2026 Lake Marshall Open

Since this was a 3-round, 3 day tournament, and since the courses changed each day, I’ll break this down into 3 sections — plus a short “bonus” section for the practice/playthrough round that I shot the day before the tournament.

Day 1 (Thursday) — “Lair” Course, Short Layout

Having decided to combine a practice round and a “course playthrough” video session, I arrived at the course and got everything ready to refresh my memory of the “Lair” course. I recorded my intro, then took a deep breath and began. My forehand drive from the platform of Hole 1 went a bit right, but stayed close enough to the fairway that I had a step-out backhand for the second shot. The remaining putt was slightly obstructed, and in a position where I was putting toward the lake, so I wisely settled for an up-and-down par. The forehand drive on hole 2 stayed a bit more left than I intended, but the lie left me with a 60’ birdie putt. The attempt was close, but I once again settled for a par. My backhand drive on hole 3 was my best ever on this hole, setting me up for a “long-ish” approach and resulting in an unexpected birdie. I tried a left-gap drive on the short but very narrow hole 4. I hit the last group of trees before the tiny green, but was obstructed by those same trees, so I settled for another par. My wish to avoid hole 5’s left-side “canyon” went unheeded, but I miraculously threw in my second shot from the deep rough, about 120’ from the mound-mounted pin!

So I found myself 2-under after 5 holes. After a short conversation with another competitor (who I would come to find out was in my division), I played the next 4 holes at even par, with long birdie looks on holes 6, 7, and 9. I wasn’t until my drive on hole 10 that I threw a truly errant shot, with my forehand drive hitting and early left-side tree and shooting into the deep right side rough. After a recovery shot and a circle 2, obstructed putt, I settled for my first bogey of the round. Using a low, penetrating forehand drive, I found the perfect spot on hole 11’s fairway to approach the green, and when that approach landed inside of 20’ of the pin, I was able to card my third birdie of the round. A long birdie putt on hole 12 was unsuccessful, but a short par putt on hole 13 was, which brought me to the water carry on hole 14 with a score of 2-under par. My throw across the water crashed through the right-side guardian rough and stopped within 15’ of the pin, allowing me to card another birdie. I stayed conservative on holes 15 (another water crossing) and 16 (a ravine crossing), resulting in 2 more pars, then got lucky with a long approach on 17 (to within 15’) and a “just-barely-in-bounds” second shot on hole 18 to finish out the round with pars on the final 2 holes. I looked incredulously at my UDisc scorecard, which read -3 (62)!!! (I would find out later that my data suggested that a -3 would have an average rating of 974!!!) Feeling smug, I decided to head back to hotel and chill, knowing that there was lots of disc golf to play and not wanting to burn too much energy.

But, I’ll admit that I was feeing pretty good about shooting so well.

Silly me.

Day 2 (Friday) — “Lair” Course, Short Layout

I pulled in to the parking lot on Friday morning full of confidence. I warmed up the long throws by shooting holes 1, 2, 3, and 18, then worked putting for a few minutes. I decided to forego the cart and the camera rig, figuring that the extra effort might be a hinderance on the first day. I met the other 4 players that would form both my card and my division; Mark, Jim, Carles, and Wayne. My initial drive on hole 1 stayed on the right side of the fairway, but the second shot went into the right rough, and the recovery shot hit the last set of trees before the green. I missed the edge-of-circle, obstructed putt and had to settle for a bogey 5. Trying to compensate for the hole 2 drive from the day before, I edged the drive a bit more to the right, but overcompensated and went too far right and landed in the right rough. My high backhand anhyzer approach landed within 15 feet, but I MISSED the short par putt, settling for another bogey. Hole 3 started out even worse, with an early release sending the disc into a tree early on the left side. The recovery shot also hit a tree early, this time on the right side. The third shot was better, but still hit a tree outside of circle 2, and came to rest behind it. The obstructed putt missed left and rolled to 25’. Then, to add insult to injury, I shorted the bogey putt. Determined to turn the round in a positive direction, I attacked hole 4 with the same left side throw as I had used the day before. Hitting an earlier tree, I managed to work an approach shot onto the green, only to have it stand and roll over the edge behind the basket and end up about 35 feet down the slope. The putt attempt was once again short, and I added another bogie to the scorecard.

