The Hill
Taumarunui, April 14-15 2007

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The Hill - by Marty 'de Dev' de Haas

The road signs outside Taumaranui bravely welcome golfers, even the always present always keen always mischievous Wellingtonians. This weekend was to prove to be an absolute ripper, one of those that will be talked about all year and more. As always the forecast (snow, 100k winds etc) meant having to pack the southern survival kit but the weather turned out to be near perfect.

There is no better way to start a tourney then getting stuck into a Corynne breakfast, thanks so much Pete and Corynne the stay was truly superb. Players meeting at Blair’s showed everyone took the threat of late entry penalties seriously bar a slight problem of getting the 3 Tauranga baskets there. The short drive to The Hill and 20 players were soon under way and the ‘Hill Effect‘ (ie scared s#%less at some of the daunting tees) proved to be apparent with many players bogeying the 1st hole with even GM Gentil getting a double.

In amongst the usual nuggetty Tourney crew was the presence of 2 female entrants, Tree climber Mel from Swiztasomething and Kirsty a 1st timer from Hamilton who even though was up to her Waist in mud by hole 7 proved that good pink toe nail polish will last through anything. It was great to have you both there playing and the enthusiasm and smiling faces was enjoyed by everyone. Both improved immensely over the 4 rounds with Mel showing particularly good form, as you would expect from the captain of the Swiss National ultimate team. It proved too me that Discgolf is a great sport for females to play competively.

1st round finish and scores and stories were coming in thick and fast, smiles for a few but for most the dirty clothes and facial grimaces told a different story. Juan Unda, that slimy Mangere Mexican carded a somewhat unbelievable opening score of 53; unbelievable in the fact that he’s useless and also supposed to be in the U.S.A. An international investigation is currently 'Unda' way. A tasty heartening lunch was put on by Cherie and also thanks Gene as the Maori bread is always a treat but I was sadly a little disappointed that the all time golfers favourite Pukeko Pie was nowhere to be seen, maybe next year eh!

We were greeted at the start of round 2 by the customary aero display that is put on for us every year by the spreader pilots - just another reason that makes this event so special. I’ve never known what it was like to have a plane come out of a double loop and dive directly down on us and then pull out at the last second, yipes! But a thoroughly deserved round of applause was given.

Time to get a little more aggressive on round 2 rewarded some good scores for players but once again the Fease had his hand up as the one to beat with Blair the closest chaser. I played 3 rounds with Blair and was shown hole after hole that not having a huge arm doesn’t stop Blair from being one of the most consistently competitive players on tour. (In saying that he did offered me 50 bucks to get Simon drunk on Saturday night!!! [note: it doesn't work - ed.])

Highlights of the 2nd round was the close and extremely boisterous battle between Dylan and Martin and they also competed in golf as well with the loser destined to be drying dishes at the tourney dinner later that night. Nice side step there Dylan.

Ah yes the dinner was absolutely delicious, Thanks so much Corynne! Oh and we had a smooth AGM with Fish suggesting a couple of good ideas, I specially liked the combined Ultimate Golf tourney (yes, sure enough, there is a dark side lurking in de Dev - ed).

Sunday morning and the Fease looked like he had been at the bottom of a traditional King Country ruck, Blair, Bob and Martin joining him in the top group suddenly had a whisker of a chance perhaps but sadly the girls came to the rescue with half a dozen panadols, perhaps our only chance of winning was a doping scandal as he's looking unbeatable. It’s great playing the Hill and watching other groups throw as there are numerous vantage points; I think the level of play continually improves especially the standard of putting with Des putting in some long Putts (nice tube shot Des) and Bruno certainly cranking out some massive drives. The order for the day was cruisy fun but competitive golf and most people made good improvements on their scores and I was particularly happy with a bogey free 3rd round unlike Juan Unda’s round of blunders that saw him shoot 76 and firmly take last place only to withdraw from the event with a tender wrist.

Sunday also saw what is now becoming a common event on the tour which was penalty strokes added to someone’s score, the recipient this time being Nigel Barnwell who had some good play undone by a moment of lapse of concentration when he played someone else’s lie, I guess its good to see the status of a PDGA “C’ Tier event being respected.

Congratulations not only to the Winners but everyone who participated as the vibe and attitude of all the players made this a special event.

Brilliant !!!