It’s been a rough few months. In regards to taking care of myself physically? It’s been a rough few years. 🙁 I LOVE where I live, and I LOVE what I do! But since I moved to Oregon, I work W-A-Y too much. Which has made it all but impossible to enjoy one of the things that gives me joy in life: playing disc golf.
I would always tell people that with all my health issues, my life is a very delicate ecosystem. If I don’t balance the “right” amount of work, with the “right” amount of sleep, the “right” amount of time with family and friends, the “right” amount of exercise? My life winds up looking more like a hazmat site. When I moved to Oregon in the Spring of 2022, it lifted my mood being able to see/hear/smell the Pacific Ocean pretty much whenever I wanted to! Our bank balances also went from “snug“ to healthy. I still cannot believe that moving to a place with as high a cost of living as the Oregon Coast has resulted in us going from “tight” to “comfortable” financially! But my exercise routine has been obliterated since moving here.
Averaging 5+ miles per day walked in Minnesota, along with the ability to play a couple hundred rounds of disc golf per year and keeping my cholesterol levels around 200 has turned into struggling to walk ten miles per week, being lucky to sneak in a round or two of disc golf per month, and a cholesterol level of 300. My health is a ticking timebomb…along with the pressure of needing to afford two daughters starting college (without tuition remission) in the Fall of 2024.
I still look longingly at my UDisc app almost every day, looking for all of the new places within at least reasonable driving distance that I can play! It is hard to find the time to get there, but this week, planets aligned as I needed to head up to Portland on a little business, and a little family business (seeing where our youngest daughter will be attending college in the Fall). Two new nine-hole courses had popped up on my UDisc unplayed courses map in the past year or so…and even though it was muddy and wet, I wasn’t going to miss my chance to play.
My first stop on the afternoon was at Fernhill Flats in Portland, Oregon. The course was incredibly muddy, and even though it was only sprinkling, I found the footing difficult to contend with. That, along with the fact that I hadn’t been able to play disc golf in a while, led to me shoot an underwhelming -4 (23) on a course where shooting in the teens should definitely be possible.
I think that course could be a fun rec round under better conditions! It isn’t more than your “average” nine-holer, in an “average” park. But if you needed a place to practice with your trusty DGA Steady putter or your DGA ProLine Squall? You could have some fun working on ace runs there.
After finishing up at Fernhill, we made our way East of town to Troutdale, to check out Donald Robertson Park. I have to say how impressed I was! Good tee surfaces, excellent signage! The only thing about this course was the long walks between a few of the holes, along with the long walk back from Hole 9 to the Hole 1 tee. Sometimes that just cannot be helped! But it took what would make for an otherwise outstanding little nine-hole recreational course and made it a little less than outstanding.
With better footing (on the tee surfaces, in particular), I shot much better on this short course…shooting a -7 (20) for an estimated round rating of 965. I REALLY wanted to shoot in the teens! But Holes 6 and 8 got me, darnit. 🙂 Still, a fun quick round. And if I lived in the area, that would be another fun place to work my Steady and Squall.
I am working hard to try and get my exercise routine back, walking over fifteen miles each weekend over the past few weeks. Getting more rounds of disc golf played is part of taking control of my physical health and getting back on track. Positive yardage…
Magic Number = -43 (2,043 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.