So now I’m +5 after 4 holes, when yesterday I was -1 after the same 4 holes. And I could feel the frustration starting to creep in.

Hole 5 finally saw me get a lucky kiss off of a left side tree and end up 40’ from the pin, allowing me to get up-and-down for my first par of the round. Clean, accurate drives on holes 6 and 7 gave me two more pars and the feeling that I was, perhaps, turning the round toward a more positive direction. The drive on hole 8 made it across the ravine, but buried itself in the right rough, requiring a pitch out to recover. The approach was woefully short, and 2 putts later I had carded yet another bogey. Hole 9 was played pretty well, until I missed another 20’ putt short! The same with Hole 10, although the putt was from 30’. I reined the frustration monster in and ran off 5 straight pars, only missing 1 putt (for a birdie) in that sequence. Hole 16 finally gave me some respite, with a good first drive, good second shot, and a long approach and putt for a birdie. Some conservative play on hole 17 earned my a par, but the same conservative play on hole 18 resulted in a final bogey, due to yet another shorted putt.

Final damage: a +8 (73) that left me scratching my head and wondering what had happened in the 24 hours between the -3 round yesterday and today’s debacle. I wasn’t too far behind, however, so I packed everything up, and headed back to the hotel to try to get my head on straight.

Day 3 (Saturday) — “Lions” Course, Modified Short Layout

Showed up early to give myself extra time to warm up — and promptly went to the wrong starting hole; the rounds were starting on hole 13 instead of hole 1. After I corrected, I warmed up quickly (including quite a bit more putting than usual, since that was one of the major issues on Friday), then headed onto the island to catch the FPO cards tee off. Since the first drive of the day was a 200’+ water carry, I was DETERMINED to put myself on dry land and get the round started right. Success! I put myself in a great position for the second shot up the hill to the green. The second shot was a bit shorter that I would have liked, but still in the fairway and after an easy up-and-down par, we were on the the second hole. An early release on the hole 14 drive put me against a tree on the right side of the fairway less than 100’ from the tee. Forced to step out and throw an awkward “patent-pending” shot, my second throw hit another tree just short of the green, again obstructed by a tree. The long putt attempt failed, and I gained my first bogey. Hole 15 saw my drive hyzer out early and put me near the steep slope on the left side of the fairway, my second shot was too high, and failed to crest the hill, stopping a few feet short of the fence at the top. A poor forehand approach (early released and too high) left me with a 40’ putt on a green which sloped away into dense rough, so I threw a careful lay-up to 10 feet and scored another bogey. The next drive (hole 16) again hit an early tree left (another early backhand release) and landed in the dry creek bed just short of the first bridge. This lie prevented me from seeing the basket, as well as forcing an awkward sliding stance. The second shot went high and right, well up on the right slope and deep in the brush. With no real window back on to the fairway, I tried to force the disc through the branches, only to get caught again after progressing about 15 feet. Still well outside the circle, my bogey putt missed and I picked up a double bogey.

In the first 4 holes, I had managed 4 early backhand releases and 2 poor forehand approaches. Recognizing the pattern, I approached hole 17 knowing the adjustment to make. My drive on the short, downhill fairway was exactly what I had in mind, moving safely to the right of the OB culvert, and giving me an easy up-and-down par. Having corrected for my early errors, I headed to the 250’+ water carry on the tee shot of hole 18. A brisk left-to-right breeze had picked up, and my well-thought-out backhand, aimed well left to make the carry as short as possible, turned in the wind and was blown into the lake. Shot #3 from the drop zone was a good one, getting me to the bottom of the long uphill fairway, but again, my lie was behind a tree and forced me into a no-run-up forehand that faded right and short, landing just outside of the right rough. I tried to throw a flex backhand to the green, but landed about 50’ short — then, after approaching, I proceeded to shamefully miss an 18’ bogie putt and give myself another double bogey.

