Mach III Re-fit....

I was getting bored with the Mach III basket and decided it was time for a re-fit. It was time to finally get the basket truly portable. I ordered a portable pole and base from DGA. Instead of using nuts & bolts to put everything together I was going to update it so the basket could be taken down quickly & easily.

But first, I needed to get the new paint done. I decided to make the basket super visible. I painted everything with a base white. Then a heavy duty orange enamel layer topped off with a flourescent orange. To keep orange paint off any oncoming plastic I finished the paint with a satin clear coat.

The final touch was painting the Spotsy club logo on the number plate. I really like how it turned out...

Now I had to modify the basket, base & pole to fit the PNC post by drilling the holes a little bigger which was a non-factor. I added 12" fishing leader wires to attach the posts to the basket so they would not get lost during transport.

The PNC posts worked perfectly. They hold the basket together and will not work loose, bend or strip out like bolts & nuts. It makes taking apart & putting together the basket so much easier.

 With a little thought and planning I now have my Mach III ready for use anywhere. First stop will be the Hawk Hollow Open coming in October.

Red Oak Rumble

I went up to LaPlata, Md to play in the Red Oak Rumble. Jerry & Billy were hosting their first PDGA event at the new Turkey Hill disc golf course. Since they always come down for our tournaments I wanted to support their events.

The rub here is that the Open, Advanced & Intermediate divisions were going to play from the long blue tees. Ronnie and I drove up the previous Wednesday to get some practice in and there was no way I could play 2 rounds on that set up.

So I decided to drop down to the Rec division. I felt pretty much ashamed and a little dirty but I'm only an 850 rated player and probably never going to get much better no matter how much I practice.

I was feeling pretty good I had been practicing putts in the backyard for about an hour every day for the past 2 weeks...

Including me 5 Spotsy guys traveled up for the first PDGA sanctioned event at the new Turkey Hill Disc Golf Course. I really like this course if you ever get the chance play it. 

The Rec division was playing from the Red tees (Short Tees) both rounds the second round would play the long basket positions. The first round I did okay, not too many mistakes I couldn't recover from. My biggest problem this round was missing the drives on super short 11 & 12. I failed to hit the easy birdies on both holes. But I managed a 57 (+2) and was in third place behind two tied at even par.

The second card all four of us were within four strokes of each other. This round I completely fell apart on my putting. I missed four birdie putts, some as close as 10'. I missed several par saving putts from within 20'. It was a complete disaster within the circle. The only saving grace was that the other three on my card were not doing much better.

That round should have been 62. The lead card played so bad that the second guy on the chase card shot a 61 and ended up winning by one. But I was able to hang on for third.

Red Oak Rumble PDGA Scores

It wasn't a bad day after all. I finished 3rd in Red, Ronnie took 2nd in Intermediate & Cody won the Open division.

I'm pretty sure if I play any more tournaments I'm just going to play Rec. No matter how much I practice or play I will always be an 850 rated player. Maybe one day I'll win one...

Mike Sale: The Quest for 2,500

Starting on Friday, October 11 at noon Mike Sale began his attempt to regain his
world record of most disc golf holes played in 24 hours. In 2013 Mike
set the record at a course in California by playing 1,310 holes. But
that record was broken by Cody MIller in Richmond, Texas. He played
1,637 in May of 2014.

This attempt was also a way for Mike to raise awarness and funds for
students affected by the shooting at the University of California Santa
Barbera where he is a student. So far he has raised $1,500. 

Donate to Fighting School Violence

Mike was determined to regain the record and put it out of reach for any
challengers. The Tiki course at The Blockhouse would be perfect. With a
support team that included his parents and friends and a sponsorship
from Discraft. Mike played each hole with two assistants following him
making sure he always had a disc ready to go at every tee pad or basket.
One person was always with Mike at all times calling in the score of
each hole by pocket radio to a score keeper. 

Each hole on the TIki course was aced at a minimum of once during the
attempt. A brisk pace was the order of the day as he had reached 500 by
the third hour and he continued that pace reaching 1,000 by hour six. At
2:07 am Saturday morning he broke the current record and still had 14
hours to go. By sunrise he had passed 2,200 holes and was still going
strong. By 10am he was at 2,700 holes played. With about 30 minutes left
in the 24 hours Mike decided to stop on a specific number  and at 23
hours 57 minutes he stopped at 2,900 disc golf holes played.

