King's Cup 14 Recap
Well, it's over. I somehow can't get the image out of my mind of Ty Webb saying, "Don't sell yourself short. You're a tremendous slouch." We did have a couple of "Noonan!" episodes as well, so all in all, it was a very Caddyshack-like event. Yeah, we had some fun.
Scoring was at a premium. And by that, I mean that I took a lot of shots...A laahht of shots. Over the four rounds played (3 short tees and one long,) I accumulated 269 shots -- 33 more than the winner in my Rec Division. I finished 8 out of 10, falling a few back of the 6th place I was in after day one. While the the King's Cup 14 as an event would garner a stupendous Yelp score, I rate my personal performance a solid...Eh.
I will say that as a PDGA-sanctioned tournament virgin, I could not have chosen a better group of players to help find my errant throws and stare in stunned silence at my good shots. Caleb disliked me enough to play well the first round and moved to the lead card to stay. The remainder of my 3 rounds were spent in the pleasant company of Tim, Nathan, Eric, and Hannable (HP of Fly Guy Disc Golf.)
Tim and HP were the story tellers throughout as we did have a few backups here and there along the rounds. Hannable had some great advice on some shots that would help me out of trouble, although I rarely had the type of disc that would work and was not totally comfortable with those particular shots, but he gave me some things to work on.
Eric felt like a kindred spirit who appreciated my "try not to suck" mentality which I had in spurts. Witty, fun and a solid player who kept me in stitches with his occasional "Noonan!" under his breath as some of us had some tap-ins, which Nathan was too young to understand the reference (and very focused as well.)
Nathan was a talented player who treated his Innova Firebird like Frank's Red Hot -- he threw that sh*t on everything. Backhand, forehand, short flicks, soft anhyzer approaches, skip shots, the short downhill at 14, I think he even putted with it once. He inspired me to learn what I can do with this disc, which I recently acquired winning a contest.
We competed with one another, but it felt like it could just as easily been a Sunday morning tag round at one of my local courses. It was nice to put a person to Fly Guy Disc Golf (plus I bought a great Innova ballcap which was featured in a photo montage of the tournament) from his on-site store. I think I had seen Eric's name on some used discs at my local shop, not sure if I bought any of those though. Anyway, I would gladly play a round with any of them in the future.
I expected my starting hole (which was 18) would be nerve-racking. It's sort of tight, longish and finishes left. I averaged 4, but the roller-coaster ride was something to behold. I also expected that certain holes could be a struggle: 2, 4, 6, 12, 16, although 6 wasn't that terrible and I had some limited success on 4 and 12.
The biggest disappointment came on hole 1 during both rounds on Sunday. It's listed at 195 feet and runs a mini-gauntlet of trees in front of the teepad. Enough room to get through but a stright line that I've only recently become accustomed to trying. The local route seemed to be a smooth RHBH hyzer or gentle annie-flick to the front of the basket. Three weeks ago I would have gone short with either my Zombee or beat in Cobra. I was surprised to not hit any trees, only surpassed by turning over and running long right into the creek and just barely OB left with each. Saved par with one and a two-putt bogey on the other. So, sad...
Wait. Scratch that. I got one better. Hole 8 from the 156-foot short pad. During both of my practice rounds over the last few months, I struggled to miss trees or get anywhere down the fairway. On Sunday, I carded a birdie and par, but the clincher was blowing through the left side chains on Saturday morning, narrowly missing my first ace...then missing the come back putt and settling for par. I remember Eric looking for some reaction out of me as we heard chains. Nope. Amost though. That's the second time I've hit chains with a RHBH using that old Innova Wolf. It's gonna get me one soon, I can feel it...
Overall, my putting needs to get much more consistent and my approaches have been better. I shied away from thumbers, which are pretty strong for me. I owe the gang a thumber on 16 next year as I had second thoughts preshot in the final round.
I especially would like to thank Barry Shultz, who made my son's day for signing a disc to start his collection. Fly on!
It's time to shake off 3 almost 800-rated rounds and one a shade lower and move onto the next thing...well, the next couple of things. The priority is to get some consistency on my pull as I get ready for the Azalea AM at Castle Payne in March.
