PizzaGod Disc Golf days

[Pizza God]

anyone who is facebook friends with me already see's this occasionally. I write these up after each of my trips.

I thought I would post it here too each time. If you don't care, don't read it. If you like reading it, click the Like button so I will keep doing it.

1120 Miles
28.5 hours
9 courses
96 holes
1 Security Check

Up to 1766 courses played
312 of those in Kansas
92 of those in Missouri

Played
Big Bull Creek (18 blue) – Edgerton KS
Lexington Lake (18 blue and red) – De Soto KS
Fort Leavenworth (9) – Fort Leavenworth KS
Riverview Park (9) – Platte City MO
Camp Branch (9) – Smithville MO
Grace Evangelical Church (9) – St. Joseph MO
Atchison HS (6 Red/White tees) – Atchison KS
Ray Miller Park (9) – Leavenworth KS
Edwardsville City Park (9) – Edwardsville KS

Ran solo this long trip. This was about cleaning up a couple of courses I missed or where new on the North side of KC area.
I didn't leave my store till 11pm and drove all the way to Edgerton. Got there at 6am and was going to sleep for an hour. Woke up to the alarm at 7, then I woke up again at 8:15. I fell asleep, so late start to the day.

Big Bull Creek has 2 sets of baskets on every hole, I played the longest layout on UDisc which included one hole with a Gold basket. However I did notice a Gold basket I didn't see and was not listed on UDisc for I guess hole 3? Anyways, this course is a mixture of decent holes in some trees with some elevation and several holes in the wide open with not much other than OB high grass. It was cold and I played fast, the wind was blowing from the east which made some of the holes in the open rather hard. I did not score well, was putting badly and I don't throw well into the wind.

I was heading north so I picked a course between where I was and to one of my goal courses. Lexington Lake is a little pitch and putt 9 hole course, I don't read review or anything about courses most of the time, I didn't know they had 2 pin position. After looking at the map, I elected to throw all 18 baskets anyways because they were different shots, not just longer holes. The course runs through an area they cleared out just for the course. It's still a little rough off the fairways, but the city has done a fantastic job clearing fairways and laying down mulch. I did enjoy throwing this course, it my favorite kind of course.

One of my goals for this trip was to knock out Fort Leavenworth. I have not tried to get on a military base in a long time. It took some time, but I was able to get a day pass and enjoyed my drive though the OLD base to the course. (The fort has been there for almost 200 years) The course is a simple 9 hole park style course with temp Mach II basket nailed down to the ground. Most of the tee pads were rubber and all 9 tee signs were in place. There is a restroom on site, but I didn't check to see if it was unlocked.

Over to Missouri, played Riverview Park in Platte City. Great elevation in use on this course. It is a little pitch and putt with a few good ace runs. I even splashed out on hole 8. HOWEVER it is also one of the more dangerous courses I have played with a gravel walking trail though the course. You are either teeing off the path or the basket is next to the path or you throw across the path on almost every hole.

I then went over to play a camp course. I knew basket #1 was missing and I saw that the park was closed for winter but UDisc says the course is playable. Well I pull up, put in $6 in the kiosk because I didn't want to assume it was free, pulled up and only one side of the gate was open. The other side said "Campgrounds closed for winter". Well I was not here for camping so I drove on to the course. As I was about to tee off on hole one, one of the workers came up telling them he didn't want to lock me in. He didn't say I couldn't play, just didn't want to lock me in. He said they were leaving at 3:30, I told them I will be done way before that. He did leave the gate open for me and I made sure I waved to him showing I was out of the park. It's a simple pitch and putt in some thick wooded area with nice fairways. Only a putter needed really. Baskets were homemade but caught ok. It's in the books, don't need to play again.

Drove north up to St Joseph to hit a course I could not fit in last time I was in that area. It's a new little church course that really isn't much. 1st hole is downhill with some trees to the left, these are the only tree's on the course. Hole 2 throws back up hill, then you have one next to the parking lot and the other 6 basket in a field behind the church. Hole 7 was a little 87ft hole I considered rethrowing till I got an ace. I think the only hole that was fun was the last hole, throwing from on top of a hill down to the basket.

