Ugh!!! That was painful! Threw one of the worst rounds of my life out there today.. I mean I wasn’t anticipating a great round due to the limitations I pointed out in my last post, but yikes! I had at least 6 OB strokes, had two 7’s during the course of the round, missed pretty much every putt. At least I kept my head on and still had a good time. I mean, let’s be honest here, I’m playing for fun, not for my lunch money.

I love this game and I am thrilled to have the chance to travel and play all over the world, but days like today are a good test of that enthusiasm. I may be frustrated with a shot and mutter a few colorful words as I watch my drive skip out of bounds, but I always come back for more! I had a good group today, one of the guys was on my card last round. We both completely tanked it today and took turns cheering each other up.. I swear, disc golf is the only sport that I know of where you encourage your competition.

I could look back on today and gripe about all the things that went wrong and beat myself up for bad decisions or failed execution.. but instead I choose to focus on the fact that I kept my head up and a smile on my face. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I’d rather stink at disc golf and win at life :)

Went to the Avalanche / Coyotes game with an old friend tonight, which was a much needed break from stewing about todays round. They lost in a dismal 3-1 display, but it was still good to get out!

Looking forward to tomorrow’s round at Fountain Hills. I’m hoping to shave a few strokes off my first round there, tentatively aiming for a 50. One thing I really like about playing longer tourneys like this is the chance to get your revenge on courses.

see ya tomorrow..
wish me luck!

Started out a little rough, but picked it up as the day went on. I threw my very first shot into the water, but at least it skipped and hit the wall, making for an easy 4. I had one other ridiculous throw several holes later.. flipped a TeeRex-X into the road. I knew the lower altitude would affect the stability, but figured I was safe throwing something that overstable. Still, my game really came around on the back nine. I got a nice turkey in there and made up some much needed strokes. I have to admit, the highlight of my day was parking a 465 foot hole, just 8 feet past and carding an easy deuce to take the box from Barry Schultz and Paul McBeth. They were both super cool to play with and I got to bear witness to some really amazing golf!! I certainly left a lot of strokes out there, but I only finished 10 behind them at par (55), which ended up being a 970-rated round, which ain’t bad for me. They finished the round at 45, tied for the lead. I seem to have a positive impact on the folks I play with :)

I ended up tied for 50th place today when the dust settled, not bad considering there is over 100 players in the field! Still, I am really not looking forward to tomorrow. Fountain Hills is relatively wide open and, if you play smart, it isn’t hard to score well.. There is also a hyzer as an option on almost every drive, so I’m free to go to my default swing and disc choices. Vista del Camino, on the other hand, has ton of left-to-right shots and very long and narrow fairways. I have neither a forehand nor a roller… in other words I’m kinda in deep doo-doo.. These are both shots I really need to develop if I intend to be a serious competitor at this level.

On a related note, they introduced something new this year, each course features 2 elevated baskets. Each one puts the cage at roughly eye level. I am not a fan of this at all. To be honest, I think it’s gimmicky and stupid. Save that stuff for X-Tiers or fun tourneys or whatever you’d like.. I know the USDGC has one and I’ve certainly seen it before.. I just think it adds nothing to the game at all. I would be curious to know what the reasoning behind it is.

Either way, time to get some rest, big day tomorrow!

So my wife and I have just returned from the 2010 Disc Golf Cruise! We left from the Port of Miami on Sun. Jan 14th, sailing to Half Moon Cay, St Thomas VI, San Juan PR, and Grand Turk. It was a great time and we had tons of fun! We met a bunch of great people and were able to spend a lot of time catching up with old friends.

We played an 18-hole tournament with temp baskets on Half Moon Cay that played along the beach and through the walking trails. The holes were all super-short to ensure that all skill levels would be able to traverse the course in the time allotted. So for must of us, that meant a ton of ace runs! With 8 birds and one silly boge, I finished -7, which was enough to cash! yay!

