Words and Pictures by Kingsley Flett
In what seems a blink of an eye, a good part of a decade has gone by. It feels like yesterday that we were wandering around this bush block in Gidgie: Keenan, Stew, Dave and I, with a couple of discs, looking for lines, making sweeping motions with our hands, throwing the odd disc and pointing at jobs for Glen and George to do. Back then I knew, as soon as I walked into the space with Home Tree at it’s centre, that this would be a place that brought us all together.
So it was. Friendships have formed around that campfire: with marathon late-night putting competitions, Glen’s multi-generational playlists and with a diet based on bourbon, meat, salt and instant noodles. Friendships that are now the basis of the selfless culture that makes the PDGC what it is today. A quirky social movement within a quirky social movement, the people of the pines are a solid family that’ll look out for each other in ways that extend well beyond the disc golf course.
can only mean one thing – it’s pointing time!
I’ve always said that attending a Perth Open at Pine Lines is like visiting an island. The trip out there is like a disappearing act. Thirty minutes’ drive over the hill from the city is enough to separate you from the rat race and the couple of twists and turns away from the main road only add to the sense of going further off the grid. Leaving it all behind.
Then, as you get to the sharp bend at the south-end of Dinsdale road you are presented with 3 gate options: one of these gates is festooned with disc golf banners, a giant ‘mando’ sign pointing away from the neighbours gate and with a disc golf basket visible a few yards up the track. The others have no trespassing signs on them. Comically, at least two people every year find themselves half a kilometre up a neighbour’s driveway before thinking ‘maybe we took the wrong gate’. I can’t confirm the rumour that the Vellios’s are planning for a giant flashing neon sign next year.
When you finally solve the gate puzzle and enter the property, the eerie forest of doom is first seen on the left of the Long and Winding Road. This is where things begin to get strange. It starts with the pine needles: the carpet of them on the ground absorbs sound and the normally raucous WA bush birdlife don’t seem to like the way they tickle their feathers. So it’s quiet. A bit too quiet, The pines block light too, so even on a sunny day it’s gloomy. As you drive up that first hill, your evacuation from the rest of the world is now complete.
This year’s gathering had been moved forward a couple of weeks, to make use of the Western Australia Day long weekend, and to trial a 3-day format. Our Noongar people divide the year into six seasons that make way-more sense than the European four and, by shifting the dates, we’d moved the tournament out of the rainy and wet Makaru season and into the milder and more pleasant Djeran time. Ah who am I kidding? We got lucky with the weather. It was three glorious days of warm sunshine and mild nights.
Keenan, George, their earth mover, chainsaws, dry-blowers and the forced labour of a couple of busy bees had added four more holes too. Pine Lines was now up to 22; on its way to becoming 27. The extra four holes made all the difference. Pine Lines has a way of brutalising you if you don’t bring it each time you stand on the tee. If the post round war-stories were anything to go by, more than a few had failed to negotiate an overtime clause with their throwing arm to keep ‘bringing it’ after 18 holes. Can’t get good help nowadays.
Day 1 – Saturday
For those camping near tournament HQ, huddled in their swags and sleeping bags, thankful that someone else had got up to light the fire. The signal that it’s all about go loud is the crunch of tyres on gravel. The sound of the first day-trippers driving in (along with the more distant crunch cars going up the wrong drive). Then the muted voices around the campfire get louder, the practice basket rings out with the opening salvos of its 3-day barrage, the Turkey’s start to gobble and there’s the chorus of aaye!, followed by back-slapping bro-hug of people who haven’t seen each other since the last tournament. This scene is all played out under sunlight streaming through the pines, catching the woodsmoke and dust to form pale yellow beams. The theatre of the people of the pines is well underway before the first shot is thrown.