I planned this route to hit a school course in a city I already played the other courses in. Atchison High School has 3 baskets randomly placed around the school. No tee's marked. UDisc has a Red and White tee's mapped so I just played all 6 of those tees. Course makes no sense, zero flow. Good spot to work on putting at the North West corner. The NE corner is flat open and good to work on upshots. The 3rd basket is on a small hill, good for putting but not to throw to as its near the football field fence, a walking path and the parking lot.

Still got plenty of daylight, headed BACK to Leavenworth to hit Ray Miller Park. This course is across the street from St Mary's course I played at dusk last year. Ray Miller has almost every tee throwing from the sidewalk. At first I thought it was just on UDisc till I noticed the hole numbers painted on the path. It's not a bad park course although it's mostly open. Best hole is #8, throwing down a well-defined fairway 500+ft with the basket up to the right in a nice large green.

Still had just enough time to hit another 9 hole course. Found one in Edwardsville I could knock out before it got too dark. This is a DD course that Eric McCabe had a hand in. It's a small pitch and putt course with only one hole being long. A couple of courses throw over a deep ravine that you DON'T want to be in. Unfortunately, there are almost no tree's except on the two holes throwing over the creek. But it served it purpose for me, one last quick round before I head home.

I elected to not stop and get something to eat. I tried to drive an hour then stop to get out and walk around, get gas, use the restroom or grab a snack. I did this every hour and made it home at 3:30am.

Next week I may do a little Texas Trip, I am going to try to hit a brand new John Houck course on Saturday.

Favorite course of the day – Lexington Lake's little 9 hole course was fun to play. I enjoyed throwing most of the holes. With 2 baskets, you can have twice the fun.

Best course of the day – Big Bull Creek, this was the only course that I played that was an 18 hole course. But it might have made this list even if I had played more. While the wide open holes annoyed me, the wooded section of the course was actually pretty good. I am sure the open holes play high grass OB so this would make the course better for the top pro's.

Worst course of the day, no question here, Riverview in Platte City while I did enjoy throwing this pitch and putt, those shots next to the gravel path were horrible. Several of them are blind due to evergreen tree's too. Super Dangerous if anyone is walking those paths.

Trip Log (@greens, I put the courses in the order I played them, however the trip log rearraigned them, that feature might be good to plan a trip, but not to show where I went)

 

[DiscoBriscoe]

That is course bagging right there. Much respect!

 

[sillybizz]

Yeah I was recently proud of myself for surpassing 400 courses played. Then I look at PizzaGod's almost 1700 and I'm like man I am an amateur. Good stuff, please continue these posts!

 

[Pizza God]

Yeah I was recently proud of myself for surpassing 400 courses played. Then I look at PizzaGod's almost 1700 and I'm like man I am an amateur. Good stuff, please continue these posts!

7 years ago I was under 400 courses played, I have just been on a tear the last few years. Don't forget I have been playing for 30+ years, have always been a "course collector" in that every time I went anywhere, I always tried to play a course I had not played before.

Of course I have taken it to a new level that last few years. It's probably unhealthy, I will probably die on a course or worst a accident while driving.

I try to get my wife to go and help with the driving. Even if she only drives for an hour, that is an hour of rest I can get. This week I elected to not eat a meal after I finished because I don't last long after eating before I start to fall asleep. So instead I picked up some peanuts and nibbled on those till I got home. I almost did pull over to take a nap at one point, I just wanted to get home before DFW rush hour traffic.

Looks like Emporia area this week, another "clean up" of courses east of Emporia and south of Topeka. Several small town 9 hole courses on the agenda, those are my personal favorite trips.

Mostly I want to hit a seasonal course in Emporia before the baskets get pulled for the summer.

 

[wolfhaley]

How many courses do you have left to play in Kansas?

 

[Pizza God]

How many courses do you have left to play in Kansas?

according to DGCR, I have played 293/355 playable courses. So it looks like about 68 or so. I played 146 Kansas courses last year. I am still way behind the #1 and #2 course collectors in Kansas, Breaking the chains and Chained Evil. But it is funny that a Texan is #3 in Kansas courses played and I have never lived outside of Texas

 

[wolfhaley]

Keep writing these things up. I love reading stuff like this on here.

What are your other 2 "favorite" courses. I seen Lester Lorch Coyote and Idlewild but your map is so damn packed I feel like the other two might require a lot of zooming in to find.

