Well you see, one of my favorite people here in the local disc golf scene is The Chad. Why is he so awesome, beyond the obvious hours of work that he puts in for the club? Well, he finds a way to make playing in tournaments more about enjoying time with people than actually trying to play well. He is always having a good time and desires to help other people figure out how in the world they can have a good time playing disc golf.
So as I was in the middle of my slump at the 303 Open, I figured what better way to get out of this funk than playing in The Chad's non sanctioned event know for its craziness and ability to make anyone have a good time. At the end of the day it isn't about how you played but about all the silly stories you can tell because not everyone besides Vinnie can get an ace with a rubber chicken. How many people do you know that have shot their disc out of a giant sling shot? Rodnoc is absolutely about the silliness and the people than it is about playing disc golf.
I will be honest, I have always been hesitant in the past to play silly events like this as they are obviously non sanctioned. I have always been a miser and figured if I were spending my money I would rather do it on a real tournament. But I learned something amazing about the silliness, it tends to make you calm down and just have fun. And when I was able to get into that mindset the second round, miracles happened.
In the first round there was a lot of just getting used to the silliness. I was playing with a great group of people which included Big Mack, Jay and his wife, Courtney and The Hungerford. These are all standard people in the local scene around here, and even though I was youngest in the group, I still felt like part of the family and had a grand time. I purposely tried to play with Big Mack since getting to know him over the Winter Warriors season. I am so glad that it worked out that way. I had a solid round minus one hole where you get two chances to knock down as many bowling pins as possible from about 25 feet out. I threw two shots that fell short and ended up taking a 10 on the hole. Ug. Near the back of the Apples (or top division including pros and advanced ams) I figured it was really time to embrace the silliness.
In the second round I was way more relaxed than I have ever been playing disc golf and outside of one or two putts and a couple of drives I played really well. So well in fact that my score for this round would be the hot round for the entire day at the tournament. Then I went on to win one of the Ring of Fire rounds and life was good. No I did not get one of the awesome trophies but my confidence is back and I know that having fun is way more important than how I shoot. I literally proved that to myself and yet I need to figure out how to make sure I am in that mindset when I am playing in my next tournament.
Coming up is my big trip to Michigan and Minnesota for two A-tier events sandwhiched around Am Nats. If I can keep my focus and enjoy the moment, there is no telling what I might be able to do.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
Teaching The Teachers At Valor With Paige
I have spent some time over the past school year volunteering at Valor Christian High School and had the opportunity to play a round of disc golf with some of the members of their disc golf club. Well, the sponsor of the club asked me to come this past Wednesday and do a clinic at their school for whatever teachers and students showed up. I enlisted the help of my friend Paige Bjerkaas and despite some rain, we had a lot of fun.
It turned out that in the middle of finals week students will back out on their commitments to attend events that are not necessary for their grade, but teachers on the other hand will make the time to do something that isn't related to school. We had two teachers, plus the sponsor, plus one adult friend of the teacher at the clinic and everyone left with things they can do to improve their disc golf game. Paige was a huge help as simply another set of eyes and another voice of reason.
I'll be honest, it was a great time for me to simply relax and enjoy the game. It was a reminder that I really do know what I am doing and that I can play this game well. I am excited to get out and play some rounds with some of the people that came to the clinic as I expect to see a marked improvement in their games in the very near future. I am also looking forward to doing more of this kind of thing. I think this is really where my heart and passion lie in this sport and as much as I would love to become a World Champion some day, I think I might be just as happy saying that I hosted a clinic that helped produce a World Champion someday.
The best news of all is that Paige and I got invited to come back in the fall when school clubs are starting up to do another clinic with hopefully lots of students ready to learn to play disc golf. If you are reading this and you would be interested in a clinic, please feel free to let me know somehow and we will see what we can make happen. If not me I know people and the growth of the game is more important than the growth of my name.
