After doing my darnedest to keep six “roommates” (cats) happy last night and this morning, I thought I would set out to cross a few courses North of the Columbia River off of my To Play List. Two courses in particular have eluded me in the past: Hartwood DiscGolfPark and Yacolt Recreational Park.
Hartwood DiscGolfPark is a shorter recreational nine-hole course designed by Avery Jenkins. I had played just about everything else around the Portland metro area by the last two times I had visited…and wanted to cross Avery’s design off of my list. But both times, Avery told me that the course wasn’t quite ready to play. So I wasn’t going to let this weekend pass without checking out Avery’s design. And for a shorter recreational course? It was a lot of fun. Two basket positions for every hole (with two baskets), creating lots of potential variety in how to play the design. I liked it! My playing ability this morning, however, left something to be desired. I mustered a -6 (21) on the scorecard! But even playing the longs? That was only good enough for an estimated round rating of 889. I’ll get back there in the future and hang a score in the teens on that course, Avery…I promise! 🙂
My next stop on the morning, Hockinson Meadows in Hockinson, Washington, blew my mind. I had no idea what a treat I was in for before visiting that course! Easily one of my favorite 2-3 courses I have played in the State of Washington! And I probably played one of the top five rounds of my life.
By this point in the trip? My legs were gone. I’ve been battling a few injuries for a while now, and 67 holes in yesterday’s 90-100 F heat with little conditioning leading up to it all but did me in. So I played Hockinson, 7,083 feet in length over 18 holes, almost entirely with my upper body. Upon looking at the course map and scorecard before starting my round, I was thinking that anything under a +3 (60) would be a solid round for me. But I hit EVERY fairway. EVERY landing zone. And apart from missing a 35-foot putt for birdie on Hole 11 and a 30-foot putt for deuce on Hole 18? I hit EVERY putt. And when I dropped my putter in the Hole 18 basket, I finished with a -6 (51) and an estimated round rating of 999.
It wasn’t as much the score that made it one of my best rounds! It was how tired I was. How my legs were gone. The heat and humidity. All of those factors combined, to throw an estimated round of just under 1000 was ridiculous. I teased a few friends that I needed to call a press conference after that round to promptly announce my retirement from the sport, since I don’t know if I will ever have a round like that again. But there were more courses to be collected (and blog posts to write), so I decided to wait on calling that press conference… 🙂
After Hockinson, it was time to play the SUPER-short Kiwanis Park in Battle Ground. Put it this way: I carded a -10 (20) on this ten-hole course, and that was good enough for an estimated round rating of 814. Gotta hit at LEAST one ace in order to crack a 900-rated round on that 885-foot course. 🙂
In addition to playing Avery Jenkins’ design earlier in the day, I also owed Yacolt Recreational Park another visit. I had visited this course seven years ago, with my wife and daughters in tow. We drove all the way out to Yacolt from a housesit via TrustedHousesitters.com, only to find a locked gate. 🙁 It’s a LONG, winding drive to Yacolt, with it not really being on the way to/from anything…so that was a good 45-60 minutes wasted (with a wife and kids who BARELY tolerate and humor dad’s disc golf addiction as it is…ha!). But apart from watching cats at my housesit? I was flying solo this weekend…so I decided to give Yacolt one more chance.
Thankfully the park was open this time, with a young couple (who had disc golf discs with them) getting ready for their young child’s birthday party in a shelter. I chatted up the man a bit, then threw a quick eight-hole round. Not my best performance, a -4 (20) for an estimated round rating of 913. But I had finally redeemed myself on that LONG drive out to Yacolt, from a time when Barack Obama was still the President of the United States.
Before calling it a day, I decided to check out ONE MORE course, with the unusual name of “Steve’s Hole.” A private course that one can only play with permission. I had forgotten to email or text Steve Langston before the round, to make sure I wouldn’t be visiting with local police. But I decided to play it REAL QUICK, then beg Steve for forgiveness instead of permission (since everything that was on my mind resulted in that being a To Do I forgot to take care of prior to my trip). NOTE: Steve did later grant me forgiveness after I told him what happened earlier this evening, being the super nice guy that he is…hehe. My play on Steve’s Hole was so-so, carding a -4 (23) and an estimated round rating of 23. But I was happy, adding another +5 to my Courses Played Collection.
We’ll see what strength I can muster tomorrow, as there are still two more courses I would like to play on this mini-trip to Portland if I can…
Magic Number = –26 (2,026 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.