I like to tell Karl Voloczi that he’s the second-best tournament director we’ve had in WA mainly because if I say he’s the best he might stop trying. There’s a certain energy about Rokk: it’s infectious and, well, slightly manic. I can still remember the day he tilted his head and looked at me like I was strange when I said how tricky it can be to TD the Perth Open. Which, of course, compared to a school sports carnival, it’s not. He’s got just the right combination of pied-piper, cat-herder, wedding MC and details-nazi that all the best TD’s seem to have. Watching him crack jokes, lay out the hole descriptions and talk about the coldness of Grumpy Smurf’s soul to the crowd of nervous, twitchy, air-shot practising disc golfers was to see a man very much at home in the role.
In the Open field, it was the usual local suspects of Bandy and Finn up against Aussie champ Patty Robinson and fast-rising lefty-righty-sidearm-whatever, Ryan Budge, both from Victoria. This tournament was also a good time to see if the fresh crop of MPO players in Perth, Paul Noesen, Jacob Stanley, Robert Lim and Karl Voloczi – had ripened yet. Throw in a couple of the old and bold 78’s who were getting their game back, in Carl Bellesini and Rob Cinquini, a couple of visitors from Singapore and it was a pretty solid Open field.
Halfway through the round I caught up with Patty Robinson and asked how they were coming out. His reply was a perfect example of the ‘I’m just having fun out here throwing frisbees with my mates’ script that anyone who’s learned to manage expectation can recite. Patty’s mastered the art of staying loose now. Chris Finn had a few putts hit low, a problem that was going to dog him for most of the three days; but after the round he was upbeat about being 6-throws off the pace ‘Mate, compared to how I’ve shit the bed in round one in a few tournaments I’ll take that’ he said. It was Finn’s long-time sparring partner, Dave Bandy, who had the hot round one though, with a 998 rated 69 that placed him a throw ahead of Ryan Budge, 3-throws ahead of Patty and 6 on Finny.
In the MA1 it was Oscar Feldberg who’d jumped to a 5-throw lead over turkey-pair Aiden Ditewig and Tim Jordan with Victorian compatriot Tim Bohan 6-throws back in 4th. IN FA1 it looked like Sue Summers wouldn’t have any competition apart from the two girls in FA4 until Dhalia Vellios pulled-of a complex babysitting arrangement that sounded like a football trade, enabling her to play the 3-days. After round one it was Sue with 6-throws over Dhalia and some competition on her hands.
Quite what the link between furniture restoration and disc golf is, I don’t quite know, but the PDGA needs to look into it as the good mates and table burnishing duo of Kris Kohout and Glen White had both suspiciously jumped out to 5-throw leads in the MA40 and MA50 divisions respectively. Hootie hasn’t played much disc golf of late but had found some good form in the weeks before the tournament. Glen was, as usual, enigmatically disguising his intentions by saying ‘I don’t care as long as I beat Kim’. With a 5-throw lead, that outcome we certainly on the cards.
In MA2 Grant Lotus-Kingston had a one-throw lead on Villem Randme in the beginning of a battle that would be tight all weekend, in FA4 Julie O’Donoghue had a 4-throw lead over Evelyn Heath and Charlie Apps was neck-and-neck with Shaun Freeman in MA4.
Lounging around the campfire at the end of play, one of the advantages of the one-round-per-day format became apparent – time to enjoy everyone’s company with no need to rush off. Everyone relaxed, had a few drinks, scoffed some Aussie team fundraising snaggers-in-a-bun and basked in the warmth of the fire and the glow of Grumpy Smurf’s glare from the dark hole in his scorer’s cave. This photographer/media-guy snuck off to the warmth of his swag early and I noticed that the camp was quiet not long after midnight. ‘Some of these guys will be playing Pine Lines without a hangover for the first time in their lives tomorrow’ I thought, as I drifted off to sleep.
