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!

April 29th!  
Clear your calendar, grab your work gloves!

Last year we had an EPIC workday. Getting all those Tees in was amazing. We had great support and we made incredible progress! The goal is to have Otter Brook looking good for our 2018 tournament slate. Or check out our calendar HERE. 

I am going to tell you straight out...this year will not be as sexy! So what do we have on the todo list?
2018 workday should really be called 2018 maintenance and preseason cleanup. These are listed in order of importance and what we are going to attack first (more or less).

1) Level and finish Hole #2.
Got to fix our ugly duckling hole. For this we are going to need a lot of manpower or someone with an ATV that is cool navigating through the woods and up hole #1. #2 is mostly done so it wont be horrible, but it still going to take many buckets to get that completed.

2) Level remaining front 9 holes. 
Hopefully ATV comes through and we can hit 3 and 8 same time as 2. After that 7, 6, 4, 9, 5, and 1. Hard ones first. The point of re-leveling is to give as a more consistent tee surface and also to raise up rubber so we have less pooling of water and hopefully less ice in the winter

3) Spruce up marking brushes marking our 10 meter circles. This should be a pretty straight forward project, but nice to get done before the park opens.

4) Signage. Our laminated signs did better than I ever thought, but its time for new batch. We will double check lengths of holes and do a new set of signs. Also do a walk through and add arrows and other signage as appropriate. Anyone have one of those measuring wheel things?

5) Help 4 and 6 tees. On hole 4 we want to dig away at the high side to give some room so water has some place to go. Again pooling in summer and less ice in winter. Hole 6 needs some help. Looking for suggestions on that one, but I think we are looking at more rock around the out side and something built into ground to help divert water to one side or the other.

6) Puncheons. This may or may not be a work day thing. All depends on work force. We need to build something new over 6 and a couple of little ones on 3. 6 needs to be done per ACoE, 3 is more cosmetic. Been thinking about a puncheon going across the low spot between 6-7. Again cosmetic.

7) Kiosks. ACoE wants a proposal on this. What we want to build, where we want to put it. Looking for volunteers to help work on this project. Basically, where is best placement, should it be movable for off season etc etc.

So that is my perfect world Workday list...

Yeah yeah yeah, but,  "DUDE! What about cutting down trees?" Cutting down trees is its own separate thing. Im sure we will be talking about this as soon as we can start driving down the road to back 9 area. But since you mentioned it... Tree cutting events need to go through Rob B. Period!  We need to let ACoE know when we plan to cut. We need to be safe and we need to stick to what we said we were going to cut. More about all that later.

And other non workday project.

1) Lay out back 9 B tees.

2) We need a proposal for where we would like to put practice baskets and possibly a driving net.

3) Learn to play day in conjunction with 2nd Wind Sports this spring

4) Proposal for alternate basket placements.

5) Im sure there are more ideas out there!! Lets here them!

​And as always this stuff does not happen with out your help. Its your support both physically and monetarily that makes Otter Brook be what it is. And I cannot stress how much a good turnout makes this easier for everyone. We crushed last year and we can do it this year. 

Thanks

​Bob

Wow!!
2017 is in the books and again a dedicated bunch of folks crushed it on so many levels! Im not even sure where to start.

Well lets start with crushing the back 9 tee pads. Because that was an amazing day. 30+ volunteers rolled into OB and some stayed till dark (nice job on Hole 12 guys) and we got as much done in a day on back 9 as took us 6 months on the front 9. It was an amazing show of love for Otter Brook and what can be done when people work together!

Another big thing that was going on behind the scenes was actually formalizing our agreement with Army Corp of Engineers. Yes we had been waiting for years to get this pretty little piece of paper, but in mid October it was official. We have a lease on the property and we are the official operators and maintainers of Otter Brook Disc Golf Course. We also have permissions for final cuts this spring! So we still need to involve ACoE in what we are doing, but simple tasks should be much easier to accomplish going forward. And with that we need to continue what we have been doing! Respecting the property and the other users at Otter Brook. We did an amazing job of keep OB clean this summer and for that I thank each and everyone of you that dragged out a beer can or an iced coffee cup or whatever this summer.

And another big thing! 7 events this year. Im guessing the biggest was Trilogy Challenge Doubles! Huge turn out, awesome day. We also rolled out Wednesday night random dubz this summer. Sundays have been getting more competitive and we wanted to have a more laid back and beginner friendly option. And for you cold weather freaks, Team Challenge has roared back after a disappointing 2016-2017. Team OtterFish has been rolling deep and while record does not reflect , we have been SO close! I believe when we played Queen City we had 5 dubz matches losses decided by 1 stroke!

