Well, it is still literally the day of the tournament. Not a normal timeframe for me to post my thoughts on a tournament but I think it is well worth it. Today was the Pro Day of the 2013 Mile High Classic. For the past three or so years the Mile High Classic has been run by a group of guys that I consider to be my close Disc Golf friends. They are really a fun group of guys and they work hard to run an event that none of them play in. Three guys all working together to run an event with the support of a club and several volunteers makes for a great time. I did spend some time yesterday volunteering for the am day of the event as I am not officially moved up for B and C tier events.
Even though this years Spring Fling was supposed to be the last disc golf tournament at the famed Johnny Roberts Memorial Course in its current layout, the city of Arvada has taken their sweet time in the reconstruction of their park and as such, the course was still available to us. Sorry Marsha, your event is no longer considered the last in the current configuration.
Something I do not normally do at tournaments is play the doubles event the night before the tournament. I used to as it was a great way to get more practice in, but I have decided that playing the day before a tournament is not a good idea. I have improved significantly since determining not to play the day before, so it seems to make sense. This tournament, since I was not playing the am day the next day, allowed me to play the doubles event. This was a lot of fun minus the storm that blew through during the round. I got paired with Eagle, who is only 16, but has been cashing in Open for some time. We played super well together and ended up shooting 14 down. Now another group shot 15 down but they failed to play a mando. We agreed to split the cash and call it good.
I think this was the first time that I did not feel overly nervous headed into a pro event. Spring Fling last year I was super nervous and messed up the first few holes. Spring fling this year started out with a less than stellar round. And this years 303 Open fell victim to the same reality in the first two rounds. This time around, having made the declaration of moving up on a consistent basis, I stepped up with little or no nerves. That doesn't mean that I didn't wake up this morning feeling sick. And that doesn't mean that I do not feel super sick right now. I blame that mostly on amount of sun I have taken in over the past two days. But, I still stepped up and had a very solid first round shooting 4 down. The second round was of course the more difficult layout and I ended up shooting 2 over. I would have liked to have been a few strokes better and I certainly left some silly ones out there today. I had a couple of unfortunate out of bounds discs and missed a few short putts each round. I know it could have been much better. I ended up finishing in the top half of the open division and only one throw out of cash. Of course I am still not taking cash as I am looking to play Am Nats and Am Worlds next year.
One of the things my dad pointed out to me at dinner afterwards was that I was a lot stronger mentally today than I had been in the past. I took one double bogey the first round as my only blemish in that round. Without pushing, I was able to get those two strokes back in the next two holes. I didn't let it get to me and I didn't think about it too much. I didn't think about the horrible bounce I got on my tee shot and the bad up shot I had from there. I just went out, played my game and got a couple of birdies. I am still not satisfied with where I am at mentally and will keep working to be stronger in this. I feel that some of the bad shots I had today were a result of lack of focus. I am learning and I am also very aware of the reality that playing in Open will help improve this much more than playing in advanced.
I am inching closer to earning an invite to pro worlds next year though I fear that it will be too little too late. I will need one more pro event than I currently have on the calendar and I am not sure that it will be possible. Time and money are hindering the goal at this point. Blah.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Oh Wyoming!
Well, this past weekend I made my way up to Cheyenne, WY to play in the WYOpen. The sumary is simple, best round ever, nearly struck by lightening, smart playing, win! Ha! I just spoiled the rest of this post but I don't really care.
So the first two rounds of this tournament were played at Dry Creek Parkway. This course is rather simple and straight forward and even with added out of bounds, one should still expect to shoot well under par. And I did exactly that the first round. I can't really explain what happened but ultimately I simply could not miss. I would throw my drive, and most of the time I was getting pretty close. And no matter how close I actually was my Summit just decided to go into the basket. It was a weird feeling, but man it felt good. I only had a couple of bogeys in the round and one of them came after bouncing my second shot off the basket and then watching the disc roll away. It was my first round that will be rated over 1000, not sure I was expecting that to happen. It also ended up beating the top three rated pros at the tournament as well. I am not sure I expected that but even those guys were giving me a hard time and saying I should move up.
The second round was no where near as good, but also served as the grounds to learn a good lesson. On hole eight I threw my approach shot to hole nine without realizing it. Ended up costing me a stroke and ultimately because another player shot a hot round during the second round I ended up tied after the second round for the lead. My putts also got to the point of being too nervous so I started missing short. This is a good reminder of just how important confidence is when you are putting. Ultimately this was still a round that I decided to play as smart as I could and still felt alright about the round. Oh, and I almost got struck by lightening right before the round started.
The third round on Sunday was held on a temp course at Little America's executive ball golf course in Cheyenne. I had never played this course before. Being tied with a local player who I think had played before was a tad bit intimidating. Ultimately I stuck to my plan of playing smart and easily won the tournament by three strokes after giving up three strokes in the last four holes. This course was simpyl amazing and so much fun to play. It is really sad that it is only a temporary course. I certainly hope that they are able to use this course again in the future. It was super fun.
