. Terry Miller, the worlds TD, has a number of sets of bobble-heads (Climo, Barry Schultz, and Des Reading) left. They are available on his website, Lifetime Disc Sports
Six days earlier, Ben, Sheila, and I had practiced Dineen. You can see below, that despite being a very open course, there are enough trees to provide decent challenges on approach and for putts. In the first image, Sheila made this putt (above) on Hole 3.

In this image, Ben misses his putt on Hole 4.
Finally, here Sheila is standing on the tee for the ~500' Hole 8, typical of the Dineen longer holes. Very wide open with primarily the distance, the wind, and some slight elevation changes as challenges.
Dineen is a beautiful course, and as Pete noted, the designers did an excellent job of keeping the playground areas, water, and pathways out of play - resulting in a great job of mixing disc golf with other public activities.

Just before we left Ann Arbor, Ben had noted a news article about our neighboring township, Pittsfield, purchasing a par 3 ball golf course to turn into a park. That township has, in the past been interested in disc golf, but the properties it owns have some environmental issues as well as clearing and construction cost issues. We'll be at the first public meeting about the uses of that park this fall!

I'm Number Two!

Darn. Rob Lee is the champ, and he deserves it - he played excellent, steady golf, and made some great shots when they counted.

I began the day tied with Pete May for first place with Rob Lee 2 strokes down in second place. But my shoulder injury really hurt me. We began on Hole 16 of the Dineen Course and I parred it and Hole 17. Then I dropped my drive at the pin on Hole 18 for a deuce.

After that, I had birdie putts (mostly short ones) on Holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and missed them all. In fact, on Hole 4, I 3-putted for a 4! All a matter of not being able to bring my shoulder up on the putt. I also missed birdie putts on several other holes, as well as went OB on the long one. Not a great round.

Despite that, I shot a +1 and Pete May shot a +4, but Rob Lee shot a -4 and all of a sudden was 2 strokes ahead of me, with Pete 3 strokes behind me. And only 9 holes to go!

I was in such pain that some Michigan and Ohio friends said I needed something call "Hot and Icy" to put on my shoulder, which was actually everything from my right hip up to my shoulder now. So, Sheila and I ran out between rounds and bought some at a pharmacy. Boy, was it HOT! I think it helped cover up the pain mainly because it was so hot and painful that it spread the pain around. So, the back pain hurt my morning round, but was not a factor in the Final Nine!

On top of that, I took 1,400 milligrams of Ibuprofen! Still had some pain going, but by the time the Final Nine for us began at 1:10 pm, I was hopped up and excited.

I have to say that we had the most exciting Final Nine I could have imagined. It began on Hole 1 of Dretzka New (DN), an open field 440' hole. Remember, I started out 2 behind Rob Lee for first place. Unfortunately, I attempted a backhand roller and was so pumped up I hit a tree just 40' off the tee, just to the left of the tee area. My approach went past the pin, but was too long, so I took a 4. Now I was 3 strokes behind.

On Hole 2 of DN, an easy 240' straight shot, Rob threw a huge hyzer that must have won the tournament elapsed time in the air and parked his disc under the basket. I got air under my Z-Storm and went too far left. He got a 2 and I got a 3. Now I am down 4 strokes.

Hole 3 of DN is 325' and there is an OB road running along the right-hand side of the fairway. Everyone else took the safe route to the left, setting up for easy 3s. I gambled with a drive along the road that landed just 10' from the basket and got the 2. Now I am 3 strokes behind the lead.

The next hole, Hole 1 at Dretzka Original (DO) is one I had hoped to get all week. It is about 325' with the first 250' across an open field, but you have to hit a 30-40'wide gap and get an additional 75' in through the woods to the left to pin the basket. I threw an amazing drive that landed right at the basket for a 2. Rob was in the woods to the right, but managed to approach safely and get the 3. So now I am 2 strokes behind, again, like we started.

And, of course, I am quite re-energized.

The next hole, #2 DO, is about 290' down a woods tunnel with the pin placement slightly right and out of sight. I threw a Comet right up the middle, leaving myself a 40' putt. Rob threw into the woods on the left, but was able to get his approach out for a 3. Me, too, darn it.

Hole 3 DO is about 265 up a tight woods tunnel, slightly right, but the pin is about 30' out into an open field. I threw into the right side of the woods about 60' short. Rob also threw into the right side, maybe 40' short, but his disc bounced out into the fairway. Mine did not.

