Once again I have put off writing about my last tournament. This time it is not because I am processing but simply because it was so blah it hurt. The 2014 St. Patty's Day Meltdown took place as per usual at Edora Park in Fort Collins, CO. This this the tournament that I won as a Rec player way back in the day and usually marks the start of the Colorado Disc Golf season. There have been many different TD's throughout the years, but it has always been a good time.
This year it was simple and straight forward. There was one added hole the first two rounds and an additional two added holes the final round. This was the first tournament of the year for me in Colorado and the first time I have played this tournament in the MPO division. One thing that you can count on for this event is some of the strangest conditions you have seen and this year was no different. Perhaps you have seen videos online of the Glass Blown Open in Emporia, KS? Great tournament but it almost always has wind. Well, the first two rounds were played on Saturday and the wind compared to, if not surpassed, the wind that has been seen at GBO. At one point I heard a rumor that the top MPO player and eventual winner was hoping the TD would move the second round to Sunday and have two rounds on Sunday just so that we could play in more reasonable conditions.
Honestly it wasn't that bad. And in the first round I actually played fairly well and ended up in the middle of the field tied with some of the better players and not that far behind the best scores from the first round in the wind. The second round felt a bit better but was not as good on the score card. This seems to be my game right now, play what feels like a good round only to see the score on the card be bad or not what was hoped for. Sunday brought nicer conditions and lower scores. I already had the knowledge that I would not finish last because someone had dropped out of the tournament the day before in the wind. I still found myself on the bottom card and honestly a little frustrated about that. Then most of the guys on my card started playing really well. I kept pace with them until the last 5 holes where I took four fours and a five. I even had some great shots in those holes only to squander opportunity after opportunity. It was the biggest collapse I have seen myself take in over a year. And of course, if not for our friend who dropped out, I would have been last.
There was so much to learn from this tournament, most of which included making mental adjustments based on conditions. Choosing the right disc and playing safe was way more valuable than you might think. Additionally, I learned that you really cannot beat yourself up mentally when you make a bad shot because ultimately you will mess up the next one as well. You need to pay more attention to the details in the conditions and make good choices based on that. So much of this game is mental and I think with two poor performances under my belt, now becomes the time to refocus on the mental preparation for tournaments. I have begun reading a book called Mind Games and look forward to what it might be able to offer in this realm.
Up next, Phenix Disc Golf is hosting a one day event at Badlands DGC. The schedule gets busier and busier from here on out and I only hope that I can turn things around. There has been promise in the practice rounds, and I have found a good way to practice putting at home but I still need to make sure I am taking the time to do that. It is not as easy now that I have a roommate.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
The Memorial Memory and Life in General
So this might be very late in coming, but I figured I needed to get something posted about the previous tournament before the next one gets here. This was the first tournament that I got to play in the Open division at a very high level. I did not get to play with any big names, even though they were all there. And to be honest, this tournament wasn't really about winning and loosing, it really was about the experience. If you take that into consideration, I am pretty sure I won. Well, maybe John E McCray would have beat me there but he finished second and seemed to have a grand time.
Speaking of Mr. McCray, I was fortunate enough to have emailed him well before the tournament after seeing his acceptance speach at a Florida tournament earlier this year. He clearly loved Jesus and as a fellow lover of Jesus I figured I would enjoy meeting him. In emails we talked about getting together before his first round to pray together. Even though he and his wife already did, he still let me pray for him before his first round. I am not saying it helped him beat many guys who were much younger than he, but it was really cool to have that connection with another player, who also took some time to watch part of one of my rounds later in the tournament.
The two courses, Vista and Fountain, in their layout for the Memorial were just incredible. Very punishing of bad shots, at least at times, and very fair to good shots. I found out more about the bad shots than the good shots to be perfectly honest. I wish I had more time to go down and explore the courses before the tournament. There were times that I thought I had an alright shot only to find out that despite the fact that I had kept the disc in bounds, I managed to put myself in a very awkward place that either resulted in a pitch out or a crazy shot that often resulted on going OB on the second shot. I feel with mroe time to study the courses things would have been drastically different. Then again simply having been able to play mroe rounds before this tournament would have been nice. Too bad the weather in Colorado did not cooperate with that idea.
So clearly I did not play well. I never shot a round above my current rating and I finished tied for third to last. I guess I kept from failing to accomplish my one goal for the year of never finishing last in a tournament. As I have said already, I could try to convince myself that it was all about the experience, but everyone wants to do well in a tournament and as such I was very disappoitned with my performance. There were many lessons to learn and many things that I can improve on, but it takes time and cooperation from the weather. The plan moving forward is to play as much as I can. It will likely mean cutting other things out of my life, but I have been meaning to do that since the first of the year. Sometimes you try to put too much in your life and end up leaving little room for certain things that you want to spend mroe time doing. Work is a necessity, My spiritual life and relationship with God comes first before anything else, but I do not have to be at church everyday. I honestly love disc golf and love the community that surrounds disc golf. I want to invest more time there.
