Well, I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to play in any more tournaments this season. I so desperately wanted to play in one more in an attempt to achieve one more goal for the season, but the reality is that I would rather spend the time and money next season to go and play more big events across the country. So, here is a quick run down of the goals I posted before the season and a brief response as to how well I have done.
1. Have More Fun - Well sure, of course I was having more fun. Especially because this season was significantly better than last year from the stand point of all those reasons I attempted to forget about with this goal. Hmm, maybe I didn't do as well as I thought.
2. Contribute More To The Growth Of The Sport - This is still a work in progress. I put some feelers out there but never followed up. I helped out a a junior event. I did not do nearly as much as I had hoped. I think there is still time left in the year to start a discussion but I am going to call this one a fail. I think I want to keep this goal for next year but be more realistic next year.
3. To Qualify For Am Nationals - Had to wait all the way to the end of the year, but success! I finished in the top 10% at the Colorado State Disc Golf Championships, one of two local A-Tier events this past season. As long as the standard is the same as previous seasons I am good to go.
4. To Finish Better At Am Worlds Than I Did In 2012 - Yuppers! Although let sbe honest, once I started playing well at Am Worlds the expectations went up and then I failed at the new goals. This is one of the disadvantages of playing well. Next year the goal will be to make the Semi Finals and to have a good 6th round as I have failed at that the last two years.
5. To Win A Tournament In Advanced - Boo Yaa! Thank you Wyoming! Thank you first 1000 rated round! I had a great time at this tournament and was able to hold on for the first victory. The only advanced tournament I played after this event was Colorado States and I suspect that I will only play the two Am Majors next year.
6. To Improve My Rating By 20+ Points - This one should be solid. So, I started the year at 915. I am currently at 946. That is 31 point increase. There are still a few rounds to be put into the rating and hopefully some from last year to get taken out but it all means that I only expect my rating to go up.
7. To Qualify For Pro Worlds in 2014 - This is the reason I want to play one more tournament. I am at 468 pro points through five pro tournaments. I believe that it will require 500 pro points to qualify for pro worlds. The bottom line is that it would have been nice to get my am win earlier in the year with the ability to play in a few more events as a pro. 32 points, only 32 points. Hmph.
8. To Look Back At 2013 And Say, "Wow, I Improved So Much This Year!" - I know it is not the end of the year yet but, Wow, I improved so much this year! There is still a lot of work to be done and I now know that I have the ability to go toe to toe with the top guys in the state, thank you Peak One Open. If I keep having fun and keep playing my game, anything is possible.
Now I am looking forward to playing and practicing as much as I can this off season. I am looking forward to working some new Vibram discs into the bag. That is if they release them early enough. And of course I am looking forward to Winter Warriors. I think we may raise more money this year with Winter Warriors than ever before. Exciting!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
What A Great State
This past weekend was the Colorado State Disc Golf Championships at Edora Park in Fort Collins, CO. Edora is an amazingly nice park that has dealt with park use issues since the course was put in several years ago. There have been many redesigns of the park and it is constantly in a state of flux as the city appears to want to shut down the course. There is a strong club in the area that is working hard to keep this course and have done a good job of rolling with the redesigns in order to attempt to keep this beautiful course. The good news about this for the tournament was that we got to play 27 holes three times over three days. This included holes from just about all of the redesigns including the brand new holes of the latest redesign. That being said, there was a lot of work put in on this course in an attempt to get it ready for this event. New holes needed tee boxes and pin positions. Old holes needed some re-work to make them what they used to be. Hats off to Vinnie the TD and his team for all the work they put into this event.
My hope coming into this tournament was that it would be my last Amateur event outside of the Amateur majors next year. In order to accomplish this task I would need to finish in the top 20% in order to qualify for The United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships. What I found out is that this played into my emotions during this tournament way more than it should have. Goals are certainly great things, but you also need to keep them in check in the middle of a tournament or it will cause you to play outside of your own game. You'll push and things will not turn out as you hope.