I managed to get an extreme anhyzer throw out to hit about 15' left of the pin, but the disc them rolled 60' let and under some low branches. Amazingly, I hit the keeling putt for a 3 and we stayed at 2 strokes different.

Hole 4 DO is fairly wide open, just a few trees, but forgiving if you go right or left. I pretty much parked the throw, about 15' right of the pin. Rob threw long and right and I thought I was going to get a stroke closer, but he his a great 60-footer for birdie. No change!

Now there are two holes left and 2 strokes separate us. The 17th DO hole if 319' down a tight woods tunnel with a right-hand twist at about 50' feet. I flexed by Z-Storm and it flew right down the middle, turning when it needed to, and landing about 25' short of the pin.

Rob threw into the right side of the woods halfway down and could not get a good second shot out. His third shot was about 10' from the pin, which meant he was going to get a 4. I had this 25' putt for a 2. Darn. It hit chains left and bounced out. One stroke remained between us with only Hole 18 DO to go.

That hole is 325 from inside the woods through a wide short tunnel to a basket behind a couple of guardian trees. My drive almost caught the turn, but was into a severe headwind and landed 60' left. Rob was about the same distance right. We each took a 3 and Rob Lee ended up with the 2007 PDGA Amateur Senior Grandmasters World Title. Whew!

Those who walked in our gallery with us thought they had been well entertained. More, with pics, later. Dinner first.

Surveying the Grand Masters Field

After our rounds were over, Sheila and I spent some time on the Dretzka Original course watching and meeting with the grand master field as they played out their final regular round. Below, Sheila, perched up in a tree (Yes, she's going to be 50 next year.) by the tee area for Hole 17, watching a group hole out on Hole 3.

[Blogger is having issues with images tonight, I may have to post these later.]

I took a lot of images of putts, drive, and folks on the same card. I am posting a bunch here and hoping that people will use the comments to tell me who most of these people are. Note that if you click on an image you will see a larger version, and than you can right-click on that to make your own copy. This is your copyright permission to use them as you wish for any non-commercial purposes.

We Have a Horse Race!!!

Okay . . . when we started the day I was 2 strokes behind Pete May (GA) and Rob Lee (TX), who were tied for first place. Here's what that group (minus me) looked like at the end of the day after we finished Hole 13 at Dretzka New. (Left to right: Hornsby, Lee, May)

By lunch, I was in first place - alone - and Pete and Rob were tied for second place, 2 strokes behind me.

At the end of the day, Pete and I were tied for first with Rob 2 strokes behind us and Chuck Hornsby 6 strokes behind him. Here are Chuck (left) and Rob (right) surveying our first hole of the afternoon, #14 at Dretzka New. As you may surmise, this is a very tight woods hole of about 260' with a constriction about 100' out that has so many trees in it that getting past relies on a good drive and a bit of luck. [The white birch trees are just left of the narrowest part of the f airway.] I did not have that luck. I hit an early tree and richocheted hard left. I also failed to get past the trees on my second shot and was thinking a "5" - not a good start. Instead, I hit a 1.5' gap, 10' in front of me with a forehand roller (Z-Storm) and made it up the undulating, stump-strewn fairway to have a 6' putt for a 4. Whew!

Sheila ended up in sixth place in Masters Women and, thus, does not get to play in the finals tomorrow. Bummer. But that means I have secret weapon - Sheila as my caddy!

Eight of us Senior Grand Masters play in the semifinals at Dineen tomorrow at 8 am, and then four of us in the finals at Dretzka at about 1 pm.

Chuck Hornsby will again be on the leader card with Pete, Rob, and I, as he shot the "hot round" of the day with a -4 at Dretzka New. Here he is in the morning, struggling with, but making, the putt for a birdie on Hole 14 at Dretzka New.

Uh-Oh!

Rob Lee took the lead from me today. I just could not make a putt. He's got a 3-stroke lead and I am still 1 stroke ahead of Pete May. We play Dretzka Original and New tomorrow. I sure hope I can get my putting on!

Sheila played really well today. She got a 4 on the longest hole at Brown Deer, and in front of a huge gallery (Hole 7). I got a 5 on it, after approaching short. She's well within striking distance to make the cut for the final 9 holes in Masters Women.

