[prettyboyfloyd]

UPDATE!!!

I went out and "played" the course with a friend of mine who knows it and lost three discs on holes 2 - 4. The first one went right off the 2nd tee, kicked right off a tree, and down a 100ft ravine full of salal (Orange beat Champ 163 Orc). The second seemed like a perfect pull off the tee that went past the pole where the basket will be and into a mix of young dough fir, salal, salmonberry, and anything else that could fit. THICK. I though I saw where it went in but no luck (Orange new Champ 175 Tbird). The third was a light anhyzer off the tee and my friend was spotting and saw where it went in. Again it went into the thickest stuff you ever see. We even had a machete and STILL COULDN'T FIND IT (My prized, beat, blue 170 Champ Eagle). After that, I stopped throwing drivers, save the one long clear hole close to the road.

The course layout is great (doug firs, ELEVATION CHANGES, etc), but the amount of plant matter (dead and alive) that they are going to have to clear is going to be daunting. In the next month, a contractor is coming with some heavy duty brush clearing equipment and chippers that will clear most of that thick stuff (and probably two of my discs), but my greater concern is with both shanking (see first lost disc above) and footing in general.

Any of you who have tried to walk through coastal forest will know what I mean. You have old downed logs covered in moss and other litter that looks like ground but isn't. Now walk on that stuff going down a ravine where your disc ended up. I know they are planning to clear the fairways and by the baskets, along with building some steps and walkways, but we know that discs could end up anywhere. It's going to take years of play to get it beat in enough.

Even with everything cleared up better, I do not think this course is good for beginners or older folks. Because if you shank, it's bad. Even experienced guys will swear blue streaks. So when they open it, bring plastic you don't care about and a machete.

That all being said, any course is better than no course. Thanks to Alma Baxter and the Ford Foundation the course is really starting to come together. They put out calls for hole sponsors and filled all of them (and had to turn people away). Because of the commitment to goals and $$$$ from the Ford foundation, the course is set to be completed by September. They seem real serious. I'm going to email her after this and tell her what I said here.