This past weekend I played the course through a few times. I only had one basket, so I wasn’t able to play any of the layouts in order. I placed each pin position and then played each tee that plays to that position, starting with the numbered hole, followed by the lettered hole. x – denotes alternate tee pad for that hole. Delta denotes a hole I added from 3 tee to 9 basket, I like how it plays and might add it into the gold layout after hole C.

Hole 3 is a 155′ downhill toss with options. The gap straight ahead plays about 12′ wide off the tee and leads through a short gauntlet of small diameter trees, I threw this line a handful of times and was routinely 30′ or so, no closer. The right gap caters to a RHBH hyzer, I tossed a roc high and let it fade in for the ace run. Weigh your options.

I rerouted hole C from my initial survey and map to play from 2T to 3 basket rather than 4 basket (I’ll probably still be clearing that lane for a zipline and may become a playable hole anyway). It plays 265′ left to right off the tee, directly past 2 basket, down the hill behind the basket while trailing back to the left in a small grouping of trees. After the gap off the tee, the fairway is 20+’ all the way to the grouping of trees, but it is a tight L2R2L, a tough finesse shot to hit. As a RHBH player it caters to a flex shot with something overstable. There’s a few select trees and branches I’m thinking of removing, we’ll see how it plays for a while. The video is a stable teebird anny release 70% power that got a lucky tree kick at the end. Note that I did not and have not deuced this hole in 10 times or so playing it. I tried a 3 camera project, we’ll see how this goes…

Took the GoPro out for its inaugural journey into single digits and 5 inches of snow.

I’m entranced by it and the ending cracks me up every time.

Another course (complex of 3 courses) I’ve been hearing about for years, Ozark Mountain – the entry on DGCR describes it as:

“Located in the foothills of Vichy, MO this 300 acre farm is one of the most beautiful pieces of property ever used for disc golf. Dave McCormack has transformed this property in to the most challenging, yet fair course on the planet. This is further confirmed by having the highest World Class Par as published by the Professional Disc Golf Association. The Ozarks is a 10,000′ par 72 that has creeks and ponds, huge elevation changes, open and tight shots, and long and short holes. You better bring your best game, and some climbing shoes!”

A quick e-mail to Dave and another major destination on my wishlist was checked off.

It’s typically only cleaned up for two tournaments a year, the most recent of which, the Fall Harvest was only a month ago, so we found the courses in very good condition with the tees and trails marked with paint and a map the three rugged courses were easy to navigate. Immediately this place jumped to the second place spot in a list of favorite DG destination areas, Highbridge being the only one ahead of it. Extreme adventure golf at its finest, I loved it and definitely will attempt to make one of the tournaments in the future. The video only scratches the surface of how awesome this place is.

Akitas run, great fun, huge elevation shots – two of the steepest holes I’ve ever played (one up, one down), a technical playground of shots that will challenge nearly every type of shot you can think of.

Spencer Davis, Maybe my favorite of the 3 – Very fair, very challenging, long and technical elevation and water shots, long compared to most courses around the country, but almost seems tame compared to its big brother.

Ozark Mt. Incredible, very long challenging unique shots, I encountered several holes that I’ve never seen anything like anywhere else with great use of elevation, some occasional water, and thick yet fair wooded fairways with multiple options for lines often times. Like leviathan on super steroids, or a much more heavily wooded less elevation BOP.

Thank you Dave and Kevin for allowing us to enjoy your beautiful property for the day.

The video ended up looking like a blooper reel of throws:

I asked John Houck his top 5 favorite courses during an interview on discgolftalkradio.com, his response was an easy “without a doubt Selah takes the top two spots.” or something along those lines, you can listen in at the very end of the podcast here: Interview with Disc Golf Course Designer John Houck (part 2). I’ve kept tabs on it as it has crept into discussion on DGCR, with Lakeside still holding onto that perfect 5 rating. Selah has been at the top of my wishlist ever since I knocked BOP out of that spot. So when we pulled into the driveway on Tuesday evening, anticipation ran high.

We were greeted by a welcoming friendly David, filled out some paperwork, and paid our $70 which covered camping (a place to park the van, a fire ring with plenty of wood, showers, and bathrooms), disc golf for the full day, and a cart for the entire day. David was excited to show us around, leading us to our campsite and making sure we were set with the showers and a cart for the morning.

We woke up with the sun, a gentle fog rising off the lakes, and we quickly made our way to hole 1 of Creekside. Did the course completely blow me away? Nah, it lacks that mind blowing factor that only rugged elevation can provide, that’s not what this course is known for. Is it one of the best courses I’ve ever played? Yeah, up there with my top 15. Every hole is unique, well thought out, challenging yet fair that challenges nearly every aspect of your game (less elevation and fast greens). Lakeside was a step up, a contender for top 5, with just a taste of elevation and some fast putts to add flavor to a very well layed out, beautiful, more technically challenging course with several unique holes, the island hole is one of a kind.

As we finished our…tbc

Drove straight from Eisenhower to Pawhuska to spend the day at the two great courses that the Lodge offers. Last time I came, I knew I’d have to return, two awesome courses, friendly owners, free camping – can’t go wrong. Another group was camping in the camp area, we headed to the Moccasin course as they hit up the Island course, it was a bit breezy, and I couldn’t putt to save my life, but as always it was a great time. We followed that up with a quick lunch of cheese and crackers and meat sticks before hitting the Island course. Our neighbors packed up and left as we cooked up some tacos for dinner.

A nice writeup on the journey of 1000 courses.

Rattling Chains Blog

Thanks PJ