Well, I got my win in Advanced and now I am going to start playing pro events, though a little different than I had intended to at the begining of the year. I am going to play all B and C tier events in open for the remainder of the year. That leaves just three events in oder to earn enough points to qualify for pro worlds next year. I am not quite sure that I will get to accomplishing this goal or not, but I am quite happy with having at least a little bit of time to accomplish this. I am still going to play Colorado States in advanced as I am hoping to qualify for Am Nats next year. I will be turning down cash to maintain my ameteur status. I think I really just need to keep playing smart and keep my confidence up in putting.
So the first two rounds of this tournament were played at Dry Creek Parkway. This course is rather simple and straight forward and even with added out of bounds, one should still expect to shoot well under par. And I did exactly that the first round. I can't really explain what happened but ultimately I simply could not miss. I would throw my drive, and most of the time I was getting pretty close. And no matter how close I actually was my Summit just decided to go into the basket. It was a weird feeling, but man it felt good. I only had a couple of bogeys in the round and one of them came after bouncing my second shot off the basket and then watching the disc roll away. It was my first round that will be rated over 1000, not sure I was expecting that to happen. It also ended up beating the top three rated pros at the tournament as well. I am not sure I expected that but even those guys were giving me a hard time and saying I should move up.
The second round was no where near as good, but also served as the grounds to learn a good lesson. On hole eight I threw my approach shot to hole nine without realizing it. Ended up costing me a stroke and ultimately because another player shot a hot round during the second round I ended up tied after the second round for the lead. My putts also got to the point of being too nervous so I started missing short. This is a good reminder of just how important confidence is when you are putting. Ultimately this was still a round that I decided to play as smart as I could and still felt alright about the round. Oh, and I almost got struck by lightening right before the round started.
The third round on Sunday was held on a temp course at Little America's executive ball golf course in Cheyenne. I had never played this course before. Being tied with a local player who I think had played before was a tad bit intimidating. Ultimately I stuck to my plan of playing smart and easily won the tournament by three strokes after giving up three strokes in the last four holes. This course was simpyl amazing and so much fun to play. It is really sad that it is only a temporary course. I certainly hope that they are able to use this course again in the future. It was super fun.
Well, I got my win in Advanced and now I am going to start playing pro events, though a little different than I had intended to at the begining of the year. I am going to play all B and C tier events in open for the remainder of the year. That leaves just three events in oder to earn enough points to qualify for pro worlds next year. I am not quite sure that I will get to accomplishing this goal or not, but I am quite happy with having at least a little bit of time to accomplish this. I am still going to play Colorado States in advanced as I am hoping to qualify for Am Nats next year. I will be turning down cash to maintain my ameteur status. I think I really just need to keep playing smart and keep my confidence up in putting.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Back To Snow Mountain
You know those C-tier tournaments that you go back to year after year, not because they are your only option but because you just have so much fun? Well, The Snow Mountain Challenge took place this past weekend in Tabernash and Winter Park, CO and this has quickly become one of thsoe tournaments that I never want to miss. Not only that, my parents who are rec level players at best, have come to feel the same way about this tournament. This was the 10th year of the tournament and at least the fourth time I have played the tournament. I only wish I had been playing sooner and been able to play in all ten occurances of this great event.
This year was no different. What a great event where people, for the most part, were more concerned about having fun. Sure we all wanted to play well, but in the end, you are still playing disc golf. In the midst of a season where the local crowd seems more apt to complain than to enjoy the experience, this was a breath of fresh air. Let's be honest, the tee pads are natural and not perfect, the baskets are not the best quality and you just aren't going to get all the bounces. But the bottom line is that in the midst of all that one could complain about, there were more people who just seemed to be having fun and reminding me of what disc golf is all about.
The first round was at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA. This course seems to change every year and for some reason always presents a challenge for me. This round was just tough for me and not because of the course itself, but mostly because I seemed to really not be throwing well and only managed to get one birdie the entire round. Ultimately that meant I shot over par, on a course I was able to shoot under par as an intermediate player. There were plenty of missed putts and bad drives to be had. When I threw the disc high enough it went left or right. Other times I simply was throwing the disc too low and throwing the disc short and into the ground. It is like the problem I have been having and the one thing that reminds me I am still not as good as I want to be. Somehow I still managed to only be 2 over par. Unfortunately the leader in advanced shot seven down.
The second two rounds took place at Winter Park Resort. A ski area in the winter and primarily a mountain biking hill in the winter, this resort has an incredible disc golf course designed be the TD of this event amongst other. It is loaded with technical shots as well as some long open holes. This course is generally considered to be tougher, where shooting even par is a good score. My best round before this year was a five over par. Well, after the second round and shooting 3 under I jumped from the third card to the top card. And in the final round I was able to shoot 1 under. Both of these rounds were the best or second best rounds in the advanced division. My 3 down was only three off the course record. The bottom line is this, I was the only player outside of the open division that was able to shoot two rounds under par at Winter Park Resort DGC this year. With the big hole, this feat only managed to bring me back to 4th place and 4 throws behind the leaders. Yes, there was a playoff. Kinda makes me wish I had done better at Snow Mountain.
