While we practiced and played at the Indian Summer Open in Miami, we stayed with Bruce and Sue Rickey. Bruce is a psychiatrist and has an incredible home. The backyard featured a small cove off the lake with a dump truck load of sand shaped into a small beach. There was a large tree house, a fun rope swing, a patio/deck with a couple hammocks that stretched out over the water, a swimming pool, and even a fenced in area for the dogs. Sue made us a couple meals, Dave repeatedly cheated death trying to use the rope swing, and Hyzer and Storm did a lot of swimming.

The weather was pretty warm for the Indian Summer Open. There was a small bit of rain before the first round but it let up after we all teed off at Indian Hammocks Park. Dave, Cam, Kenny, and I shot good first rounds and found ourselves sharing the lead card. The second round was pretty rough. Cam Todd shot well. I fell to the 2nd card, Al moved to the lead card.

On Sunday we moved to the temporary course. Dave had a so-so first round and dropped to the second card with me. Al moved onto the lead card with Cam (who had an insurmountable lead by now), Kenny and Ron Russell. Dave and I shot the best two rounds in the final round with -8. Somehow Kenny shot a +7. The temp course was filled with O.B. and I guess Kenny found a lot of it.

The final scores for the tournament saw Cam in 1st, Dave in 2nd, Al, me and Ron tied for 3rd one stroke back. There was a final-6 holes for skins and score. Only the top two Open players (again) got to play. The top two Women, Masters, and Amateurs played also. It was a blind skins match over a bunch of long safari holes. The Ams and Women didn't really have much of a chance... should have used the top four Open players at least. Dave and Cam won all the skins. Bruce Rickey won Masters and had the best score for the final-6, pocketing an extra $150. Cam also got $150 in skins, and Dave $225 in skin cash. Dave won $925 total and feels that he is back in the hunt for Rookie of the Year. Way to go.

Keith Johnson proved once again that he is the hardest working TD in the game taking care of almost every aspect of the tournament. I believe that Kenny's 9th place finish was his worst in a SuperTour in about 10 years. Al and I each won $360 for our 3rd place efforts. We stayed one more night then headed up to Augusta for the Augusta classic.

It was a relatively short 600 miles to Augusta. We arrived on Tuesday and played two of the three courses that would be used for the Augusta Classic. TD Brian Grahm set us up in the parking lot at Riverveiw Park. We had an electrical outlet and passes for the week at the park's fitness center. Inside the center were racquetball courts, basketball, a running track, but best of all there were bathrooms and showers. We were all set on accommodations.

Practice continued on the three tricky courses. Sue arrived Thursday night from Michigan in her new/used car. Al showed her around the courses as best he could on Friday but like I said ... they were tricky courses. Sue had a rough time. I had a rough time too. The weather was okay on Saturday but Sunday it turned cold and windy. When the tournament was over, 51-year-old Dr. Rick Voakes had won by five strokes over Kenny. Al and Larry Leonard tied for 3rd. Mike Young tied for 5th. Ron and I tied for 11th. Dave tied a bunch of people for 13th.

Rae's Coastal Cafe was a tournament sponsor and we all had two fabulous meals at the restaurant. Rae's also provided a 'frogmore stew' at the player's dinner Saturday night. Brian Grahm and staff did a nice job of getting the courses ready and even had leaderboards setup all over the course for the final round. It was a really well run tournament and we'll be back next year.

Sunday night Al and Sue headed up to Rock Hill, SC to get a hotel room while Dave and I stayed with the Winnie in Augusta for one more night. Monday morning the Winnie didn't want to start and I called our pal 'Evil Mel' for some help. Mel did us many favors while we were in Augusta... thanks Mel. After buying some new jumper cables and some starter fluid, Dave and I headed to the U.S. Disc Golf Championship course at Winthrop University. We made one loop in the mid-50 degree weather and headed for a campground. The course has seen a few changes since last year. I don't think will see anyone shooting a 54 in 2000. We'll see.

Wish us luck.

-Todd

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