It is always nice when you have a one day tournmanet in Colorado with Ams and Pros separated. With the popularity of disc golf in Colorado showing significant growth, it has made for for the possibility of some great events with lots and lots of people. This year brought a substitute TD and a moment of silence for a former TD.
I have to mention Joe Haman who was the former TD of this event back right after I moved to Colorado. He was a great guy and we lost him last year in a tragic accident. He is missed by his real family and his disc golf family.
After a glitch in registration, Kyle H., this years TD, ended up with twice as many Ams as one course could hold and as such he ended up making two 18 hole courses on a property he would use the next day to make 22 hoels for the pros.
I volunteered on the Am day and helped with registration and directing traffic on teh course with a layout that was far from normal. There were lots of smiles and a great time had by all. My mom played in an age protected division for the first time and had a blast playing with the ladies in that division. My dad was sad that he did not make the tournment, having to be a a meeting in the morning. He thought both courses would have been enjoyable for him to play. Hats off to a good friend, Eric McGill who managed to win the Am day as well. Good shooting and I look forward to playing against you in the Open division now.
At last years event, you may remember some words I said about the weather for the Am day being crazy beautiful and the weather for the pro day being downright miserable. It was not far from that this year but nowhere near as bad as last year. This year it was perfect weather and perfect weather with wind.
The first round reminded me of what it means to play in the wind. I made a lot of mistakes to blame on the wind and to blame on myself. But I also knew that it would be a struggle for everyone. I had some great shots and some really poor shots. Making a par was the name of the round. I played with Big Mack and The Chad as well as a couple of other solid guys. It was a very enjoyable round despite the mistakes that I was making. The mistakes pretty much took me out of any hope I had of cashing, but the value of learning to play in the wind again will serve me well with other events coming up where wind is likely.
After a lunch with Big Mack and Mitch Sonderfan, the second round brought a renewed sense of enjoying the game. I played a much smarter game and had a much better idea of what my discs might do in the wind. Despite the course being even longer and the wind more inconsistent, I still managed to shoot eight strokes better the second round. How desperately bad did I want to make that last jump putt on the last hole, but alas it was not meant to be. And after taking myself out of contention, my solid second round put my only four throws out of the cash.
More practice is needed and the weather is not cooperating, but things are looking up.
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