We were only 6 holes into the round, and I was already +6 for the round! This was NOT what I had in mind!

My drive on hole 1 was conservative by design, and my second shot was an intentional lay-up short of the second ditch. My drive over the ditch was a good one — or so I thought… It ended up 6 inches outside of the left OB line — a line that I didn’t know existed! My 5th throw got me to within 60’, where I again decided to be careful of the green that sloped away toward OB, put a lay-up to within 10’ and carded another double bogey. With the frustration started to overcome my attempts to suppress it, I forgot to compensate for my early-release backhand tendency and threw my hole 2 drive into an early left tree, burying it well into the left rough. I was able to pitch out and get a look at the pin from about 80’, where I managed to get up-and-down for another bogey. I once again corrected for the backhand drive on the uphill hole #3, then put a well-thrown forehand near the green, but (once again) the green sloped away, and my conservative nature prevented me from making an aggressive run at the pin for a birdie. The par put my score at +9 at the halfway mark of the round.

I was NOT pleased.

But, after a few deep breaths, and more than a few musings about my life choices, it was time to try to correct the slide in the second half of the course. My drive on hole 4 was a bit short, but I cleared the initial trees and made it to the landing zone, albeit a tad more to the left than I would have liked. I pulled my Bard for a high hyzer shot around the bend to the green, then promptly released it early and higher than I had intended, coming to rest in the bushes on the left edge of the green. Crawling in to take stock of my lie, I realized that I was on the wrong side of yet another set of OB stakes that I was unaware of. An approach and a short putt later I was the not-so-proud owner of yet another bogey. Finally, on hole 5, I played an entire hole exactly as I intended; a good backhand drive across the road to the landing area (taking the right side rough out of the picture), a smooth forehand approach to just short of the green, then a simple up-and-down for a par.

Finally.

My plan for hole 6 was a “midrange march” down the narrow fairway, keeping the discs away from the left OB and the right rough. The first drive went perfectly (although I used a fairway driver instead of a midrange). The second drive drifted left, hit a tree, and shot deep into the rough. So deep, in fact, that it took TWO shots to simply pitch back onto the fairway, with very little forward advancement. I was still at least 350’ from the basket, laying 4. I grabbed my understable Hatchet with the intention of throwing a flex backhand close enough that I could, perhaps, save a bogey. The fade part of the flex shot never happened, and I ended up back in the right hand rough, still 100’ or so from the pin. I forced a forehand midrange shot out of the trees and it settled 20’ past the pin — almost into the rough behind the basket. With the frustration starting to affect my play, I stepped up to the putt and promptly threw it straight into the front of the cage.

Deep breath. Drop in. Triple Bogey.

I was now +13 after 12 holes. There was no saving the round. The best I could do was finish out the round without losing a disc — or a body part.

Walking to hole 7 I noticed that one of my cardmates was walking slowly and deliberately. Having been the recipient of no small number of injuries in my lifetime, I recognized the distress. After the drive on hole 7 (over the water and safely on the peninsula in circle 2), I asked if he was OK; to which he simply shook his head and walked slowly toward the green. After finishing the hole (using a layup and drop-in to get a par), I walked with him in silence to the tee of hole 8. My drive again carried the water and made the peninsula, but that card mate almost fell during the follow through of his drive. He informed the card shortly thereafter that he was withdrawing from the competition. He was having severe pain in his leg and didn’t want to exacerbate the injury. We finished out the hole (with me taking another very straightforward par) and headed to the teepad of hole 9, saddened that our friend was hurt and unable to finish.

Suddenly my bad round was put soundly into perspective. I remembered that I was a 60+ year old man, who was in good enough shape to play a sport that required no small level of physical skill and exertion. No matter how bad I was playing, I was outside, in a beautiful environment, playing a sport that I love with a bunch of guys who were also enjoying themselves.

Perspective.

(By the way, Wayne, if you see this, I hope you’re doing much better and are back out and tearing it up!)

