South Dakota

I first played south Dakota six or seven years ago. The whole family traveled up here as part of a bigger trip that also included the badlands, devils tower, and a swing back through Yellowstone and the Tetons. We stayed at angostura recreation area, which has a really nice lake, and a decent disc golf course.

Now once again we find ourselves in this park on the southern edge of the black hills, staying in a nice little cabin for dirt cheap. The swimming is excellent, with clear, nippy water and clean sand beaches.

And of course the disc golf is always near at hand, with a somewhat challenging nine hole course right in the park. Virtually the entire course is played on ridge tops around several coves on the lake. On several of the holes, the trick its to keep your disc in or near the narrow mown part of the fairway. Off the fairway the grass is thick and a fair number of small cacti await the unsuspecting foot.

But the really cool part of the course is a handful of holes in which you are tempted to drive across part off the cove to reach a basket on a ridge, where an errant throw could go all the way down a steep slope 150 feet to the lake. I know because the first time I played here six or seven years ago, I did roll all the way down one. But I learned my lesson, and today kept it on the ridge tops. Got eaten alive on hole two, but otherwise played a solid round, hit several long putts, and ended at thirty four.