The world record is unofficial until the details are submitted to Guiness World Record officals.

During his 24 hours on the Tiki course Mike walked 80.5 miles playing 161.11
rounds, completing 2,900 holes and hitting 114 aces. An average of 2
holes per minute.

Last Day of Vacation

I took a week off from work to burn up some vacation time before I end up losing it. Stayed at home and go a lot of stuff done. Played some disc golf, bused up my foot.

But today was for riding.

The weather is just starting to cool down and up on Skyline you need a jacket in some stretches of road. It was a great day before heading back to work.

2014 River City Open

The Summer is winding down and for some moronic reason I decided to try my skills at disc golf again. I signed up for the River City Open at The Village. I had been playing better this summer (not much better, but better) there were going to be a lot of Spotsy players there and the entry fee was reasonable.

Let's just say, "It wasn't the day I was hoping for." I did improve my total score by 10 strokes from the last tournament I played there but the result was the same. Dead Fucking Last in Advanced Grandmasters and would have bee 4th from DFL in intermediate.

Red from Shawshank Redemption said, "Hope can be a dangerous thing."

He was right. Some people just will never be better at something no matter how much they practice or work at something. Disc golf is one of those things for me. I don't mind not winning. I've been a loser all my life so that's not the issue. Sadly for me I'm kinda used to being last. I don't like it but that's another issue.

I would just like to be competitive.

Make it respectable....

The first round was not as bad as it looked. A couple of putts spit out and I missed 3 birdie putts. It could have easily been 60-61. But the short birdie holes that I should have easily parked I just couldn't seem to hit the line. And there is nothing like the feeling of 3-putting a birdie tee shot and walking to the next hole scoring a bogey.

The second round was a total disaster. Several terrible drives off the tee that automatically sent me fighting to save bogey. I did putt better the second round. (mostly to save bogey) I did have one amazing shot on 4 out of the woods across the open field and back through the woods and parked it for a drop in but that was for a bogey. 

Hope is a dangerous thing...

Seneca Sun Seeker

I drove up to Gaithersburg, Maryland to photograph a friend that was hosting his inaugural Seneca Sun Seeker at Seneca Creek State Park.

I had never been there and it is a beautiful 27 hole course with everything you need for a great disc golf experience.

Luckily it was an overcast day. The downside was there were some pretty dark areas in the woods that pushed the limits of my gear. But if the sun had been out much it wold have beat me down completely. I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep when I got home.

Bobby put on a first rate tournament, I did a pretty good job on my end.

2014 Seneca Sun Seeker Slide Show

'Merica, Fuck Yeah!

Got up early this Independence Day and played a round at Loriella for tags. I have the worst number, 44, so I wasn't expecting to move up but you never know.

Started out well enough, starting even or close to most of the guys but as the round went on the inevitable bogeys & double bogeys put me in my familiar DFL.

Russell did well considering the windy conditions. Ronnie was able to move up to the top 10 by topping Jeff by 1 stroke.

Mornin' Round at Loriella

We hooked up at Loriella this morning to play a round before it got too hot. Ron showed up with Ben and I had a blast watching him throw.

Another sweet day to play a round. It was getting a little hot by the time we finished up.

Mach III Re-Paint...

It's been a while and my Red, White & Blue theme on my Mach III basket was getting kinda old so I decided it was time for a new look.

I started off with an orange enamel base coat then topped it off with day glow orange. I painted the chains a satin white and for the number plate I cut a vinyl mask of the Spotsy club logo and painted it with flat black.

It is bright and much easier to see.

Promoting the Sport

Today I helped a friend teach his Sunday School kids the game of disc golf. It was a great day and the kids had a blast.

D Day Ride...

Took today off and woke up late but the skies were a deep cobalt blue so I grabbed my shit and headed to Skyline Drive.

It wasn't that hot today to begin with but when I got up to altitude it was a cool 70°, not that much traffic either.

It's Been Awhile...

I bought some nes plastic last week and after a few rounds to see if I was going to keep them I had to dye them up.

I went with an Obey theme...

139 Blizzard Katana

I re-cut this design because I lost my Avengger SS (It was found by a friend) so I decided to replace that disc with this one. I never really threw that Avenger much anyway.

