Keene Disc Golf Club

Otter Brook 2021

1/26/2021

So where are we?

I got a witnessed Ace in 2020, so that's cool!

What can you say about 2020? On one hand we had to pull baskets for awhile and that sucked, but on the other many improvements have come from us having to adapt. Like why have we not always met at hole 5 for league off season? RIP to the pre-tourney player meeting and welcome to the pre-assigned starting hole and hard start times. And a big WELCOME to all the people that found Disc Golf and Otter Brook because of the pandemic. A pandemic that is not over yet and that we will still be dealing with this year.

Right out of the gate that means we wont know about park access till we do. As of today we cant stage inside the park, so our first causality is our season opener Mr Sippy's! Not that we wont have the event, we just don't know when yet. We have tentatively planned a work day for May 16th, but that is contingent on a thumbs up from ACoE.

In general, the club is in good shape. We have a strong balance sheet with around $3000.00 in the bank, we have strong membership and course is in good shape. Sunday league has never been stronger. So we have that going for us!

So now what?

Well we have have a lot planned for league and tourneys. A lot still needs to be locked in but here is the Overview.
- The usual suspects, Trilogy challenge, MVP, Club Championship, Otter Brook Open, Scrambles and some Flex starts. In the works is a possible B-Tier with Oak Ridge, and a Flex round robin with us, Brattleboro and Oak Ridge. Will give you details when we know more. If you have something in mind drop me a message.

- League is looking a-lot like 2019. A couple blocks of rated PDGA League and working in some handicapped league. We are still working out exact dates, but this was pretty popular when we rolled out in 2019.

- 2021 Work Day. We have not had a big club workday per se since 2018. This wont be a sexy workday, but a necessary one. Tentative items on our list are building some information kiosks for holes 1 and 5 and maybe up top. Cleaning up 10M circles, Installing new signage, working on B-Tee's, and leveling tee pads as needed and working on improving hole 6. Other assorted cleanup and pruning.

- Another item that came up was Hole 1. A few ideas have been put forward that we discussed at the meeting. One was change to a par 4. One was to move basket to new location and make it a Par 4 and some want to leave it as it is.
The decision was made to try the alternate location as a test and see what folks think. Obviously this wont happen till spring. We will keep you posted.

And no post of mine would be complete without a reminder that Free courses are Not free. Every bit of Otter Brook is there because someone stepped up. No one had run a tourney, someone stepped up. Tees did not just appear, it was hundreds and hundreds of volunteer work hours. And before that were hundred and hundreds of hours to clear fairways. And before that hundreds of hours of planning, just hoping it would work out.

Again we will need people like you. Its time to give something back to Otter Brook so we can enjoy this gem of a course for years to come. And honestly, its not just "a course". We have built a great disc golf community unlike any other in NH.

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Yes...We do play in the winter!

11/30/2019

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We have all had people incredulously ask us if we play disc once the snow flies. In my case I usually chuckle, settle in and tell stories about my coldest round (TC Jan 2018 -14 degrees), my snowiest round (Ice Bowl, The Hill at Devens, Feb 2015 2 feet of fresh snow), or my most miserable round (Stupid Castle in the Clouds Oct 2017 AND Oct 2018)
And I really do get it when folks hang up their bag for the season, but at same time I feel like they are missing out. Otter Brook in winter is both a whole new course and at times ridiculously beautiful. Being the first one through after a snowfall can be magical. So dont hang up the bag quite yet. Take some time to prepare and see what Otter Brook has to offer during our New Hampshire winter!

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

#2 This could just as easily be #1 but it is the obvious dress for the weather. For snow, my key piece of gear is a good pair of gaiters with my usual hikers. Deep fresh snow I have a pair of high top Sorels with felts I break out. My other winter must is hand warmers. Having tried electric, Zippo and Hot Hands I have to say Hot Hands are my fave. Just make sure they are fresh. Zippo would be the best, but they are just too unreliable. And electric just seem to run out of juice at worst time, or you forget to charge.

I dont wear snowpants and only occasionally long underwear. I will leave those recommendations to others.
I also dont do gloves. I dont like taking them on and off, certainly dont like throwing with one on and typically lose one when I do bring them out. I will bust out the mittens if it is super cold.

