Buck Hill – Tonn’s Travels
Today I FINALLY got to cross Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minnesota off my To Play List. That course, designed by Minnesota’s own Cale Leiviska, opened the year I moved to Oregon (2022), and I hadn’t been able to get that course played on previous trips back to the area. Today was the day to remove that course from my Unplayed Courses Map on UDisc! But before I checked out the property, I decided to play a quick three-hole warm-up round at Prestemon Park in Columbia Heights. Shooting a -3 (6).
Columbia Heights, or as I jokingly like to refer to it: “The Heights,” is the last community I lived in before I got married. I think about how much the world has changed these past twenty-seven years since then. How much the sport of disc golf has absolutely EXPLODED in popularity during those nearly three decades. How our nation’s (our planet’s) landscape has been permanently altered as a result of the thousands of new courses installed on many dozens of thousands of acres of land. How much more land has been opened to recreational uses that had not been used for recreation prior to that time.
After that quick warm-up, I headed down I-35W to Burnsville, to check out Buck Hill. Upon my arrival, I found it was a lot more complicated to pay my $6 to play the course than I had hoped. Scan a QR code, fill out a bunch of fields of information, signing a bunch of waivers, et al. But after surviving that gauntlet of legalese and forms that they hopefully won’t use to spam me in the future (or have a data breach and have my information acquired by bad actors)? It was time to play the course.
A threesome was at the Hole 1 tee with their packs of 20-25+ discs, bands for exercising their upper bodies, and lots of other gear. They were nice guys, but I’m sure they saw me with my sunburn and three discs and thought I was some “hayseed” who didn’t know what he is doing. They said I should tee off first, since I was doing a solo round, so then I needed to prove I know what I am doing with a disc in my hands. So I proceeded to leave my DGA ProLine Squall about six feet left of the basket for my first of eight deuces/birdies on the round.
I really played well at Buck Hill! My best shot on the day came on the Hole 10 tee. A right-to-left-to-right 465-foot tee shot for us LHBH players, I landed my tee shot 7-8 feet left of the basket, pin high, for the easy deuce. Of course, I had to let out a little yell and do a little “flex” when I tapped in after that excellent tee shot…ha! Although the more holes I played? The more (over-)confident I became. Which led me to make a stupid mistake on Hole 14 which cost me a stroke.
Hole 14 was a 529-foot downhill par 3. After thirteen strong holes, including my nearly parking Hole 10? I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for circle one and a deuce. With OB to the right and my not (NEARLY) having a big enough arm to throw an anhyzer 529 feet, my only chance of getting there was to throw a “flattened” right-to-left-to-right laser that flirted with those threes well down the hill, left of the basket. I threw a solid shot off the tee! But I flew a little too close to the sun, hit those trees left of the fairway, and kicked left. To the point where I had NO chance of getting even a decent look at a par three. So an easy three turned into a regret-filled four.
I forgot the Cardinal Rule of disc golf for us oldies: “Boring golf wins.” Instead of mailing in a three? I took a four, and turned a 48 at Buck Hill into a 49. Chasing a 3-4% chance at getting the highlight reel deuce and 47. I’m usually smarter than that! But my tee shot on Hole 10 made me feel as though it might just be my lucky day. And if I got the highlight reel deuce on 14? I might have headed right to a place selling lottery tickets after my round…ha!
Magic Number = -47 (2,047 Courses Played)
ABOUT DEREK
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.