All Hollows Heave

I was in my first real tourny this weekend out at Ammon Ranch here in Humboldt County, All Hollows Heave. What a great tourny to start with. I met people from all over the state and country, including a guy who was a disc golfer from Bowling Green KY, and if I remember right, the president of a disc golf club there. He was saying that it was the funnest tourny that he had attended, and was talking about trying to move out here, that the courses were that cool (there is a reason that Dave Fieldberg lists Ammon Ranch as his favorite course). The morning on Saturday started out with a players meeting that began with fresh meat rams (a ram is shotgunning a beer in other parts, a fresh meat ram is for all the newbies on the course) first thing in the morning. The players meeting was caped with a TD ram with one of the course designers as well. My group on the first day was a local guy that I knew from The Curtian, 2 local Goddess (what we call women disc golfers), and a guy from Sac. I had a ton of fun, even though I played one of the worst rounds that I think I ever played, came out with a 121 on a par 96. I thought that I was going to be in the running for DFL (Dead F&%$&ng Last), but I wasn't even at the bottom of my division. I decided at that point that since I wasn't going to win anything I would play my second round with the Homer Simpson phlosophy of "When you participate in sporting events, it's not wether you win or loose, it's how drunk you get", and I played better than I had the day before, with more rams, more whisky, more herbals, even some tequila that was out on one hole with some limes. My group on the Sunday round consisted of 3 guys that I didn't know, one local, one from Sac, and one from Grass Valley. I finished 5 strokes better than the day before with a 116, still not good, but better. On Saturday night we had a great 5 hole night golf set up out there, and I think I had my best round of the weekend. Thoughout the weekend yells of "MANNN RAMMMINGGG!!!", or "GGOOODDDEESSSS RRAAAMMMMMINGGG!!!" could be heard eccoing from one end of the course to the other, as beer after beer was taken down.

One thing I heard consistantly from people outside the area, wether they were partying hard or not, was that this was the evolution of disc golf, a course that all others wished that they could be, and a tourny that others could look up to as an example of how a tourny should be. It was wierd talking to people about PDGA tournys and thier bull s$%t rules that you can't drink or smoke during a tourny, I don't know if I could survive, all the tournys that I have attended have had (near) mandatory drinking. One had papers and a beer glass in the players package, and one had a J in the score card baggy. I guess its just how we roll up here in Humboldt County, but I think its given me alot of good ideas for the UPDGA and how our tournys should go.