It’s really rather hard to believe, but another golf season has come to an end.

I will have fond memories of this season for a very long time. Not only did I accomplish some of my main goals, and get a mind-exploding hole in one — something I never even dreamt of happening, I continued to set the foundations for my life-long love of the game.

My experience with golf throughout this year has been such a positive force in my life. Life isn’t always smooth sailing and I’m deeply grateful grateful I’m able to play this game and get away from things from time to time.

Golf can be very frustrating, especially when trying to meet goals or expectations, and while I’ve tried to focus on the bigger, Golf Journey picture of things, I’ll admit I get more focused on those things than I should.

One of the things I love about golf though, is that the frustrations come and go. Each new shot is a chance to refresh and make something new happen. Even in the rounds where I was playing my worst, there was always something about it that made it worthwhile — even just one great shot, or the appreciation of having time by myself or with a good friend or family member out in a beautiful natural spot.

Last season I started doing lessons with Simon Jones at Purcell Golf and, for the first time ever, started really focusing on improving. This year, I took those lessons and worked on my game more independently. I started the season off with a lot of time at the range and Bootleg’s Rec 9 and the value of last year’s lessons was immediately apparent.

Then on my first 18 of the year I broke 100 for the first time. I then was two bad holes away from breaking 90 on my next round two days later. A few weeks after that I aced the 165-yard third hole at Purcell. I also broke 40 at the Rec 9, another goal I had at the back of my mind.

I saw improvements in all aspects of my game, especially in long iron shots, but also in things like reading greens, bunker shots and course management. The one thing I was really lacking was consistency across the board.

Because of this, I decided to book a late-season lesson with Simon. We addressed a few things in my swing, particularly that I’m too inside, meaning my club face is open and my driver slices, and my irons have a tendency to draw, or hook.

We integrated a few new drills and swing thoughts, and while I hit some of the greatest iron shots I ever have, the late-season change also was a bit tricky. In my last few rounds of the year, particularly my last full 18 at Trickle, I suddenly started shanking balls. Badly. I would then resort to just trying to swing my swing to get through the round. And even though I felt I was having the worst round I’ve ever played, I consistently shot 100 or just under, something I would be thrilled with this time last year.

My final round of golf for the year was played this past week while on holiday with my wife, celebrating our first wedding anniversary. After we attended our friends’ wedding in Kaslo, we made our way south, stopping for a night in Spokane before heading on to Portland, Org. and then the Oregon coast.

I have wanted to do this road trip for years now. Portland and Oregon as a whole tick a lot of boxes for the things I love in life the most, in particular, and in no particular order: disc golf, golf, craft beer, live music, books and scenery.

All my expectations were met and exceeded. We attended some amazing concerts, including seeing one of my all-time favourite metal bands Gojira, who you may recognize after they played the Olympic Opening Ceremonies this year in Paris, open for the legendary nu-metal band Korn on their 30th anniversary tour.

The next night we had tickets to an audio-visual show with electronic artist Ivy Lab. That was cancelled so we looked at BandsInTown to see if anything else cool was happening and, because it’s Portland, there sure was. We ended up getting tickets to see Marky Ramone, one of two main drummers for legendary punk band The Ramones, play their classics at a very cool theatre a block from our hotel.

Then we got to see Ivy Lab after all at a pop-up location.

The beer was exceptional, and we went to too many places to really even mention, but Deschutes, Buoy Brewing, the Lord of the Rings themed bar and Fort George were notable mentions.

For golf, we only played one course, but it was memorable to say the least. After leaving Portland we headed to the coast and went to stay for a night in Gearhart. There we played Gearhart Golf Links — the oldest course west of the Mississippi, with its origins going back to the 1890s.

It was my first links golf experience, I played pretty well, we had great playing partners and the clubhouse was the stuff of dreams. I can’t recommend the course enough if you’re ever in that part of the world.

Then, finally, the disc golf. I’ve been joking a lot this year that with how much I’ve been playing traditional golf this year, when I do go play disc golf my throwing form has severely declined, so now I kind of just suck at both variations of the sport.

However, I’ve been really getting back into the disc golf this fall and have started throwing better shots again, which was great as I got to play not just some of the best courses I’ve ever played, but some of the highest rated courses in the world.

The highlights of the trip include Pier Park, which is in a beautiful park right in Portland and is widely regarded at the best par 54 course in the world. I’ve never experienced a more beautiful city park, it was lush green oasis with massive trees and the course itself was as fun and challenging as any I’ve played.

Next up was the Columbia Shore DGC located at Fort Stevens, a historic naval base on the Oregon coast. I forgot to mention before that another of my big interests in life is war history, particularly WW1 and WW2, so a disc golf course on a coastal base ticked all kinds of boxes.

Then finally was the unbelievable Caliber Disc Golf Course located just outside of Sand Point, Ida. on the property of Paul Stiller, who has built two of the worlds greatest courses, all on his own. Caliber last year was rated the fifth best course in the world.

Each hole has two perfectly constructed tee pads, and there are detailed hole maps on every tee, in addition to indicators with how many feet left you have into the hole throughout the course. It’s evident Stiller comes from a ball golf background, as it was the closest experience to a traditional golf course I’ve ever played.

Playing these amazing tracks really rekindled my passion for disc golf, which is great, because while the golf season is over, there’s still plenty of rounds of disc golf to be had this year.