2012 Bowling Green Ams

[pdga#7648]

Confirmed today that I will be attending this event March 30th-April 1st. Has anyone here been before? and what courses are the toughest, that I may want to play before the tournament?  Need to get ready for Worlds in N. Carolina, and I would think there will be some Adv Masters at this event that will be at Worlds. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Tom McManus]

The courses that I played down there are not that great. No idea what adv masters are playing. I remember playing the following. I think that Kereiakes is the best of them.  Most are fairly open. You have much better courses out your back door.
Hobson Grove Park Bowling Green 18 0.30 
Kereiakes Park Bowling Green 18 2.73 
Lovers Lane Park Bowling Green 18 4.34 
Basil Griffin Park Bowling Green 18 6.15 
Ephram White Park Bowling Green 18 6.36 
Chalybeate Springs Sports Complex Smiths Grove 18 13.71 
Franklin - Simpson DGC

[Tom McManus]

Follow up with Spencer. He has played most of the courses down there.

[pdga#7648]

ok, thanks Tom. I don't know what courses each division will be playing either, just wanted to get an idea how they play, and I know several discontinuum members have played this tournament. But fairly open sounds good.  I know David Gebhart won it last year in masters, and he is a hometown Carolina boy. hoping he attends to defend his title, so I can get an idea what I'm up against come July. Thanks again.

[goalkeeper19]

I've played them all, I think, here's a quick rundown:

Kereiakes - my favorite in BG, and in my top 5 all-time.  not all that long, and every hole (maybe except one or two) is birdieable. lots of variety, uphills, downhills, left and rights.  most holes are fairly open, but hitting your angles is pretty important on a lot of them.  big cedars will suck up your discs (ALWAYS has 2m rule in tourneys). it gets a little confusing and/or crowded if you've never been there before, but the one thing this course has in spades is the fun factor.  every time I go down to BG, it's the first place I go for a fun quick round.  great course for rollers, at one point I threw a roller off 7 or 8 tees.  good scores are under par, my best is -4.

Hobson Grove - short, wooded, and tight.  deuce-or-die.  there is one par 4 (hole #2) that trips up a lot of people, but play it smart and it's not that hard.  there is a decent amount of elevation change, but accuracy is the biggest concern.  other than hole #2, no holes longer than about 330. competing scores will be better than -4 or so.

Lovers Lane - big, open, pretty boring.  there are a few holes that have some elevation change through sparse woods, but for the most part, it's a lot of big open drives.  bogey free is the best way to be competetive, because the birdies are out there.  watch out for windy days (a common occurence in BG).  Shoot -4 or better.

(see next post for the other courses, the screen is jumping and it's hard to type)

[goalkeeper19]

White - bigger, flatter, wide open, and MUCH longer than the first 3.  The biggest and most challenging aspect of this course is the OB fairways.  When it's windy, it becomes pretty tricky to keep your disc in the fairway.  Learn to throw a 400' shot so that it lands straight ahead of you.  There aren't many trees or obstacles, so if you can get the disc a long ways in front of you (doesn't matter how), you'll do fine out there.  Shooting E is a good/great round.  There are a few must-deuce holes, and more than a fair number of holes that are way out of birdie range, so scrape up the 2's when you can.

Franklin - long, fairly wide open course well outside of BG, with some variety and OB/water trouble in spots.  pray they don't make you play the (excessively) long configuration.  a few holes have some dramatic elevation, but for the most part the course is pretty flat.  biggest key on Franklin is to avoid bogeys as much as you can, and stay out of trouble on the back nine. bogeys have a tendency to add up on this course quickly.  from the short positions, anywhere around par is great, under par is awesome.  from the longs... well just hope they don't make you play them.

Phil Moore - very much a Jekyll/Hide course, with half the holes being absurdly long and wide open, and the other half being awesome woods holes along a river.  there are not very many deuces (I can think of maybe 3, all wooded), and even those are pretty tricky. on windy days, PLAY SAFE.  the OB will kill your score on some of the big open holes (and I do mean BIG, three holes are 750'+) if you're trying too hard. the holes running by the water are often very fun/interesting holes, but whatever fun you have playing them is negated by the following boring holes in the field.  overall, it's a long and difficult course.  shoot within 4-5 strokes of even, and you'll be competing.

