Wow, what a weekend! I headed up to Winter Park, CO for the 7th Annual Snow Mountain Challenge. The TD, Tom Carrillo, was kind enough to put several golfers, including myself, up for the weekend.

Our first round was at the Snow Mountain YMCA course. While challenging and fun, it is a shadow of it’s previous glory. As with many other areas in the Rockies, the forests have fallen victim to the devastating pine beetle. I had a great group and although I had a great time, my poor play quickly found me at the bottom of the pack.

After a quick lunch, we reconvened at the base of Winter Park resort for a players meeting and then boarded the chairlift to the top to begin round two. The course features several great downhill bombs with a mix of tricky turnovers and treacherous tunnel shots. Again, I had a great time, but didn’t play my best. I was plagued by poor putting and a general lack of energy. A good friend of mine had a pretty awful round too, receiving many a nasty tree kick and unfortunate roll away. He’s not at all accustomed to being in the lower ranks, so I did my best to cheer him up and keep him going. Sometimes the most fun shots happen when you have nothing to lose!

Well I only had to wait another twenty holes to find out just how true that is. I played pretty solid golf, making a lot of the routine putts I left on the ground during the first two rounds. We made our way to the last hole of the tournament, a 325-foot shot through a narrow double mando to a basket placed precariously on a steep hillside. I had missed a key birdie on the hole previous and found myself last in the tee order. I knew I needed something that would hold a fast anhyzer line to get through the mando and then fall back left to the hill, so I picked a lighter weight Monarch out of my bag. I put a pretty good snap on it and watched in satisfaction as it ripped right through the branch-infested mandatory window and disappeared off to the right. As we waited for the inevitable stable left finish of the flight, my friend Tom said he thought that it might be on line for an ace run. Just then I saw my Monarch reappear in the mountain sunlight, just in time to blow the chains apart and eventually spin to a stop in the basket. I had aced the last hole of the tournament!

I ran like an idiot across the mountainside to retrieve my lucky prize. As I emerged from the woods, I was greeted by the smiling applause of several groups that had witnessed the latter part of the flight. What a way to finish a tournament! So the round ended well, but not quite enough to get me outta the basement. I didn’t make it into the cash, but I did put a safe distance between me and dead last! Still, this will definitely go down as one of my favorite tournament moments yet!

Stay tuned for next week as Jurky and I venture to McCook, Nebraska to take on the Kelley Park Disc Golf Course at the TruLine Customs Open.

I might as well have been playing under the twin suns of Tatooine! If the blistering heat wasn’t enough, the wind howled relentlessly. Still, I managed to pull off what end up being my first 1000-rated round of the year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as I finished just one stroke out of the cash. In retrospect, there were several holes that I could’ve easily made up at least 3 or 4 strokes had I played a little bit more serious out of the gate. I was at least nine holes in before I realized that I was doing well enough to have a shot at cashing. Oh well, lesson learned.. Every throw matters, even when I think I’m just playing for the fun of it!

I’m far more excited about finally throwing a solid round than I am worried about the money. In my opinion, if you’re in this sport for the payout.. you’re in the wrong place. Regardless, I had a really fun group today. One of the poor fellas on my card took a 17 on the island hole. Although it was hard to watch, I was impressed and inspired by his excellent display of sportsmanship. He approached each re-tee with the same enthusiasm and didn’t utter a single foul word.

Thanks as always to my readers and supporters! Stay tuned for next weekend as I head to the hills of Winter Park for the Snow Mountain Challenge.

What a beautiful day for golf! It was sunny and clear with a light breeze all day and I had great groups both rounds. I had a bit of a rough start, parking the first hole and missing a routine putt. I went OB a few times, bogeying the next hole and several afterwards. The sprinklers were malfunctioning on one of the holes and I was treated to a rather fun shot through a veritable wall of water. Things did start to look up later in the round when I had a near ace on hole 10, hitting dead center chains, but flopping out left.. I finished with a pile of birdies, scraping my way back to even.

I spent the lunch break helping out with scores as usual. The second round started out rather well, getting through the first 10 holes at a bogey-free 2 under par. Things turned south on hole 17 where I threw into a neighbors yard and failed to execute my save shot and took a double bogey. I played pretty safe from there on, getting 2 more birds to finish at -2. Not the best golf, but I haven’t completely eliminated myself from the cash yet. If I play really well tomorrow, I might be able to creep in if I shoot lights out.

On a side note, I’m starting to think that the only way for my game to improve is to find a healthier balance between the amount of volunteering I do and just playing. It’s hard to take a step back when I care so much, but if my game continues to nose-dive at the rate it has been, somethings gotta give :) Soon I’ll be starting a new job where I will have a much more normal schedule, so I’m really hoping to get more practice time into my week.

Either way, let’s hope tomorrow goes well. Perhaps I just need to play a bit more seriously… which for those that know me are aware, is no easy task :P