I know there is a core group that plays a lot, but this course is a haven for way more people than we know. This summer Bob and Sue counted how many folks came through to play while they were manning the gate. This is just when they were there, and who they knew were playing, and only from Memorial Day to Labor day. The number was 1200+ players. I know Derek and Corey were 600 of those....seriously though, the time we put in and the work we do affects way more people than you know.

So here it is 2018. Otter Brook is a technical but fair 18 hole course with some of the best tees in New England and Innova Disc Catchers! (except epic Ace runs on 16, then they spit) We have a solid club and money in the bank.

So you tell me, what now? No, I really mean it....what now. What do you want to see and do? And honestly, nothing or maintaining status quo  is not a bad answer. What? You are not in the "inner circle"? There is NO inner circle...I know it may seem like it, but honestly its just people who stepped up. I did not even know Rob, Derek, or Bonner 4 years ago. I just thought I had something to offer. 

My things for this year, I want to build a new puncheon on 6, play league, TD 2 events, putt better and get my 900 rating. Oh and the ace thing....

But back to you! How do you want 2018 to look for you? What do you want to see on the course? How do you want to get  involved this year? How are you going to leave your mark on Otter Brook. And trust me...every little thing counts. Picking a hole to clean up, helping with league. Becoming a tag holder, making food, poll sawing.

Otter Brook is what it is because new people wander in every year and leave their mark.
 
So this is the time of year we decide what I will be talking about next year!! You can post ideas on Otter Brook Facebook page, email knhdgc@gmail or text me direct at 603-499-1666

Or just get involved and make it happen.

Stay tuned for Membership details and upcoming club meeting (tentatively 1/27)

Hey Guys,
The time is here!! Thanks so much for signing up our 4th Solstice Scrambles!

So a couple of things.
1) If you have not been to Otter Brook, these are the BEST directions. USE THEM!! Do not use directions from Disc Golf Scene.
http://www.keenediscgolf.com/about-the-course.html


2) The course will be covered with snow. Please ribbon up! Do this to warm discs the day before! Bring spikes if you got them, but looks like there will be enough snow for traction. We have gotten 4"+ today in Keene.

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


3) Please be on time. The days are short and cold and I dont want folks sitting around. We have a couple things to do in the morning and I want to be heading out to holes at 9:15. We will be registering and having player meeting at the top lot. We will have someone there right around 8AM.

4) Lunch is on the course. You will not have time to go into town or probably even go to your car. Bring out what you need/want for the day.

5) We will be raffling off a bunch of stuff. Everyone will get a ticket in their player pack, but of course we will be selling extras. Among prizes, 2 20$ gift certificates to Brewtopia in Keene. If you like craft beer, you will love Brewtopia!! We will also be auctioning off hole 3 and 8 as starting holes (both rounds) in morning. If you want to "sponsor" a hole besides 3 and 8, you can have it, first come, first serve for 15$ a team. All money goes to after party and Keene Disc Golf Club.

6) We will have a prize for best costume or team theme. This is not mandatory, but could be fun if you are not lame.

7) We will be having the Jim Sicard After Party at Joe Peanuts in Keene after the tourney. We will be buying first round of wings and fries. Will get more depending on raffles and such. This will not go on all night as we need to be out by 7 for their xmas party.

8) People, this is a for fun tournament. A chance to celebrate the season, look back at 2017, meet some new friends and chuck some plastic in one of my favorite places.

Again Mike and I thank you and look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

"Dude, we have a good thing going, why complicate things"?

It is true! I want to complicate things. As a matter of fact I fave been complicating things since I first became involved with KDGC. And there are times it drove me nuts, times I thought it would cost me friends. Talk to Derek, Rob and Mike.

Why the hell would I continue down this path?

Well first lets talk about terms. Where some see complication, I see organization. And honestly that has always been my goal. First I thought some organization would get us a nicer front 9. Then a back 9. Then back 9 tees. And you know why? Selfish selfish reasons...I wanted an awesome course in my backyard for me, my kids and my friends. People before me had started and I wanted to help keep going. Sometimes people say careful what you wish for...well in this case, I got what I wished for and more.

Now I want other people to help keep this going! 

Work days for new tees are easy. Work days to talk about goals and finance...going to meetings with ACoE, etc etc are not easy. Thats why you see nice courses fall apart. The initial joy and energy fades. People move on. They literally, move, have kids, find other hobbies, get new jobs. Trust me it happens. My disc golf buddies, my kids, my family, gave way to much blood sweat and money to just say "this is good enough"

So, I want to complicate things again. Not to get bigger and better, but just to make sure that we keep what we have! One of the nicest courses in New England.

The basic idea is to have a strong group to keep Otter Brook being Otter Brook and then some.

Here is my vision for Keene Disc Golf Club organization version 1 (now to be referred to as V.1) 

Course Management - Rob 
Tourney Director - DD

This is where you go for 90% of your ideas. Want a bench on 2? Talk to Rob. Want to do a charity event for putting impaired, talk to Derek.