 

[Pizza God]

What are your other 2 "favorite" courses. I seen Lester Lorch Coyote and Idlewild but your map is so damn packed I feel like the other two might require a lot of zooming in to find.

I don't "Favorite" courses often, actually I don't do it at all anymore

The ones I have "Favorited" right now

PoliPoli in Maui HI. It's listed as "extinct" but its there. You can look up "High Country" on UDisc to find the unlisted map for it. It's my favorite course I have ever played BECAUSE it was in Hawaii.

Idlewild - funny story on this one, I book a B&B for a trip to see a specialist for my wife. When looking to see what courses were "Must plays" in the area, I realized the B&B was less than a mile from Idlewild. I didn't do that on purpose no matter what the wife thinks.

Lester Lorch X2. Beaver and Coyote - They are killer courses I use to drive down to play all the time. However I could probably name 10 courses in Texas that I enjoy more. Circle C in Austin is one of my favorites. Shawshank in Huntsville is another.

 

[wolfhaley]

That's funny about Idlewild. I would've totally thought you drove there for that one alone. I also didn't check Hawaii either lol.

 

[Pizza God]

68 Miles
2 1/2 hours
2 courses
18 holes

Up to 1768 courses played
699 of those in Texas

Played
RS America (9) - Fort Worth
The Hawk's Nest (9) - Irving

Yep, played disc golf on a Sunday. Just picking up a couple of DFW courses I had not played yet to inch closer to #700 in Texas. Both of these courses are not generally open to the public.
RS America is 9 baskets around RS America's parking lot. No tee's marked, the numbers on the baskets were pretty faded but I had a map of the baskets to know which one to throw to. I could not find this on UDisc but it's listed on DGCR. Just did a quick one disc round in case I was approached by security.

Next drove over to The Hawk's Nest in Irving. This is on the campus of a school so it's not available on school days. When I first got there I was really confused because all the gates from the parking lot where locked. But when walking the fence line, I saw an open gate on the other side of the building. I walked around and sure enough, the gates on that side were open. So instead of starting on hole 1, I stared at hole 5 and played my round. This course is mostly a pitch and putt course. It does have a couple of 300ft holes though including one across the track.

I actually played pretty fast because I did have to go to work, made it to work with 8 minutes to spare.

Things go right this week, heading to Kansas to get in a seasonal course in Emporia, the trying to play the Grand Opening of a new #John Houck, Houck Design course west of Waco next weekend for Texas course #700.

 

[TheOtherBill]

Let me know when you head to the Houck design and I might take a few guys down and meet you there.

 

[Pizza God]

Let me know when you head to the Houck design and I might take a few guys down and meet you there.

Grand Opening is this next Saturday, John sent me a personal invitation to come out, said he would work me in. I messaged him to set up a tee time and was going to make a FB post if anyone wanted to play a round. I will be going on little sleep and have to get back to Carrollton around 4pm for work. (Why I am trying to book 10am tee sign, 3 hours to play and a 3 hour drive to work)

 

[Pizza God]

960 Miles
29 ½ hours
11 courses
127 holes
1 ace

Up to 1779 courses played
323 of those in Kansas

Played
West Franklin High School (9) – Pomona
Camp Chippewa (9) – Ottawa
Pomona State Park (9) – Vassar
Lyndon (19) – Lyndon
Eisenhower State Park (18) – Osage City
Kids Pond Micro DGC (9) – Lebo
Hartford Jaguars (18) – Hartford
Neosho Rapids (9) – Neosho Rapids
Riley's DGC (9) – Emporia
Soden's Grove (9) – Emporia
Eureka Lions (9) - Eureka

Small town madness

These are my personal favorite types of trips, going from small town to small town playing quick little courses that are forced into small spaces.
Got my driver manager to come in to finish closing, was on the road before 10pm and made it all the way to Pomona with only 2 stops for gas and food. Set the alarm to get in a 2 hour nap.

West Franklin High School has 9 baskets located behind the school (and fence) going around the sports fields. There are small cement tee boxes, but no signage. I started at dawn to finish up before anyone showed up to kick me off the course. Mostly field golf, the are a couple of holes next to a fence line that had some tree's. This forced some turnover or forhand shots. Other than that, a couple of holes had some elevation with the hill built to level the sports field. As I was getting in my car and starting to back out of the parking place, I saw a local police officer pull into the parking lot and turned towards me. I ignored him and went for the exit. As I pulled out to the street, he made a u-turn and didn't follow me. I got the course in, that is all that matters to me.