From Sheila:

I much prefer courses like Brown Deer over the others here because my strengths are in play. I don't have much of an arm (lucky to throw 2oo ft), but I play better on technical courses. Lesli Younger and Babette Martin were on my card and I truly enjoyed playing with them. Babette had some awesome drives but unfortunately missed a couple of putts for pars. Lesli, who is used to playing on Washington state courses with wooded fairways, managed to hit more than her share of trees off the tee. Thumbs up to my fellow Michiganian Lisa Harbour for shooting the hot round at 69. I shot a 70 and feel pretty good about that. Hole 7: took three hard drives to get it 2/3 up the hill still about 175 ft short of the basket and a little left. Trees on the right and some rough on the left inside a fence. As a forehander, it was a tough shot to try to get my throw to go out left and come back to the basket for a good chance at a putt. I made a last second disc chance and put my Z-Storm right into the basket with a gallery at the check-in station all cheering. What fun! Babette's caddy, who doesn't play dg and is from the South said, "This is what I drove 11 hours to see."

Hanging On to the Lead at Dineen

Whew! Sheila and I ended the day as exhausted as at least I have been for some time! I am hanging onto the lead. Sheila is just a couple of strokes out of second place but the leader in Am Masters Women is crushing the rest of the field. Her goal is to make the final four!

Hero of the day: Tim Kieffer, spotting on Hole _ at Dineen, which has a dense left-hand brush area that contains water and has been marked out of bounds. It's a tough, 540' hole requiring a precision 300+ drive into a narrow, pinched waist with the OB to the left and some dense bushes to the right. Below, Chuck Hornsby and Tim Kieffer, celebrating the return of Chuck's primary driver.

Chuck had thrown deep into the OB and when Tim went charging into the brush to find his disc, we heard bushes crackling, then silence, then a loud yelp of pain. I yelled, "Are you okay, do you need help?" Then Tim came running out, pursued by a cloud of either hornets or yellowjackets. Despite being stung many times, he then went stealthy back in and retrieved Chuck's disc. Thanks, Tim!In the first round at Dineen, I was on the card with (below, right to left, Rob Lee (TX), Howard McIntyre (NC), and Chuck Hornsby (GA). I shot a -2 and Rob moved one up on me by shooting a -3. He had been 5 strokes behind and was now only 4 behind me.
In the afternoon, Rob and I were joined on the lead card by Dennis Webster (AZ) and, of course, Pete May (GA). I had gained another stroke on Pete that morning, but he had gained enough on the field to move up to the lead card. (And he started the round wearing a pink placard saying "Lead Card" on his forehead, tacked to the long, black-haired wig with 2-foot long pigtails he had on his head. (Playing with Pete is always fun.) Left to right, below, that's Pete, Dennis, and Rob. It looks like we are still the lead card complement tomorrow morning. Behind us, off Hole 13, a group of Asian folks who were playing an interesting game, spinning tops with sticks and ropes. They were at it all day long!


The top spinners were right up on the 10-meter circle for the target. On my final drive of the day, my disc drifted left and landed among them and we were aghast when one of the picked it up and threw it under the basket. Of course, my "buddies" wouldn't let me take that lie; however, the top spinners understood that we needed the spot I had really landed on marked, and they did it for us very graciously.

Both Rob and Pete moved up on me in that afternoon round, though. I shot even par, Rob shot a -2 and Pete shot a -4. So I ended up the day still in first place, but precariously, with Rob 2 strokes behind me and Pete 5 strokes out.

Tomorrow we play the toughest course here in Milwaukee, the Brown Deer Course. Sheila, Pete, and I went there and walked it, throwing some drives, to experience the layout after our second round at Dineen. We were joined by a nice young man from Illinois named Jason. Sheila just walked, Pete and I just threw drives only, and then only on the wooded holes. But, of course, Jason played the entire 18 holes, including the three (I think) 600-700 foot wide open ones that Pete and I declined.

By the time we were done, we were totally tired, but Pete had spotted a nearby bar with a table tennis set-up and was thinking of finding some "marks." We'll find out today at 11:30 how he did.

The Fly Mart

For those who do not know, at a large disc golf event, like amateur worlds, there is an evening set aside for booths at which many vendors sell a wide variety of disc golf related paraphernalia - discs, golf bags, clothing, and more. It's a great time to see and get some pretty cool stuff, because the sport is in a creative stage in terms of such paraphernalia and it is the only sport where the objects of play are themselves objects of art.

