Register

  • Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
    It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)

Skins - Feldberg, Lizotte, Ellis, Barela

Nick Pacific said:
There was a time period around when Feldy won worlds in 2008 in Michigan where he was clearly the best disc golfer in the world, no doubt. And for those that think he won on some pitch and putt courses, I've played all those courses, and they are no joke. The final day was on Timber Ridge (which doubles as a ski lodge) and that course is an absolute monster and with a little TLC would easily rival the Toboggan course just south of it in terms of difficulty and length.
Click to expand...

I played Timber Ridge casually once while it was in and remember having a ton of uphill bomber throws.

I know Cold Brook was in the action, a local controversial course that's been around forever. A friend of mine met Gregg Barsby once and mentioned he was from Kalamazoo. Gregg furrowed his brow an asked, "Isn't that where Cold Brook is?"

My friend answered in the affirmative. Barsby: "F--- Cold Brook!"
 
Central Scrutinizer said:
I played Timber Ridge casually once while it was in and remember having a ton of uphill bomber throws.

I know Cold Brook was in the action, a local controversial course that's been around forever. A friend of mine met Gregg Barsby once and mentioned he was from Kalamazoo. Gregg furrowed his brow an asked, "Isn't that where Cold Brook is?"

My friend answered in the affirmative. Barsby: "F--- Cold Brook!"
Click to expand...

Cold Brook was the site of the infamous "Iron Leaf" story that came from him and Climo playing there at Worlds in 2008 when Feldy won. Not sure on exact hole number, but it's the slightly downhill dogleg left shot that I'm sure back in 2008 had no gaps. Probably much more beat in nowadays.

"DIDN'T GET UP AND DOWN"!!!!!
 
Nick Pacific said:
Cold Brook was the site of the infamous "Iron Leaf" story that came from him and Climo playing there at Worlds in 2008 when Feldy won. Not sure on exact hole number, but it's the slightly downhill dogleg left shot that I'm sure back in 2008 had no gaps. Probably much more beat in nowadays.

"DIDN'T GET UP AND DOWN"!!!!!
Click to expand...

Wow, I wasn't aware that famous story happened right here! Not surprised at all. When I moved here in 1998 it was just Cold Brook and half a brand-new Oshtemo that was wide open. I had relocated here from near Hudson Mills, which was one of the top destinations in the country at the time, and I was crestfallen.

I think I know what hole that was. It has a slightly better pin placement now. Back then it was 180' and a giant tree with branches all over the place right where you needed your Disc to fade left hard after exiting a very narrow lane. I've seen people stupidly ace it more than a few times by it getting through ten branches, and I've seen many many more people kick off it into a position that's tough to save par. Total dumb luck. I was one of the people who really hated that place in the old days. You either loved it or hated it. I can remember J-Bird playing it once and vowing to never come back, circa 1997-ish.

Todd Branch, the WinniCrew guy, lived here but preferred to drive all the way to Hudson Mills much of the time. I was on a card with him at CB one time (because MDGO tourneys used to pair up pros and ams) and we had the usual 45 minute backup at the #16-#18 cluster**** (back when it was only 18 holes). He had a look at deuce on the tough #18 but hit cage and had it roll 25 feet back behind him. It was a gorgeous first-run star stamped Rhyno. I never saw him more upset. "I waited 45 ****ing minutes for THIS?!" at the top of his lungs. It was the sentiment from most.

A lot of local huckers love the course, though.

I should add that life is very good here now. We have a ton of great courses for how small the population is. No knock on the people who worked to get the scene going here, but it was obvious that lots of top regional players hated that place back in the day. It's where Feldberg played his first-ever round with a Barracuda, too.
 
Last edited:
Oh, wait, that might've been old #16, not sure what number they call it today. One of the worst holes I've ever played. There was a tight , tiny unusable "fairway" that bent 90 degrees left about 20% of the way to the pin so there was no way to score using the fairway. All the good players used to just chuck one up high into the woods and let it plinko down. I used to call the hole "Plinko!" as a matter of fact. You might kick to the basket, or you might end up 150' away. It was terrible, and it was one of the causes of the monstrous backups that used to occur there in tournaments.
 