Drove back to Camp Chippewa. The office hours stated they were not suppose to be there till 9. I did see it said you could pay a fee if you went online, so I made a donation to the course and played a quick round. Only 2 of the holes were wooded, most were pretty open. But it did have a couple of decent holes. I thought it was kind of long for a summer camp course. But it was a full blown DD course with cement tee pads, map and tee signs. I didn't see a sole out there, nothing but horses.

Next up was Pomona State Park. This is an older course with single chain Discatcher basket in a small park like setting. All the holes are under 300ft, no tee signs so having a map (UDisc) helps. Best part, the restrooms were open and even had a heater in it.

Lyndon's course has 10 baskets (one is suppose to be a practice basket) and 19 tee's. Most of the holes have tee pads, but a couple do use sidewalks. Note that hole 10 says 10A on it. I didn't know what it meant till I finished my round. Other than being a smallish park, several of the holes are very interesting and decent holes. Biggest issue is other park users. The walking path does come into play and so do the outfields of some of the ball fields. Hole 5 has a pavilion in the middle of the fairway, however it is now used as a triple mando. A lot of work has been done on the green for hole 9/18, layered green with a raised basket. Walking back to the car, I noticed 10B written on the sidewalk to throw to the practice basket. So while not listed on UDisc, I played it anyways.

Eisenhower State Park I almost a championship level course. It's pretty long and does have mowed defined fairways although for the winter it was all pretty short. Most of the course is pretty open with only a few tree's. Some of the holes throw WAY to close to picnic shelters including hole 3 that I actually hit the picnic table on my drive. The most memorable hole was #15, Throwing from the top of a hill, over an inlet of the late to a basket on the other side. UDisc had this as 420ft. I didn't want to loose one of my drivers, but I had found a speed 13 disc with no name earlier so I figured why not. That disc hung out rather well and cleared the water landing on the edge of the rough in circle 2 area. Missed the putt though.

Kids Pond Micro course by Houck Designs. A short little course around a pond and some large trees. Each Tee sign has a piece of history from the town like that the park was purchased by the town in 1892. Even mentioned the Smith Shop that is on it's 5th generation running it. With a couple of holes less than 100ft, I just brought 4 putters with me and threw most of them on every hole. I did hit a lot of metal but only got one to stick. The park did have another 18 hole layout on UDisc and I could see some stakes in the ground marking tee's. But it's not the official layout so I didn't bother.

Now to the town of Hartford that has installed an 18 hole course though the town. I mean literally though the town. Using vacant lots and church property, this course has holes throwing across and down streets. The tee pads looked very new, this course was not even mapped on UDisc yet. But I had printed a map and didn't have much problems figuring out where to go. The polls for tee signs were in, but no signs yet. Other than a lot of walking, I actually enjoyed playing this course.

Neosho Rapids was another interesting course. Hole 1 has a fence behind it so I ran hard at the basket, glanced off the band and hit the fence for the easy 2. I then walk over to hole 2 and could see the next tee right behind it. This happened on several holes where the tee box for the next hole was next to the basket. One hole 4, I hit metal, well the metal of the tee sign for hole 5 and my disc was laying under the basket.

Riley's DGC is sandwiched between the old highway and the interstate. Riley has a nice little 9 hole course with alternate tee's set up. A couple of longer bombs to start and a few technical holes including 2 shots over the pond in his back yard. On hole 9, I threw two shots, one over the highway that landed under the basket, the other shot I tried to throw straight at it but hyzered out early into the tree line. I get up there and it's part of the pond. I look and could see red in the water, go get my poll, managed to dig out the disc and it wasn't mine. I looked around in the water and could not see another disc as I was about to leave and I noticed a red disc in a thorn bush I could not see from the fairway side. The bush was so thick of thorns I had to use my poll to get the disc out of the bush. At least I found my disc.

The main reason I did Kansas again this week was because I watched a video of Eric McCabe playing Soden's Grove. This is a temp course that is not normally in the ground except for special events. In the video he says the baskets will be in till the first week of April. Well, I planned this trip JUST to his this course and clear out the rest. This was the ONLY course I saw any other golfers out on. Several groups out too. This is an enjoyable park style course with VERY large tree's. All the holes were under reachable so it's kind of a pitch and putt. I really did enjoy my round here.

