Des Moines - First Class Challenge

[smyith]

so what are the reports? i dont see any leaderboard or score info online. i really miss playing those courses. curious after all these years how i would stack up now.

@grodney
which courses did you have a hand in?

 

[bergdawg]

Martin, give us an outsider's report! I had a hand in these courses -- so proud of them. But I can take the honest opinions -- I'm probably their harshest critic!

You did an excellent job, man. You're on Iowadg.com, right? I moved to Greenville, SC almost a year ago. If you're ever in the area, I'd love to play with some Iowa DG alumni!

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Well, hopefully I moved up from the bottom card after the second round. My focus wasn't there at all. The courses? Incredible, you did a great job out there, looking forward to today.

 

[grodney]

@grodney
which courses did you have a hand in?

Nixt and I sort-of co-designed Walnut and Big Creek (he was more the lead designer on both), and I did a lot of installation labor on those 2 plus Ewing and Grandview. Consulted with Randy and Juliana on the initial design at Pickard, though I think they had it pretty much set by the time I saw it.

1997 Grandview
1998 Walnut Ridge
1999 Pickard
1999 Big Creek
2001 Ewing

(Oh, and I pitched, raised the money, and installed Southwoods in 2000.)

It was obviously a pretty fun era. I moved away in Oct 2001 and miss all those courses (and the people) dearly.

 

[grodney]

I moved to Greenville, SC almost a year ago. If you're ever in the area, I'd love to play with some Iowa DG alumni!

Sounds good man, likewise.

 

[smyith]

Nixt and I sort-of co-designed Walnut and Big Creek (he was more the lead designer on both), and I did a lot of installation labor on those 2 plus Ewing and Grandview. Consulted with Randy and Juliana on the initial design at Pickard, though I think they had it pretty much set by the time I saw it.

1997 Grandview <-- love playing this course so much fun. the middle back-n-forth holes and the back loop are a blast
1998 Walnut Ridge <-- a fun course but i didnt play it much. when i lived up there they were doing alot of changes for worlds so the course was in alot of flux.
1999 Pickard
1999 Big Creek <--talk about mental fortitude dude. holy cow. i bet clearing all that nastiness for the holes was BRUTAL! i thank you. i wouldnt call it a fun course but definitely very challenging.
2001 Ewing <-- one of my all time favs. whats the original pin positions? we made the grandview-ewing loop back to ISU alot. and i love hole 13 (mainly for the mulberry trees...lol)

(Oh, and I pitched, raised the money, and installed Southwoods in 2000.)

It was obviously a pretty fun era. I moved away in Oct 2001 and miss all those courses (and the people) dearly.

sweet man. i really miss those courses as well.

 

[Mr. Plow]

Walnut Ridge is way different now than it was back then. Well, some of the holes are the same, but the ones that changed are generally longer and more challenging. Walnut Ridge has always been my favorite DM area course, grodney you did well on that one!

I would have been playing this tourney but I just had surgery 3 weeks ago.

 

[Fatbackbob]

I want to thank anyone who had a hand in making this event possible and also anyone who has EVER worked on these courses.

I've played a fair amount of large events in PDGA and tons of Southern Nationals events. I can't think of another event that comes close to delivering like this one.

It's pretty amazing when four courses are in play and the folks in Advanced tell you that shooting around 60 is good golf. I've seen an event highlight one challenging course, but not FOUR.

These courses were each unique in their own way, but the one aspect that really stood out was that they were all FAIR. A hole may be very challenging but the course designers didn't feel the need to make them stupid hard or lucky in order to achieve the challenge.

My order of how much I enjoyed them or how I would recommend them is:
Pickard, Walnut Ridge, Big Creek, and Ewing...

And the funny thing is that I loved Ewing too. Hole #5 on Ewing stood out as a little tricky and Hole #15 on Big Creek wasn't my favorite. But overall, I can't wait to make the trip back to DM for this event next year. I'll hopefully be bringing a large group of Memphis folks because I plan on talking this one up to the locals back home.

Courses rocked...

TD let me in over the phone late Friday night and he didn't have to do this.

The POOL B TD's (Amanda is the one I remember) were amazing and very accommodating.

There were spotters EVERYWHERE!

Bowls of fruit on Walnut Ridge???

The payout resulted in envelopes of funny money we could spend at one of three vendors (VERY COOL and a favorite for AM players) I got a stool and a disc I'll USE rather than a stack of DX Wolfs

Make this event if you haven't and if you have I'll see you next year...

I hit 100 courses this weekend and Corey Philips recommended I play Wildcat Bluff. I did today and it is unreal. Iowa Disc Golf is impressive...

 

[rusch_bag]

My little buddy Justin Lammers came in and cleaned up int. He is 14 only and is getting pretty damn good for being so young. Watch out for him in a few years.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Ok, All 4 courses I played - incredible, very challenging, beautiful, well laid out. One of the top concentrations of DG I've been. From what I've seen of the country I'd put Des Moines 2nd next to Charlotte. I don't know if I can pick a favorite, they were all great.
Pickard kicked my butt, I had to dig out of a hole the rest of the weekend finishing somewhere in the middle of the pack. My name got drawn [6th] after one person declined to play with the pros, I got the consolation prize of a bag full of discs - better than a kick in the face - I think I would have cracked under the pressure of playing with those guys - it was awesome to watch the $500 ($800) skins alternate shot doubles round - I took some video so maybe I'll edit it sometime here and post it.

 

[VictorB]

I was really impressed with this event, in every aspect.

I talked with George Smith quite a bit in the last few weeks about this tournament, and he was certain that I'd love all the courses up there. He also mentioned quite a few times that it was among his all time favorites for out of town tournaments to travel to - up there with the USDGC and the Majestic in terms of events that he wouldn't miss.

I really did love all the courses. I played pretty poor at Pickard in the rain, but that didn't stop me from liking the course. I pulled myself up from near the bottom after that round to finish with 3 fairly decent rounds of golf. Could I have played better? Yes. Could the courses have been more entertaining? If that was possible, I haven't seen a better set of 4 courses played in a big tournament.

Kudos to the entire crew that put in a ton of time and effort getting ready for the event, and the whole volunteer crew that worked hard all weekend while we were out having a blast on some world class courses.

I've already planned to make this event next year, and will probably try to make it a yearly trip - the courses and organizers are just too good to miss! (Plus I'd like another shot at playing Pickard and Big Creek again, those were where I played my worst golf)

 

[steve a]

The final nine skins match got a little crazy! Walmart had sponsored the $500 up front. So many people bought tickets over the weekend that we tossed in an extra $400 during the actual round. We had a large gallery following the final nine play and such great feedback about it. I am sure this will happen again next year.

 

[gdl17921]

thanks for all the kind words playas, it really means a lot.:thmbup:

 

[yearofrolling]

Sounds like I'll have to not be gone next year.