It turned out that in the middle of finals week students will back out on their commitments to attend events that are not necessary for their grade, but teachers on the other hand will make the time to do something that isn't related to school. We had two teachers, plus the sponsor, plus one adult friend of the teacher at the clinic and everyone left with things they can do to improve their disc golf game. Paige was a huge help as simply another set of eyes and another voice of reason.
I'll be honest, it was a great time for me to simply relax and enjoy the game. It was a reminder that I really do know what I am doing and that I can play this game well. I am excited to get out and play some rounds with some of the people that came to the clinic as I expect to see a marked improvement in their games in the very near future. I am also looking forward to doing more of this kind of thing. I think this is really where my heart and passion lie in this sport and as much as I would love to become a World Champion some day, I think I might be just as happy saying that I hosted a clinic that helped produce a World Champion someday.
The best news of all is that Paige and I got invited to come back in the fall when school clubs are starting up to do another clinic with hopefully lots of students ready to learn to play disc golf. If you are reading this and you would be interested in a clinic, please feel free to let me know somehow and we will see what we can make happen. If not me I know people and the growth of the game is more important than the growth of my name.
303 Predictions Became A Mental Block
So maybe I really was sick and maybe is made sense to predict that things would not go so well. Perhaps I was so sick that it really didn't matter how I played. Or perhaps it was a mental thing that became a self fulfilling prophecy. Needless to say, as much fun as I did have this past weekend playing in this years version of the 303 Open, I played horrible. It literally was like I was learning the game all over again and had no clue what my body was about to do.
The tournament itself was a very well run tournament. Kyle has been refining the way he does things over the past couple of years and is really getting things dialed in. This tournament is his baby and one I am sure that he would like to see become a national tour event or perhaps just something as well respected as Glass Blown Open. Playing four rounds and three different courses on a single piece of property took some doing. Then combine that with the fact that there were 144 people out there to play and you might imagine logistics could easily become an issue. But things ran smoothly and even the short courses were fun to play. Hats off to Kyle and all the helpers he had at this event. It really made a difference.
Friday I was literally wondering if I would even be able to stand for an entire round of disc golf, let alone a round on the monster or championship layout. There are so many holes that can simply hand you untold numbers of strokes. With my parents there to hold me up if needed I was actually able to put together a descent round for a bad round. Things actually were going fairly well until the last two holes where I took a 6 and an 8. Sure both holes were listed as par 4's but lets be honest that means that I should have had a 4 on both of them and that was not the case.
Saturday should have been two under par rounds but while still being sick I was not able to accomplish that task on the origional layout course on this property. That was sure disheartening. I did however accomplish an under par round the second round while playing with The Chad and Chris on the bottom card while were were all striving to just have some fun. I don't think I was having as much fun as I should have been having, but I got really serious for some reason. And of course it was frustrating to be making mistakes that I do not normally make. Still my best round of the tourney.
Sunday brought the lack of my parents and the return to the monster layout. With nothing to loose but being in last place I went for more and pushed for more than I should have early and it cost me. It ultimately cost me finishing above last place. When everyone else was shooting better. Me and one other guy shot worse and battled for last place which I handed him in the middle of the round with bad up shots and failed putt attempts late. Oh well.
I learned here and at Grateful that playing with a bug in the system just does not work. I was finally smart enough to go to my doctor, cough in his face, and get some meds to hopefully fix that problem before getting on an airplane to go play disc golf. I also learned that I can still mentally mess myself up and being sick does not allow me to think clearly. In fact I think I revert to all the old problems that held me back for so long. In the midst of this I realized that I needed to play in The Chad's fundraiser tournament this coming weekend in order to simply get my mind right and back to having fun. I still haven't played much this week as being sick got worse after getting better. Lets just hope the meds really do work.
Rodnoc is next. I am looking forward to some fun.