Hole 9 starts with a brutal uphill drive, which I threw backhand and allowed to fade a little too far to the left. My second shot, a forehand flex intended to get me back onto the main fairway, instead squared up a tree and dropped into the trees left of my intended landing spot. Because of the lie, I needed to step out and attempt an awkward backhand hyzer to approach the green. The disk hit the trees that I was trying to get around, gaining very little forward progress. The frustration came back with a vengeance (I may have uttered a profanity), and I was forced to settle for another “approach-and-putt” bogey. The round was once again spiraling out of control, and the backhand drive on hole 10 went so far offline left that it hit the backside of the left side tree line, pushing deep into the trees and forcing yet another short pitch back onto the fairway, wasting a stoke and fueling the frustration even more. Finally back on the fairway, I threw a long approach, a short approach, and a putt for… you guessed it… another bogey. Hole 11, believe it or not, was a hole that I actually EXPECTED to bogey, given it’s length and my average driving distance. With a glimmer of actual know-how, I did exactly as I had planned, with two middle-of-the-fairway backhand drives, followed by a shorter forehand drive to get to the green (which almost went OB on the right side, but was in-bounds by 6 inches), then an approach and a putt. The last hole, the double-water-carry #12, was my last chance to make it look like I knew what I was doing, but even trying to play safely to the right of the water, my backhand early-released it’s way OB for a final time, clearing the water, but landing just outside of the white stakes. On of my card mates had smartly suggested that I throw a provisional drive, just in case my initial one was OB. So I played from the provisional drive, pitching up to the landing area for the second water carry. My approach across the water went very wide right, leaving me with a edge-of-circle-2 putt, and tempting me to try to save the bogey. Instead, I 3-putted my way to a final triple bogey, and a final score of +19 (88) — my worst rated round (859) in over 3 years!

The funny thing was, as exhausted, disgusted, and frustrated as I was, I was already thinking about getting back to the “Lair” course tomorrow and getting some redemption.

Day 4 (Sunday) — “Lair” Course, Short Layout

Sunday was shaping up to be the warmest day of the weekend, with temperatures expected to get well into the 90’s by the afternoon. Thankfully, our 9:32 tee time was going to keep us out of the worst of the heat. Once again on the shorter, more wooded course, I had shaken off the horror that was the “Lions” course round, and was ready to get back to playing to way that I knew that I could. My first drive, a forehand, leaked a bit to far left and ended up in the ravine, was off the fairway to the left. I pitched a blind forehand back in the direction of the fairway, the another forehand down the fairway toward the green. While I hoped to have a look at the pin from that lie, I was just short of the crest of the hill, and had to throw yet another forehand as an approach. That approach hit one of the last trees before the green, and forced a layup from there. The easy put gave me a double bogey to start.

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel the slightest frustration. I was determined to “right the ship.”

The drive on hole 2 was yet another forehand, and while I did leave it a little more right than I really wanted, the lie made for a simple up-and-down par. Continuing my pattern of early-released drives, my backhand drive on hole 3 went left into the trees. After a backhand scramble out, a pitch onto the green (but outside the circle to the left), and a 2-putt, I headed to hole 4 with another bogey. My tricky left-side fairway drive on hole 4 hit an early tree and kicked into the rough on the right side of the fairway. I scrambled out, then got up and down for a bogey.