Lessons learned. You can shoot really good rounds and you cannot take yourself out of it mentally. Playing smart is way better than pushing. See, because I was so far out of it, even in the final round playing on the lead card, I was more focused on having fun and playing smart. After being so frustrated after the first round it would have been tough to get my mind mentally back into the game, but simply having fun and playing smart brought me most of the way back. Also, you are going to miss lines. Your lie will not always be perfect. Moving on is better than dwelling on the mistake. Making putts helps a lot and making good upshots will save your rounds more than making birdies. Lets see how well I can do this in Wyoming next weekend.
This year was no different. What a great event where people, for the most part, were more concerned about having fun. Sure we all wanted to play well, but in the end, you are still playing disc golf. In the midst of a season where the local crowd seems more apt to complain than to enjoy the experience, this was a breath of fresh air. Let's be honest, the tee pads are natural and not perfect, the baskets are not the best quality and you just aren't going to get all the bounces. But the bottom line is that in the midst of all that one could complain about, there were more people who just seemed to be having fun and reminding me of what disc golf is all about.
The first round was at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA. This course seems to change every year and for some reason always presents a challenge for me. This round was just tough for me and not because of the course itself, but mostly because I seemed to really not be throwing well and only managed to get one birdie the entire round. Ultimately that meant I shot over par, on a course I was able to shoot under par as an intermediate player. There were plenty of missed putts and bad drives to be had. When I threw the disc high enough it went left or right. Other times I simply was throwing the disc too low and throwing the disc short and into the ground. It is like the problem I have been having and the one thing that reminds me I am still not as good as I want to be. Somehow I still managed to only be 2 over par. Unfortunately the leader in advanced shot seven down.
The second two rounds took place at Winter Park Resort. A ski area in the winter and primarily a mountain biking hill in the winter, this resort has an incredible disc golf course designed be the TD of this event amongst other. It is loaded with technical shots as well as some long open holes. This course is generally considered to be tougher, where shooting even par is a good score. My best round before this year was a five over par. Well, after the second round and shooting 3 under I jumped from the third card to the top card. And in the final round I was able to shoot 1 under. Both of these rounds were the best or second best rounds in the advanced division. My 3 down was only three off the course record. The bottom line is this, I was the only player outside of the open division that was able to shoot two rounds under par at Winter Park Resort DGC this year. With the big hole, this feat only managed to bring me back to 4th place and 4 throws behind the leaders. Yes, there was a playoff. Kinda makes me wish I had done better at Snow Mountain.
Lessons learned. You can shoot really good rounds and you cannot take yourself out of it mentally. Playing smart is way better than pushing. See, because I was so far out of it, even in the final round playing on the lead card, I was more focused on having fun and playing smart. After being so frustrated after the first round it would have been tough to get my mind mentally back into the game, but simply having fun and playing smart brought me most of the way back. Also, you are going to miss lines. Your lie will not always be perfect. Moving on is better than dwelling on the mistake. Making putts helps a lot and making good upshots will save your rounds more than making birdies. Lets see how well I can do this in Wyoming next weekend.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Red Feather Lakes
It sure didn't take me long to play another tournament after Am Worlds. This past weekend was the Red Feather Open at the two courses up near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. These two courses are rough and tumble to match the Dude Ranch feel that both of these courses are at. So perhaps Beaver Meadows is more of a Dude Resort rather than a Dude Ranch but you get the picture. Basically this means rough natural tee pads that are lumpy and inconsistent. This was a problem for me back at The High Plains Challenge this year if you remember so that naturally puts the fear into playing this tournament. Even so, my expectations comming into this tournament were very high.
Sadly the story for this tournament basically fits in with my experience at worlds. You start playing really well and then expect things to be even better and ultimately you end up falling short of what you really think you can do. I am learning that this is a natural thing for most disc golfers. Let's be honest, what disc golfer have you talked to about their round that hasn't been able to find about 4 throws that they could have saved. I mean perhaps Paul McBeth in has last round in the Memorial this year, or even Joe Roevere at this very tournament, but other than that.
I had a fair round the first round and then despite my best efforts was 4 throws worse the second round. Ultimately that put me 9 throws behind the leaders after two rounds in advanced. It would have been much further behind Joe who ended up winning Open by 22 throws so, go figure. The tough side of this was that despite how well I felt I played the first round, I honestly felt like I was just off by about 5 degrees on most of my throws the second round. Both of these rounds were at Beaver Meadows so you can imagine the same shots from the first round and then just throw discs like you just learned how to play. It is a tough reality that no matter how hard one fights just becomes frustrating.
The good news is that I was able to regather myself, and despite appearing to be totally out of it, I shot the second best score in Advanced in the final round on Sunday at Sundance Trail. That of course allowed me to climb the ladder again and finish in the cash yet again in an Advanced tournament in the State of Colorado.