Below, Scott Keasey of the DGA, Disc Golf Association, holding up a tie-dyed Rogue disc. I was particularly happy with Scott right then, as he had managed to find - in a stack of such Rogues - a single first-run Rogue that had accidentally gotten dyed with the others. The first run was understable, so I have been able to add it to my bag.

Below, left to tight, PDGA Tour Manager Dave Gentry (GA), PDGA Marshall Cris Bellinger (OR), Amy Walker from the Phoenix, AZ area, and Sheila. Amy was manning a booth for "4HandZ" and had been describing to Sheila and me some of their work with underprivileged youth.


Below . . . Yes, that is famed online webmaster and radio host Brian Sullivan kind of startling a young co-worker by showing what he thought of something I had just said.

This guy is a Wisconsinite - and a happy one - he won the 18-hole course from the DGA.

Here are Sissy Hunter and Mike Michalak, Toledo, OH area, enjoying customer interactions during the Fly Mart.

Some More from the Players Meeting

Here is a series of pictures of the competitors and their families and friends, sweeping left to right across the bleachers we were all seated in during the all-players meeting. The "wings" were later into the evening than the central bleachers. Sorry if I missed anyone! The bleachers were much fuller 30 minutes later, but once things got really going, I didn't want to be getting any more in the way than I was. (Click on any image to super size it; right-click to make your own copy!)

First Singles Competition Round

Sheila and I each played the original 18 holes at Dretzka this morning. Now we're off until about noon tomorrow, when we then play the 18 holes at Dineen two times in a row. I'm tired just thinking about that!

The PDGA online scoring is being kept well up to date.

Sheila shot a 62, 8 over par, and is tied for fourth place in the Advanced Masters Women's division.

I was lucky to have a great group of guys on my card (below, left to right, Randy Signor [Seattle], Jack Todaro [WI], and Bob Theis [FL].) They kept me on an even keel and I played well. I missed three putts and blew one approach shot and shot a 50 (4 under par). It appears that after the first round I am in first place in Advanced Senior Grandmasters, by 5 strokes.Tonight's the Fly Mart, with all sorts of dazzling disc related things for sale. Sheila decided to walk back to the hotel from the course (6+ miles) so maybe I'll sneak out now and get some money from an ATM so I am ready to buy stuff tonight!

All-Players Meeting, Featuring the Racing Sausages of Miller Park

Sheila and I have an 8 am tee time, so I haven't got the time to publish more than one of the many good pictures I took during that meeting last night. More will come on Tuesday afternoon.

Below, Sheila is cuddling with Italian Sausage, a member of the Klement's Racing Sausages of Miller Park, who entertained the 600+ crowd of competitors, friends, and family members. (That's our friend and my competitor, Pete May, from Augusta, GA, to Sheila's left, dressed [as usual] very
colorfully.)
Okay, maybe time for one more.

Here, Kelsey Brakel receives the granite obelisk for being the Junior Women's 2006 PDGA Points Leader from (left) PDGA Tour Manager David Gentry (GA) with Worlds TD Terry Miller (WI) looking on. In the far background is Sun King Discs' Mike Barnett (FL).

Going to the All-Players Meeting

As Sheila and I headed out to the 7 pm players meeting last night, we were startled to see Kevin Williamson (right, Jackson, MI) and Mark Kruse (Toledo, OH) waiting for us when the elevator doors opened.

Scary as they looked, we rode down with them anyway. And good thing that we did. During the conversation we learned that we were one hour off (time different) and were heading out to the meeting quite early.

Instead, we hung out in the indoor pool area while Kevin and Mark soaked in the hot tub. It was a great conversation about Ohio and Michigan disc golf, tournaments, politics, and the like. Below, Kevin and Mark joining Sheila and in laughing uproariously (always wanted to use t hat word) at the end of a story Mark had just finished telling.
I really can't tell you the story, but the punchline was "And then Kevin just jumped right in through the oil slick."

Mixed Doubles

Sheila and I played alternate shot doubles on Dretzka New in the morning and had a bit of bogey trouble, scoring 5 of them to perfectly match our 5 birdies, for an even par round of 54. In that round, we were joined by the team of Elliot Fu and Kira Brakel, who shot a 51, and Jeff Smart and Nikki Brodlo (Milwaukee area locals) who shot a 59.

That's another, hopefully prescient, coincidence in that in 2000 when I won the Grand Master title, Elliot Fu was the doubles partner of Barret White and played on the same card with Sheila and I during that first round of mixed doubles.

