Hello!

Al and I left for Columbus, OH and the 3rd Brent Hambrick Memorial.

We arrived Tuesday night and managed to get in a round on both the original and temporary courses. The original is beautiful. Open and long front nine and a tightly wooded back nine with lots of coniferous trees. The new temporary course on the other side of the dam was short and pretty easy. Each was an 18 hole course.

We met up with Chris Hinkley, set up the winnie in the back yard and fired up the air conditioner.

On Wednesday we got out to the course early, threw one sweat-soaked round before a storm moved in for about an hour. After the storm the temperature dropped a few degrees but the humidity went way up. We changed out of wet clothes and called it a day.

Thursday was a super hot day too. I woke up with a pulled muscle in my back and didn't feel like moving. Al and I decided to stay off the course and be lazy in the air conditioning for the entire day. We watched movies, played video games and ate sandwiches. It was a nice relaxing day.

On Friday we went back to the courses. Ken Climo showed up and we shot a round on the shorts with him and his pal Jesse Masse. Al and I played the random draw doubles and I managed to come in 2nd with Avery Jenkins. It was also Avery’s 21st birthday.

Saturday morning and time for the tournament. Sue Stevens had pulled into town Friday night and she stayed in the winnie with Al and I. We all got up and headed to the course in Sue’s car.

Saturday, Long course (original)
Todd -4
Al +1
Brad Schick lead after round one with a -7..... several others at -6

I was in the 3rd flight and Al was back a bit further.
Saturday, Short course (temp)
Todd -12 with one ace
Al -13

Leader after day one: Ron Russell with -20
I was at -16 feeling good
Al was at -12

Saturday night was the player’s party at Rush Creek. There were 3 TVs with video taken from Saturday’s action. We had dinner and kicked up our heels a little.

Sunday morning they switched us up a bit.... short course first and then the long course.

Sunday (short course), a little bit windy.
Todd -9
Al -12

I stayed in the middle of the second card and Al moved up to the bottom of the second card. We got to play the last round together.

Sunday (long course), quite windy:
Todd -4
Al -1

Before the final nine the scores were:
Barry Schultz -37
Russell -35
Climo -34
Branch -29
Moser -29

I made it to the Final Four!!!! I couldn't believe it... I was very happy. Kenny let me wear one of his Team Innova shirts for the final nine. I asked Gary Laura to caddie for me and he accepted. The difference between 4th and 5th place money was about $275

I made an offer to Mike Moser that we could split the money for 4th and 5th and really put a run on taking 3rd in the final nine. He didn't want any part of that so it was up to me to just try to beat Moser and not worry about 3rd place, which was out of reach.

I played fairly well during the final nine and shot an even. I drove well and putted very conservatively. Moser got into big trouble on the 4th hole of the final nine and took a 6 where I had taken a 3. I just played it safe after that and wound up in 4th place.

Barry held off Ken and Ron who tied for second. Al ended up in 10th and me in 4th. It was our biggest weekend so far. We cleared $1000 after subtracting entry fees and gas.

We stayed one more night at Chris’s house and left Monday morning in search of a bank and a good breakfast. Next we drove 30 miles north to a ball golf course and met up with Climo, Masse, and Riley for 18 holes. Lets say that everyone except me is a pretty good ball golfer... I shot over 100.

After ball golf we planned on heading up to a big campground about 30 miles further north. We had planned to stop at a supermarket in a town we were passing through, but didn't see one on the main road. We pulled over and decided that Ken, Scott, and Jesse would find the store and Al and I would forge ahead and set up at the campgrounds.

Al and I were driving along admiring the scenery and noticed a Mach 1 basket on a beautiful hill. We did a quick turnaround and checked it out. It was a big private campground called "Rainbow Springs." They had an 18 hole course with tee signs and grass tees. I'd say the course measures out at about 3700 feet. The owner of the campground (Bill) was a casual discer and had got the baskets and signs from a friend and built a course on his land.

Al and I hung out in the driveway until the other guys came up the highway and flagged them down. The course isn't in the directory and nobody had ever heard of it before. We decided to stay at the campgrounds and pulled in for a quick round with the owner. Bill had heard of Kenny and had a fun time playing for the first time with professionals. He even let us stay at the campground for free. We hooked up to electricity way out in the woods by ourselves and watched some movies around a fire. Late that night we went out and played two rounds with glow discs. It was a blast. We all liked it so much that we have decided to spend another night here and head to Rochester in the morning. It looks like we'll be hanging out with Riley, Ken, and Jesse for the next couple of weeks. I plan to take the opportunity to learn.

More later.

-Todd

Editor's Note: On July 31st, after Todd wrote this update, the Amateur World Championships were completed in Kansas City. DiscLife.com is proud to congratulate Dave "Aquaboy" Feldberg on a 7th place finish. We know Dave will be a strong competitor in the pro ranks.

Todd's updates may be posted a few days late over the next week or two, as the editorial staff will be discin with the big dawgs at the Pro World Chamionships in Rochester, NY. Thanks for reading. Go Todd and Al!