Well, Joe was clearly tearing up in Open, it really got me thinking as to what the difference really is. Looking at my mental capabilities, I have to think that the real difference is all about the brain. It is about making good decisions and having the mental confidence in what can be done. I am sure there is a way to test and practice improving a strong mental game, but to a certain extent this has to be something that some people just have and others just don't. So, how strong am I mentally? That is the question, only time can give me the answer.
Sadly the story for this tournament basically fits in with my experience at worlds. You start playing really well and then expect things to be even better and ultimately you end up falling short of what you really think you can do. I am learning that this is a natural thing for most disc golfers. Let's be honest, what disc golfer have you talked to about their round that hasn't been able to find about 4 throws that they could have saved. I mean perhaps Paul McBeth in has last round in the Memorial this year, or even Joe Roevere at this very tournament, but other than that.
I had a fair round the first round and then despite my best efforts was 4 throws worse the second round. Ultimately that put me 9 throws behind the leaders after two rounds in advanced. It would have been much further behind Joe who ended up winning Open by 22 throws so, go figure. The tough side of this was that despite how well I felt I played the first round, I honestly felt like I was just off by about 5 degrees on most of my throws the second round. Both of these rounds were at Beaver Meadows so you can imagine the same shots from the first round and then just throw discs like you just learned how to play. It is a tough reality that no matter how hard one fights just becomes frustrating.
The good news is that I was able to regather myself, and despite appearing to be totally out of it, I shot the second best score in Advanced in the final round on Sunday at Sundance Trail. That of course allowed me to climb the ladder again and finish in the cash yet again in an Advanced tournament in the State of Colorado.
Well, Joe was clearly tearing up in Open, it really got me thinking as to what the difference really is. Looking at my mental capabilities, I have to think that the real difference is all about the brain. It is about making good decisions and having the mental confidence in what can be done. I am sure there is a way to test and practice improving a strong mental game, but to a certain extent this has to be something that some people just have and others just don't. So, how strong am I mentally? That is the question, only time can give me the answer.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Bring On The World!
For the most part my disc golf career to this point has consisted of playing as many local events as possible. I started to do some traveling a few years back, but that primarily started as a way to continue to hang out with the local crowd as they traveled to other places. Last year I went to play in Am Worlds in Charlotte, NC and that really opened up my eyes to a whole new experience. So, after easily qualifying to play in Am Worlds again this year, making the decision to go to Emporia, Kansas to play in this years Am Worlds was almost a no brainer. I was one of the first to register if not the first.
This blog post could probably go on and on about this years experience. There was something so different this year and so amazing. Hats off to Dynamic Discs and the PDGA for putting on one incredible event.
One of the more unexpected joys I had at this event was attending some clinics put on by some of the best pros around. Jay and Des Reading are perhaps the best teacher of the game I have ever met and was so blessed to be able to go to two different clinics they put on during Am Worlds. It really reminded me of what I really want to be doing in this world, besides playing disc golf. That is of course teaching kids to play disc golf. It was also a great experience for my parents who I have been teaching. At the putting clinic, prior to the start of anything big happening at Worlds, my mom somehow made three putts in a row to win a ring of fire. So in reality, my mom can say she won at worlds, which is much better than anything I can say. I was also briefly able to talk to Jay about teaching kids and what it might look like and I look forward to communicating with him in the future. I sure hope that with what he and Des are doing, I might be able to join them in the mission of teaching more kids to play this great game.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not take time to mention how awesome the town of Emporia, KS is. Honestly, it was kind of like being a celebrity for the week. Signs were all over town welcoming the disc golfers to town. In just about every place we ate we talked with locals who were curious about disc golf and were actually aware of the events going on. The hospitality was just incredible. It honestly felt like the entire town was glad that we were there and they seemed like they would genuinely desire to have us back. It really makes the decision easy to travel there for other events that go on in Emporia and it makes me wish for the day when Emporia will host the World Championships again.
This event was also unique in that it is the first Am Worlds to move towards being a true amateur event where there would be no payout, and only trophies given to the top finishers in each division. Now this did mean that everyone participating would receive an incredible players pack which ended up consisting of a brand new backpack style bag from Dynamic Discs, a dry fit polo shirt and discs from eight different manufacturers including prototypes and newly released discs. In addition to this every round of the tournament had a sponsor that would give a disc to the person that won their card. The event felt like it was supported by just about every organization involved in the sport of disc golf.
Speaking of support, I had a grand time reading local forums from home and feeling like the whole community was behind us. Thank you Mile High Disc Golf!
I feel like I have mentioned about half the things that I wanted to say so far. I am really sorry that this blog post is going to be so long. As I think about it though, an event where my experience was as good as it was deserves this much attention.
Prior to the start of the tournament I took a lot of time to practice all of the courses that I would be playing for the tournament. I set goals of what I wanted to shoot at each course and had my caddy daddy take notes on how I should best attack each hole. This preparation was long and tiresome. But it was good to go into such a big tournament with a plan of action. This is an aspect of preparation that I once thought could not be overdone. Perhaps it can be to a certain extent when it wear you out. I am not sure if it was merely the practice rounds but I cannot remember being more exhausted after a tournament than I was after this Am Worlds.