Nick Pacific said:
Cold Brook was the site of the infamous "Iron Leaf" story that came from him and Climo playing there at Worlds in 2008 when Feldy won. Not sure on exact hole number, but it's the slightly downhill dogleg left shot that I'm sure back in 2008 had no gaps. Probably much more beat in nowadays.

"DIDN'T GET UP AND DOWN"!!!!!
Click to expand...

Central Scrutinizer said:
Wow, I wasn't aware that famous story happened right here! Not surprised at all. When I moved here in 1998 it was just Cold Brook and half a brand-new Oshtemo that was wide open. I had relocated here from near Hudson Mills, which was one of the top destinations in the country at the time, and I was crestfallen.

I think I know what hole that was. It has a slightly better pin placement now. Back then it was 180' and a giant tree with branches all over the place right where you needed your Disc to fade left hard after exiting a very narrow lane. I've seen people stupidly ace it more than a few times by it getting through ten branches, and I've seen many many more people kick off it into a position that's tough to save par. Total dumb luck. I was one of the people who really hated that place in the old days. You either loved it or hated it. I can remember J-Bird playing it once and vowing to never come back, circa 1997-ish.

Todd Branch, the WinniCrew guy, lived here but preferred to drive all the way to Hudson Mills much of the time. I was on a card with him at CB one time (because MDGO tourneys used to pair up pros and ams) and we had the usual 45 minute backup at the #16-#18 cluster**** (back when it was only 18 holes). He had a look at deuce on the tough #18 but hit cage and had it roll 25 feet back behind him. It was a gorgeous first-run star stamped Rhyno. I never saw him more upset. "I waited 45 ****ing minutes for THIS?!" at the top of his lungs. It was the sentiment from most.

A lot of local huckers love the course, though.

I should add that life is very good here now. We have a ton of great courses for how small the population is. No knock on the people who worked to get the scene going here, but it was obvious that lots of top regional players hated that place back in the day. It's where Feldberg played his first-ever round with a Barracuda, too.
Click to expand...

Central Scrutinizer said:
Oh, wait, that might've been old #16, not sure what number they call it today. One of the worst holes I've ever played. There was a tight , tiny unusable "fairway" that bent 90 degrees left about 20% of the way to the pin so there was no way to score using the fairway. All the good players used to just chuck one up high into the woods and let it plinko down. I used to call the hole "Plinko!" as a matter of fact. You might kick to the basket, or you might end up 150' away. It was terrible, and it was one of the causes of the monstrous backups that used to occur there in tournaments.
Click to expand...

For some reason, I believe the "Iron Leaf" story happened at Lemon Lake.
Original Red course, like hole 5 or 6...

or maybe that is where the "interview" with Greg was...
 
Innova63 said:
For some reason, I believe the "Iron Leaf" story happened at Lemon Lake.
Original Red course, like hole 5 or 6...

or maybe that is where the "interview" with Greg was...
Click to expand...

Pretty sure Iron Leaf is associated with Lemon Lake Red, because that's where the now famous clip of Barsby was recorded.

For those who've never seen it, this is a DG classic.

 
Nowhere near as good as the Iron Leaf, but apparently that isn't the only Barsby Climo impression video out there:
 
Central Scrutinizer said:
Oh, wait, that might've been old #16, not sure what number they call it today. One of the worst holes I've ever played. There was a tight , tiny unusable "fairway" that bent 90 degrees left about 20% of the way to the pin so there was no way to score using the fairway. All the good players used to just chuck one up high into the woods and let it plinko down. I used to call the hole "Plinko!" as a matter of fact. You might kick to the basket, or you might end up 150' away. It was terrible, and it was one of the causes of the monstrous backups that used to occur there in tournaments.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure this is the one. I am a woodsy guy, the more trees the better, so I of course love Coldbrook. I have heard, however, the people who run that place are real A holes and have given the local clubs and dgolfers a tough time and basically ran them off. Shame really. There's so many great options out there why even bother with them.
 
Central Scrutinizer said:
Story time...I was on Feldberg's card in the 2nd round of the 1999 DGLO, while he was still in Am-1. It was 5th card. One of the feathers in my small never-made-it-to-MPO cap, even though he proceeded to beat me by a stroke every 4 holes. He was just starting to get good at that point, and that was as good as I got. I imagine the world champ version of him wouldn't have tied me in round one with a 74 at Hudson Mills' original for round one. (The courses there had 24 holes by this point).

