Bear Creek DGC - Tonn's Travels

wp:paragraph {"extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"}}

While needing to travel over to Medford, Oregon to try my darnedest to help sell our business incubator space in Coos Bay, as a part of the Sorin Innovation Expo, I was fortunate enough to have both three hours of daylight after we were finished AND a disc golf course I hadn't played within about a mile of my hotel. The nine-hole course was located at Bear Creek Golf Center, and I had no idea if I would be able to secure a tee time on such late notice. But I crossed my fingers, then called the clubhouse. As luck would have it, I was able to secure a tee time! So I grabbed the one disc I had with me, a 177+ gram ProLine Rift, then I walked as quickly as I could to the course.

/wp:paragraph wp:paragraph {"extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"}}

/wp:paragraph wp:image {"id":150593,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none","extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"},"align":"center"}

View from the Hole 5 tee at Bear Creek DGC in Medford, Oregon.

/wp:image wp:paragraph {"extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"}}

Anytime I play at a golf course, it tends to not be a favorite...as it is essentially a wide-open, "throw it as far as you can" set of holes. Bear Creek wasn't much different, with four holes over 400 feet in length, and one 800+ foot monster. And only having a 177+ gram mid-range disc made me feel as though I was going to dislocate my shoulder trying to get the disc far enough off the tee to not be playing for bogey (or worse) on most of the holes. :-) But it wasn't about my score! It was about a +1 being added to my Courses Played Collection.

/wp:paragraph wp:image {"id":150594,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none","extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"},"align":"center"}

View from the Hole 7 tee at Bear Creek DGC in Medford, Oregon.

The course actually had a couple of fun shots off the tee, and even one hole that my old, broken body could reach and get my deuce. :-) Nobody was going to be asking why I hadn't yet joined the pro tour after seeing my performance: 3 3 5 3 2 3 3 4 4 (that four on Hole 9 was a bit embarrassing, but I just didn't get my drive off the tee far enough down the fairway to get my par three). But considering I was throwing a "manhole cover" on a course that was more about length than it was about technical precision? I thought the +1 (31) and an estimated round rating of 949 wasn't terrible.

I'm glad to have been able to play the course, as when I get to the Medford area in the future, there will be no guarantee I will be able to book a tee time when I want to. So that should make cleaning up my unplayed courses map in UDisc a little easier in the future.

Magic Number = -53 (2,053 Courses Played)

/wp:paragraph wp:heading {"level":3,"extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"}}

ABOUT DEREK

/wp:heading wp:image {"id":88043,"linkDestination":"custom","extended_widget_opts":{"id_base":-1,"column":{"desktop":"12","tablet":"12","mobile":"12"},"alignment":{"desktop":"default","tablet":"default","mobile":"default"},"roles":{"state":"","options":"hide"},"visibility":{"selected":"0","options":"hide","acf":{"visibility":"hide","field":"","condition":"","value":""}},"author_page":{"author_pages":{"selections":"1"}},"devices":{"options":"hide"},"days":{"options":"hide"},"dates":{"options":"hide","from":"","to":""},"styling":{"selected":"0","bg_image":"","background":"","background_hover":"","heading":"","text":"","links":"","links_hover":"","border_color":"","border_type":"","border_width":"","background_input":"","text_input":"","border_color_input":"","border_type_input":"","border_width_input":"","background_submit":"","background_submit_hover":"","text_submit":"","border_color_submit":"","border_type_submit":"","border_width_submit":"","list_border_color":"","table_border_color":""},"class":{"selected":"0","link":"","id":"","classes":"","animation":"","event":"enters","speed":"","offset":"","delay":"","logic":""},"tabselect":"0"}}

Derek Tonn is a member of the DGA’s Ambassador Team. His company, Mapformation, LLC, has been DGA’s partner in the development of disc golf tee signage since 2012. The longer our two companies have worked together, and the more Derek has gotten to know all the great folks at DGA, the more he has wanted to formally sing the company’s praises. The more he has realized that “Steady” Ed’s (the father of disc golf and the modern-day Frisbee) vision for the sport and his company perfectly describes his own interests and priorities related to disc golf, and the more Derek has recently been encouraged to share his story.

/wp:paragraph