It turns out that we had tied with our friends Dawn and Arthur Pengelly at even par for the morning, so they were our playing partners in the afternoon. After a bogey on the first hole of the afternoon - Hole 6, which many consider the toughest hole - Sheila and I were on a roll and at -4 after about the first 7 holes. Unfortunately, I totally fatigued with about 7 holes to go and miss-threw several drives. We scraped out pars but didn't get some birdies we needed as a result.

The Pengellys and the Calhouns tied for the day at -5 (103 strokes) and I think that put us in a 3-way tie with Elliot Fu and Kira Brakel, for 10th place out of 31 teams. Not as well as I had hoped, but Sheila and I have a combined age of 119+, which makes us by far the oldest team out there.

It sure was fun. At lunch I got to spend some time talking with J. Gary Dropcho about his teaching job in Pittsburgh, and how that area is fast getting a nice collection of world-class courses.

And, you're right to ask, "Where are the pictures?" I let my camera battery die overnight, darn it. It's charging right now so that I can take some pix at the all-players meeting tonight.

Tomorrow, Sheila (in the Advanced Masters Women) and I (in the Senior Grand Masters) compete within our singles fields at 8 am on Dretzka New.

Junior Doubles Won by Michiganders

Ziggt Bierekoven and Jamie Mosier appear to have won the junior boys doubles (<19) with a -20 for the day on the Dretzka Courses. The juniors played the Original Course alternate shot in the morning and the New Course best shot in the afternoon.

Ziggy came and joined the card Sheila and I were on - with Dawn and Arther Pengelly, with whom we had tied in the morning - for our last 6-7 holes. I was reminded that the last time I won a singles world title, Am Grand Masters in 2000, my son Ben and his friend Ken Moot, won the doubles competition. A hopefully prescient coincidence.

Monday's Schedule

Mixed Doubles competition this morning. Sheila and I will play on the Dretzka (new) at 9 am and then the Dretzka (original) course at 1. The all-players meeting is at 7 pm. Good luck, everyone.

EDGE Skill Shot Competition

Well . . . I won this baby in 2004, in Des Moines, but I sure didn't win it today. It was fun, though, Ben barely beat me - by 11 points out of 700 some. We started out getting an explanation of the procedure and rules from Wyatt (shown below; to whom we went back with questions several more times). If you haven't done this competition yet, give it a shot. It's as grueling as playing 18 holes and probably much better for your skill development.

On the way to start, we were overwhelmed by a bunch of dominant males in red, then realized that it was okay, because Worlds TD Terry Miller was in control.

Halfway through, we met up with Dawn Pengelly, from Kalamazoo, Michigan formerly of Quebec.
She and Sheila get to compete against each other quite regularly. Dawn and her husband, Arthur, who is from New Zealand, were house guests at the BRATS course for the DGLO in June. (Athur's home course was closed during the filming of the Lord of the Rings movies: Whenever you saw Gandalf riding his horse along a road on the way to Hobbitown, you were viewing a scene taking place between Holes 4 and 5 on Arthur's home course.)

Then we ran across former PDGA board member John (Chappy) Chapman (Kansas) and his friend [uh-oh, I forgot his name, someone email me]. That's current PDGA board Pete May (Augusta, GA), second from left, who figures to be a dominant competitor in the Senior Grand Masters division, starting on Tuesday. (How about that spiffy cart with the umbrella - I bought it Friday at a yard sale for $15.)

Finally, after stopping at a grocery for fresh fruits and veggies, we pulled back into the Sheraton Four Points where the PGA is gone and the PDGA is now dominant. (Those folks don't even know we exist yet, at the PGA that is, yet we now have 2,000+ courses in the US, moving up on their much more slowly growing 7,000+!

Sheila has titled this last image: "Tired and Cranky Terry." I am tired, probably cranky, too. But I sure look forward to two 18-hole mixed doubles rounds with Sheila as my partner tomorrow. Our games complement each other nicely and all we lack is a drive longer than 325' - which shouldn't matter at the two Dretzka courses!

If I had known about the Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest - http://www.sloppyjoes.com/news.htm#hemingway07 - I might have been smiling more. We may well go down for that next year.

Dineen - Actual Play, Not Just Rumors

Okay, it's not as bad as Ben described. There are a lot of holes just outside of my driving range (holes over 350') but quite a few are downhill and there are probably about 8 or 9 potential birdie holes. I shot a -1 and Ben shot a -7. (There are that many holes inside his range and outside of mine, darn it.)