Still had enough daylight for another course. I really didn't have it in me to play a full 18 hole course so I skipped Jones park's redesign. I headed south to Eureka to hit that new little 9 hole course. Lions Park is another small park with everything crammed into it. Hole was was crazy throwing around the tennis court. Hole 3 had a mando FORCING you to throw down a walking path. Oh, and most of the holes used the walking path as a tee box. Hole 5 played the sidewalks and across OB with several large tree. Hole 8 is a very small island hole with the gravel driveway around it. Typical small town course, exactly what I needed to cap my day off.

The drive home was kind of rough. I usually take the shortest mileage home. That put me driving back though Tulsa and down the Turnpike to 69. I had to pull over at the Love on the turnpike as I was starting to fall asleep. Took an hour nap and was good to go the rest of the way home.

Well, I am at work right now, closing at midnight tonight and then getting up at 7am to drive out to a grand opening of the newest John Houck course at L&J Ranch. The whole reason I went out last Sunday and played 2 local course was to make L&J Texas course #700 for me. I have no idea where I might head this next Thursday, MS, MO, OK, KS, TX, TN, or LA. I have trips planned for them all depending on weather.

Favorite course of the day – Gong with Soden's grove. I enjoyed Riley's course too, but the big tree's and old park at Soden's Grove tipped the scales to this was my favorite round. I found myself wanting to throw 2nd shots on most of the holes.

Best course of the day – Eisenhower State park is the only course I played that the top pro's would be challenged on if you have OB's marked. It's mostly open, but the top pro's could reach those 400-500ft holes with the right show. Me, it was layup my drive then a layup shot to the basket.

Worst course of the day, you would think it would be the course playing though town, but actually the worst course was Neosho Rapids. Between being a dangerous course if anyone else had been at the park, the holes that didn't have other park equipment in play were mostly wide open shots. Just never put in a course with cement tee pads in circle 1 please. Shoot, especially in the "bullseye" range.



Road Trip 3/28/24

 

[Pizza God]

316 Miles
8 1/2 hours
1 Course
18 Holes
3 Texas Hall of Fame members

Up to 1780 courses played
700 of those in TEXAS

Played
Legacy Trails @ L & J Ranch (18) - Gatesville

A couple of weeks ago I got a personal message from John Houck, Houck Design inviting me to play his newest course for the grand opening. Of course I had to make it happen. Several people noticed I played a couple of DFW courses last weekend when I normally only play on Thursdays. Well, that was to get in Texas course #698 and #699 just so I could make this event Texas course #700.

What I didn't realize till I got there at 10am was they were having everyone wait till John got there to officially open the course. I also didn't realize it till John put me on the first card with Laura Coffey and Ed Coffey that no one had played the course yet, not even John. So the first throw on the new course was my shot right into one of the cedar trees to the right of the basket

That was an unexpected honor, thanks John.

The course is a rec course. I would consider this a throwback course. Most of the holes are under 300 with a couple of the open shots over 300 and the one par 4 hole clocking in over 500ft. Most of the holes are very technical shots though the trees. In typical Houck fashion, many of these holes had choices of lines to throw.

I also noticed a couple of the greens had drop offs after the basket. Over throws on these holes put you further than you were expecting. Specially the dam hole. Nice green with the pond on the right and a deep drop off to the left. I was just short on this hole, hitting the bank and dropping back into the water. This was after having my putt on the hole before this land in the water going for my birdie.

The owners of this course had no ties to disc golf. I don't think any of them have even thrown a disc. But they were gracious hosts today, even cooked up some hot dogs and nachos for lunch.

I did add this course to DGCR and will link it below with all the pictures I took. I also did a review there too giving the course 4 1/2 stars. I really enjoyed my round and while this is not a destination course, this is a GREAT place to rent a cabin and spend the day playing a leisure round of disc golf.
Oh, I should mention that not only did you have John Houck out there who is not just a Texas Disc Golf Hall of Fame member, but a WORLD Disc Golf Hall of Fame member, we also had myself and Joey Harrell playing. Both of us Charter members of the Texas Disc Golf Hall of Fame.