After 4 holes, I was +4, but I was determined to play the way that I knew I could. My drive on hole 5 was clean (albeit a little farther left that I had aimed) and landed in the ravine short of the green/mound, allowing for a simple par. Hole 6 was similar, with a clean, but slightly off forehand drive, setting up a (relatively) easy up-and-down par. The downhill drive on hole 7 gave me a chance to pick up a birdie, but a late tree kept me outside of comfortable putting range, and I wisely settled to another par. I chose to throw a forehand drive across the ravine on hole 8, but pulled it a bit to the left, causing it to bounce off of a tree and fly across the fairway to the right side and into the trees. Deciding to get a little aggressive on the second shot, I threw a high flex backhand with the most understable driver in my bag, and it landed perfectly in the middle of the fairway, 70’ short of the basket. This left me with another simple approach and putt — and I was feeling like I was finally back to playing some decent disc golf. Since my first two drives on hole 9 (practice round Thursday and tournament round Friday) felt a little short to me, I decided to substitute a distance driver for the fairway driver that I had been using. This turned out to be a mistake as the drive came to rest to the right of the second fairway opening, and gave me a more difficult flex shot approach than I wanted. I didn’t flex the shot enough, and ended up crashing into the trees on the left of the fairway and quite a bit short of the pin. My forehand approach stayed left and hit trees well short of the pin. Given the slope of the green, I chose the sure bogey over the slight chance of a par and the bigger chance of a much bigger number.

So after 9 holes I found myself at +5 — not a great score, but I was playing much better than I had the first two days .

And I was having fun. Finally.

I changed my drive on the downhill hole 10 to a forehand Ahti down the left fairway, and was rewarded with a basket fly-by, a “Circle 1 in Regulation” stat, and my first birdie of the round. I almost ruined the mood with the forehand drive on hole 11, which was way too high and right, but the disc ended up just short of the water, and gave me the chance to throw a forehand approach to circle 2, then complete the easy par. On hole 12, I missed the center fairway tree for the third time of the weekend, and made for yet another relatively easy up-and-down par. I went with the straighter forehand driver on the teepad of hole 13, but the drive went a bit too straight and landed in the rough on the left of the dogleg right. An awkward “patent-pending” shot from an obstructed lie lead to a tree kick to the right into the rough on the other side of the fairway, then an attempted “corkscrew” recovery shot hit yet another tree only 50’ or so from the lie. Finally, a forehand flex shot got me to 15’ and the putt completed the bogey. Hole 14 is the first water carry, and a slightly too conservative drive put me just off the green, 35’ from the pin and behind another tree — but a patent-pending putt gave me another birdie!

It’s about this time that I start feeling the exhaustion of the three day tournament, plus the practice day, beginning to catch up. I switched the disc for the backhand drive on hole 15 to a less stable Warship (I had been using my Bard for this shot), which gave me a little more distance, but put me behind a tree, which restricted my second shot. I ended up quite a distance left of the green, and I was forced to throw a high spike hyzer in the general direction of the pin. The remaining putt was from the edge of circle 1, but my fading energy level caused me to short the attempt into the front of the cage, resulting in a bogey. The forehand drive on hole 16 was on target, but an unlucky roll put me on the edge of the ravine. My pitch across the ravine, unbalanced as it was, hit a tree early on the other side of the ravine. My third shot was a high anhyzer forehand in the general direction of the green (since it was too far over the hill for me to see it), and it unfortunately flew past the basked and ended up 40’ down the hill. I tried to hit the putt through the trees, but the guards were too good and the birdie putt was rejected. The par putt was very weak and missed right, as the exhaustion was getting worse. Hole 17 asked for a forehand drive, which I was able to deliver, although it was substantially shorter than I wanted it to be. I also threw a forehand for the second shot, and tried to put a little extra energy into it, but that only served to cause the disc to fade a bit to the right, then flare-skip into the woods, 80’ from the pin. my approach was a little long, and scooted over the edge of the green and down the hill about 10’. The par putt was only about 20’ from the basket, but severely uphill, and I was unable to make the shot - leaving me with another bogey. The final hole needed a forehand drive to clear the right corner of the rough, but my drive was a about 5’ short of the corner, so I was throwing my second shot, once again, from the rough. My turnover backhand second shot seemed to clear the ravine and land safely, but as had happened multiple times during the tournament, I ended up a few inches outside of the OB line. I had a putt for par from the drop zone, but there wasn’t anything left in the tank, and the putt wasn’t even close. Finishing hole 18 with a bogey gave me a final score of a +8 (73) rated at 878.

Even though my score was not close to what I was shooting for, I really felt that I had finally played well — at least for most of the round (the final few holes were played on fumes.) It was time to climb into the car, and make the long drive home.