Of course the field events were mixed right in there with all the practice. After finishing dead last last year in the distance competition, I decided not to compete in that but to instead compete in both the Skill Shot competition and the Putting competition. The Skill Shot competition was more fun than I expected it to be. Throwing so many different kids of shots and then measuring how far away you were from the basket or target to earn points was a great reminder of how a good short game, even outside of putting, is really important for this game. I ended up earning points in all but one throw and finished in 5th place in the Advanced Men's category. In the putting competition I was really just hoping to do better than I had in Charlotte. I did well in Charlotte earning 8 points and finishing in a tie for last cash. Well, this year I started out strong and earned a total of 13 points to finish tied for 11th and well ahead of last cash. All told at the field events I earned back $49 after cashing in both of the events I participated in.
The tournament itself was an absolute blast. I was put in the A pool even though I probably did not belong there. I had an early morning tee time at the Municipal Golf Course DGC for round one. This was also a huge blessing as it meant only having one round the first day, which also happened to be one of the hottest days of the tournament. After shooting a 76 at this course during the Glass Blown Open and a 66 in my practice round, I was really just hoping to be in the 60's. Well, something came over me and for some reason the discs were leaving my hand and doing good things that I cannot remember seeing before. I ended up shooting a 61 which not only won my card, it also put me in the top 20 players in the A pool, where I certainly did not belong. I was so happy to win this round in particular because it was the round sponsored by Vibram. Vibram, in my opinion, makes the best discs and goes through the best process prior to releasing new discs, well above and beyonf any other manufacturer out there. The group of guys I played with was good too, and I will probably say that about every group. I am saying it about every group, right here right now. Will, Tim, Teegen, James, Ben, Calvin, Greg, Armando, Matt, Paul, Kirk, James, Chris, Jack, Zach, Vince, Josh, and Dominic, it was a pleasure to play with you all. I am pretty sure I got all the names right.
I also met my goals in four other rounds, but some of those goals got adjusted after playing so well at Municipal. When I came back to Municipal I shot another great round for me, even better than my first round. If you just look at those two rounds I probably look like I should have finished much higher than I did. Municipal was also the toughest course for me at Glass Blown Open, so you have to figure that the improvement at the other courses will be there as well. It was just not the case. I shot even at Jones West and over par at Jones East, Country Club and Peter Pan. If only the entire tournament had been played at Municipal.
I also had a great experience on the final day of the competition, even though I missed the cut. I was able to watch most of the finals including carrying the scoreboard for the Advanced Masters Women's group, which included Noemi from Colorado. I also followed the top card for the Advanced Men. I was way far behind the top for guys but I learned that I am not all that far behind them in reality. They played a lot of the same shots that I did on the same holes. They were just a tad bit more consistent in hitting their line with precision and then making putts after hitting those lines. They could throw the disc a tad bit further than me as well.
I learned that I am a very good disc golfer. I learned that easy and smooth is better than trying to throw as far as you can. I learned that the more I am having fun, the better I play. I learned that even during a good round I can find at least four throws that could have saved me a stroke. I learned that singing worship songs to God keeps me from thinking too much about myself and the round of disc golf I am currently playing. I learned that when I think about God while playing I have more fun. I learned that making friends is not about first impressions or about where someone is from, it is about being their fan from the start and cheering them at every step along the way. I learned that a true friend does the same in return.
While I played very well. I was still sad to miss the semi finals after knowing how well I was playing and how capable I was of scoring even better. In the end though I can be sad and still have had a great time. Now it is back to resting up and recovering. I am amazed at how my body hurts after playing so much disc golf. I should have expected it as well as the crash as soon as the adrenaline left my body. What a great experience.
This blog post could probably go on and on about this years experience. There was something so different this year and so amazing. Hats off to Dynamic Discs and the PDGA for putting on one incredible event.
One of the more unexpected joys I had at this event was attending some clinics put on by some of the best pros around. Jay and Des Reading are perhaps the best teacher of the game I have ever met and was so blessed to be able to go to two different clinics they put on during Am Worlds. It really reminded me of what I really want to be doing in this world, besides playing disc golf. That is of course teaching kids to play disc golf. It was also a great experience for my parents who I have been teaching. At the putting clinic, prior to the start of anything big happening at Worlds, my mom somehow made three putts in a row to win a ring of fire. So in reality, my mom can say she won at worlds, which is much better than anything I can say. I was also briefly able to talk to Jay about teaching kids and what it might look like and I look forward to communicating with him in the future. I sure hope that with what he and Des are doing, I might be able to join them in the mission of teaching more kids to play this great game.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not take time to mention how awesome the town of Emporia, KS is. Honestly, it was kind of like being a celebrity for the week. Signs were all over town welcoming the disc golfers to town. In just about every place we ate we talked with locals who were curious about disc golf and were actually aware of the events going on. The hospitality was just incredible. It honestly felt like the entire town was glad that we were there and they seemed like they would genuinely desire to have us back. It really makes the decision easy to travel there for other events that go on in Emporia and it makes me wish for the day when Emporia will host the World Championships again.