#3 is GOOD spikes. Once all this snow gets packed down, tee areas and trails WILL be icy and you are going to want good spikes. So you are going to head down to Sams and you are going to see a wide variety of options and a wide variety of prices. And you are going to probably say "No way Im spending 60$ on spikes"

SPEND 60$ ON SPIKES. Specifically spend it on Kahtoola MICROspikes! They have out performed every other option I have seen at Otter Brook. Disc golf is hard on spikes, dont be chintzy. Otter Brook eats Yaktraxs and Stabilicers for snacks. Then has Diamondgrips for lunch and finishes with the Hillsound Freestep 6's for dinner.

And yes I know, it affects how you throw and all that. This is coming from the old guy that does not want to break a hip. So be safe, buy the good stuff and learn to stand and deliver!

#4 This is a tricky one, but shake up your bag. Hard stiff plastic out...Soft grippy plastic in. Plasma, Frostline and GStar come to mind. This video has links to each companies softer plastic plus an excellent tutorial on what cold does to your game. Winter is a chance to work on different aspects of your game, like new discs, new throws (flick or overhand) and new stances (stand and deliver).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcESTPPXh7w

#5 This I guess is more of an AM50 tip. I have not used a ton in the past, but find myself using a trekking pole more frequently in icy conditions. The "Pro" is that a third point of contact with the ground really helps with stability. They are also easily adjustable and you can stash in your umbrella pouch. The "Con" is that I tend to leave it lying all over the course. Would also be a good option for someone that does not want wear spikes to help you out on those icy patches.

So be smart, stay hydrated, stay warm and dont miss out on what Otter Brook has to offer in the winter! You wont regret it!

Please leave your winter disc "must haves" in the comments below.

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Summer Handicap League

7/12/2019

3 Comments

Our spring PDGA 6 week league was a test run for a rated round league set up. Well we had 41 unique players and 132 rated rounds. Players earned points towards AM Worlds, new players learned about PDGA rules and are now better prepared to play in PDGA tournaments. For our first time, I thought we hit a homerun!

The one thing we did hear though was from players who felt like donors week after week.

So we thought about having an A pool and a B pool. But after working out the logistics and talking with some of our members, we concluded that the cons outweighed the pros, and we went back to the drawing board.

After doing some research and again talking with members, we are going to try a handicapped PDGA league...

First and most importantly, this is an experiment!! Handicaps get better with more rounds, so there may be some anomalies in early weeks. Please be patient with Derek and I while we work out the handicapping details.

The gist of the idea is that you play the same stroke play we always have for league. That number will be reported to PDGA and you will get your AM points and your player rating for each week. In addition players will be assigned a handicap. For everyone that played in the spring we will formulate a starting handicap. Disc Golf Scene will take over after that. People with 1 or no rounds will be playing scratch golf to start. I will be happy to discuss the recipe with anyone who is interested. The short version is that it is not a just an average of your rounds, we will be tweaking it, and our goals is for this to be fair and fun for all those involved.

Based on spring league here are a couple handicaps. I would be going in with a handicap of 7.75 (might round up to 8) Frank would be a 0 or scratch and Double D would have a handicap of 2. I will have a list before it starts on the 20th

The handicap will be used to figure out the Otter Brook weekly payouts. Our goal was to keep what we liked about PDGA league, but at same time reward any player who has a personal best day and give more people an opportunity to cash at league! We hope you like the changes and please feel free to share your feedback with Derek and I.

Should be a great way to close out the summer!!

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Feb. 19th Show Featuring our very own Patti C!!!

2/20/2019

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Its been a few weeks since our last show. We've been snowed out twice, and one week Gally was in Boston for the Patriots parade. But we are BACK!!

This weeks show features an interview with one of the local women in Disc Golf Patti C. For the next few weeks we will have an interview with all of the local DiscGolf (Patti, Nicki, Casey, and Jillian) women, and then on March 19th the gang will all be in the studio to talk Disc Golf, and whatever else comes to mind. It's a full Month of coverage for Women in DiscGolf! Spread the word.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

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Early Bird Special

2/9/2019

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Hey Gang!
Its early bird special time again. That time of year when there is snow and ice covering Otter Brook and we want you to buy a tee shirt!
Truth is it is so much more than that. This is the time of year you help make Otter Brook be better than it was last year. Every year we have done projects to make OB better than it was before. 5 years back it was easy, we were planting baskets and putting in tee boxes. Now the upgrades are a bit more subtle. A bench on this hole, marked circles, cleaning up after wind storms. Point is there is something to do on the course every year and what we do is not free. And that is where you come in.