Day 2 – Sunday
Like the professional educator that he is, Rokk began the day-two players meeting by giving everyone a good telling-off. Some people had neglected to check in for the second round. It was uncertain if these were the same people that missed the driveway on day-one. I overheard Rokk saying ‘It’s on the website!’ more than a few times in dealing with questions that ranged from ‘what time to we start Rokk?’ to ‘when’s the players meeting?’ to ‘What’s this game called Rokk – Frolf or Disc Golf?’ Like Dave Bandy’s ‘Check the #@%& email’ a few years back, Rokk’s mantra proved as about as effective as telling someone to read the instructions before assembling IKEA furniture. Rumours that these key details will be added to the rumoured Vellios neon sign next year could not be verified and remain just rumours.
In the MPO it was time for the Aussie Champ to kick into gear as Patty Robinson dropped the hammer with a 991 rated 70, while Ryan Budge traded scores with Patty for a 72, leaving the Victorians sharing the lead after 2 rounds.
‘I started a bit rough’ Said Budge. ‘But I scrambled pretty well; then I came home strong with 3 birdies in the last five holes to keep me in contention.’
Dave Bandy had a rough round, shooting a 76, but it was still enough to hold a 3-throw lead over Chris Finn heading into the final day.
In MA1, Oscar Feldberg kept up his solid work from round one with a 78 that was matched by Tim Bohan who moved into 2nd place but still 6-throws back. Turkey’s Tim and Aiden dropped off the pace slightly. In FA1 Sue Summers stretch the gap over Dhalia Vellios by 3 to lead by 9. While in MA2, Grant Lotus Kingston and Villem Randmae threw matching 88’s to still be 2-throws apart. ‘The Godfather’ Michael Canci made his move in the MA40’s, trimming Kris Kohout’s lead by 3-throws. In MA50, the other godfather, Kim Holmes reversed the previous days fortunes on Glen White, whittling Glen’s 5-throw lead down to nothing as they made the turn for home. Charlie Apps drew away from Shaun Freeman by 2-throws in MA4 while Julie O’Donoghue and Evelyn Heath shot matching 108’s that left Julie with a 3-throw lead and 22 holes to play.
Watching the cards come through camp and seeing how they played the new hole 2 – Jabba the Hutt, I was using sound to measure the pain. Three out of four people hit a tree off the tee on Jabba and I could hear how bad it was: a high-pitched ‘twick’ meant a high hit and a deflection into pitch-out land. A heavy ‘thunk’ meant a low hit and most probably a second shot from somewhere in clear space. What I wasn’t prepared to see, as I looked down that skinny, twisted, excuse for a fairway, was dust flying off the trees as they were hit. WA had just recorded it’s driest May ever and the normal lush, green Pine Lines was nowhere to be seen. After the epic rainstorms of some years that soaked everything and had us digging emergency stormwater drains into the night, nobody was complaining. But the dry grass and branches meant we had to forgo one of the signature items of our event that gives the tournament it’s ‘burning man’ feel – the bonfire you can see from space.
So, the players party had a slightly less pagan feel this year as the primal urges to rage through the night carrying tomahawks and burning grass trees weren’t triggered. Instead we had the musical brilliance of Mason Vellios ably backed up by Sue Summers to entertain us; and of course, a magnificent feast supplied by Glen White that included his famous sticky date pudding.
Day 3 – Monday
I can’t remember what year it was, maybe 2014. If I did remember it means I wasn’t there. The epic week at Pine Lines where we answered the question of ‘how many days away from civilisation it takes for disc golfers to become truly unhinged?’ 90% of the unofficial legends of Pine Lines: the ones spoken about but never written down, came from that year. Everybody is more sensible now though. This year on the last morning around the campfire there wasn’t anyone wandering around needing to be reminded of their own names or to get out of the dressing gown and put their disc golf clothes on; or to just put clothes on. Nobody had tried to drive home at two in the morning and, most importantly, my car didn’t have any additional scratches on it (RIP Meelis).
