After approximately eighteen hours of meetings with colleagues in the Oregon Small Business Development Center Network the past two days, and after saying some quick goodbyes to several friends, I hit the road to try and play three new courses a little Southeast of Eugene, Oregon. After a beautiful drive down Highway 58, then shouting an obligatory: “Daaaaaammmmmm!” (no ‘n’ included) after seeing Lookout Point Dam (an inside joke my oldest daughter and I have shared for years), I arrived at Old Mill DGC in Oakridge, Oregon.
Old Mill DGC oozed character and charm! Although I had to groan, as on the second (of eighteen) holes, I got a little too close to what looked like casual water that was about a foot deep. I needed to step in it to help keep my balance, only to end up being literally hip-deep in muck and water. Gross. So I got to play the last 16+ holes on the course covered hips to feet in mud.
I’m sure I was quite a sight for the other players making their way around the course! 🙂 But despite my appearance, I had a good time. What I liked about Old Mill was the variety. Some wide-open tee shots to let ‘er rip! Other highly technical, wooded holes (like Hole 5 above), where you needed to be extremely precise in how you attacked the basket. A few of the holes were difficult to navigate, so I used the UDisc app quite a bit to help me get from hole to hole.
For being up to my hips in mud? I actually played the course pretty solid. Shooting a -2 (52), for an estimated round rating of 959. I left a few deuces out on the course that I probably should have gotten. But I was just happy my right shoe didn’t stay on the course…covered in three feet of mud and water. 🙂
After finishing up at Old Mill, I made my way over to another park in town, a couple of miles West, to knock out a quick four holes at Osprey Park. A four-hole course almost feels like cheating, when it comes to keeping a count of unique courses played! 🙂 But since DGCourseReview.com considers it a course? I consider it a course. And I shot a quick -4 (8) over four holes, for an estimated rating of 972.
After Osprey Park, I decided that I had enough daylight left to also play Office Bridge at Portal Park in Westfir, Oregon. This is a course that is about one year old, and most course directories shared little to no information about it. So I thought it was a great chance to take a bunch of photos to share on DGCourseReview.com. As well as give the course a little publicity in this blog.
I thought the course was fun, and very challenging! However, course maintenance since it opened seemed as though it might be lacking…as the course was almost a little TOO tough. The course is absolutely COVERED in Himalayan Blackberry plants. An invasive species in Oregon, I’ve probably left a few pints of blood in Oregon as a result of needing to retrieve discs from these plants over the years. And fairway after fairway on the course was lined with blackberries. Meaning that if it is a windy day, and/or you don’t possess a great deal of skill off the tee? You might be going home bloodied and/or with a little less plastic in your bag or backpack.
I held my own on the 5,923-foot course, finishing with a +1 (56) for an estimated round rating of 953. Though honestly, I was just happy for not needing to send up a flare…seeing if a search party could come and detangle me from a few dozen thorny stems.
I’m going to try and sneak in two more courses tomorrow if I can! But for tonight, I am happy adding another +3 to my course collection.
Magic Number = -13 (2,013 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.