134 Star Lite TeeBird

The Big Brother cut I kept simple. I was debating on adding text but in the end sometimes less is better.

135 Star Lite Sidewinder

This one was an adapted beer label. The original had the star design on the Katana but I wanted the Big Brother head there instead.

Frank Lloyd Wright Day Trip

I have been wanting to visit Falling Waters for years. This year I decided I was going to ride up and spend a weekend seeing the sights. But my Mom and two sisters also wanted to go so it turned in to a family day trip.

It too about 4 hours to get there so we left very early for our noon tour time at Falling Waters. It was worth it. The house is stunning inside & out.

 I took the regular tour which didn't allow me to take images inside the house. Our guide Troy was excellent and guided us through each room explaining the concepts and design that went in to each facet of Falling Waters.

 The last weeks of heavy rain made the falls more beautiful than they normally would be. It was an amazing tour and an amazing house.

We went back to Ohiopyle to get some lunch and check out the white water rafters and went to Kentuck Knob. It was only seven miles away and we decided to check it out. It was another amazing house. Not as grand as Falling Waters but his Unitarian design was just as impressive.

The property had a wonderful sculpture garden including a section of the Berlin Wall. But it was the backyard view that I enjoyed.

 We stopped for a delicious dinner at Penn Alps in Grantsville, MD and the the ride home.

Building a Course...

A few weeks ago in a bored spell at work I wrote a random e-mail to the Wilderness Presidential Resort about the possibility of expanding their disc golf course. Wilderness is a private camping complex that happens to have a 9-hole course.

My intentions were to ask if they would be interested in expanding and improving their disc golf course and opening it up for a pay to play course. I had heard that the course was open only to members of the resort so I expected no response to my initial inquiry.

Surprisingly within a few days I received a reply that they were interested my idea and wanted me to come look at what they have and the potential for building a championship course. I put the word out and John Biscoe contacted me that he was very interested in meeting with the Wilderness person that contacted me. It was a very good meeting and they seemed very interested in the idea of building a championship course that would be open for non-members to pay to play.

Today John & I went out to Wilderness to see what they had and the potential for building a new course.

Their 9-hole course is situated on an open area of changing elevation on a beautiful lake. We played the course that was there it was simple & fun built for people who have never played before. But it wasn't a bad set up and there is a lot of possibilities to expand and improve the course. Including a small island about 50' off the shore of the lake that would make a really cool signature hole.


I've never built a course and John seemed very interested in taking on this project. I am just looking to assist John any way I can to learn as much as I can. It's in the very early stages and the next objective is to get a map of the land available and come up with a rough idea of the possible layout of 18 holes.

Updates will come...

First Ride of 2014

My truck is giving me some problems and went to the shop for repairs and it's to Plan-B for transportation...

I really don't mind Plan-B that much...

I had heard of a charity ride for a local lady that had been shot while working at a Spotsy convenience store. The weather was sunny cool in the morning but warmed up nice.

It was a really good turnout, about 350-400 bikes showed up to donate $10. The ride was escorted by Spotsy Sheriffs through the back roads of the county coming out on Rt. 20 in Locust Grove.

SOMD Classic

It was a cold and stormy day...

My last official PDGA event has passed...

I went up to Lancaster Park, MD for the Southern Maryland Disc Golf's inaugural Classic. My friend Jerry Honis was going to TD the first PDGA tournament at Hot Shots DGC. So I signed up. I was planning to drop out after my disaster of a Loriella Challenge appearance but I couldn't let Jerry down.

The weather was pretty bad. Cold, windy & wet. But I traveled up there anyway. I wasn't planning on doing very well and after the first round from the long tees. I ended up having a lot of fun the first round.

 I was only 4 strokes off the lead with the short tees for the second round.

Then during the break I tried to warm up in my truck and took some pain meds and IcyHot on my back to try and get ready for the next round. By the time I got to my second round tart tee by back was just about locked up. I went double circle 7, circle 6, double bogey and bogey after my first 4 holes. That put me at 10 over after 4 holes. I decided to go ahead and drop out and head home. My back was killing me and there was no hope of salvaging the round.

It was a the typical epic fail of a tournament that was fitting of my last event.