By becoming a member and supporting Keene Disc Golf Club you are supporting OB and you are supporting disc golf in the area. It may seem crazy now, but we want another course in the area. We want Otter Brook to have a sibling.

Is this going to happen next year? Probably not. But it is on the radar.

So what is going to happen at OB this year? Well we have our biggest slate of tournaments thus far. And given that we want OB looking its best. We are hoping to build a kiosk at the new parking lot. We want to add a puncheon or two. We want to re-level tees and have 18 playable B Tees and maybe wood chips on the greens and better signage and ....well the list goes on. And it all start with our Early Bird membership drive!

And to quote our esteemed TD "Double D" ... DO IT!!!!

Become a member today!

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PDGA League + Flex Starts = Am Worlds

1/29/2019

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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

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The Rodent Cup comes back to where it belongs!

1/23/2019

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Jan 22nd Show:
The Understable sports guys talk Team Challenge, an update on Jomez productions and the DGPT media coverage. We review the newest baseball HOF'ers elected, and of course Patriots are in the SuperBowl again!!!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW

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Interview with Ian Anderson from Central Coast Disc Golf

1/18/2019

5 Comments

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

5 Comments

January 05th, 2019

1/5/2019

3 Comments

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

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So we are kind of a big deal...

12/27/2018

2 Comments

Thats right, the group above! No really...that motley looking crew is kind of a big deal!
And I couldn't be prouder to be one of them.
Yes we are a little rough around the edges.
Occasionally swear, maybe have a few beverages, vape like chimneys, and can be heard from 4 holes away.

But you know what else Brookies do? Crush disc golf!! I mean really crush it.

Otter Brook IS a big deal because this group of ruffians put in countless rounds and countless hours of their time making Otter Brook what it is.

So, you ask, what was the big deal last year? Well...

70+ paid members
Countless other players that enjoy the course (more than 1200 people came through the gate and said they were playing disc golf in 2017)
8 tournaments with over 350 players from all over New England.
A great Sunday league
An Improving TC group
A super fun Wednesday night doubles league (Im sure weather will be better this year)
Donated 600$ to local non-profit
Ended year with 1000$ more than what we started with
Course is looking and playing better than it ever has
Helped support NH biggest tournament, by being a hole sponsor
We have the fastest emergency tree removal response team around
And Food, yeah we do that too

There are a million other things folks do for the course on a daily basis. picking up trash, cleaning off fairways, helping TD's out, just being good stewards of the property we are fortunate to have.

And to keep doing all this stuff we need you!
Yes we have a core group that gets shit done. But the people in that group weren't always in that group. They wanted to see something happen at the course and they stepped up! I wasn't even part of the original 9 holes being cut or planted. I wasn't part of "core group" and was so shy about my playing ability I would not do league. But I did help out a little bit and met some guys. I did play league and found out it wasn't as scary as I thought. Then I TD'd my first event and that was scary! But people stepped up and helped and it got easier.

So if you are new, we dont bite. Jump in with what you can do and be part of this. As I say EVERY year, Otter Brook does not happen magically. Tourneys dont just happen, 10m circles dont just pop from the ground, downed trees dont just disappear. Its ALWAYS someone stepping up and making the course better. And at the end the day, you have done your part, for sure your putting will improve...(its a scientific fact) and you will have probably made a friend or two.

And that is a big deal!

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Otter Brook 2021

So where are we?

So now what?

Yes...We do play in the winter!

Summer Handicap League

Feb. 19th Show Featuring our very own Patti C!!!

Early Bird Special

PDGA League + Flex Starts = Am Worlds

The Rodent Cup comes back to where it belongs!

Interview with Ian Anderson from Central Coast Disc Golf

January 05th, 2019

So we are kind of a big deal...

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