It wasn't too long before this when my buddy Wildman (today's owner of Wild Haven) played a casual round with both him and Al Schack up in Ludington while Al was giving him tips. So cool he got to witness behind-the-scenes history like that. It's one of the stories Wild and I talk about when we're in Statler and Waldorf mode around today's campfires as old guys. Funny thing is, Al kept telling Feldberg to do this and do that and do this, but he told Wild, "You look fine, keep it up!" Wildman did eventually go on to have a pretty good pro masters career a few years after that. He even beat Schack on a hole once.

Feldberg was always nice to me, never had a problem with him. He was just a college kid at WMU back then with no fame yet. I definitely remember telling him I hadn't developed a good RHBH yet while waiting to tee off on Monster #1 (the "new" wooded hole version of it), then pinning it with a Pegasus (it's still on my wall today). He said, "I thought you didn't have a backhand!" I was like, yeah, that's a small sample size here.

I also remember him being pissed that they made Am-1 shoot the short tees on the Monster course for that round, like he was insulted.

He'd wind up in 7th place for the event, one stroke behind Avery Jenkins. Two future world champs playing in Am-1 right there! Terry Miller took 3rd and beat them both by 5 and 6 strokes. I finished way down at 36th just under the halfway point. I never really did much better, with a couple of top ten finishes in Am-1. I stopped playing sanctioned events regularly about the same time Stokely did with a blip in 2005-06 when I tried a few events. Wouldn't play again until 2020. Man, it's a different game now.
Click to expand...

One of those rare times when "Cool story bro" really means "Cool story bro!!!" :clap::clap::clap:
 
Speaking of throwbacks, remember when feldberg took all the money from the nonstop dg tour and was a general ******* leading to it not even making it one season?
 
oddjob said:
Speaking of throwbacks, remember when feldberg took all the money from the nonstop dg tour and was a general ******* leading to it not even making it one season?
Click to expand...

Yeah, man, it's so weird and hard and surreal hearing all the bad stories from after he got good. That wasn't the kid I knew. I've definitely heard the stories over the years and it sucks. I haven't seen him in person since he was like 23 years old. I know a ton of local people who can't stand him. Nothing I can really do about it. All I can add is my side of the story, that he seemed like an okay kid in the '90s the handful of times I played on his card at stuff.
 
Central Scrutinizer said:
Yeah, man, it's so weird and hard and surreal hearing all the bad stories from after he got good. That wasn't the kid I knew. I've definitely heard the stories over the years and it sucks. I haven't seen him in person since he was like 23 years old. I know a ton of local people who can't stand him. Nothing I can really do about it. All I can add is my side of the story, that he seemed like an okay kid in the '90s the handful of times I played on his card at stuff.
Click to expand...

He wouldn't be the first person who started out innocent and quite likeable, and got a bit greedy and less likeable over the years.. :|
 
oddjob said:
Speaking of throwbacks, remember when feldberg took all the money from the nonstop dg tour and was a general ******* leading to it not even making it one season?
Click to expand...


Local TD had them come through for a tournament and he covered their entry fee (before PayPal, etc was popular), with the understanding that they would pay when they arrived.

They ended up not paying him and basically said, "you're welcome, we made your tournament better by attending, we don't need to pay."

This was a tournament that never failed to fill and people looked forward to every year.

Well the Non Stop guys forgot their high end camera at the TD's house, so had to go back tail between the legs and pay their entries.

I think it was Holly Finley that said her online voucher for payout didn't work as well (along with many others).

What a **** show.

Feldberg is a great player and very entertaining, but super sketchy.
 
Last edited:
Back in the dvd days Billy Crump had a Clash at Renny Gold dvd.
Dave Feldberg had one of his mid round drives hit a stick and kick to the left slightly, he was clearly pissed off.
I can't quote him verbatum but when asked about the course Dave complained about the course conditions because of that stick.
 
Imagine a miked-up round with Simon, Feldberg, Emerson Keith and Joel Freeman.

Who would whine the most?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top