I had a long, rough flying experience getting to Milwaukee today. Well, the flights began YESTERDAY around lunchtime, and the flight from North Bend, Oregon (OTH) to Denver (DEN) was very pleasant and on time! But when I arrived in Denver for my connecting flight to Milwaukee (MKE), we were told that our flight would be delayed two hours due to thunderstorms and the lack of availability of an airplane. Which became five hours. Which became SIX hours. And instead of my friend Mike Harrington picking me up in Milwaukee at 9:00pm? He ended up picking me up at around 2:30am this morning…with a two-hour drive to Two Rivers, Wisconsin still awaiting us. 🙁
Mike and I, along with Cristina and Paul Carlstrom, are in Wisconsin for the next several days, representing the Disc Golf Foundation and staffing our traveling museum that is on display during the United States Women’s Disc Golf Championships in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. And of course, we all love to play disc golf as well. So after about four and a half hours of sleep (I’m getting too old for that…ha)? We made our way to Picnic Hill Park in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, to chip some of the rust off our games.
It is always fun playing with Mike, Cristina and Paul, as we all play to about the same ability. Mike is also an avid course collector, having played more than 1,600 disc golf courses in his lifetime. So we promised him that we wouldn’t just look for places that Cristina, Paul and I hadn’t played during this trip (since Mike has played most of the courses on the eastern side of Wisconsin, living a little west of Milwaukee).
It was rough, being sleep-deprived and still more than a little frustrated about my experience getting from Denver to Milwaukee. But after a few holes, I settled down and was able to keep pace. The fifteen-hole course had a series of terrible reviews on UDisc, saying it was a mess…a waste of time. But what we found was an enjoyable place to play. A couple of the holes (i.e. Hole 15) were a little hard to find. But for the most part, it was fun, easy to play, and easy to navigate.
It was neck and neck the entire round, but in the end, Mike (44) beat me by a stroke (45). I’ve gotta up my game in order to grab the lead away from him on the week! 🙂
After getting a bit of rest, along with setting up our traveling museum and grabbing dinner with the players at the USWDGC players meeting, Cristina, Paul and I headed out to play the Lakeside holes before dark. Cristina REALLY wanted to see and get those holes played before her round tomorrow, and Paul and I were happy to oblige.
We had to play really fast, as we didn’t want to risk losing any discs in the dark at the end of our round. But we wanted to fully enjoy the famous Lighthouse Hole on the Lakeside portion of the course. I played the hole perfectly for my ability, and was able to drop in for a solid birdie. That made me feel good! Although “mad respect” to that hole, as if someone made a mistake and/or the wind was howling when they are playing that hole? It would be easy to go OB…maybe even lose a disc in Lake Michigan.
Playing the holes that were set up for Cristina’s division at USWDGC, I managed to shoot a -7. Since the tees weren’t always the same as the tees people play during typical rounds out there, I have no idea if a -7 was a good score from where we played. But I felt pretty good with that round. Particularly for how fast we were playing, and how we could barely see our hands in front of our faces on the final hole or two. 🙂
I did also want to quickly share how I thought it was fun to find occasional “touches of whimsy” around the Lakeshore holes, such as the “guard” shown above. 🙂 I love it when courses have little fun surprises here and there that you will stumble across while you play. Silver Creek is every bit as good as advertised, and I think it is a must play for anyone who happens to find themselves along the western shore of Lake Michigan in the future.
Magic Number = -72 (2,072 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.