This event was a true test of Colorado Disc Golf outside of one fact, this course is not a mountain course. This is a great park course, and should not be down played because it is not a mountain course. The weather is really what helped make this a true Colorado event. Over three days there were some similarities, but each day had its own unique challenges. The first day was cold and windy with times of snow and rain. The second day kept getting warmer and warming and the wind kept howling. By the last day it was simply sunny and nice. You do know that we get over 300 days of sun here in Colorado. The fact that each day was so uniquely different just screams Colorado.
The first day was interesting as I played a round with four guys named Ryan. Yeah, that is right, I was the odd man out because my name was not Ryan. It was a good close somewhat because I played my first tournament round of the year with one of these Ryan's. The round did not start off so good for me but I was able to keep it together and ultimately win my card in the first round. The weather made it very difficult to shoot well and even the top pros shot over par this round. I was 10 strokes worse than the top pro and eight throws out of first in the advanced division. I struggled a lot in the wind and this was sort of confusing to me simply because I had learned so much this year about plying in the wind.
The second day was also difficult but I was also able to shoot one throw better than my first day. This round was fun from the stand point that I was able to really connect with another player from out of town. I am always amazed at the people you meet playing disc golf and how fun and unique we all are. Disc Golf is really a sport that is for everyone and it is so much fun to meet and play with new people. Derek was from South Dakota and shot amazingly well in this round. He beat me on my card but was the only person on my card to beat me this round. While it was a better round it was rated several points lower because the pros finally remembered how to play in the wind. Or perhaps they didn't play in the wind as much as the Ams did because they got the early tee times.
Sitting at home after the second round I became incredibly bummed out. Sure I was able to move from 7th place to 6th place, but the reality was still setting in that there was a chance that I might not meet my goal of finishing in the top 20%. To be so close to your goals and then to see the possibility of them slipping away is really difficult. It is not a good feeling and does not provide encouragement. Sure it should drive me to play better and harder, but that will also cause one to stop playing their own game. Sometimes you just have to remember to play your best and leave the results up to God.
The third round finally brought about really nice conditions and made scoring very easy. Even so, I started out shooting exactly the same as I had the day before. Unfortunately on hole 5 I went OB twice and ended up taking a 6. Right then and there it would have been easy to pack it in and stop caring about my round. This is where the power of forgetting really comes in. I pulled myself together and had a couple of really good strings of birdies. I didn't let the bad get in my way and a part from one more hole I did a good job of not comparing this round to previous rounds. This ultimately ended up being my best round and I won my card for the second time in this tournament. I took the biggest jump I had made in the tournament and ended up finishing in 4th place. This put me in the top 10%.
I am sad to think that this might be the end of my tournament season. I am still hoping to somehow play in one more sanctioned event. I would like one more chance to earn a spot in pro worlds next year even though the odds are that I do not want to play and travel to three major events next season. It is a lot of time and money to be able to do these things.
What I learned from this tournament is that it really is important to know the course. Even though there were plenty of holes that I had played before, not having played them for a while really put me behind for the first couple of days. It is also really important to play your game. This is so much more important than just about anything I can think of in Disc Golf. trying to paly someone else's game or pushing too much in order move up ultimately will cause the biggest falls. The emotional side of things is also very important. I watched player after player on my card fall because they were not mentally strong enough to keep it together when something bad happened. Ultimately this allowed me, someone who played my game and did not let bad holes get in my head, to move up instead.
One of the best things I did during this tournament was the time I spent encouraging those around me. I think everyone wants to feel encouraged, and I worked hard to make sure I was about to encourage the guys I played with at least once during the rounds that I played with them. I also made sure to say hello to them afterwards or before and during other rounds as well. It is amazing to think that something so simple can make such a big difference.
