PDGA Disc Golf Tournament
Many of the players I’ve been watching for the past five years or so gathered to compete in the PDGA tournament at Waco. At first, I was a bit wonderstruck by all the talent gathered there, but in typical disc golf fashion, most everyone was easy to be around. I caddied for Casey White, from back home, for all three days of the tournament, and some of his shots were amazing to watch close up. He drove a 429-foot par-four hole to within 5 feet of the basket. Then there was the 320-foot drive where he threw his Tilt disc upside down and again parked it next to the basket. Of course, other great shots were being had throughout the three-day tournament, and it felt great to be right there with the rest of the competitors.
The idea of meeting in Waco came about while we were working on building Casey’s van back home, and it ended up being one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in a long time.
One evening, when our round was done, I was treated to a great steak dinner at Longhorn in exchange for my caddy service. Honestly, they didn’t even need to do that, as I was thrilled just to be hanging out with the world’s greatest disc golfers.
The tournament itself was an excellent, down-to-the-wire finish, with Adam Hammes bringing in the win. When it was over, Casey, Elli, I, and some other players got together at Rockin’ Tony’s house, a great host and friend to the local disc golf community, for some great Texas hospitality and an overnight stay before they headed to the MVP Open tournament in Austin. For me, it was on to Phoenix.
On to Phoenix
Traveling across Texas, I ran into some of the strongest highway winds I’ve ever dealt with. Also, I never knew there were so many pecan farms in Texas. I was able to find some great pecan goodies at, and this is for real, the Oliver and Company Pecan Shop across from the Pecan House Grill, just a block from East Pecan Street.
For the end of this day, I opted for an RV park just outside of Fort Stockton to recharge batteries (me and the van), get myself cleaned up, and do some laundry. The next day, as I left Texas and was approaching Las Cruces, the sky started getting dark with what at first looked like smoke from a fire. Then, I thought it might be smog, but right after I got about 5 miles west of Las Cruces, they closed the I-10 interstate because of a dust storm. I ended up on the side of the road, waiting for about 4 hours with a bunch of westbound 18 wheelers.
By the time we were given the go-ahead to continue west, it was getting late, so I drove only for a few more hours and opted for a truck stop overnight.
The next day, just before Tucson, as I settled into the mesmerizing rhythm of the road, I suddenly found myself driving through the giant balancing granite rocks of Texas Canyon, AZ. It was hard to drive as I spotted more and more huge boulders balanced as though even the slightest push would have knocked them off their kilter. It somehow seemed delicate and powerful at the same time. Then, suddenly, it turned to desert with mighty saguaro cacti everywhere. It was like an old Western being played out somewhere in the back of my mind.
I arrived in Phoenix around noon.
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