You know those C-tier tournaments that you go back to year after year, not because they are your only option but because you just have so much fun? Well, The Snow Mountain Challenge took place this past weekend in Tabernash and Winter Park, CO and this has quickly become one of thsoe tournaments that I never want to miss. Not only that, my parents who are rec level players at best, have come to feel the same way about this tournament. This was the 10th year of the tournament and at least the fourth time I have played the tournament. I only wish I had been playing sooner and been able to play in all ten occurances of this great event.
This year was no different. What a great event where people, for the most part, were more concerned about having fun. Sure we all wanted to play well, but in the end, you are still playing disc golf. In the midst of a season where the local crowd seems more apt to complain than to enjoy the experience, this was a breath of fresh air. Let's be honest, the tee pads are natural and not perfect, the baskets are not the best quality and you just aren't going to get all the bounces. But the bottom line is that in the midst of all that one could complain about, there were more people who just seemed to be having fun and reminding me of what disc golf is all about.
The first round was at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA. This course seems to change every year and for some reason always presents a challenge for me. This round was just tough for me and not because of the course itself, but mostly because I seemed to really not be throwing well and only managed to get one birdie the entire round. Ultimately that meant I shot over par, on a course I was able to shoot under par as an intermediate player. There were plenty of missed putts and bad drives to be had. When I threw the disc high enough it went left or right. Other times I simply was throwing the disc too low and throwing the disc short and into the ground. It is like the problem I have been having and the one thing that reminds me I am still not as good as I want to be. Somehow I still managed to only be 2 over par. Unfortunately the leader in advanced shot seven down.
The second two rounds took place at Winter Park Resort. A ski area in the winter and primarily a mountain biking hill in the winter, this resort has an incredible disc golf course designed be the TD of this event amongst other. It is loaded with technical shots as well as some long open holes. This course is generally considered to be tougher, where shooting even par is a good score. My best round before this year was a five over par. Well, after the second round and shooting 3 under I jumped from the third card to the top card. And in the final round I was able to shoot 1 under. Both of these rounds were the best or second best rounds in the advanced division. My 3 down was only three off the course record. The bottom line is this, I was the only player outside of the open division that was able to shoot two rounds under par at Winter Park Resort DGC this year. With the big hole, this feat only managed to bring me back to 4th place and 4 throws behind the leaders. Yes, there was a playoff. Kinda makes me wish I had done better at Snow Mountain.
Lessons learned. You can shoot really good rounds and you cannot take yourself out of it mentally. Playing smart is way better than pushing. See, because I was so far out of it, even in the final round playing on the lead card, I was more focused on having fun and playing smart. After being so frustrated after the first round it would have been tough to get my mind mentally back into the game, but simply having fun and playing smart brought me most of the way back. Also, you are going to miss lines. Your lie will not always be perfect. Moving on is better than dwelling on the mistake. Making putts helps a lot and making good upshots will save your rounds more than making birdies. Lets see how well I can do this in Wyoming next weekend.
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