The tournament itself was a very well run tournament. Kyle has been refining the way he does things over the past couple of years and is really getting things dialed in. This tournament is his baby and one I am sure that he would like to see become a national tour event or perhaps just something as well respected as Glass Blown Open. Playing four rounds and three different courses on a single piece of property took some doing. Then combine that with the fact that there were 144 people out there to play and you might imagine logistics could easily become an issue. But things ran smoothly and even the short courses were fun to play. Hats off to Kyle and all the helpers he had at this event. It really made a difference.
Friday I was literally wondering if I would even be able to stand for an entire round of disc golf, let alone a round on the monster or championship layout. There are so many holes that can simply hand you untold numbers of strokes. With my parents there to hold me up if needed I was actually able to put together a descent round for a bad round. Things actually were going fairly well until the last two holes where I took a 6 and an 8. Sure both holes were listed as par 4's but lets be honest that means that I should have had a 4 on both of them and that was not the case.
Saturday should have been two under par rounds but while still being sick I was not able to accomplish that task on the origional layout course on this property. That was sure disheartening. I did however accomplish an under par round the second round while playing with The Chad and Chris on the bottom card while were were all striving to just have some fun. I don't think I was having as much fun as I should have been having, but I got really serious for some reason. And of course it was frustrating to be making mistakes that I do not normally make. Still my best round of the tourney.
Sunday brought the lack of my parents and the return to the monster layout. With nothing to loose but being in last place I went for more and pushed for more than I should have early and it cost me. It ultimately cost me finishing above last place. When everyone else was shooting better. Me and one other guy shot worse and battled for last place which I handed him in the middle of the round with bad up shots and failed putt attempts late. Oh well.
I learned here and at Grateful that playing with a bug in the system just does not work. I was finally smart enough to go to my doctor, cough in his face, and get some meds to hopefully fix that problem before getting on an airplane to go play disc golf. I also learned that I can still mentally mess myself up and being sick does not allow me to think clearly. In fact I think I revert to all the old problems that held me back for so long. In the midst of this I realized that I needed to play in The Chad's fundraiser tournament this coming weekend in order to simply get my mind right and back to having fun. I still haven't played much this week as being sick got worse after getting better. Lets just hope the meds really do work.
Rodnoc is next. I am looking forward to some fun.
Friday, May 16, 2014
It Is Always Like That At Grateful
Well, this post has been delayed throughout the week because I am sick. Of course after playing in the 37th annual Grateful Disc tournament last weekend, there was a chance that I would be giving up on this game all together. But you know there is always hope for the next tournament. So before I write it off all together, let me write about Grateful Disc.
Bill Wright, owner of The Wright Life in Fort Collins, CO has been a major part of the disc community for a long time. The fact that this tournament has been running for 37 years has to say something about that. At the same time this tournament is notorious for bad weather. I do not use the word notorious lightly in this case. It seems that there is almost always snow in some way shape or form. Bill even moved the tournament from April to May to avoid this problem a couple years back and ever since then, he has yet to avoid the snow. This year was no different.
Saturday meant two rounds of disc golf at the glorious Sundance Trail DGC. The dude ranch near Red Feather Lakes is one of the best hosts of disc golf tournaments I have seen. Perhaps they are forced to feed us since they are in the middle of no where, but the reality is they feed us well and they take care of the course. They will often times even use a real shotgun for the shotgun start. Trust me, that makes everything better. Well, most of the time. Something happened to me after I heard the start call after the shotgun blast. It was like I reverted back to my first tournament ever. I couldn't figure out how to get the disc to go where I wanted it to go. One round of this is a maybe, but when the second round isn't any better, you begin to wonder why in the world you are playing this event. At the time I was quick to blame it on only getting one prectice round in during the week, but as I sit and write this, I am about to play another tournament with no practice what-so-ever, not even putting, and I don't want to mentally think that this was the problem. It was really the compiled problems of lots of little itty bitty mistakes and the attempts to cover them up. You'd throw a great shot and catch that one little branch that wouldn't just cause a minor change of direction, but knock your disc down all together. I literally could not stop hitting those little branches all day. At the end of the day I was in last place. I was frustrated. And know what the weather was going to be like on Sunday there was a moment I questioned even playing. But that is not like me. I am strong. I will push through adversity and make the best out of it. I will use it as a learning experience and come out better on the other side.
