Course report from Fort Steilacoom, WA. Aug 4th, 1998.

Steilacoom is south of Tacoma, making it around 45 minutes or more south of
Seattle. It's on the disc web pages, but I would have had a really hard
time finding it if I hadn't ridden down with Mike from Wizards, the guy I
met at Lakewood.

The course is at least 18 holes, with about four courses overlayed in the
same area - pro course, amateur course, and some others. They mostly use
different sets of baskets and tees. It's in a sort of wild prairie area,
where a few holes are wide-open like Lombard 18, while others are in fairly
dense forest settings like the most difficult holes at Joliet.

It's a long course - 6000+ feet (compared to 4500 at Joliet).

There were a good 4 or 5 holes where your drive absolutely had to make it
through a particular break in the trees or you were doomed, sort of like
hole 9 and 10 at Joliet. Two of the holes are required doglegs, which were
interesting. I'd say there were several holes that were as memorable as
any in Joliet.

We played twice. The first time around I scored +8, the second time, +3.
+1 is Mike's record, so I'm pretty happy with the +3.

A couple of notes on playing new courses:
- The first time around, I think I was trying too hard, so my drives
weren't reliable. Assume the first time at a course is just figuring out
where to throw, and don't try to go too far.
- It's better to play smart (i.e. go for a safe approach rather than a
stunt putt) than to go for the amazing shot, because the distances can
often be not quite what you expect.
- Always try to play with someone who knows their way around. I got a
course map, it wouldn't have helped much.

Having now accumulated more than 2 discs that I use regularly, I'm firmly
convinced that a disc bag would be a useful thing. Particularly after
accidentally pouring half a liter of gatorade in my backpack.

Course rating: best so far around Seattle. As good as Joliet, not quite up
to DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz.

-r'm