​
I think # 1 is Ribbon Up! Is it a pain? Yes! Does it affect flight? Yes! Do you find tape and ribbons stuck everywhere? Yes!  Do you lose discs? NO! It does not take much snow to make a disc disappear. And honestly if you are not going to take the time to Ribbon Up, then I am not inclined to take the time to look for your disc.
TIPS: Dont ribbon up cold discs, Use decent tape, Use 1/4 inch ribbon used for presents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7onUGx5So

So you may be asking what is all the fuss this season with PDGA flex starts and pdga league? Well besides just adding a different level of competition to what we do locally, it also allows locals to more easily earn amateur points to hopefully get an invite to the Amateur Worlds in 2020 being held in Orlando Florida.

New England Amateurs is biggest AM event in New England, AM Worlds is the biggest in the world. This year it is 7 days, 8 courses and I believe 6 rounds of disc golf.

And the deal is you have to commit and plan ahead. To actually play in AM Worlds you need to be both PDGA member AND certified official. Otter Brook will reimburse any member that wants to become a PDGA official. Then you need to play enough events and accrue enough AM points to get an invite in early 2020. In 2018 I only accrued 224 AM points which would not get me an invite for anything.

Here is point breakdown for 2019 and I assume it will be same or similar for 2020

https://www.pdga.com/2019amworlds/invites/criteria

Last years AM World results.

https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/33926

So anyways, by having local PDGA events at Otter Brook you have more opportunity to earn points without traveling as much. And Flex starts are hopefully going to be a much easier way to get involved in a C-Tier event. Just sign up and play anytime of the day that is convenient for you. The only caveat is that you need to have a card of 3 when you go out or a card of 2 and a PDGA official. Probably major difference is that there is no player packs and all money minus costs goes back to players in form of cash for pros and funny money for AMs. Breaking Chains will be handling the payout side of things for us. We have 2 events scheduled already (1 before Mr Sippys and 1 before Summer of Dubz) and are planning to schedule 2 more later in the summer in Aug and Sept.

PDGA League does not earn as many AM points per event, but you can knock out 6 events in 6 weeks. I have been asked how this will affect our normal Sunday league and the answer is not much. There is no change in times or cost. playing for points and a player rating is completely optional. Sign in in the morning will be a little different and we will have to use paper scorecards. Other "change" if you want to call it that , is honestly going to be a change in curtesy on the course. We tend to play a little looser, a little more ready golf like. And there is nothing wrong with that. For PDGA we are just going to be a little more aware when people are throwing, using minis, and being aware of foot faults in and out of the circle.

But the cool thing is we will come out of this with some very solid course information. Like hole averages, what is our median score and dorky stuff like that. It would also set the table for having a handicap league or tourney of some sort which may be interesting.

Bottom line is that these changes may sound big, but in reality are just an extension of what we have been doing and where we are going as a club. It adds options for those looking to qualify for AM Worlds and have more player rating opportunities and changes very little for those who like the status quo.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at knhdgc@gmail.com

​Bob

Jan !5th - Sorry a little late in posting this.  Here's our interview with Ian Anderson from Central Coast Disc Golf on the YouTube (as you kids call it).   Derek Complains about the Celtics, and we make our NFL Playoff Picks.

HERES THE SHOW

Local Keene Disc Golf club members Derek DeCoste and Galloway Johnson (a.k.a Gally) have started a radio show.   It's on Tuesday nights from 9-10pm ET.  You can hear it locally on 91.5 WOOL.FM from Bellows Falls Vermont.   You can also listen online
​HERE


We talk mostly Disc Golf for the first 30 minutes of the show.   We discuss local Disc Golf happenings as well as topics from the larger Disc Golf community.  We throw in some music and will invite people to call in if you are listening live.  (number on the wool.fm website).   The rest of the hour we give our opinions on  sports topics with a general leaning toward the New England Sports Teams.

We will also throw in some special interviews with people from the local Disc Golf community, and really any sports related activities that people would want to chat about.   Send us email to Uderstableg@gmail.com
with suggestions or if you know someone interesting in the sports world that might want to chat with us.

We are also @understableg  on Twitter and understableg on instagram

Below is an archive of our show as well as two interviews Derek has done so far.   More to come...

Interview With Rob Breckenridge and his Ultra Marathon he did this past Summer.

Interview with Tournament Director Derek Dussault  
;
SHOW ARCHIVES

October 13th
October 30th
November 13th
​December 4th
​December 11th
​December 18th

​

Otter Brook is what it is today thanks to the generosity of countless individuals and organizations. So many people have supported us so many ways over the past 8+ years. Thousands of dollars, and who knows how many thousands of work hours have been gifted to us to help build this beautiful course and bring together this amazing group of friends that call Otter Brook home.

Our local community and our disc community were there for us when we asked. Now we want to give a little something back and pay that generosity forward! 

The idea started this spring and after some discussion the decision was made to choose The Monadnock Conservancy. (https://www.monadnockconservancy.org/) They are a very local organization, and when we read their mission statement it seemed to echo many of the sentiments and feelings we have for our course. We reached out to their staff and they even came out to play a few holes with us. In the end we thought this would be a great organization to try to help out and support. And of course we thought the best way would be to get some folks together and play a round or two!!

And we have some other local folks helping us. 

The Brewers of Nye Hill Farm (http://www.nyehillbrewers.com/) in Roxbury are going to help us out in the adult beverage department and Jersey Mikes (https://www.jerseymikes.com/37001/keene-nh) is going to hook us up with some subs for lunch! We are getting some Trilogy discs and working on getting some other stuff  for a raffle.

https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/The_Monadnock_Conservancy_Fund_Raiser_2018

So Brookies, we are asking you to chip in to help the Monadnock Conservancy. Best way is to sign up for the event and come play on October 6th. But if you cant do that, consider throwing a little ching their way so they can continue to do the work they do:

"Protect and steward land that contributes to ecological health, wildlife habitat, water quality, outdoor recreation, and working farms and forests"

https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/monadnockconservancy

I am a fan of the outdoor recreation part!!!

So the game plan is Random Dubz in morning, lunch, raffle and then singles for whoever is down in the afternoon. The hope is that we will be getting a bunch of first timers that we will be introducing to disc golf and our course. To be clear, this is a fundraiser for The Conservancy. Leave your PDGA number at home :-) ALL MONEY after buying the discs goes to them. 

​So come on Otter Brook, we have over 70 members... lets rally the troops and give something back to our community, the same community that came through for us when we asked!