Sunday brought the snow. Go figure right? And one round at Aggie Greens. Aggie Greens ia a course that will be something in the years down the road, but for right now is simply a bunch of baskets places in a drainage area with tee pads to have you throw your disc from. There are some planted tress that might grow up but are measly at this point. They have added some polls and mandatories, and that helps a lot. At the end of the day it is still a drainage area and it was snowing. At the players meeting we were told not to play hole 14 because it was literally a lake already. The round can only be described as a battle. There were times when just finishing the hole felt good. There were other times when simply being able to feel the disc in your hand felt good. It was cold wet and miserable. People were dropping out of the tournament left and right. One of thsoe people, a nice young lady, decided to make her way to 17's tee pad and tell a few people that the basket was surrounded by a lake and that we were not supposed to play it. Well, my card did not and we all got penalized for it because she lied to us. Other than that one hole of penalty, I was able to card nothing worse than a 4 on any hole and actually played well enough to pass one person on my card whose hand was so cold he could barely hold on to his disc. It was a solid round considering the conditions. +10 on 18 holes of a course that one should go under par on does not sound all that good, but with the snow, it was good. Add to that the fact that four people dropped out of the Open division where I was playing and I end up getting a descent amount of points for a horrible weekend of disc golf.
Lessons learned this time really focus on not listening to attractive young women who tell you not to play certain holes. I may never know who she is, but literally I would relate the feeling back to the Bible and what Adam must have felt in the garden after he fell victim to the schemes of the enemy. Proverbs refers to the temptress and how her words sound so sweet and boy did they on a day of bad weather, but in the end makes one sick. I am sure this nice young lady was not intending to cause the situation that she did, and honestly the penalty I incured is not her fault, only mine. But I still wish she had just stayed in her car after stopping her round so that none of this would have happened. Additionally I learned that you are going to have bad days. That little things are going to get in your way and that is just the way it is going to be. You can't let it get to you like I seemed to do. I am sure there was a lot of mental mistakes and certainly there were times when I tried to hit the smaller gap when a bigger one was right there. Smart is good and stupid only gets lucky from time to time.
That being said, today is the first round of the 303 Open and I am recovering from being sick. I think I am feeling well enough to give it a go, but I fear it might be the end of me. Good thing my parents decided to come and caddy for me, it might help me survive. I am pretty sure they are the reason I played as well as I did in the snow at Grateful. Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Bill Wright, owner of The Wright Life in Fort Collins, CO has been a major part of the disc community for a long time. The fact that this tournament has been running for 37 years has to say something about that. At the same time this tournament is notorious for bad weather. I do not use the word notorious lightly in this case. It seems that there is almost always snow in some way shape or form. Bill even moved the tournament from April to May to avoid this problem a couple years back and ever since then, he has yet to avoid the snow. This year was no different.
Saturday meant two rounds of disc golf at the glorious Sundance Trail DGC. The dude ranch near Red Feather Lakes is one of the best hosts of disc golf tournaments I have seen. Perhaps they are forced to feed us since they are in the middle of no where, but the reality is they feed us well and they take care of the course. They will often times even use a real shotgun for the shotgun start. Trust me, that makes everything better. Well, most of the time. Something happened to me after I heard the start call after the shotgun blast. It was like I reverted back to my first tournament ever. I couldn't figure out how to get the disc to go where I wanted it to go. One round of this is a maybe, but when the second round isn't any better, you begin to wonder why in the world you are playing this event. At the time I was quick to blame it on only getting one prectice round in during the week, but as I sit and write this, I am about to play another tournament with no practice what-so-ever, not even putting, and I don't want to mentally think that this was the problem. It was really the compiled problems of lots of little itty bitty mistakes and the attempts to cover them up. You'd throw a great shot and catch that one little branch that wouldn't just cause a minor change of direction, but knock your disc down all together. I literally could not stop hitting those little branches all day. At the end of the day I was in last place. I was frustrated. And know what the weather was going to be like on Sunday there was a moment I questioned even playing. But that is not like me. I am strong. I will push through adversity and make the best out of it. I will use it as a learning experience and come out better on the other side.
