Hey Dave

I first met Dave in College Park Maryland at one of the many two day tournament events in the early 80's. Back then he and Dan Thessen (sp?) were the top disc golfers of Washington DC that no one could beat when you were counting. I was just a snot-knosed high school kid at the time but I had the fever. Dave was out of the service and was working selling carpet perhaps if I recall correctly, then worked at the DC radio album rock station WAVA for a while till it didn't make it, then the cable company. Always 45 minutes late to ddc cause he had to do an install . . I was always 20 minuts later just cause I could not keep time but so it goes. Dave put more spin on a golf disc than anyone I have ever played against and his accuracy with avaiars was really a thing of beauty. I remember once driving with DG to Burke lake where he successfully broke his ankle teeing off of hole 9 and I got to drive him back to his house in his beat to hell ford capri with literally no brakes (it had maybe the emergency brake and gravity to guide it but otherwise made this ungodly noise when you attempted to stop it using the traditional methods. It was way past the mere grind of worn out brake shoe liners and rotors). We made it but it was an act of faith for a person who just got their driver's license a couple of months prior.

We played a lot of disc golf together, guts, ddc, and overall events over the years. I even remember freestyling with Dave a few times at events, seeing music, meeting up with he and Shahid for SXSW with his daughter Lauren. My favorite events with DG were probably the guts tournaments though, travelling with him and Mark Susi. Nothing like mixing a former marine and a hard throwing disc sports competitor together into an adrenaline-based sport to bring out the best you have to offer. Dave was always a fierce competitor and you could tell so based on how hard he came down on himself when he missed a shot. "Come on DG!!!!" as loud as he could scream. I probably heard that 1000 times from him. It was usually a sign of good fortune that you had a chance to beat him, at least on a hole.

Probably the best recollections I have of Dave came later though when he somehow conned Jen to start playing disc sports. What a proud dad. Proud of both his daughters he was. Now that I am a Dad myself I really understand where his pride came from and what it means to your family to carry that around. Thanks Dave for the experiences, and the lesson on how you stand and deliver in life.
-Randy Lahm