This event was also unique in that it is the first Am Worlds to move towards being a true amateur event where there would be no payout, and only trophies given to the top finishers in each division. Now this did mean that everyone participating would receive an incredible players pack which ended up consisting of a brand new backpack style bag from Dynamic Discs, a dry fit polo shirt and discs from eight different manufacturers including prototypes and newly released discs. In addition to this every round of the tournament had a sponsor that would give a disc to the person that won their card. The event felt like it was supported by just about every organization involved in the sport of disc golf.
Speaking of support, I had a grand time reading local forums from home and feeling like the whole community was behind us. Thank you Mile High Disc Golf!
I feel like I have mentioned about half the things that I wanted to say so far. I am really sorry that this blog post is going to be so long. As I think about it though, an event where my experience was as good as it was deserves this much attention.
Prior to the start of the tournament I took a lot of time to practice all of the courses that I would be playing for the tournament. I set goals of what I wanted to shoot at each course and had my caddy daddy take notes on how I should best attack each hole. This preparation was long and tiresome. But it was good to go into such a big tournament with a plan of action. This is an aspect of preparation that I once thought could not be overdone. Perhaps it can be to a certain extent when it wear you out. I am not sure if it was merely the practice rounds but I cannot remember being more exhausted after a tournament than I was after this Am Worlds.
Of course the field events were mixed right in there with all the practice. After finishing dead last last year in the distance competition, I decided not to compete in that but to instead compete in both the Skill Shot competition and the Putting competition. The Skill Shot competition was more fun than I expected it to be. Throwing so many different kids of shots and then measuring how far away you were from the basket or target to earn points was a great reminder of how a good short game, even outside of putting, is really important for this game. I ended up earning points in all but one throw and finished in 5th place in the Advanced Men's category. In the putting competition I was really just hoping to do better than I had in Charlotte. I did well in Charlotte earning 8 points and finishing in a tie for last cash. Well, this year I started out strong and earned a total of 13 points to finish tied for 11th and well ahead of last cash. All told at the field events I earned back $49 after cashing in both of the events I participated in.
The tournament itself was an absolute blast. I was put in the A pool even though I probably did not belong there. I had an early morning tee time at the Municipal Golf Course DGC for round one. This was also a huge blessing as it meant only having one round the first day, which also happened to be one of the hottest days of the tournament. After shooting a 76 at this course during the Glass Blown Open and a 66 in my practice round, I was really just hoping to be in the 60's. Well, something came over me and for some reason the discs were leaving my hand and doing good things that I cannot remember seeing before. I ended up shooting a 61 which not only won my card, it also put me in the top 20 players in the A pool, where I certainly did not belong. I was so happy to win this round in particular because it was the round sponsored by Vibram. Vibram, in my opinion, makes the best discs and goes through the best process prior to releasing new discs, well above and beyonf any other manufacturer out there. The group of guys I played with was good too, and I will probably say that about every group. I am saying it about every group, right here right now. Will, Tim, Teegen, James, Ben, Calvin, Greg, Armando, Matt, Paul, Kirk, James, Chris, Jack, Zach, Vince, Josh, and Dominic, it was a pleasure to play with you all. I am pretty sure I got all the names right.
I also met my goals in four other rounds, but some of those goals got adjusted after playing so well at Municipal. When I came back to Municipal I shot another great round for me, even better than my first round. If you just look at those two rounds I probably look like I should have finished much higher than I did. Municipal was also the toughest course for me at Glass Blown Open, so you have to figure that the improvement at the other courses will be there as well. It was just not the case. I shot even at Jones West and over par at Jones East, Country Club and Peter Pan. If only the entire tournament had been played at Municipal.
I also had a great experience on the final day of the competition, even though I missed the cut. I was able to watch most of the finals including carrying the scoreboard for the Advanced Masters Women's group, which included Noemi from Colorado. I also followed the top card for the Advanced Men. I was way far behind the top for guys but I learned that I am not all that far behind them in reality. They played a lot of the same shots that I did on the same holes. They were just a tad bit more consistent in hitting their line with precision and then making putts after hitting those lines. They could throw the disc a tad bit further than me as well.
I learned that I am a very good disc golfer. I learned that easy and smooth is better than trying to throw as far as you can. I learned that the more I am having fun, the better I play. I learned that even during a good round I can find at least four throws that could have saved me a stroke. I learned that singing worship songs to God keeps me from thinking too much about myself and the round of disc golf I am currently playing. I learned that when I think about God while playing I have more fun. I learned that making friends is not about first impressions or about where someone is from, it is about being their fan from the start and cheering them at every step along the way. I learned that a true friend does the same in return.
While I played very well. I was still sad to miss the semi finals after knowing how well I was playing and how capable I was of scoring even better. In the end though I can be sad and still have had a great time. Now it is back to resting up and recovering. I am amazed at how my body hurts after playing so much disc golf. I should have expected it as well as the crash as soon as the adrenaline left my body. What a great experience.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
High Plains Challenge
This is perhaps one of the least creative titles I have come up with since I started being creative with titles. This one just went back to the name of the tournament sadly. But to a certain extent it seems to mirror the creativity I had in the tournament. After having such a solid stretch of tournament rounds prior to the 303 Open, it seems that my performance at The High Plains Challenge mirrored my bummer of a performance at the 303 Open. Only this time I was playing with the Ams again.