Sunday brought the snow. Go figure right? And one round at Aggie Greens. Aggie Greens ia a course that will be something in the years down the road, but for right now is simply a bunch of baskets places in a drainage area with tee pads to have you throw your disc from. There are some planted tress that might grow up but are measly at this point. They have added some polls and mandatories, and that helps a lot. At the end of the day it is still a drainage area and it was snowing. At the players meeting we were told not to play hole 14 because it was literally a lake already. The round can only be described as a battle. There were times when just finishing the hole felt good. There were other times when simply being able to feel the disc in your hand felt good. It was cold wet and miserable. People were dropping out of the tournament left and right. One of thsoe people, a nice young lady, decided to make her way to 17's tee pad and tell a few people that the basket was surrounded by a lake and that we were not supposed to play it. Well, my card did not and we all got penalized for it because she lied to us. Other than that one hole of penalty, I was able to card nothing worse than a 4 on any hole and actually played well enough to pass one person on my card whose hand was so cold he could barely hold on to his disc. It was a solid round considering the conditions. +10 on 18 holes of a course that one should go under par on does not sound all that good, but with the snow, it was good. Add to that the fact that four people dropped out of the Open division where I was playing and I end up getting a descent amount of points for a horrible weekend of disc golf.
Lessons learned this time really focus on not listening to attractive young women who tell you not to play certain holes. I may never know who she is, but literally I would relate the feeling back to the Bible and what Adam must have felt in the garden after he fell victim to the schemes of the enemy. Proverbs refers to the temptress and how her words sound so sweet and boy did they on a day of bad weather, but in the end makes one sick. I am sure this nice young lady was not intending to cause the situation that she did, and honestly the penalty I incured is not her fault, only mine. But I still wish she had just stayed in her car after stopping her round so that none of this would have happened. Additionally I learned that you are going to have bad days. That little things are going to get in your way and that is just the way it is going to be. You can't let it get to you like I seemed to do. I am sure there was a lot of mental mistakes and certainly there were times when I tried to hit the smaller gap when a bigger one was right there. Smart is good and stupid only gets lucky from time to time.
That being said, today is the first round of the 303 Open and I am recovering from being sick. I think I am feeling well enough to give it a go, but I fear it might be the end of me. Good thing my parents decided to come and caddy for me, it might help me survive. I am pretty sure they are the reason I played as well as I did in the snow at Grateful. Happy Mother's Day Mom!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
PODS in May, A Battle of Endurance
Falling one day after the first Cinco De Mayo Meltdown, the PODS event in May became a real test of endurance. I believe everyone who played in this event in the Open field except for one person played the day before as well. Based on the results I bet that guy wishes he would have played the day before as well. The field itself was also stacked for this event and most people were smart enough not to try and play two days in a row. Honestly, when I consider the two one day tournaments on back to back days I realize that this would be simple in comparison to what one has to go through to play in the World Championships. There you play at least 6 rounds, 7 if you make the Semi Finals and then the Final 9 if you are on or near the top. Perhaps I have only taken my 6 rounds the last two years at the world Championships, but the more practice I can get like this with lots of rounds crammed in to a short period of time, the better off I will be come July when I am on my way out to Minnesota for the Amateur World Championships.