James told me that King's Cup was about as tough a first tournament as I could have selected to play. At least Castle Hayne is closer to home and I can get more practice time in. I'm too old to waste my time in C-Tiers. I fell in love with Disc Golf, the community, the challenges. There's no need to slow down now. So Team Flippin Discs will be sponsoring hole 13 for the Am, as well as playing that weekend.
I have a friend from up north visiting in a few weeks and she's looking forward to playing for the first time. If any of you reading this would like to offer some suggestions as I get her bag ready (I'm at the mercy of what I already own, but I have more than a few discs,) I would be very receptive. Personally, I stumbled through the dark, throwing everything I could get my hands on.
I also have a few ideas to grow the sport, including more videos.
So, what Flippin Discs is now, will change and grow over time. Today, it's just a writer, sharing the love of everything disc golf, telling my story, sharing the things I learn and the new stories that I will make as I try to glide effortlessly around the trees chasin' those chains.
Flippin Discs on Facebook
FlippinDiscsGolf on Instagram
FlippinDiscs on YouTube
I'm going to try and get back to weekly posts on Wednesdays, try to find my rhythm as always. But more importantly...let's keep Flippin Discs!
Scoring was at a premium. And by that, I mean that I took a lot of shots...A laahht of shots. Over the four rounds played (3 short tees and one long,) I accumulated 269 shots -- 33 more than the winner in my Rec Division. I finished 8 out of 10, falling a few back of the 6th place I was in after day one. While the the King's Cup 14 as an event would garner a stupendous Yelp score, I rate my personal performance a solid...Eh.
Party of Five
Disc Golf shares similarities with it's round ball half-brother, but foursomes tend to not be one of them. Fivesomes with a shotgun start on 18 holes saw me start on hole 18. The last group. However, the structure of the event meant that I was actually on the chase card (for the Rec Division)...How exciting.I will say that as a PDGA-sanctioned tournament virgin, I could not have chosen a better group of players to help find my errant throws and stare in stunned silence at my good shots. Caleb disliked me enough to play well the first round and moved to the lead card to stay. The remainder of my 3 rounds were spent in the pleasant company of Tim, Nathan, Eric, and Hannable (HP of Fly Guy Disc Golf.)
Tim and HP were the story tellers throughout as we did have a few backups here and there along the rounds. Hannable had some great advice on some shots that would help me out of trouble, although I rarely had the type of disc that would work and was not totally comfortable with those particular shots, but he gave me some things to work on.
Eric felt like a kindred spirit who appreciated my "try not to suck" mentality which I had in spurts. Witty, fun and a solid player who kept me in stitches with his occasional "Noonan!" under his breath as some of us had some tap-ins, which Nathan was too young to understand the reference (and very focused as well.)
Nathan was a talented player who treated his Innova Firebird like Frank's Red Hot -- he threw that sh*t on everything. Backhand, forehand, short flicks, soft anhyzer approaches, skip shots, the short downhill at 14, I think he even putted with it once. He inspired me to learn what I can do with this disc, which I recently acquired winning a contest.
We competed with one another, but it felt like it could just as easily been a Sunday morning tag round at one of my local courses. It was nice to put a person to Fly Guy Disc Golf (plus I bought a great Innova ballcap which was featured in a photo montage of the tournament) from his on-site store. I think I had seen Eric's name on some used discs at my local shop, not sure if I bought any of those though. Anyway, I would gladly play a round with any of them in the future.
Post-Tournament Distress Syndrome
The worst thing you can do after any competition which involves scoring is to take all of your "bests" and put them together to see how much you missed out on. While it is doubtful that I would have played my best on every hole, knowing that it would have been a 51 versus the 63s and 65 I carded was a little bit eye-opening. I had more than a few bittersweet moments all over the place.I expected my starting hole (which was 18) would be nerve-racking. It's sort of tight, longish and finishes left. I averaged 4, but the roller-coaster ride was something to behold. I also expected that certain holes could be a struggle: 2, 4, 6, 12, 16, although 6 wasn't that terrible and I had some limited success on 4 and 12.
