Computer-generated image of the Clackamas River flowing through Riverbend Disc Golf Course at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon.

160 of the best players that disc golf has to offer have made the annual trek to the beautiful terrain of the Pacific Northwest for the 2017 Beaver State Fling presented by KEEN Footwear (BSF). The event takes place at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon, located roughly 30 miles southeast of Portland proper. Sitting just on the outskirts of Mt. Hood National Forest, the drive to and from the park each day boasts scenic views of the tallest peak in Oregon that make it easy to forget just how lucky you are to be playing disc golf in such a beautiful part of the country.

The USA, Canada, and New Zealand are all represented at the BSF this year, serving as a nice preview of the range of talent we will see at the upcoming 2017 Professional Disc Golf World Championships in Augusta and Appling, Georgia, now just two weeks away. It’s a quick turnaround for those competing in both that will mean a long trip ahead once the event here in Oregon comes to a conclusion. It’s a rough journey to have to make, but if there was ever an event that’s worth the trouble, it’s the Beaver State Fling.

The Course - “Milo”

Ask anyone that’s played Riverbend Disc Golf Course at Milo McIver State Park (commonly referred to as simply “Milo”) and they’ll very likely tell you it’s in their top five favorite courses. For the BSF, two 18-hole masterpieces are created on the property that, for a majority of the year, is home to a permanent 27-hole installation.

Milo represents disc golf in its purest form and success on the course requires a wide range of skills both off the tees and in the fairways, as well as being able to get out of trouble when, not if but when, your disc takes a bad kick and ends buried deep into the woods.

Like many of the courses on the PDGA National Tour, a score of even par on either of the courses will result in something close to a 1000-rated round. But with competitors here with PDGA Player Ratings well over 1000, you can expect to see a few people making these very difficult courses look easy.

Philobatross

In 2016, Ricky Wysocki #38008 took down the Open division title after four rounds that averaged just over 1052 while Catrina Allen #44184 took down rival Paige Pierce #29190 in a sudden-death playoff in front of the gallery. Ricky’s victory was impressive, but it was second place finisher Philo Brathwaite that got most of the attention during the tournament, and in the weeks and months that followed as well.

Whether or not you have played or know anything about disc golf in general, there’s a good chance you at least caught a glimpse of Philo’s albatross on the 850’ par 5 of hole 6 on Milo West. The word spread quickly on the course when it happened and our friends at Central Coast Disc Golf caught it on film with multiple angles.

Thanks to Philo’s incredible second shot on the par 5, a disc golf video legitimately went viral online. It quickly hit the one million mark on YouTube and was passed around by some of the most prominent sports and news networks in the days that followed. It was even covered in an episode of Outrageous Acts of Science on the Science Channel.

Coverage

One thing Milo McIver doesn’t provide is an abundance of cell phone signal which unfortunately means there will not be any live coverage of the event. The good news is there will still be live scoring and updates all weekend long on pdgalive.com and post-production coverage from lead cards via Jomez Productions, Central Coast Disc Golf, and The Disc Golf Guy on their respective YouTube channels.

With rain and low temperatures forecasted for the weekend, it will be interesting to see how much cold hands and slick tee pads will impact the scores. Find more information on the official Beaver State Fling presented by Keen Footwear website at www.beaverstatefling.com. Tee times and results will be posted all weekend at www.pdga.com/bsf.