In the hotel, as we were leaving, I met Steve Timm and his wife Nancy, from New Orleans. Steve joined Sheila, Ben, and I at Dineen, since his hotel room was not quite ready and he could not check in. (That's me on the left, below, with Steve, in the Sheraton Four Points lobby.) Steve is running for the PDGA board and you have the rest of July to vote for him, if you have not yet voted.

Several holes into Dineen, we caught up with the Brakel family (below, lined up on the hill, approaching a pin downhill).
A few holes later, Joe and Steve Kozlowski, from Wyoming, caught up with us. We invited them to join us and we finished out as a 6-some, but the folks behind us were also, so we weren't in anyone's way. Below is Ben, Joe, Steve Timm, Steve Kozlowski, and Sheila, on Hole 18.)
Joe Kozlowski has got his learner's permit for driving and the tension mounted on Hole 18, as their competition deal is - whoever wins gets to drive (the car). Steve overthrew the hole on the drive and also overthrew his approach back (I had the only birdie.) and had to make a long come-back putt from under a tree to tie Joe.

They then played a safari hole to a practice basket and each got a 3; the last we saw them, they were headed over to Hole 1 to play it out until they could figure out who got to drive back to the hotel!

We're fixing sandwiches now and getting ready to head over to Dretzka for the EDGE Skill Shot competition. Ciao.

Registration & the Players Package

Well, I am once more impressed by the PDGA staff. As Sheila and I waited in line, I was able to watch staffer Addie Isbell talk using sign language with one of the large contingent of PDGA members who are deaf disc golfers.

Players Package

First of all, Sheila is always impressed when the women actually get women's shirts! Yay!


The following image is of the contents of my players package. It includes (below image):

A $50 FunJet discount coupon;

• A drawing coupon for a DGA MachLite basket;
• Two coupons for discounts at a local bricks and mortar chain which carries disc golf supplies, Laacke & Joys;
• A free Combo Meal coupon from Cousins subs;
• A cell phone deal brochure;
• A courses map and driving directions;
• A Discs Unlimited fridge magnet;
• A DGA brochure;
• An Innova bumper sticker;
• A DGA bumper sticker;
• A Worlds "Player Course Caddy" ring-bound, hole by hole guide;
• A copy of Disc Golf Magazine;
• A DGA Rogue;
• A Discraft "Midnight" Avenger;
• An Innova fist run Star CRO;
• A Lifetime Disc Sports microfiber towel;
• An Am Worlds pin;
• A Revolution disc golf bag; and
• An ID badge on a fiber neck band.

Don't you wish you were here?

And, here's your Worlds TD, Terry Miller. I wonder if he'll have this much energy left a week from now?

Sunday Morning, Early

My favorite thing to do at a good hotel is wake up early and soak in the hot tub with a good book. That's how this morning got started (see below; note the disc golfer's "tan").


The book, begun last night but not finished until this morning, is a fiction titled In Secret Service by Mitch Silver. Pretty good, actually. Set in modern times, the premise is that Ian Fleming's friends' grand-daughter receives a deadly political manuscript that Fleming set aside for her 40 years previously in a safety deposit box of an Irish bank that is going under. A nice mix of actual biographic history and fiction.

Shortly, we will check in and then go play a round at Dineen. Then we'll compete in the EDGE Skill Shot competition. Did I mention that I won the Am world title at that in 2004, in Des Moines? :)

Later, I will photograph and share the contents of that player's package that Terry Miller is so excited about!

Below, Sheila was "pool jogging" while I read.

Dretska New

Okay, so Sheila, Ben, and I went to Dretzka and played the "new" course. At the tee, we met up with Arthur Pengally and a buddy of his from his home town in New Zealand, "Des" (short for Desmond and pronounced "Diz"). After we played one hole, we were joined by fellow Michigander and 15-year-old phenom, Ziggy.

If you haven't seen this course yet, it's pretty short, with only three holes that even my weinie arm could not possibly birdie. OB comes into play a couple of times and most holes have some trees on them, but only 3 or 4 have real woods. On several of the ~300' holes the ceiling is low enough to make rollers a pretty decent first choice shot.

Ben claims to have shot -11, but I don't know how well he could have possibly kept score. On the last couple of holes - it was dusk - we got pretty punchy and were trying various left-handed throws. It was pretty funny to see Ben and Ziggy attempt left-handed forehand shots; Ziggy's kept going behind him.

