It had been FAR too long since I have had the chance to sneak off and play a little disc golf (in the midst of having two full-time jobs and dealing with some ongoing health issues). But today the planets finally aligned in my life:
– Free time.
– The cat and kittens being away (heading to Bandon for the day without me).
– No work!
– Good weather.
– Reasonably good health.
– A working vehicle.
I’ve been hearing rumors since last Summer about a GREAT new disc golf course opening just North of me in Florence, Oregon. But it was strange…such a great course that is being touted as one of the best courses on the Oregon Coast, not being listed in UDisc or DGCourseReview.com. Something must be up…so I decided that today would be the day that I put on my private investigator’s hat and attempted to solve the mystery.
In the past, I had stumbled across information for a Florence Oregon Disc Golf Association (F.O.D.G.A) group. That Facebook group mentioned that *the* course on the Oregon Coast would be open in the Summer of 2022! I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open ever since, as a course of that quality being located only an hour North of me sounds like a place that I want to become intimately familiar with in the future! 🙂 Only when I got to Florence, there was no sign of a course.
I ended up driving to Ocean Dunes Golf Links and had an incredibly friendly and helpful staffperson, along with a City employee waiting for her tee time, tell me that they’ve been hoping a disc golf course would open in Florence, but to their knowledge, the course is not yet in the ground. But they told me exactly where to find it…if/when it winds up opening: Munsel Greenway Park, by the City’s water treatment plant. So I drove to that plant, walked back into the park (after snapping the above photo) and found no signs of baskets or a course. Two residents walking their dogs then chatted me up, saying that they think the course might be on indefinite hold, since they were having some tension with neighbors who use the park and its trails for other recreational activities.
Ugh. Going from thinking I am going to play one of the Oregon Coast’s best eighteen-hole courses, to striking out in my course collecting efforts, an hour from home. So I needed to decide: Head for home with my tail between my legs, or “make lemonade” by finding my next-closest unplayed course to Coos Bay. And as a person who is often preaching about how my “glass is half full” and trying to push myself to see what my body and mind are made of? You KNOW which choice I had to make. 🙂
I drove the additional ~45 minutes North, to check out Red River DGC. I have read many positive reviews of this course! A shorty, measuring only 3,390 feet over eighteen holes. But what it lacks in length it makes up for in very, VERY heavily-wooded fairways with postage-stamp gaps you need to hit off the tee to have any prayer of getting your deuces.
I think the above photo from the Hole 15 tee says it all. Six trees to potentially hit as a LHBH/RHFH player within ~30-40 feet of the tee. Another cluster of trees to hit about 80 feet from the tee. And if you decide that a right-to-left anhyzer shot is your best shot at a deuce? Another half-dozen trees to contend with if you are a fraction off in the timing or angle of your release. All of the above keeping you from having any prayer at getting you deuce…along with making you need to scramble a bit for your par.
Most of the course was similar to Hole 15. Above is a photo from the Hole 17 tee. Revenge for us LHBH/RHFH players, with a mando left-to-right flight path with another 12-15 trees to avoid. But short and technical courses plays to my #1 strength as a disc golfer. My not needing to throw any big drives (I didn’t throw anything bigger than my ProLine Squall off the tee) led me to post a -12 (43) on the course, for an estimated round rating of 997:
2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2
Considering how I hadn’t played in several weeks (health and work)? That round made me feel like “Big Man on Campus!” 🙂 Not in a prideful or boastful way! Rather, that this “old dog” still has a few tricks up his sleeve. That, and the “radio-controlled Squalls” in my bag still work very, VERY well.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get back out on some new courses after today! But I did the best I could with what I have to work with. And Florence? Well, I will hopefully have another date with your great new course in the not-too-distant future.
Magic Number = -9 (2,009 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.