 

[Pizza God]

well, might be my last post for a while, drama at the store. Looks like no more Thursdays off. We will see.

Anyone in the DFW area looking for a part time job delivering pizzas?

 

[Pizza God]

716 miles
24 Hours
5 Courses
76 holes
1 ace
5 strike outs

Up to 1785 courses played
243 of those in Oklahoma

Played
Belle Starr (18) – Eufaula
Koweta DGC (9) – Coweta
John Zink (18) – Skiatook
The Nest (18) – Stroud
The Ace Place (9) – Tecumseh

Last second trip. I literally did not know I was playing till 10pm on Wednesday night. I was not ready at all. But I do keep my shoe's and a back pack in the car with a change of clothes for when I do make my disc golf trips. Well I finished closing and the paperwork just before midnight and headed out solo just to Oklahoma. I read on one of the Oklahoma FB pages about a new course on Lake Eufaula that just got installed a couple of weeks ago.

Well, I stopped about ½ way and had to find that post to see which park the course was put in as it is currently unlisted. I got there about 4am to find that they do not unlock the gates till 6am, so I drove back and found a place to park and take a 2 hour nap.

Pulled into the park before the sun came up, drove around and started to see baskets and tee boxes. I did try to map out the course in my head by driving around following the natural flow of the course trying to figure out which was hole one. Turns out I started on hole 11. As I was playing, I noticed the baskets are numbered. So the course is cut into the woods and edges of the woods/camping spots. The course is rough because I don't think it's getting any play yet. Tee posts are in, but no signs. Several of the tee boxes had limbs on them I had to move. At least 2 of the tee boxes were not built yet, but the poll was there and flags marked the tee area. The course has some very long holes but it's not a championship level course in my opinion. My biggest issues is the wooded holes are almost all straight shots. I mean if the fairway is 20ft wide, the basket was right in the middle when it could/should have been tucked to one side forcing a shot. I believe it was hole 12 might have been a 1000ft hole throwing along the edge of the woods and the RV camping spots on your right. Turn your drive over and you are GOING to hit a camper. Hole18 was the same way, 750ft with RV spots that were occupied on my left and the lake on my right. I am interested in reading some other reviews of this course. I sort of liked it and thought it was a horrible design at the same time.

Next up was strike 1. I drove by Kiddy Lake in Okmulgee to see if it had baskets. Very pretty park, would love to play a course here. But no course "yet" I did change the condition on UDisc from "Good" to Caution no baskets.

Next I drove up to Coweta to play the Koweta DGC. This is a family friendly little 9 hole course around the Koweta Indian Community Center and smoke shop. The longest hole was only 230 ft. I did manage to ace hole 2 and hit all the others with birdies thanks to a circle 2 putt on the last hole.

John Zink in Skiatook is just north of Tulsa. This is your typical park style course that is not a pitch and putt, but not long either. Most of the holes have large tree's but you can hyzer at most of the baskets. With most of the holes 280 to 320ft, My wraiths were on fire. I was putting on almost every hole. It's not the best course in the Tulsa area, but it is not the worst either.

I had planned on playing the Tall Chief Cove course in Sperry. When I pulled in I found out the course is located in a camp ground and they do not have any sort of day pass for that section of the park. You have to rent a camping spot for $24. Well, I knew basket 6 was missing, but I was informed from the people in the entrance gate that it was in bad shape with only 6 baskets. I elected to not pay for a camping spot and went on my way. Strike #2.

On my way to check a church camp course I passed PostOak Lodge, I didn't think I would try to play, but since I was passing by, I stopped in. They are in the process of redesigning and expanding the course to 18 holes. I asked if the original 9 hole course was available and was informed they JUST pulled the baskets out of the ground. Strike 3. The good thing, I was invited back to play the new 18 hole course for FREE (normally $15 day pass)

I figured I would head towards Stillwater and stop at Camp Victory on the way. I got to the camp but the gate was half closed. I tried to call from the call box, then found the phone number of the came online and tried to call. No answers so strike #4 and I headed on my way.

As I was looking at UDisc, I noticed a course slightly closer to me near Stroud. That was between me and the next courses I wanted to play anyways, so I skipped Stillwater and headed that way. The last couple of miles had me going down gravel roads and then I saw the first basket. As I pulled into the parking area, I looked over to a lake and realized it was Eagle Valley, a course I played a while back. They installed a 2nd course in the park that is much shorter, heavy wooded and uses the elevation and rock outcroppings rather well.