(see next post)

[pdga#7648]

Thanks alot keeper.
We will be playing Keriakes, Hobson Grove, Phil Moore and BG tech course.
I have heard the tech course is brutally long, and new, so stay out of the rough??  Just like my home course McNaughton. it's not new, but you don't want to be in the rough.
I heard from  Diabetic Dave, that Hobson Grove sets up for me the best, as I like accuracy courses. But he also said, I can play Phil Moore very good as well.
We are getting down there on Wednesday, tourny starts Friday. The 2 guys I am going with are playing Advanced, but we will play the same 4 courses, just on different days.  I don't think we would hit any of the other courses, unless they are a must play type course??

Again, thanks alot for going into detail.

[pdga#7648]

oh yea, and I'm going to tear it up!!   

[goalkeeper19]

BGTC - brand new course in the middle of town, and is the most difficult (BY FAR) in Bowling Green. very very technical course, and long.  You should be very comfortable with choking down and staying in the fairway, because every time (EVERY TIME) you aren't on the fairway, you've lost at least a stroke or two.  The lines are very tight on 80% of the holes.  There are 2-4 opportunities for easier deuces, so try to take advantage of them.  it's helpful to have a good forehand shot.  When I played it last year, it was still very rough, but once it beats down, it'll be a favorite in BG, despite the difficulty.  +4 to +8 or so is not bad at all.

Chalybeate - another course well off the beaten path.  i've only played it a few times, but what I remember most is that it's pretty technical, with a few very interesting holes.  one hole literally plays straight down a cliff about 60' onto an island green, and very easy to overthrow with your slowest putter.  the next hole after that throws straight UP a cliff.  it's maybe 30' of horizontal travel, but 60' vertical.  several holes are wooded side-hill types of shots.  

Basil Griffin - another Jekyll/Hide course, but much easier than Phil Moore.  The front nine is a beautiful, fun, challenging setup, with good semi-wooded hill and valley shots.  The back nine is similar to Lohmann Park (Urbana), but minus ANY trees.  from what I remember, it's basically 9 250-300' holes in a row, completely in an open field.  get lots of birdies.

[goalkeeper19]

one last note, if you've got extra time, or want to play the good courses for fun, my recommendations are:

Kereiakes
Hobson Grove

and

HOLLER IN THE HILLS.  it's a private course about 25 minutes NorthEast of BG, and completely worth the $5 pay-to-play.  you can find information on dgcoursereview.  i won't spoil anything here, but it's got everything a great disc golf course should have, and it's completely worth the time to spend an afternoon there

-Mark

[tacimala]

Just as a measuring stick, you'll want to be -8 or better at Hobson to compete.

[pdga#7648]

in the Masters division??

[pdga#7648]

last year there was a 45, and 2 49's. The guy that shot the 45 won the Masters div by 14 strokes.   neither of the 49's finished in the top 5.  If I shoot a -8, I think it will be a great week!  


and that 45 was 1042 rated.  the 49 was 1000!

[tacimala]

Hmm normally on shorter courses the scores are similar towards the top for adv masters/advanced. I shot -3 the last time I played and it dropped me out of the final 9. Like other courses, it can get windy there, but there is really only 1 hole that you can't deuce out there. Think a hillier, slightly more technical Channy basically for Hobson.

[pdga#7648]

looking at the scores, that -3 wouldnt be bad in the Masters division. not too many shot that last year!  but I'll keep your thoughts in mind. need some tips from people that know the courses.  this is just a warmup or Worlds anyway. all my eggs are in the basket for N. Carolina 

[tacimala]

Yep looks like I'm going to go down again this year as well. Going to make a week of it and play a few days before the tourney as well. Hopefully the weather is as good as it was in 2009!

[pdga#7648]

85 more days Taylor! 

[pdga#7648]

Hotel is officially booked. 4 nights for $267.68

[Bruce Brakel]

Camped in the van at Wah Bah and other locations. 

Bowling Green seems to have been rough on Tom, Doug and myself.  Any Discontinuum posters who played well?

[tacimala]

I certainly did not.