This is going to be a fun week.

Not the PGA!

We're here at the tournament central hotel and we met up with Ben. As I was returning the luggage cart from our room - 322 - to the front desk, a fellow chatted me up in the elevator. He said: "You're with the tournament, eh?" (I am wearing a PDGA shirt.)

I said, "Yes," and added, "I just arrived."

He looked at me funny and said, "I thought the tournament was almost over."

I said, "Nope. Singles competition starts on Tuesday."

He just looked at me funny and avoided eye contact the rest of the way down.

Turns out that there is a PGA tournament in town - the US Bank Championship. And the parking lot is full of a lot of official Buicks.

At the desk, this really fit looking guy in what I thought was an Innova shirt waved in my direction. I waved back and he looked right past me at a blonde who asked him, "How'd you play today." He said, "Shitty." Sorry for him, whoever he was, but I bet he did not have as much fun as we're going to.

Chicago!

Hell on wheels. Nasty traffic, construction, and constant toll booths with signage created as an afterthought. Geez. Nothing like this kind of driving to remind you of how it is we're killing people in Iraq. Dubya isn't that much more of an ignorant, thoughtless, and greedy president than some of these people are drivers.

We're pretty much past it now, about to leave the conjoined 90/94 and strike off to the North on Edens Expressway, I-94.

Dineen

Well, I took another look at the map (PDF) and I guess Dineen is pretty open.

In this YouTube interview of Barry Schultz from last year, he notes the openness of Dineen, but also says there are enough trees to make you think, and that the "slopes" will come into play regularly as well. I'm glad to hear that Dineen has some elevation.

As for distance, the PDGA Course Directory says that there are 7 holes under 300', 7 between 300'-400', and 4 over 400'. Doesn't sound too long, to me, but perhaps it is set in a longer version for Worlds: "Tyranny of the Big-Arms?"

On Our Way

We left Ann Arbor two hours ago, about 11:30 am. Not the quickest of trips so far, as we've only traveled about 90 miles. Just had a long slowdown due to a multiple car accident that was being cleared off of I-94 between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

Ben called a while ago. He's on his way to Pro Worlds and has reached Milwaukee and will stay with us tonight. He's played several courses since he left Ann Arbor on Friday morning and wanted to check into our hotel early, but the earliest check in is at 3, so he went out to play another round.

Confusingly, Ben reports Dineen to be a "long and open course," even though the course maps don't indicate that. If it is, I can only hope (Sheila, too) that the grass is cut short enough to let our rollers make a difference!

Okay, what's a blog without pictures, eh? I just snapped this one of Sheila with my Treo 650. At the time, we were pretty much driving past Kalamazoo, the site of the combined Pro/Am 2008 PDGA Worlds.

I did roll over and compromise with Sheila. Instead of the '63 Corvair convertible, we're driving the 2000 Suburban. Her concerns were that the Corvair might have problems. Reasonable, I guess, but (almost) hilarious in that the Suburban has developed a nice, loud vibration at anything over 50 mph in the last 30 minutes. We stopped and checked the tires - they weren't particularly hot (the one by the exhaust was the hottest) and nothing was touching them.

But we have our fingers crossed and aren't going over 70. So I am letting Sheila drive until we get close to Chicago. Then I will switch over so that I can be at the wheel for the aggressive driving part of the trip.

More later.

Getting Ready To Go

I wish we were already in Milwaukee. It's getting pretty hard to focus on work and routine. We have two big decisions yet to make: (a) do we take our dog, Ozzie, with us; and (b) should I spend a couple of days practicing with my two new 10 Meter Crossfire putters and take the risk of changing putters so close to the competition.

We'll be leaving Ann Arbor early Sunday morning for the ~6-hour drive. Then we'll find the Skill Shot competition location, compete in it, and check into our hotel. Monday will be mixed doubles - 23 teams.

The singles competition begins on Tuesday. Sheila and I got pretty lucky there, since her division and mine are both in the G Pool, so we will be on the same course and at the same time, every day, making transportation easy. (And we're taking Clifford the Big Red Truck (Suburban) instead of Cliff the '63 Corvair convertible, so that we can offer more people rides.)

Partly because of my working trip to Chicago that just ended, I have had nearly zero practice. We hope to get a round in at Hudson Mills later today. If we do, that will be our last round prior to the mixed doubles on Monday. I haven't played a round in more than two weeks and have had no putting or driving practice time.