My hope coming into this tournament was that it would be my last Amateur event outside of the Amateur majors next year. In order to accomplish this task I would need to finish in the top 20% in order to qualify for The United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships. What I found out is that this played into my emotions during this tournament way more than it should have. Goals are certainly great things, but you also need to keep them in check in the middle of a tournament or it will cause you to play outside of your own game. You'll push and things will not turn out as you hope.
This event was a true test of Colorado Disc Golf outside of one fact, this course is not a mountain course. This is a great park course, and should not be down played because it is not a mountain course. The weather is really what helped make this a true Colorado event. Over three days there were some similarities, but each day had its own unique challenges. The first day was cold and windy with times of snow and rain. The second day kept getting warmer and warming and the wind kept howling. By the last day it was simply sunny and nice. You do know that we get over 300 days of sun here in Colorado. The fact that each day was so uniquely different just screams Colorado.
The first day was interesting as I played a round with four guys named Ryan. Yeah, that is right, I was the odd man out because my name was not Ryan. It was a good close somewhat because I played my first tournament round of the year with one of these Ryan's. The round did not start off so good for me but I was able to keep it together and ultimately win my card in the first round. The weather made it very difficult to shoot well and even the top pros shot over par this round. I was 10 strokes worse than the top pro and eight throws out of first in the advanced division. I struggled a lot in the wind and this was sort of confusing to me simply because I had learned so much this year about plying in the wind.
The second day was also difficult but I was also able to shoot one throw better than my first day. This round was fun from the stand point that I was able to really connect with another player from out of town. I am always amazed at the people you meet playing disc golf and how fun and unique we all are. Disc Golf is really a sport that is for everyone and it is so much fun to meet and play with new people. Derek was from South Dakota and shot amazingly well in this round. He beat me on my card but was the only person on my card to beat me this round. While it was a better round it was rated several points lower because the pros finally remembered how to play in the wind. Or perhaps they didn't play in the wind as much as the Ams did because they got the early tee times.
Sitting at home after the second round I became incredibly bummed out. Sure I was able to move from 7th place to 6th place, but the reality was still setting in that there was a chance that I might not meet my goal of finishing in the top 20%. To be so close to your goals and then to see the possibility of them slipping away is really difficult. It is not a good feeling and does not provide encouragement. Sure it should drive me to play better and harder, but that will also cause one to stop playing their own game. Sometimes you just have to remember to play your best and leave the results up to God.
The third round finally brought about really nice conditions and made scoring very easy. Even so, I started out shooting exactly the same as I had the day before. Unfortunately on hole 5 I went OB twice and ended up taking a 6. Right then and there it would have been easy to pack it in and stop caring about my round. This is where the power of forgetting really comes in. I pulled myself together and had a couple of really good strings of birdies. I didn't let the bad get in my way and a part from one more hole I did a good job of not comparing this round to previous rounds. This ultimately ended up being my best round and I won my card for the second time in this tournament. I took the biggest jump I had made in the tournament and ended up finishing in 4th place. This put me in the top 10%.
I am sad to think that this might be the end of my tournament season. I am still hoping to somehow play in one more sanctioned event. I would like one more chance to earn a spot in pro worlds next year even though the odds are that I do not want to play and travel to three major events next season. It is a lot of time and money to be able to do these things.
What I learned from this tournament is that it really is important to know the course. Even though there were plenty of holes that I had played before, not having played them for a while really put me behind for the first couple of days. It is also really important to play your game. This is so much more important than just about anything I can think of in Disc Golf. trying to paly someone else's game or pushing too much in order move up ultimately will cause the biggest falls. The emotional side of things is also very important. I watched player after player on my card fall because they were not mentally strong enough to keep it together when something bad happened. Ultimately this allowed me, someone who played my game and did not let bad holes get in my head, to move up instead.
One of the best things I did during this tournament was the time I spent encouraging those around me. I think everyone wants to feel encouraged, and I worked hard to make sure I was about to encourage the guys I played with at least once during the rounds that I played with them. I also made sure to say hello to them afterwards or before and during other rounds as well. It is amazing to think that something so simple can make such a big difference.
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