The Nest is a more rec friendly course that is mostly wooded, not too many long holes but is not exactly cart friendly either. The holes along the rock ridge were fun. I even found a couple of snakes, a little ring neck and a hog nose that I almost stepped on. I loved my round here. There are even a couple of holes you get to air it out along with a mostly technical hole course.

Down to Shawnee to play the Ace Place. This kid friendly course is just what it is suppose to be. I actually ran into Brandon Handy who designed the course for kids and for disc golfers to have fun running aces. As he said, the eventual plan is to turn it into a more putt putt like course like the Flying Armadillos course that is very popular in San Marcus.

Well, talking to Brandon, I found out that both the course at OBU and IBC had been redesigned. I knew IBC had added holes but I didn't have it on my agenda. I started to head over there but changed my mind when I stopped for gas, I elected to drive into OKC to play a little 9 hole church course.

I got to First Southern Baptist Church looked like a fun little course, I was following another player and he walked back to his car after hole 3 and drove to the other side of the church. I finished hole 3 and went to throw hole 4. That is when I noticed he was locking the gates to the church. Found out I had to leave without finishing my round. On well, strike #5, I will have to finish the course another day.

I wanted to finish in OKC to eat at Tuckers. I saw several video's and read about the place looking for good burger joints last time we were in the area. My wife didn't want to go last time so I figured I would stop by before I headed home. As I posted, I was not impressed. In fact I put it as one of the worst burgers I have ever had. The meat was fine, but the onions were very sour like they were old. On another trip that I played the course in El Reno, we stopped at an old place there and I really like that one.

After eating, was the 3 hour drive home that I pretty much did with one rest room stop.

favorite course of the day – The Nest was worth the trip. I like playing courses where I can reach most of the holes with the right shot. The course is on the side of a hill and has elevation, but I didn't have any issues other than dragging the cart over the rocks.

Best course of the day – Well I only played 5 courses, 2 of them were very short pitch and putt courses. I have to say Belle Star was the only course with a couple of par 4 and maybe a par 5 hole.

Worst course of the day – HOWEVER I also put Belle Star as the worst course of the day. Safety issues are abundant with holes running too close to camp sites. Shoot, I was playing before 9am and had to deal with people walking between the lake and their camp site. On top of that, several holes were not designed very well. They used some clearings for electric lines, however both the tee and the baskets were in the center of the clearing. That made these holes very simple. Only a couple of holes ended to the left or right. I am not counting that the course has been in the ground for less than a month and is not finished yet.

anyways, we will see what this week brings. I don't know if I will be out or not yet.

 

[Pizza God]

1004 Miles
32 Hours
8 courses
112 holes

Up to 1793 courses played
94 of those in Missouri
329 of those in Kansas

Played
Black Hoof "The Tips" (18) – Lenexa KS
Shawnee Country Club (4) – Shawnee KS
WyCo DGC (18) – Bonner Springs KS
Heartland Center DGC (18) – Parkville MO
English Landing (9) – Parkville MO
City Park DGC (18) – Kansas City KS
So-Ko-Par DGC (9) – Lenexa KS
Wolf Den DGC (18) – Olathe KS

Closing in on 1800, did get away from the store at 10pm, made it all the way to Lenexa with just 3 stops and took an hour nap in the parking lot till the sun came up. Black Hoof has 2 and sometimes 3 tee boxes with White, Blue and a couple of Red baskets. I played the longest layout called "The Tips" which included the red tee's and baskets. Most of the course is carved out of thick wooded areas. It looks like the city or local golfers have been working hard on landscaping the course. There are several rock lines on a couple of the holes. They have recently seeded the fairways too and the grass was starting to come in green. It's going to be very pretty someday. The course does have some very long holes with very little left and right play. Several holes are throw long and straight as far as you can. You DO NOT want to be off the fairway, you will regret it. While it's not the best course in Kansas, it has got to be one of the hardest for sure.

It took me nearly 2 hours to play Black Hoof, I drove up to Shawnee to play a little 4 hole practice area. This actually has tee markers, but is just 4 longer holes across a field with a hill in play. It was a long walk from 4 back to 1 for sure. The wind was really blowing at this point. Thankfully this course played with the wind.