That brings me to more of the amazing experience at the Memorial and all the incredible things that happened. Yes, I spent a lot of time following and watching the other players from Colrado that I knew, and yes I did spend time following Mr. McCray around. But I also got to meet other top pros as well and follow another local player who ended up tied for 4th even though he had the outright lead at one point. I was practicing my putting before rounds along with all the top female disc golfers in the world. I got to play with guys from Germany and Sweden. I got to caddy for Paige during her final round as she worked to get into the cash in FPO. Sorry you fell a couple throws shy of that Paige, I am sure it was my fault. There was something so different about the atmosphere around this tournament that just made it so much fun. I think the fact that even on the bottom cards in the Open division, playing with people who still took the rounds seriously was huge. And of course I also got to experience monsoon rain is the desert. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it is crazy.
So far the conditions here in Colorado have not been favorable for playing more rounds, but there is hope that it improves. And of course I found a way to hurt my back, which doesn't help either. But I am looking forward to making more time to practice. I am looking forward to making sure I know where I want to place my shots. I am looking forward to really working on my accuracy on drives. I am looking forward to playing with the best and learning as much as I can. This year is a long ways from over and there is so much improvement to make.
Speaking of Mr. McCray, I was fortunate enough to have emailed him well before the tournament after seeing his acceptance speach at a Florida tournament earlier this year. He clearly loved Jesus and as a fellow lover of Jesus I figured I would enjoy meeting him. In emails we talked about getting together before his first round to pray together. Even though he and his wife already did, he still let me pray for him before his first round. I am not saying it helped him beat many guys who were much younger than he, but it was really cool to have that connection with another player, who also took some time to watch part of one of my rounds later in the tournament.
The two courses, Vista and Fountain, in their layout for the Memorial were just incredible. Very punishing of bad shots, at least at times, and very fair to good shots. I found out more about the bad shots than the good shots to be perfectly honest. I wish I had more time to go down and explore the courses before the tournament. There were times that I thought I had an alright shot only to find out that despite the fact that I had kept the disc in bounds, I managed to put myself in a very awkward place that either resulted in a pitch out or a crazy shot that often resulted on going OB on the second shot. I feel with mroe time to study the courses things would have been drastically different. Then again simply having been able to play mroe rounds before this tournament would have been nice. Too bad the weather in Colorado did not cooperate with that idea.
So clearly I did not play well. I never shot a round above my current rating and I finished tied for third to last. I guess I kept from failing to accomplish my one goal for the year of never finishing last in a tournament. As I have said already, I could try to convince myself that it was all about the experience, but everyone wants to do well in a tournament and as such I was very disappoitned with my performance. There were many lessons to learn and many things that I can improve on, but it takes time and cooperation from the weather. The plan moving forward is to play as much as I can. It will likely mean cutting other things out of my life, but I have been meaning to do that since the first of the year. Sometimes you try to put too much in your life and end up leaving little room for certain things that you want to spend mroe time doing. Work is a necessity, My spiritual life and relationship with God comes first before anything else, but I do not have to be at church everyday. I honestly love disc golf and love the community that surrounds disc golf. I want to invest more time there.
That brings me to more of the amazing experience at the Memorial and all the incredible things that happened. Yes, I spent a lot of time following and watching the other players from Colrado that I knew, and yes I did spend time following Mr. McCray around. But I also got to meet other top pros as well and follow another local player who ended up tied for 4th even though he had the outright lead at one point. I was practicing my putting before rounds along with all the top female disc golfers in the world. I got to play with guys from Germany and Sweden. I got to caddy for Paige during her final round as she worked to get into the cash in FPO. Sorry you fell a couple throws shy of that Paige, I am sure it was my fault. There was something so different about the atmosphere around this tournament that just made it so much fun. I think the fact that even on the bottom cards in the Open division, playing with people who still took the rounds seriously was huge. And of course I also got to experience monsoon rain is the desert. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it is crazy.
So far the conditions here in Colorado have not been favorable for playing more rounds, but there is hope that it improves. And of course I found a way to hurt my back, which doesn't help either. But I am looking forward to making more time to practice. I am looking forward to making sure I know where I want to place my shots. I am looking forward to really working on my accuracy on drives. I am looking forward to playing with the best and learning as much as I can. This year is a long ways from over and there is so much improvement to make.
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