The High Plains Challenge is one of two A tier events we have had in Colorado for the past several seasons. Clearly this means that it is an opportunity to qualify for Am Nats, which of course is one of my goals for this season. My previous attempts this season to accomplish this goal took place at the Glass Blown Open and 303 Am Championships, but those would have qualified me for this year rather than next. The High Plains Challenge is of course my first opportunity to qualify for next year. Well simply put, I will be looking for another opportunity to qualify.
The first round took place at the Pessimist temporary course. This is the one course that I played well last year at the same event and the Colorado State Championships. So I came into this round thinking, I can make this happen. I can post a good round and then see what happens from there. The round started out alright though I was making more bogies than I should have been. Even after loosing a disc and taking a double I was still in it. Then came the two par 4 lake holes and bad bounce after bad bounce. To be fair, we had to wait for the two groups ahead of us to play the hole before we got the opportunity and the entire course is made of highly unpredictable natural tee pads. But taking a 7 and then a 5 on back to back holes, missing birdie putts on the next two holes before slightly missing my line and going OB only to then have the upshot catch an edge and roll OB again. Yeah, it was a bad end to the round. I should and could have been +2 and ended up +11. That is a big difference and in a big event will certainly put you out of serious contention.
As much as the natural tee pads have not affected my game in the past, they seemed to make a big difference for this tournament. My tee shots were coming out at lots of random angles and it felt like I had little to no control over my drives. Seriously off on some angles causing lots of good saves and very few birdie opportunities. Sure I made a couple of birdies on the round, but my angles were just off. Even though I was off on some forehand shots, it seemed like I was better off throwing forehand simply because the angle of error was much smaller than my backhand. I couldn't even predict the misses and attempt to be sure that I would error where I wanted to error. For as much as I have never complained about the fact that an A tier event was being played on natural tees prior to this tournament, I am now a firm believer that there should be some standard for top tier events when it comes to tee pads.
The second round got a little bit better but was still tough as I had a rough start to the round. And then of course the weather hit near the end of the round, where I simply could not predict the wind on every shot. Some shots yes, but not every shot.
It was in the final round where I felt like I was finally starting to figure some things out about the game and shot a good round. The best news of the weekend came as I finished in a large tie for the last cash position. Three spots were divided amongst six people. I always seem to find myself into epic ties but I think this one was the largest of those ties.
Here is what I learned. When in doubt with the wind, play the shot so the wind knocks down the disc. This is way more predictable than allowing the wind to catch the disc and take to to wherever it wants. When you get into a back up, keep the arm warm and stretched as much as possible. No matter what the conditions give you, play your game and you can still shoot well (I was the only person in my group to birdie a par 4 right after the wind picked up in that second round). Smaller steps on my run up will produce more predictable results. It is okay to sacrifice distance to be sure you know the angle that your disc is going to fly on. Now I just have to remember these things and well as remain mentally strong in the middle of the round. A bad mental game will produce bad bounces. I am not really sure how that happens but it is absolutely true.
The next stop is Am Worlds. I guess we will see what happens.
The High Plains Challenge is one of two A tier events we have had in Colorado for the past several seasons. Clearly this means that it is an opportunity to qualify for Am Nats, which of course is one of my goals for this season. My previous attempts this season to accomplish this goal took place at the Glass Blown Open and 303 Am Championships, but those would have qualified me for this year rather than next. The High Plains Challenge is of course my first opportunity to qualify for next year. Well simply put, I will be looking for another opportunity to qualify.
The first round took place at the Pessimist temporary course. This is the one course that I played well last year at the same event and the Colorado State Championships. So I came into this round thinking, I can make this happen. I can post a good round and then see what happens from there. The round started out alright though I was making more bogies than I should have been. Even after loosing a disc and taking a double I was still in it. Then came the two par 4 lake holes and bad bounce after bad bounce. To be fair, we had to wait for the two groups ahead of us to play the hole before we got the opportunity and the entire course is made of highly unpredictable natural tee pads. But taking a 7 and then a 5 on back to back holes, missing birdie putts on the next two holes before slightly missing my line and going OB only to then have the upshot catch an edge and roll OB again. Yeah, it was a bad end to the round. I should and could have been +2 and ended up +11. That is a big difference and in a big event will certainly put you out of serious contention.
As much as the natural tee pads have not affected my game in the past, they seemed to make a big difference for this tournament. My tee shots were coming out at lots of random angles and it felt like I had little to no control over my drives. Seriously off on some angles causing lots of good saves and very few birdie opportunities. Sure I made a couple of birdies on the round, but my angles were just off. Even though I was off on some forehand shots, it seemed like I was better off throwing forehand simply because the angle of error was much smaller than my backhand. I couldn't even predict the misses and attempt to be sure that I would error where I wanted to error. For as much as I have never complained about the fact that an A tier event was being played on natural tees prior to this tournament, I am now a firm believer that there should be some standard for top tier events when it comes to tee pads.