I was hitting courses along my "clear line" I try to work my way across area clearing out all the courses. This put WyCo up next. Another course with 2 sets of baskets, shorter DD Vet baskets and probably the original Mach III baskets in the longs. I did play to the long basket positions in the high winds. WyCo is mostly long and pretty open. Distance is key to scoring well here. Most holes were out of my range so I was playing par golf.

Continuing around KC, Heartland Center Church Camp came up next. Went in and signed a waver/check in sheet. Asked if they had a donation box for the course because they don't charge when you can play it. The course was originally a 9 hole course around the buildings, but they have added another 9 holes up and around a large hill. The original 9 are mostly short technical type of shots. Some of them were pretty fun. The back side actually had a couple of longer holes including hole 16 that was almost 500ft down the side of the hill. The new layout actually had tee signs for every hole, but they have DB5 single chain baskets that do not catch well, especially in the wind.

I do try to play long then short courses, especially when they are close together. English Landing is next to downtown between the railroad tracks and the Missouri River. This course recently had a minor change where hole 1 has been changed and the other holes were renumbered. Mostly flat with some long holes with very large tree's. You do have to be careful of walkes/joggers, but it was not as bad as it could have been. I will say the town looked pretty cool. There is also some old buildings you can see from the park at a school that looked pretty cool.

Back to Kansas to play City Park. This is a very hilly shorter course on top of a hill. With the wind, it was rough. I had some drives go crazy. This course has a main layout with DD Vet Baskets and then a set of Marksmen baskets in a longer pin position. I just played the regular baskets as I hate Marksmen and with the wind, I didn't feel like spending more time putting than playing. It was a fun little course, it's also had some upkeep with some added little things. And the restrooms were open.

I was going to play a school course last, I did call Bogie Barn and he said the course was not available. So I hit a little pitch and putt course in Lenexa. 9 holes all under 200ft. It was almost a par 2 course, I only missed the last hole mostly because the basket was missing due to construction so I played the hole to basket #1 instead. The only 3 I took. Out of all the courses I played, this was the only one I saw more than one other group out on the course.

Wolf Den DGC is in Olathe, it's a Middle School yard course that wasn't too bad. Mostly open with a couple of holes back in a heavy wooded area with plenty of trash tree's. The course starts at the north side of the school with a couple of holes though a small grove of large tree's. The course then throws across the front of the school including an island hole. A couple of holes following the wooded property line on the south side to the back west section of the property that does have some thick woods. These holes are carved out of the cedar tree's mostly. A couple of them are decent shots. You finish with another island hole across the parking lot. This hole is horrible in that you actually can't see any cars from the tee. Either lay it up then throw across, or risk coming up short and hitting a car or someone. The basket is on the side of a hill with the school behind it. While I do like the hole, hopefully if you play it, no one is around.

Favorite course of the day – tough one, I am going with the City Park course because I think I had the most fun playing it. While I hate walking up and down hills, I enjoyed the challenge of the wind and hills effecting the disc.

Best course of the day, no question here, Black Hoof is a championship level course from the longs. One of the holes was a very long 1000ft hole straight though the heavy woods with about a 30-40ft wide fairway. I don't have the arm to throw over tree's, so I don't know if there was a giant hyzer shot over the trees. I just threw my straightest driver and attempted to stay in the fairway. (I failed)

Worst course of the day – No question here, the little 4 basket "practice area" in Shawnee. Sure it actually had tee's marked and numbered baskets, but there was not one single tree to throw around or to try to avoid. It did have some distance though and a hill to throw off of. But that freaking walk from basket 4 back to hole 1 was crazy. If I where to practice here, I would just throw back basket to basket making up my own tee's. I mean you are not going to find anyone else out here playing.

DGCR Road Trip Log

 

[johnrhouck]

What I didn't realize till I got there at 10am was they were having everyone wait till John got there to officially open the course. I also didn't realize it till John put me on the first card with Laura Coffey and Ed Coffey that no one had played the course yet, not even John. So the first throw on the new course was my shot right into one of the cedar trees to the right of the basket

That was an unexpected honor, thanks John.

Bryan, it was great to see you -- so glad you made it down. The owners and I were all honored to have you make the first throw and to make L & J your 700th Texas course. Hope to see you again somewhere soon.