Work at our Small Business Development Center FINALLY “forced” me to visit an area of the State that had a few courses I hadn’t yet played today. So I capitalized upon the opportunity to add three new courses to my Courses Played Collection.
My first stop on the day was at Wolf Creek Park in Wolf Creek, Oregon. It was actually harder to navigate the course than I expected, even with the course map available in UDisc. It also provided an unpleasant surprise right out of the car: The fact that Hole 1 played over a creek/stream that had no bridge across it. Wet feet to start my day…terrific. 🙁 But a course collector’s gotta do what a course collector’s gotta do. Holes 2 and 3 played on the other side of the water, then Hole 4? You guessed it: another throw over the water with no way to cross it without getting ankle/calf deep in water, again.
Not the most fun I’ve had. But it has been a LONG time since I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to play some new courses, so I tried to keep a positive attitude and enjoy the ride. I also laughed when I got to Hole 9, as I found a disc with the words “KICK ASS!” written on it. Now I’m not sure I would have said my experience at Wolf Creek “kicked ass.” But ending the round with a smile on my face was a positive. I also managed to shoot a -6 (21) on my round with lots of rust on every available body part. So an estimated round rating of 948 was alright.
My next stop was at Indian Mary Park near Merlin, situated along the banks of the Rogue River. The park had been on my list to check out for a while now, given its beautiful setting, and while I was disappointed by the $5 pay-to-play fee (I’m a cheapskate…ha)? The nice woman manning the pay station said that the fee would get me into both Indian Mary Park and Tom Pearce Park in Grants Pass, my next destination on the day.
Indian Mary Park is a nine-hole course that has short and long tees labeled as Holes 1-18, so I actually played two rounds on the course. I shot a -4 (23) on the shorts, for an estimated rating of 886 (oof), as well as a -5 (22) off the longs, for an estimated rating of 952. Mid-900s is about right for my game, so that 886 left a mark. I guess I needed my first throw at the park to stick for a deuce to crack 900…since my tee shot skipped, danced on the edge of the basket while hitting several chains, then fell to the ground. Oh well! It was another +1 on my “Courses Played Rating.” 🙂
After a fun visit to Indian Mary Park, I made my way to the main event on the day: Tom Pearce Park. I’ve been through Grants Pass a couple of times in the past. Never with an opportunity to check out this twenty-hole course. Either it was my traveling companions, or the time of day, or the weather, or SOMETHING which prevented me from being able to play there! But I figured that it must be fate, having the day pass that also got me into Indian Mary Park earlier in the day. Today was the day I was “meant to play” the course.
Tom Pearce has quite a bit of variety from hole to hole. Some chances to lose discs if you are careless, but mostly opportunities to struggle to make par. At least off the long tees, which I had to play while I was here. As you approach the holes nearer to the concrete structure covered in graffiti (the cover photo for this post), the course also becomes harder to navigate. The course used to be an eighteen-hole course, but has since had two more holes added. Some of the tee signs clearly reflect their new hole numbers! But others can be a bit confusing to figure out…particularly as a non-local who might only ever get to play this course once.
The graffitied concrete structure is beautiful to look at! But there are also other “touches of whimsy” along the second half of the course, such as the metal object painted to look like Bender from the TV Show Futurama. It made the round more fun! I thought I was struggling, limping back to the car with a +4 (59) after recording eighteen of my twenty holes played (Disc Golf Course Review didn’t have a scorecard option for all twenty holes). But it said that was good enough for an estimated round rating of 952, so I’ll take it.
Three new courses played on the day…so I’ll take it! I have several other courses in the area I might be able to play tomorrow evening or Saturday too, but we’ll see…
Magic Number = -67 (2,067 Courses Played)
ABOUT DEREK
Derek Tonn is a member of the DGA’s Ambassador Team. His company, Mapformation, LLC, has been DGA’s partner in the development of disc golf tee signage since 2012. The longer our two companies have worked together, and the more Derek has gotten to know all the great folks at DGA, the more he has wanted to formally sing the company’s praises. The more he has realized that “Steady” Ed’s (the father of disc golf and the modern-day Frisbee) vision for the sport and his company perfectly describes his own interests and priorities related to disc golf, and the more Derek has recently been encouraged to share his story.