The two rounds for this tournament were supposed to be played on a new layout that will be used for an up coming A-tier tournament, but the process of putting in new pin locations prevented this from happening. Thankfully they did revert back to a layout that will be used for at least one round in the middle of the tournament on the current layout at the Badlands course near Water World. The course was set up with some good long holes and some fun short holes. So, in spite of loosing out on some practice that I would love to have on a new course, getting practice in on this particular layout was a very good thing and still very usedful for teh tournament.
So there were only 9 players in the Open field and only 20 some over all. I was extremely thankful that in my first round I had the joy of playing with two of the best players in the state of Colorado. Joe and Mitch are some really great guys and are really good at playing Disc Golf. Both of these guys I have gotten to know over my disc golf career and now that I am playing in the top division with them they have really come to recognize that there is some talent in my game. I can't wait for the day when I can consistently push these guys to be even better. The first third of this first round gave me hope that this is a possibility. In the first six holes I was four strokes under par and had hit the basket on one of the other holes with my birdie attempts. I was even or ahead of both Joe and Mitch at this point. After that I simply did not get the birdies because my putting was slightly off or that my drives simply weren't getting me close enough. Finishing 6 throws back of a player that should beat me by 10 is still an accomplishment.
Going into the second round I was near the bottom of the open field (but remember this field was stacked) and knew that I would be fighting more wind. I think I really let the wind get to me, particularly with approaches and putting. After a bogey free morning round I had 5 bogies in my second round with most of them being stupid. Okay, that was the bad news about that round. I started off the second round really hot being four down in only five holes, rather than the six it took me the first round. I also took more birdies along the way and figured out how to play a simple birdie hole that has stumped me for three PODS rounds in a row. Too many mistakes certainly cost me a little in the end, but not enough to get me down. I did not finsih last as I did in the first PODS event and I still felt strong after the end of what was my fourth round in a spn of two days. And I still shot under par.
Now, looking back at the tournament, there were lots of strokes that I could have had. But most importantly, both rounds were rated over 950 for the time being. That means that with four sanctioned rounds after starting the great disc switch, I still have yet to shoot a round that will be rated lower than 950. It really makes me think that the switch, even if for just mental reasons, is and will be a vew good thing.
As I mentioned before, the biggest thing that I learned is that I do have the ability to play with the best, even if just for short spurts. It is time I figured out how to stack short spurt upon short spurt in order to shoot that higher rated rounds. I also learned that there is never enough wind practice. Practicing without the wind is fine, but the amount of mental work that it takes to play in the wind is unlike any other condition in the game of disc golf. Wind has such a major affect on the game of disc golf that if you have the ability to play in the wind you will be a much better player and fair very well when it comes to finishing place. It is much easier to adjust to no wind than it is to adjust up to the wind. I am looking forward to my next tournament this coming weekend. Particularly because not only will some of the best talent in this state be there but also because two of the best guys from out of state will also be participating, or so the web page says.
The two rounds for this tournament were supposed to be played on a new layout that will be used for an up coming A-tier tournament, but the process of putting in new pin locations prevented this from happening. Thankfully they did revert back to a layout that will be used for at least one round in the middle of the tournament on the current layout at the Badlands course near Water World. The course was set up with some good long holes and some fun short holes. So, in spite of loosing out on some practice that I would love to have on a new course, getting practice in on this particular layout was a very good thing and still very usedful for teh tournament.
So there were only 9 players in the Open field and only 20 some over all. I was extremely thankful that in my first round I had the joy of playing with two of the best players in the state of Colorado. Joe and Mitch are some really great guys and are really good at playing Disc Golf. Both of these guys I have gotten to know over my disc golf career and now that I am playing in the top division with them they have really come to recognize that there is some talent in my game. I can't wait for the day when I can consistently push these guys to be even better. The first third of this first round gave me hope that this is a possibility. In the first six holes I was four strokes under par and had hit the basket on one of the other holes with my birdie attempts. I was even or ahead of both Joe and Mitch at this point. After that I simply did not get the birdies because my putting was slightly off or that my drives simply weren't getting me close enough. Finishing 6 throws back of a player that should beat me by 10 is still an accomplishment.
