Lets be honest, I was so focused at my last three tournaments that I only got on my computer once during my trip. That made doing blog posts about each of them individually rather difficult to do, but at least I was able to pay my bills while I went on my first little mini disc golf tour. Yes, I have traveled for tournaments before and yes I have aought to play in specific events before to prepare myself for other, bigger tournaments before. But this is the first time I have taken a trip and played in three different tournaments before returning home. It was a great experience and has really made me want to get out and play more tournaments. Now I jsut ahve to find someone to pay me to do what I want to do or something that will allow me to do what I want to do. So, if anyone knows of a good job for someone like me who simply wants to play as much disc golf as I can, please let me know.
So I got off work Thursday and got picked up by my parents and a firend. The friend drove my parents and I directly to the airport and we hopped on a flight to Detroit that got in at midnight or there after. We picked up our rental car and drove to the hotel, checked in and then had to switch rooms as the first room had a general AC unit on top of it that sounded like it was ready to explode. Finally got to bed sometime after 1 am. Woke up, and had to be ready for my tee time shortly after 11 am. It would have been much early if they did tee times by rating, but thankfully the great people running this years Discraft Great Lakes Open had the good sense to not make that happen to me. I'll be honest, I do not reccomend being short on sleep going into a big tournament and then playing your first round with a former Am National Champion and a former Am National Runner Up on the same course they made those things happen on. Still I managed to hold my own. The rest of the tournament only got worse but I had a blast playing and learning the Kensington Tobaggan course in an attempt to be ready for the following weekend and the Am National Championships. I was able to enjoy playing with great players and even had the chance to watch my friend JohnE McCray make a run inthe final round. His round in the final round was far and away the best round I have ever watched in person.
Inbetween The Great Lakes Open and Am Nats, I spent a good week hanging out with a cousin and her family. It has been about 10 years since I had good time hanging out with her kids and since the oldest two are 11 and 10, it was a much different experience. I also got to see and Aunt and Uncle who I have not seen in person for 20 years. It really is amazing to be able to spend time with family and be able to laugh and share life. My other Aunt and Uncle drove up to watch and spend time with us during Am Nats and two of my three other cousins drove down from further north in Michigan to watch as well. It was literally a family reunion and one that you actually want to be at.
In the middle of the week three other guys from Colorado made there way out to play in Am Nats as well and I was able to get a practice round in with them. It was there first round on the course after just getting in and with weather conditions that were less than ideal. Still I was able to beat them. This is important to remember for later. I had high hopes for Am Nats, but when the tournament started I somehow got behind early. For most of all three rounds I was fighting for my life just in order to be near even par. +1 the first round, +2 the second round and +3 the third round. Ouch. It is really tough to play from behind like that. Making early mistakes really puts one in a tough place as you are forced to push and walking that fine line of pushing and pushing too much ends up being the difference between an average round and a really bad round. Even in the midst of the fight, I felt like I fought well. As such, it was more fun to follow my friends who were shooting much better than myself. Ultimately, one of those guys I beat in a practice round earlier in the week won Am Nats. I have to give props to Colten for playing well and playing consistently all weekend long. He played smart and he put himself in positions to make good shots. When toruble came, he didn't push but did what needed to get done.
After a few more days with family it was off to Minnesota to play in the Minnesota Majestic. We stayed at what will be the host hotel for Am Worlds this year, and lets be honest, that was a very bad experience. So much so that we spent some time finding another hotel to stay at for Am Worlds. I got a day of practice in on the curses I will play at Am Worlds but was not going to paly in the Majestic. It became very apparent at both of these courses why they were not being used for the Majestic and I question why they are being used for Worlds. I also got a chance to visit Gotta Go Gott Throw, one of the better disc golf shops in the country. Even was given a tour by Char who is basically the co-owner of the shop I believe. They have a very impressive set up. They were also one of the main sponsors of the Majestic.
As for the Majestic itself, it really isn't about how poorly I played but about the stories I can take from the tournament. For instance, at Blue Ribbon Pines the first round I played with Cale Leiviska, Gerret Gurthie and Mitch. It is not everyday you get to play with two top players and one of the best local pros. My mom also became famous that round. When she was spotting she would always make whoop sounds depending on how good the shot was. At one point Cale joked that he was going to have my mom train his mom on how to do that so he could bring her to tournaments and have that same kind of treatment. Mom even gave everyone mom hugs at the end of the round and they were all okay with that. Also, lets just say, for the first three holes or so I felt like I could hang with the best in the world. Through three hoels I was leading the card with two birdies and one bogey on some very tough holes. Oakwood and The Valley were fun courses to play, even with wind and rain. At The Valley in the afternoon I was having a horrible round. It was really bad. But on one of the holes I sank a pretty good par putt and got a cheer from JohnE McCray who was on another hole close by at the time. The fact that he would look over and watch me for a bit was really special to me. I just hope I can find time to play a practice round or two with JohnE at some point and have him help me with my game. In the last round at Kaposia I was spent. But I pulled off some amazing shots including a birdie two on hole 15, which I honestly have no idea how it happened. Everyone else on my card took a 4 our worse. Perhaps I finished last of the people who actually finished the tournament, but I had a blast with all my great experiences.
So, the what I learned section could be very long for this one. First of all, be well rested for tournaments. Sleep seems to be more important to my body than I could ever have imagined. Second, don't beat yourself up if you get behind early in a round, it just isn't worth it. Play smart and when you get ahead, be even smarter. Third, enjoying the experience is more important than how well you shoot. Fourth, having a fan makes you smile. I know my parents are awesome and may be even more famous than I am at this point, but may did it feel good to have some of the best players cheering for me.
I am making some changes to my game, which I will write about in a future post. And I am trying to practice as much as I can. I feel like I am ready for Am Worlds, and I want to make that experience something special to remember. Next up is PODS in July.
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