After setting up our Disc Golf Foundation traveling museum for the United States Women’s Disc Golf Championships players meeting in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, tearing it down and resetting it in its “permanent” location for the event this week, Mike Harrington and I had some down time while most of the players and spectators were out on the courses. So we thought we would enjoy a round on the “mini” course that was created for the week at Silver Creek.
One of the interesting things about disc golf course collectors that many of you might not know is that a lot of us have different definitions of what is considered a course. Mike Harrington? Counts temporary tournament courses (courses that might only exist for a day or two), as well as object courses and “mini” courses. Avery Jenkins? Avery will count temporary tournament courses, but does not count any object courses (you must be playing at a place with baskets…although I don’t know if he would then count “mini” courses as a course in his total course count or not). Derek Tonn? I’ve always said that anything that DGCourseReview.com says is a course is a course in my book! Old school object courses count! But temporary tournament courses? “Mini” courses? No…I won’t count them as a part of my courses played count.
It might be a shame that I don’t count “mini” courses…at least for today, since I was lucky enough to ace Hole 5 on the course. What could have been Ace #24 in my life, as well as course #2073 played. But no! I told Mike that I was sticking to my guns…not counting it as a course played. 🙂 I still got to enjoy a bit of bragging rights though, since the tournament organizers said that it was only the second known ace thrown on the “mini” course. At least as of the time I am writing and publishing this post.
After completing our long shift of “shaking hands and kissing babies” at the traveling museum, I half-asked, half-begged Mike if we could play a new course I could count in my courses played collection. The weather was looking ominous (Pla-Mor photos are “borrowed” off the DGCR website, since we were in a rush to play and got very wet), but I eventually convinced him to try and get a nine-holer a little northwest of Manitowoc added to both of our collections.
Pla-Mor DGC had some interesting shots. But Holes 3 and 9 had some major upkeep issues, particularly in Circle-1. And the more holes we played, the more ominous the weather became. Mike teased and said that his rule was that if he has taken even one shot on a course, he needs to finish! I agreed, as I didn’t want to leave this +1 (to my course collection) unplayed. But the deeper we got into the round, the wetter we became. And by Holes 8 and 9, we started hearing claps of thunder and seeing a flash or two of lightning. A stupid potential way to die…adding one more course to our course collections! 😀 But hey, if I’ve played in the remnants of a tropical storm in Asheville, North Carolina? What’s a garden variety thunderstorm in the Midwest?
Playing at the end in the driving rain, thunder and a bit of lightning (fully acknowledging the potential “stupid way to die”), I carded an even par 27. Only good enough for an estimated round rating of 860. But the important thing was the +1 in my courses played collection. As well as making it back to our AirBnB with Mike, alive. 🙂
Magic Number = -73 (2,073 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.