Going into the second round I was near the bottom of the open field (but remember this field was stacked) and knew that I would be fighting more wind. I think I really let the wind get to me, particularly with approaches and putting. After a bogey free morning round I had 5 bogies in my second round with most of them being stupid. Okay, that was the bad news about that round. I started off the second round really hot being four down in only five holes, rather than the six it took me the first round. I also took more birdies along the way and figured out how to play a simple birdie hole that has stumped me for three PODS rounds in a row. Too many mistakes certainly cost me a little in the end, but not enough to get me down. I did not finsih last as I did in the first PODS event and I still felt strong after the end of what was my fourth round in a spn of two days. And I still shot under par.
Now, looking back at the tournament, there were lots of strokes that I could have had. But most importantly, both rounds were rated over 950 for the time being. That means that with four sanctioned rounds after starting the great disc switch, I still have yet to shoot a round that will be rated lower than 950. It really makes me think that the switch, even if for just mental reasons, is and will be a vew good thing.
As I mentioned before, the biggest thing that I learned is that I do have the ability to play with the best, even if just for short spurts. It is time I figured out how to stack short spurt upon short spurt in order to shoot that higher rated rounds. I also learned that there is never enough wind practice. Practicing without the wind is fine, but the amount of mental work that it takes to play in the wind is unlike any other condition in the game of disc golf. Wind has such a major affect on the game of disc golf that if you have the ability to play in the wind you will be a much better player and fair very well when it comes to finishing place. It is much easier to adjust to no wind than it is to adjust up to the wind. I am looking forward to my next tournament this coming weekend. Particularly because not only will some of the best talent in this state be there but also because two of the best guys from out of state will also be participating, or so the web page says.
Discs, Lightrail and Cinco De Mayo (Well, Almost)
Eventually, after deciding to look at switching the discs in my bag there had to come a point in time when I would play my first sanctioned tournament. There had to be a point where I would find out if the rating would survive, implode or thrive with new discs and the process of learning them. It just so happened that the inaugural Cinco De Mayo Meltdown would be that tournament. In its first year this tournament was held at Paco Sanchez DGC, aka Lakewood Dry Gulch Park DGC. This is a course that I have only played a few times as it is not in the best part of town and was laid out right over the top of many well used walkways. While this feature of the design is really poor the challenge of the course is quite high. Additionally the TD, in his first time being a TD, allowed for a course layout that would provide even more challenge. Combining some holes, using some temp tee pads and generally making the course difficult.
For some reason, this was one of the most physically demanding tournaments that I have ever played. Or at least it felt that was at the time. One person used their GPS and estimated that we walked about 14 miles to play just two rounds at this course. The course plays through a gulch with some steep hills as well making the walk entail more elevation change than some other courses. There was lots of waiting going on as well as there are some holes that could just not avoid a backup and there were some holes where you really had to take advantage of every second there wasn't a pedestrian in the way. Certain aspects of this can simply not be avoided and with all that trouble I have to give big props to Justin, the TD, for running what turned out to be a very fun tournament.
In the first round, I started out more nervous that I have ever been for a tournament in a long time. It led to a couple of bad shots early that ended up costing me strokes. Once the frustration of that set in I was able to calm myself down and make some good shots. I found myself a little off on distances at times, partially because I was learning my new discs still and partially because I was learning the course and how the elevation actually affected the supposed distances. With temp tees there was also that aspect of not really being sure of what the distances were. The round felt solid and ultimately I was rewarded with being right in the middle of the pack after the first round.