Three rounds of 22 in the hilly, scrambly Darling Scarp bush
was starting to take its physical toll though. There were more than a few
creaky bodies around the campfire and a black-market trade in illicit anti-inflammatory
and pain-killing pills was strong.
The MPO battle between Patty and Ryan see-sawed for most of the last round
before the two big downhills of Jungle Land and Deep Throw, where Patty birdied
and Ryan bogied, created the 4-throw gap that Patty was to take into the final.
Patty began the final with a solo birdie on hole one to take his lead to 5.
Then, on the second hole, with an effort that would have scored him the skirt
in a Turkey round, Patty threw his first drive straight into the tree in front
of him on his way to carding a double-bogey 6. This opened the gate slightly
for Ryan who threw par to bring the gap back to 3-throws. But the pair then
traded birdie, par, birdie, par on the next four holes and Ryan was unable to
close the gap further, leaving Aussie Champ, Patty Robinson as the 2019 Perth
Open champ too. Dave Bandy won the local battle by taking third by 1-throw from
Chris Finn.
‘We do tend to think about it financially’ said Patty after the round when asked about the extra expense of making the trek across to Perth. ‘But to play this awesome course is worth it. Plus, it’s a great community out here and it’s fun to come and hang out for a bit.’
Tim Bohan threw a hot final round in the MA1 to eliminate Oscar Fehlberg’s 6-throw advantage and force a playoff. He wasn’t able to maintain the rage though and lost the play-off with Oscar on hole two. Aiden ‘Fingers’ Ditewig took third while the other Vellios brother, Reece, fresh from celebrating his Ring-of-Fire ace on day-one, moved up to take fourth.
In FA2, Sue Summers stretched her lead over Dhalia Vellios by another 7-throws to win comfortably in the end. In FA4, Julie O’Donoghue pulled away in what had been a tight battle with Evelyn Heath to win by 9-throws.
In MA40, Kris Kohout leaked a few shots to allow Mickael Canci to get close and they were still battling it out with two holes to play before some missed putts allowed the Godfather to sneak ahead by a couple of throws. Trivia question – What is the biggest gap in years between someone’s first, and more recent, WA flying disc title? I think Mr Canci might hold that one, or maybe Mr Holmes. Del Batey shot the best round of the age group to hold Jason Browne out of 3rd. El Presidente, Luke Turnbull and Stewart Adams played MA 40 too.
In the MA50’s, Kim Holmes and Glenn White began with more in common than the same score. Both have been partially reconstructed out of ceramic and titanium; and both have dodgy shoulders. Unfortunately for Glen that dodgy-ness was in the throwing shoulder. He was in a fair bit of pain before the round but decided to have a go anyway and see if it loosened up. He had his answer after about 6-holes though, and that answer was ‘No’. Wether it’s fixing a car or making a table, Glen doesn’t like not finishing things. The DNF cut him deep. Kim still had to contend with national MA40 champ Ken Summers chasing him however; although Ken has never really found his groove at Pine Lines and Kim was an easy winner by 10 throws from Ken, with another 10 -throws back to Steve Manning and a fair way back to Evelyn’s Dad.
In MA2, Villem Randmae erased his 2-throw deficit over Grant Lotus Kingston’s early in the last round and then powered away with an 83 to win by 6-throws. Charlie App’s did similarly in MA4, saving his best round for last to win by 10-throws from Shaun Freeman.
After the presentations are all done with it’s nice to sit around the fire under the giant spreading branches of Home Tree and listen to the hubbub of stories of missed putts, trees hit and the ridiculous luck, both good and bad, that comes with 3-days of disc golf among the pines. I’d get into a de-brief with someone, then look up five minutes later and a few more would have melted away; then a few more and as the shadows grow longer, the numbers dwindled down to the small handful who are staying the night (for the next morning’s clean-up) Every year I notice that small handful is, plus or minus one or two, virtually the same as that initial crew who spent that first night up there more than 7-years ago. It’s a nice reunion.
Until the next gathering of the People of the Pines.