Between my funky-looking Vibram five-finger shoes and my trusty NutSac, I was well-equipped for what proved to be one of the most fun rounds I’ve ever had! The tournament staff really tried to make the most of the small area we had, especially where we had to yield to the horse trails and walking paths. While most of the holes were pretty straight-forward, i overcompensated on a few, turning over my QMS into the unusually thick rough. Still, it was a great time!

One of the other highlights of our trip was the clinic that Des & Jay Reading, Juliana Korver and Shawn Sinclair held for us on Grand Turk. I picked up some great tips on technique that I look forward to integrating into my game and sharing with new players back home. We finished up that day with a hotly-contested KanJam tournament. This was the second time I’d played that game and it is a blast. My partner, Noun Noun, and I ended up in the finals, but lost the last game, taking second place. Still I won 2 great collectors discs, one in a trivia contest, the other in the ring of fire. All-in-all a great day.

The remainder of our 7 day cruise was filled with fun day trips like a walking tour of old San Juan, a sail-and-snorkel trip where we swam with sea turtles and stingrays, ‘thriller’ dance lessons, and a cable tram ride to the top of St Thomas. The nights were the best! Karaoke, air-hockey, moustache photos (don’t ask), the comedians… Although the food paralleled an upscale nursing home, the company and experiences definitely made up for it!

Stay tuned for the next update when I start the 2010 tour season at the Discraft Memorial in Phoenix, AZ on Mar. 3-6th.

So The Jurk and I tried our hand at mixed dubs again today. We played ok, but we were much more excited about the iron-on matching t-shirts we made. I designed a logo in the ‘StarWars’ font that said ‘StarPars’ and on the back we put ‘a long way to throw at a basket far, far away..’

man we’re dorks :)

So I played in the “Colorado Disc Golf Open to Benefit Bicycle Colorado” this weekend. It was a pdga-sanctioned c-tier tournament playing two rounds of 27 holes at Badlands, north of Denver. I almost couldn’t believe it when I arrived, but there were only 11 players. Since an Open division wasn’t offered, and my rating is <970, I played advanced. But noone wanted the challenge and I ended up being the only one. A hollow, hollow victory, but my 2nd sanctioned win nonetheless. It was fun to play a relaxing few rounds and pretty much having the course to ourselves. On the bright side, I played significantly better than I did on the same course during the Denver Classic!

on a side note: while I admire the TD, or any TD for that matter, for putting on the event, fundraisers and sanctioned tourneys don’t mix. when folks pay to play a sanctioned tourney, a certain level of payout is expected. I would’ve much rather it had been non-sanctioned so that more $ could’ve gone towards their cause…

So we went up to the amazing Ghost Town course in Central City, CO today with our friend Marsha. It is a private course, buried up in the hills that plays through and around an abandoned mining town. If you ever in the area, do not miss it!! I lost a destroyer on hole #3, throwing a rare thumber (they hurt my shoulder too dang much). As we started into the next few holes, the rain started.. then a few rumbles of thunder… then BAM! Bolts started comin down left and right. We ran like hell to the car, passing another group on the way. Hope they got out alright. Just as we were leaping into the car, a bolt hit right next to the passenger side of my car. Needless to say, when we got home all needed dry clothes and new underpants! Lesson learned: check the dang weather report! Total bummer missin out on that course, but Brian said he’d spot us a free day next time we were up there!

The Jurk and I played our first mixed doubles event this weekend at Beaver Ranch in Conifer, CO. It was a pretty cool experience. The first round was all best disc, which was pretty cool considering what a tight and technical course it is. Second round was a mix of various formats: best disc, best score, alternate shot, worst shot.. We pulled off a string of 6 birdies in a row. I parked holes 2 and 3 during best score, then on alternate shot I parked 4 in a row leaving her with a 10 foot putt at the most on each. It was pretty crazy. We ended up tying for second, but more importantly we got through it without strangling each other… :)

Heya! Welcome to the brand new NutSac blog.

We are fortunate to have our NutSac Pro, Chad Francis, reporting from the field. Enjoy!