DP - Jacksonville
The fog was thick
as the morning sun rose over the Springfield Disc Golf course. The rapidly warming temperatures helped to
break through the haze to show that Rick "Bushie" Pike was already there
and talking on his phone trying to coordinate his strategy for this match.
He was tired of losing by dozens of strokes as the last few matches have
shown. Emerging out of the car that just parked, mighty Puma rose with his trusted cohort Simon "Boom-Boom aka
BB" Bouma. Puma looked relaxed and
ready to play. BB was already jittery
from the lack of a morning cup of joe. For over a week, Jason "Misty Eye" McCallister had been laying the ground work
for his latest excuse.
Reality dictates that he was just afraid to play. Although that gang had gotten together the
previous night for a pre-game dinner, Misty Eye Mac was already lamenting about
his shoulder. This morning, with the
damp fog, his excuse was that the dampness on his shoulder would not let him participate. Then, the new crowd favorite arrived in his
chariot. Eric "Birdie" Taylor
calmly stood up and stretched. Yes, he
thought, today would be a good day for disc golf. As Birdie prepared himself for the upcoming
match with his usual pre-game setup, there was something about his demeanor
that exuded confidence. Perhaps he was
not losing as much sleep due to his new child as he had claimed the previous
night. Perhaps it was meditation. But whatever the reason, his head or his
shoes, he stood there this Saturday morning, feeling good about life. There was a calmness about him that beguiled
the beating he was about to inflict.
Once the foursome
were ready, BB threw the opening drive
into the fairway. Bushie started off
with a walk about towards the 2nd basket.
Puma graciously allowed Birdie to go next in order to gauge the
competition. Birdie stood on the tee
box, performed some yoga type of breathing ritual and launched a tremendous
drive to within 15 feet of the basket.
Puma sensing impending doom threw a reasonable drive that fell well short of the
basket. While the others scrambled to
catch up, Puma, sadly, missed his birdie putt and Birdie made his putt for his
first birdie of the day. Bushie unveiled
part of his new strategy by using a putter and scrambled for a par while BB
settled for a bogey. Puma's spidey
senses were tingling as he joked to the gang that Birdie just threw down his gauntlet after
slapping Puma across the face a few times.
However, Puma gladly accepted the challenge.
On #2, Birdie had a
nice safe drive away from the canal that runs through this course. Bushie and BB followed suit. Puma, realizing that his original plan of
playing conservatively and going for pars would not work this day, launch a
nice drive for a drop in birdie. Birdie
settled for a par as did Bushie. BB still
trying to control the jitters clanked his par attempt and settled for another
bogey.
Now tied, Puma launch a
nice drive towards the 3rd basket but clipped the tree. BB went wide right into another tree, while
Bushie went wide left. Birdie launched
another mammoth drive around the trees setting up his second birdie of the
day. Puma trying desperately to keep
pace, missed his approach and settled for a par as did Bushie. BB clanked yet another par putt giving him
yet another bogey. It was clear after
just the first 3 baskets that things were playing out differently than in previous
matches. Birdie was now 2 under par,
Puma 1 under, Bushie at a remarkable even par with BB at a very unhappy +3 with
2 unsatisfactory clanks.
Basket #4, has many
obstacles including a building, brush, a small hill and several trees. Birdie calmly stepped forward and launch yet
another marvelous drive under the trees and straight towards the basket. Puma tried a different angle of attack, which
did not work out well. BB and Bushier
decided to go through the trees without much success.
#5 was much the
same, as Birdie completed his 4th birdie in 5 holes while Bushie made par and
Puma fell behind with another bogey. BB
clanked yet another putt for yet another bogey.
The next 3 holes also continued the streak with Birdie
making 2 of 3 birdies. BB and Puma made
pars and Bushie made a bogey on #6 but pars elsewhere.
On #9, Puma
unleashed a huge drive that sadly did not drift towards the right towards the
basket, as expected but instead curved left towards the canal. It fortunately landed on a small island of
twigs. It was pin high but with no foot path
to the disc, Puma was forced to drop yet another stroke. A single player approached the group and
indicated that he could fish it out after his round. The gang thanked him and let him play through.
The back 9 was,
sadly, relatively uneventful. With no
meaningful competition, the players descended into who could make the CGI
(Canadian Geese Infestation) move the furthest.
Simon, an original Canadian, of course, knew how to control his peeps
the best and won that mini challenge. No
matter where Birdie threw his drive (for example, the road on #10), he
recovered and made pars with his only birdie on #16. BB clanked a record 8 putts off the various baskets
to settle for bogey instead of pars.
Bushie was playing an awesome (for him) game with 5 consecutive pars. Puma, meanwhile, after the 11th hole knew
that it was time to abandon all hope of catching Birdie. He tried to create some sort of momentum, but
his 4 easy birdie tries frightfully missed, setting himself with 6 consecutive
pars. The only real question was who was
going to be in second place. At #15,
Rick and Puma were TIED! Rick was
excited and Puma was determined not to lose 2nd place. By the time they reached the 18th tee, it was
over. Puma had a commanding 3 shot lead
primarily due to Bushie's double bogey on #17.
Perhaps just to make it exciting, Puma inexplicably threw his drive into
the canal on the right to finish with a double bogey which was still enough to
secure second place. In the end, Eric
"Birdie" Taylor lived up to his moniker and thrashed everyone with a
outstanding 47, smashing Puma's old record for that course by 7 shots. Puma got his butt kicked to finish with 60,
Bushie close by with 62, and Simon "Clank" Bouma at 65.
Update:
The following day, Clank suggested playing at Ed Austin. We DID NOT invite Birdie!
Actually we knew Birdie was busy on Sunday but still we felt better not inviting him after the whipping we all received the previous day. We did invite other fresh meat to dole out a similar beating just to boost our meager spirits. It was a warm humid day at Ed Austin park. Joining the party was "Rusty" Randy Knagge who last played in 2015 and his son "Perky" Preston Knagge. Perky at age 7 is an up and coming enthusiast. The day started fine for Puma with 3 straight pars before the heat and humidity started to get to him. Clank tried to match Puma's start but soon reverted back to his usual clanking bogey ways. Bushie, maybe sore (he needs to get out and play more often), started with 6 consecutive bogies or double bogies before his first par, followed by another string of 6 less than desirable scores. Meanwhile, Rusty was inventing new terms such as a Knagge par (KP) (for a 6) and a Knagge birdie (KB) for a 5. This meant that he got one KE(eagle), 6 KB's and 6 KP's over the first 13 holes. Although he managed real pars on #15 and the long #18, the other 3 holes didn't help. In the end, Puma had 69, Bushie with 75, Clank with 77 and Rusty with a 99.
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