Then we have Derek Decoste and I playing our normal roll. ACoE Liaison. We will take these ideas and make sure we can do within parameters of ACoE rules and our lease agreement.

Then comes the important part. Rich Castagna has volunteered to be treasurer. This is where we fund these ideas. The major improvement here will be tighter monetary controls. Not douchey, but just common sense accounting. 

The last group, has a function that I think will become more clear over time. The initial thought is that they will act as arbitrators in the event of discord, and also as a group that  that guides where KDGC is going goal wise. Do we want to put energy into a new course, do we want to help other courses and things like that. Ideally the membership will help guide that direction.

Down the road this may be an elected type position, but for V.1 we have asked 3 people to be the initial leaders and get us going. Mikey, Clark, and Sean have all said they would bring their talents to OB. So lets go with the Big 3 ;-)

Think V.1!! This is all being put together so that our members and players have a say. And most importantly that we keep and maintain what we have. That said we still need, want all sorts of other help! Want to get more women involved? Lets us know. Are you a great fundraiser? You want to have a kids league? Love organizing sponsors for big events?

Remember though.... with great ideas comes great responsibility. 

THIS IS YOUR CLUB!!! 

Great things happen when you step up. Trust me!

​Bob

So there it is....3 years ago I was playing one of my first rounds of disc golf.  Who knew 3 years later I would be part of an awesome club, play tournaments, be a TD...who knew that disc golf would become a big part of my life. Who knew I would meet Derek and Rob, who knew a bunch of acres at Otter Brook would become my second home!

KDGC Membership
I know there was a time 60 members seemed like a pipe dream. Well this year that is how many paid memebers we had. And not just friends of the original group, but new people that have stumbled upon our course. It is so awesome to see new people on the course and then see them become members, go to tournaments, play league, and make friends here. Thank you for joining and thank you for supporting what we are doing at Otter Brook.

Plan is to buy 75 tags this year and we have plans for league.

League
We had a lot of fun with league this year. More singles play, but plenty of dubz also. Suprisingly, no one hit an Ace this year so we are working on a winter Ace Race to pay that money out. Ideas we are talking about are a Wednesday doubles league that will run from Memorial Day to Labor Day and also tossing around the idea of Sunday League having an "A" pool and a "B" pool. 

While we were competetive, we also had fun. The Wig Round comes to mind! A fun day for everyone that came out to play.

So the plan for 2017 is to continue what we do. Provide opportunities to play for fun and to be competetive!

Getting Better
One of the things that really makes me smile every year, is seeing new players come in...throwing the discs in the starter pack they got at Sams...being amazed by the throws they see "experienced" players throw....and a few monhs later, they are figuring it out and making drives and putts they thought were impossible not very long ago. 
And seeing not so new players starting to hit tourneys or play Team Challenge.
It is truly a sport you can take as far as you want, from a competetive stand point. Even if you are an old duffer such as myself.
Which reminds me... I love seeing the diversity at the course. We have kids as young as 16 and guys as old as...well not sure if Clark is older than Tim, but its 50 something.

Tourneys
Last year we had 6 tourneys, plus team challenge, plus the first year of Otters v. Beavers! 

If you know me, you know what is coming... Tourneys do not magicaly happen! 

Here is the scoop! Even if you do not want to run an event....ask what you can do to help! I get wanting to play...no problem. But helping out is fun too.
Like to cook? Run the grill! Like to yell? Anounce winners! (I know I guy who is great at that). Hell volunteer to help clean up, or set up, or help register players, or whatever. 
Point is you dont have to do it all yourself!  Its not perfect, but we are getting pretty good at running an event. So if you have something in mind like Trilogy Challenge or MVP Circuit, we will help you out.
The other point is that these events DO NOT HAPPEN unless someone steps up!

Whats next?
I know...I know. Its tees on the back 9. All I can say is that we are working on it. I thought for sure we would make it happen last year...and I think for sure we will make it happen this year. Truth is that the ACoE folks at Otter Brook are working to make this happen, they really are! And they are as frustrated as we are! Truth told they are sick of my emails askeing "what the satus is"
The upside is that we have ALL materials we need to complete the tees. So when we get the OK...shit is going to happen fast!

So besides back 9 tees?

Well...alot of that is up to you! Before you, people you dont even know put in time, effort, and money to make Otter Brook happen. What happens now at Otter Brook, or for that matter disc golf in our area, is up to you.

What do you want to see?  
A new course? 
More benches at OB. 
Alternate Tees...
More women playing....
See more kids on the course....
A masters tourney...
The club support a local non profit...
A putting league...
Get a pro to visit...
Build quad lift up  to 7...

Bottom line is this is your club! Things happen when you make them happen. 

2016 was a great year for Otter Brook,  help us make 2017 even better!