The second round got a little bit better but was still tough as I had a rough start to the round. And then of course the weather hit near the end of the round, where I simply could not predict the wind on every shot. Some shots yes, but not every shot.
It was in the final round where I felt like I was finally starting to figure some things out about the game and shot a good round. The best news of the weekend came as I finished in a large tie for the last cash position. Three spots were divided amongst six people. I always seem to find myself into epic ties but I think this one was the largest of those ties.
Here is what I learned. When in doubt with the wind, play the shot so the wind knocks down the disc. This is way more predictable than allowing the wind to catch the disc and take to to wherever it wants. When you get into a back up, keep the arm warm and stretched as much as possible. No matter what the conditions give you, play your game and you can still shoot well (I was the only person in my group to birdie a par 4 right after the wind picked up in that second round). Smaller steps on my run up will produce more predictable results. It is okay to sacrifice distance to be sure you know the angle that your disc is going to fly on. Now I just have to remember these things and well as remain mentally strong in the middle of the round. A bad mental game will produce bad bounces. I am not really sure how that happens but it is absolutely true.
The next stop is Am Worlds. I guess we will see what happens.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Playing With The Big Boys
It was almost a week ago now that I played in the 303 Open. This was my second tournament of the year playing in the Open field since this was a Pro only event. I figured it was worth playing from the standpoint that I would be playing with better competition and might get a better feel for what it is going to take to get better at this game. I really came in with no expectations as to how I would fair, but after finishing just below the middle in my last event playing Open, I was hoping to fair well.
Most of my dreams were crushed in the first round with the second round not offering much more. In one day I am pretty sure I had my single worst day of tournament disc golf since last year. I could blame it on the wind, but clearly that was not the real reason. I could blame it on some bad bounces but that only had a minor contribution to the overall circumstances. In reality, it was not being prepared to play the course on that day. When Sunday came around and we played a course that I frequent, I played a much smarter game and ended up shooting a 960 rated round. Go figure.
The best part of the tournament was getting a chance to play with Pat Blazek. I believe he is currently the second highest rated player int eh state of Colorado and is someone I respect and have had plenty of opportunity to talk with in the past, but never play with. It was fun to watch him and see the little frustrations that he had on the course. It was fun to see how he kept his mental game strong despite the errors and how in the moment it was one shot at a time. It was fun to watch how he made decisions as to what shot to throw next. I know that I am rather far behind him in skill but I feel like playing with him was a really good learning experience as to simply how to play the game.
Moving forward, I feel that my pre tournamnet prep needs to be done better. While I can play a course and know what the hole looks like, weather conditions could significantly affect what shot I end up throwing during a tournament round. Wind is still something that tends to baffle me from the decision making process. Even when I knew something was going to happen during the second round in the wind, I still made the choice to throw the shot I intended to throw and sure enough the wind did what I expected and made the shot land out of bounds. Not good. Having multiple shots on every hole allows one to play the wind conditions better. Sometimes it is making the choice to throw a different disc, and sometimes it is being confident to throw a completely different shot. I need to learn this decision making process and how to be smart about which shot I throw and when.
Another step forward and another lesson learned. Now it is time to put it all together as the next two tournaments I play could be the biggest of my young disc golf career.
Most of my dreams were crushed in the first round with the second round not offering much more. In one day I am pretty sure I had my single worst day of tournament disc golf since last year. I could blame it on the wind, but clearly that was not the real reason. I could blame it on some bad bounces but that only had a minor contribution to the overall circumstances. In reality, it was not being prepared to play the course on that day. When Sunday came around and we played a course that I frequent, I played a much smarter game and ended up shooting a 960 rated round. Go figure.
The best part of the tournament was getting a chance to play with Pat Blazek. I believe he is currently the second highest rated player int eh state of Colorado and is someone I respect and have had plenty of opportunity to talk with in the past, but never play with. It was fun to watch him and see the little frustrations that he had on the course. It was fun to see how he kept his mental game strong despite the errors and how in the moment it was one shot at a time. It was fun to watch how he made decisions as to what shot to throw next. I know that I am rather far behind him in skill but I feel like playing with him was a really good learning experience as to simply how to play the game.
Moving forward, I feel that my pre tournamnet prep needs to be done better. While I can play a course and know what the hole looks like, weather conditions could significantly affect what shot I end up throwing during a tournament round. Wind is still something that tends to baffle me from the decision making process. Even when I knew something was going to happen during the second round in the wind, I still made the choice to throw the shot I intended to throw and sure enough the wind did what I expected and made the shot land out of bounds. Not good. Having multiple shots on every hole allows one to play the wind conditions better. Sometimes it is making the choice to throw a different disc, and sometimes it is being confident to throw a completely different shot. I need to learn this decision making process and how to be smart about which shot I throw and when.
Another step forward and another lesson learned. Now it is time to put it all together as the next two tournaments I play could be the biggest of my young disc golf career.
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