Finally! Time for the U.S. Disc Golf Championships! Like I said... the Winthrop Gold course had been changed a bit. The par was set at 65 this year.

Al and Sue got a hotel room between Rock Hill and Charlotte (where Sue would be playing in the Women's National Championships) and stayed there for the tournament. Dave and I planned on parking outside the new Innova warehouse. Innova had run an electrical cord out the back door that we could plug into and run the TV and microwave.

We stayed there on the first night and everything was smooth. On the second night we stopped in to play some cards with our friends Drew and Mike from Michigan, but the Winnie didn't want to start after the game was over so we stayed at their hotel for the night. I would have to figure out what was wrong with the ride after the first round was over.

We caught a ride with Drew and Mike to Winthrop University for the first round. The course was looking great, with miles of yellow rope staked out everywhere, indicating the omnipresent, ever-looming, never-ending (get the idea?) O.B. The grass was cut short and the sun was shining… so brightly that I could clearly see my discs trickling into the manhood-robbing O.B. First round I shot a 65... placing me solidly around the 50th position. Dave also found the yellow menace, carding a 71. The big shooter was Scott Stokely shooting a 54! (Okay... I know I said I didn't think anyone would shoot 54, but nobody shot any better than that). Al, Kenny, and some others were close behind with 57's and 58's.

Back to the hotel after the first round. I tore into the Winnie, trying to figure out what was wrong. After some inspection and consultations with my friends, it was decided that the spark plugs were fouled. I took the valve covers off and loosened the exhaust manifold so I could get access to the plugs. After a couple hours I had the plugs out and sent Dave on a mission to find some new ones.

By the time Dave got back it was too dark to work anymore so I held off until the next day. We used our pals' showers and rode up to the course the next morning. Dave improved with a 60 this time, but I was unable to stay away from the little yellow monsters and carded a 64. Al hung strong in the lead group and beat everyone on the card… unfortunately he still got passed by the entire second card, who lit it up. After two rounds Kenny and Schultz were tied for the lead with Russell close behind and Al still on their heels.

Back at the hotel I got the new plugs in and put the top of the motor back together. After a jump start and a couple adjustments she seemed to be running fine. Whew! Now I could get my focus back on golfing.

On day three I did a little better and shot a 61. This still put me right on the edge of cashing and I really needed the money. Al remained strong and stayed on the top of the second card. Kenny now had a one stroke lead over Russell, with Stokely, Schultz and Schack close behind. Dave shot a 69 and sat about 10 strokes behind me.

No work on the Winnie tonight. We all went out and played some pool.

Fourth and final round of the U.S.D.G.C.:

• Climo shoots a 57 and wins!
• Russell shoots a 63 and drops to 3rd.
• Schack shoots a 55 and jumps to second!
• Branch shoots a 55 and jumps to 15th.
• Stokely and Eric Tracy (of the Tracy/Sherrod team who won doubles at the worlds) tied for 4th.
• Feldberg shoots a 60 last round to move up a bit.
• Juliana Bower shoots a 62 and just misses cashing in the Men's division.

Along the way I noticed that one of our headlights was out. We were close to Raleigh, NC and Brian (mad dog) McRee and Dave Mansfield's house. We decided to stop in for the night and take care of the headlight in the morning. We called Al to let him know what was up. Next morning I pressed a screwdriver to the headlight retainer to take it out and it popped to life again. I guess it was just a little loose. I tightened all the screws down for good measure and away we went. The plan was to stop in at Don's, then drive up to 'The Grange' in Spotsylvania, VA for the Old Dominion Showdown.

Driving away from Raleigh, we noticed we were headed the wrong way so I pulled into a u-turn lane in the middle of the highway. Rush hour was heavy and I had to sit for a while and wait for a break in the traffic. As I sat there I noticed the brake pedal slowly sinking to the floor. "That's odd," I thought. Then I looked out my right window and saw white smoke rolling out from underneath the Winnie. "That's odd," I thought. "I'd better shut the engine off and find out what's going on." I killed the motor and jumped out. The smoke stopped immediately and I noticed that brake fluid had dumped onto the exhaust, causing the fluid to burn away and smoke heavily.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do from here. I had absolutely no brakes and I was pretty sure that if I started the engine back up, there would be smoke everywhere. I sat in the driver's seat and tried to decide what to do. Again I looked to the right window for help -- even though it had disappointed me last time with the smoke cloud -- and saw two state troops coming down the road and pulling into the turnaround. Great. They drove right past me and over to a stalled semi that was 100 feet off my right quarter.

I sat for a bit longer but it looked like we were just waiting for a break in the traffic. Traffic was tough. Finally, I started the motor and zipped across the highway. No smoke was coming, but I had no brakes and couldn't stop.

We zig-zagged our way along this little back road that had way too many downhill sections. At last I found a flat piece of land near a crossroads and coasted to a stop, then jumped out and inspected the damage. I couldn't tell where the leak was and was running out of patience. I grabbed the phone to call Mad-Dog's house and get some help, but of course the phone didn't want to work very well. After a few tries I got Dave Mansfield to jump into his truck and come to our rescue. He was feeling sick and had taken the day off of work. Lucky for us. Dave picked us up and drove us back over to his house., then found a mechanic that would look at the Winnie after calling about 20 different shops who wouldn't touch it. Next we called about 10 towing companies before finding one that would tow the Winnie to the garage. The man that would be working on the Winnie said he hoped he could get a look at it the following afternoon.

So, here I sit, the following morning waiting for news as to whether the Winnie will ever run again. Al and Sue are still at the Ace Run Ranch, waiting for me to call with news. This could be it. I don't know what will happen if we can't get the brakes fixed. I'll keep you updated.

-Todd

Oh, by the way: Dave wants everyone to know that he came in second place in the U.S.D.G.C. distance contest. Dave threw a new Valkyrie 534 feet in qualifying, but lost to the longer arm of Avery Jenkins.

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