Berkeley Aquatic Park San Francisco, CA.

It was a damp Saturday afternoon in March that found us
heading around the San Francisco Bay area, on the east
side of the bay lies Berkeley Aquatic Park, the web directions
were spot on and Kate was just dozing off to sleep as
I found the park - perfect. Course host for my round at
Berkeley was JJ - a local DG player I met in the car park
- whose dog was wonderfully trained to find, but not maul
the thrown disc. Such talents were sadly useless on my
very first drive, with my Polaris doing as it should going
long and straight, sadly enough the hole required a hyzer
and my disc disappeared into the lake, at this rate my
limited disc supply wouldn't last the round. Fortunately
I found a gazelle later on the course, I'm sorry Brad
Miller but you can have it back if you ever come over!
Ingo's article in a recent edition only rated this course
a 6/10, I thought that was a little unfair - although
the course is short it has some nice undulations plus
the wind, water and trees can provide for some testing
holes. I was quite happy to shoot +8 thanks to some monster
(and completely out of character) putts, JJ shot a more
respectable +4, but then it is his home course.



Later that evening we quaffed a few brews and talked more
DG. (talked bollocks more like - Kate) Although there
was no course in Death Valley, I had to have a few throws
on the Salt lake at the 'Badlands', this is the lowest
land point on the Earth's surface (280 feet below sea
level). The Salt Lake is dead flat and featureless (no
- not 'just like Hayling') and very weird to walk across.
Just don't use a white disc, and anyone who throws rollers
is in for a long walk.

Sunset Park - Las Vegas, NV.

Las Vegas provided the most memorable DG experiences of
the holiday, a miraculous set of circumstances just all
came together. The only info I had was that there was
a course in 'Sunset Park', I had no map of the area, but
when I saw a road called Sunset Boulevard I thought I'd
give it a go. We followed the road for four miles and
were about to turn around, when Kate spotted a Basket!
Parking in the adjacent lot, I asked a young lady (bearing
Disc) if there was a supply shop nearby, she pointed to
a bloke standing near the first tee and suggested I ask
him. It turned out that he was the Course Pro, he introduced
himself as Vince and suggested I look in the back of his
truck (complete with number plate FR1Z-B) if I needed
Discs, so I loaded up with 'Lightning' toys and set off
for a game.



The course at Sunset Park is completely flat, but Vince
has done a great job of tree planting to create interesting
holes (did I say course pro & creator! - the local council
even pay him to maintain the course and promote the game)
and using existing features for OB, such as fenced Baseball
pitches and tennis courts. In terms of facilities it was
excellent, the course has concrete tees (some holes had
Pro and Am alternatives) and next to each was a hole map.
Water fountains & 'washrooms' were also available throughout
the park. It gets pretty hot in Vegas (well it is in the
Desert) so some of the guys playing use converted Stick
Golf Trolleys to carry their kit, complete with drinks
coolers! This course really epitomised the friendliness
of the game in the US, we played the course on two different
occasions, each time meeting new faces.

Evergreen - Santa Barbara, CA

I was fortunate enough to have a contact number for this course;
a friendly guy called Andy Schutette, who not only has done
a great job of establishing the course, but has a DG shop called
the 'Back Nine'. I arranged to call in at the shop, which was
great - he even had a couple of Baskets for sale, his disc selection
probably wasn't as extensive as Del Boy's (but at least he would
sell me a Mega Cube) and he gave me a 'back-nine' baseball cap.
Most importantly, Andy had course maps - as there are no signs
on the course. Evergreen is a good course, it has a nice mixture
of open and wooded holes, that force a variety of shots, it's
not a long course, but I was happy with shooting +7, despite
two double-bogeys on the first two holes The City of Santa Barbara
is a great place to stay, and one I would recommend - the zoo
makes a great diversion for those who are fed up with DG, or
for those who need to buy a few favours.



DeLavega - Santa Cruz, CA

This course almost came as a disappointment, but then perhaps
I'd expected too much. The 'web' had supplied many superlatives
describing the course, most of which I suppose were justified,
but there was one big problem; too many *!&%*& trees, and in
some respect not enough thought (in my mind) had gone into the
actual planning of the course - some holes seemed to be just
a hack through the trees, with no logical flight path choice
to the basket, which were often placed right in the middle of
a copse. Despite these minor niggles I can see why the course
is popular, and why there are awkward basket placements - the
putting of some of the local players was just awesome, they
expect to sink the 30+ foot putt, every time. The course is
clearly a victim of its own success, tee and basket areas are
suffering from erosion due to heavy use and this is despite
concrete tees and a variety of basket locations. One 'local'
said that at weekends the parking lot was usually full and it
had been known to have to wait to play a round, perhaps not
surprising that the club membership is approaching 200.



Final words

I managed to play four different courses during our holiday
(sorry, and thanks Kate!) and if this all sounds like I planned
the Holiday around DG, I can assure you that wasn't the case,
I went skiing as well. Even though DG is still considered very
much a minority sport in the US, at each course we played there
were people using the course, and the spirit of the game is
fantastic, such enthusiasm combined with friendliness - just
a shame it's so far away.