The biggest disappointment came on hole 1 during both rounds on Sunday. It's listed at 195 feet and runs a mini-gauntlet of trees in front of the teepad. Enough room to get through but a stright line that I've only recently become accustomed to trying. The local route seemed to be a smooth RHBH hyzer or gentle annie-flick to the front of the basket. Three weeks ago I would have gone short with either my Zombee or beat in Cobra. I was surprised to not hit any trees, only surpassed by turning over and running long right into the creek and just barely OB left with each. Saved par with one and a two-putt bogey on the other. So, sad...
Wait. Scratch that. I got one better. Hole 8 from the 156-foot short pad. During both of my practice rounds over the last few months, I struggled to miss trees or get anywhere down the fairway. On Sunday, I carded a birdie and par, but the clincher was blowing through the left side chains on Saturday morning, narrowly missing my first ace...then missing the come back putt and settling for par. I remember Eric looking for some reaction out of me as we heard chains. Nope. Amost though. That's the second time I've hit chains with a RHBH using that old Innova Wolf. It's gonna get me one soon, I can feel it...
Overall, my putting needs to get much more consistent and my approaches have been better. I shied away from thumbers, which are pretty strong for me. I owe the gang a thumber on 16 next year as I had second thoughts preshot in the final round.
It's good to be the King
I can't show enough appreciation for TD Andrew, all of the volunteers, sponsors and everyone who made this event possible. Seeing local players that I shared dubs rounds with or local monthly cards, the pros there, and the new friends I made were worth the hundreds of miles of driving to share the experience.I especially would like to thank Barry Shultz, who made my son's day for signing a disc to start his collection. Fly on!
Digging my own Graves
King James is already taken. Lefty is too plain. He makes hyzer bombs and skip shots look remarkably easy and though he's a self-proclaimed 1000-rated caddy, he's so much better than me that it's better if he plays. I have been fortunate to befriend James, who signed himself to Team Flippin Discs and then went out and took 2nd Place in our division. Every time I take his advice, it turns out to be the correct shot, although it's usually to throw one of the 2 Discraft discs in my bag, so it's not exactly rocket science.It's time to shake off 3 almost 800-rated rounds and one a shade lower and move onto the next thing...well, the next couple of things. The priority is to get some consistency on my pull as I get ready for the Azalea AM at Castle Payne in March.
James told me that King's Cup was about as tough a first tournament as I could have selected to play. At least Castle Hayne is closer to home and I can get more practice time in. I'm too old to waste my time in C-Tiers. I fell in love with Disc Golf, the community, the challenges. There's no need to slow down now. So Team Flippin Discs will be sponsoring hole 13 for the Am, as well as playing that weekend.
Growing the sport
HP had the blue ribbon question of the tournament when he asked me, "What is Flippin Discs?" Much like the blue tees on hole 5, it's a slow grind. I'm a writer, with lots of experience in sports and coaching, who happened to recently discover disc golf. Oddly, my brother took me out for my first round, but my passion for the game has awakened something in him. He's playing courses all around Allentown, PA with the same passion that I have, a passion that he did not have when we first took on the course at South Mountain in Bethlehem last July.I have a friend from up north visiting in a few weeks and she's looking forward to playing for the first time. If any of you reading this would like to offer some suggestions as I get her bag ready (I'm at the mercy of what I already own, but I have more than a few discs,) I would be very receptive. Personally, I stumbled through the dark, throwing everything I could get my hands on.
I also have a few ideas to grow the sport, including more videos.
So, what Flippin Discs is now, will change and grow over time. Today, it's just a writer, sharing the love of everything disc golf, telling my story, sharing the things I learn and the new stories that I will make as I try to glide effortlessly around the trees chasin' those chains.
Keeping track of Flippin Discs
I like to write and if you like to read, that's awesome. Sometimes, my eyes get tired, I don't want to read so much and I just want to look at the pictures, even moving ones. Feel free to follow me on my other outlets:Flippin Discs on Facebook
FlippinDiscsGolf on Instagram
FlippinDiscs on YouTube
I'm going to try and get back to weekly posts on Wednesdays, try to find my rhythm as always. But more importantly...let's keep Flippin Discs!
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