The second round provided fewer birdie opportunities and an additional par 4 with another combined hole. There was also the addition of another old hole from a previous layout that honestly was not a very interesting hole. The group I played with for this round was filled with people that I have played with before but also say some interesting personality conflicts as well. There were moments of tension and moments of laughter. It was really weird. I had my bad hole on the same par 4 that provided a bad hole for me the first round, only it got worse in the second round. When at the end of the second round I was only two throws worse than the first round I felt pretty good but still think I should have been at least one throw better.
One throw better. That is an interesting phrase as the end result of the tournament. However, it would have provided a very interesting milestone for this disc golf season as much like the previous weekend, one throw made the difference for me. Last weekend, one throw meant the cut a Deer Mountain. One throw here meant missing out on cash (which I would have turned down anyways to maintain my amateur status). Still, this is an accomplishment and continues to show me that a disc change at this point might be a very good thing.
I learned that I have the ability to play well. I learned that I have a lot of room to grow as far as making good decisions consistently on the course is concerned. I learned that I do have the mental capacity to over come even the really bad holes and the stupid bounces that have the tendency to destroy other players. Watching one guy literally blow up during the second round was interesting. Knowing that I could have been there with how I played on a couple of holes makes me feel even better about how I did play. Moving forward I am looking to switch out more discs from my bag and continue to work to maintain my upward movement. Initial round ratings for this tournament are both over 950 and I couldn't be happier to be back at least at that level. It is only a matter of time before I am throwing more 1000 rated rounds like last year.
For some reason, this was one of the most physically demanding tournaments that I have ever played. Or at least it felt that was at the time. One person used their GPS and estimated that we walked about 14 miles to play just two rounds at this course. The course plays through a gulch with some steep hills as well making the walk entail more elevation change than some other courses. There was lots of waiting going on as well as there are some holes that could just not avoid a backup and there were some holes where you really had to take advantage of every second there wasn't a pedestrian in the way. Certain aspects of this can simply not be avoided and with all that trouble I have to give big props to Justin, the TD, for running what turned out to be a very fun tournament.
In the first round, I started out more nervous that I have ever been for a tournament in a long time. It led to a couple of bad shots early that ended up costing me strokes. Once the frustration of that set in I was able to calm myself down and make some good shots. I found myself a little off on distances at times, partially because I was learning my new discs still and partially because I was learning the course and how the elevation actually affected the supposed distances. With temp tees there was also that aspect of not really being sure of what the distances were. The round felt solid and ultimately I was rewarded with being right in the middle of the pack after the first round.
The second round provided fewer birdie opportunities and an additional par 4 with another combined hole. There was also the addition of another old hole from a previous layout that honestly was not a very interesting hole. The group I played with for this round was filled with people that I have played with before but also say some interesting personality conflicts as well. There were moments of tension and moments of laughter. It was really weird. I had my bad hole on the same par 4 that provided a bad hole for me the first round, only it got worse in the second round. When at the end of the second round I was only two throws worse than the first round I felt pretty good but still think I should have been at least one throw better.
One throw better. That is an interesting phrase as the end result of the tournament. However, it would have provided a very interesting milestone for this disc golf season as much like the previous weekend, one throw made the difference for me. Last weekend, one throw meant the cut a Deer Mountain. One throw here meant missing out on cash (which I would have turned down anyways to maintain my amateur status). Still, this is an accomplishment and continues to show me that a disc change at this point might be a very good thing.
I learned that I have the ability to play well. I learned that I have a lot of room to grow as far as making good decisions consistently on the course is concerned. I learned that I do have the mental capacity to over come even the really bad holes and the stupid bounces that have the tendency to destroy other players. Watching one guy literally blow up during the second round was interesting. Knowing that I could have been there with how I played on a couple of holes makes me feel even better about how I did play. Moving forward I am looking to switch out more discs from my bag and continue to work to maintain my upward movement. Initial round ratings for this tournament are both over 950 and I couldn't be happier to be back at least at that level. It is only a matter of time before I am throwing more 1000 rated rounds like last year.
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