Azalea Am Recap

I just wanted to start this week's post with a special shout out to the Flyest Guy of Fly Guy Disc Golf, for plugging my little blog recently. It has been a pleasure getting to know him little by little and I believe I should learn a few meditation techniques since I have twice shot better than him in the first round, only to lose to him in the end. He is right about me being technical, although we do share the voice of misery at times.

Disc golf has brought the "people person" out of me more of late. Meeting players like James, Hannable, Geoff, Caleb, Deron, Hubert, as well as all of those I've had the opportunity to play with in Wilmington, Leland and the Brunswick County crew have made learning the game more enjoyable than floundering on my own.

Bring the Payne

I had played over a dozen rounds on this course since taking up disc golf last August. You'd think I'd have learned by now...either how to play the course, or not play it all. I have shown glimmers of hope, beginning at 31-over and vacillating between my personal best +9 and somewhere near +20.

Castle Hayne DGC is a nearly 7000-foot, par 64 that requires technical shot-making to navigate trees and some occasional water to score well. Length is particularly daunting for me because I haven't any to speak of, yet. The par-5 8th, meandering to a testy 700-feet, can even make a priest question his maker at times. The only holes under 300-feet that I have a shot at making any run at birdie are 2, 13, and 16. Numbers 5 and 9 are also under 300, but are shaped in a way that makes it very tough on me (although there was one surprise from the weekend on that note.)

Now, there are some manageable par 4s at 4, 10, 11, and 17, plus the par-5 at 12 that I have been able to play well, but it is rare that everything falls into place during one round. There was too little blue and white on my Udisc and too much of the orange shades for my liking.

It's harder to remember every shot in order from 4 rounds in a event almost a week ago, especially with how busy I have been since then. We'll touch the highlights and then look at some more numbers.

Round 1 - 77, +13 (842 round rating)

I started on hole 16 with James, Deron, and Hubert, all of whom I know from playing with the Leland DCG. Wade, I believe, was the other player on our card. I mustered par on both 16 and 17 and I thought that I'd be alright.

Then it went haywire, by double-bogeying two of the next five and only making par on 2 and 5. It could have been worse. I had worked my last two practice rounds trying to not make doubles on the fifth hole and that effort payed off throughout.

Six through eight proved to be the beast I had feared most and it did not disappoint, but we'll talk more about those later. Then it happened, after a fair shot from the tee on 9, I was left with about a 50-footer for bird. Somehow, I managed to float my XT Colt into the chains, and the run was on.

A run like I have never had before, four straight birdies, perfectly executed shots on 10, 11, and 12...and it was over. I mean, I was back to over par, and carded a 77.

Round 2 - 85, +21 (766 round rating)

Back to my usual spot, starting on 18. I got to play on a card with Hubert again, but this time it was Hannable, Caleb, and Steve with me. At I think that was the card. Kinda blurry now since I played on so many different cards.

Not much to share on this one. I only had 3 pars for the round. The remainder was poor tee shots, bad recoveries and missed putts. The best part about the round was that it eventually came to an end. Heading the "low-lights" was seeing Caleb have to withdraw on hole 8 after tweaking his back. He assured me that he would recover soon and I would see him again down the road.

Round 3 - 81, +17 (803 round rating)

Still a little fuzzy to start day 2, but I think it was Hannable, Deron, Andrew, Mitch and myself on that card. We started on 18 again and I pretty much played to my experience level, beginning with two good 'ol bogeys. I proceeded to par number 2 for the second time in the tourney, before going on a bogey, double, triple spree, until I righted the ship with pars on 9 and 10.

Then I hacked my way to 3-over for the next two holes. Three pars and a birdie later, I was feeling good about myself again. With a gust of wind and a second thought firing across synapses in the grey matter, I missed a 15-foot par putt on 17 to settle for 81.

Round 4 - 81, +17 (810 round rating)

My third round wasn't terrible, but it was enough to drop me from 15th to 16th and so, I fell out of the Men's Rec card setup.  As one of the two odd men out, I was placed with the Intermediate Women's card starting on 13. The women have solid technique, and just throw well. I had played on a card with Nina before in a monthly and my game came off the rails after awhile. So I was concerned. Kailyn and Alisa rounded out our card of 4 players.

I had a nice forehand flex Firebird on 13 to get going...and proceeded to 3-putt while grumbling, "Here we go again." But I recovered with pars on 14 and 15. Had a fair drive with my trusty Saint again on 16 into C2, and floated my XT Colt in for bird from about 40 feet. I followed with par on 17 and was off to my best start.

I took my only real OB of the tourney on 18 (I abandoned one in round 2 and missed a mando in round 3) as I turned over a Destroyer on a forehand that hung over the ballfield and didn't make it back over the fence. Disappointing, especially because the distance was good...double bogey.

Followed with a bogey on 1 before getting another Saint into C1 on 2 and floating another XT Colt in the chains for my second, and final birdie of the round. I settled into bogey town, finishing second on the card to Nina's 77.

If you think this recap was long, you should try playing this tournament sometime. Let's not let Hannable down and get into more nuts and bolts...

Still a numbers game

Best Holes: 2, 10, 16 (-1)

I took one bogey on each of these during four rounds, but carded 4 birdies and was able to make solid pars on the rest of them. I also made putts. Funny how that works. The common factor: Latitude 64 Saint gold off the tee on every one of these.

Worst  Holes: 6, 7, 8 (+27)

I was thinking LunchMoney Lewis the whole time..."I had Pars, I had to make. So, I'm gonna work, work, work ev'ryday..." It didn't work. No pars and only one bogey, TOTAL, during the tournament. I finished 68-over for the tourney and 40 percent of that over was on these 3 holes. Brutal. I just never was comfortable with getting a disc into play to give myself a chance.

Improved Scoring: 4, 5, 15, 17 (+10)

These holes showed potential for me, but also helped my scores to balloon at times. I decided to cut my losses on 6 through 8 and focus my efforts on these instead. I decided to go with an XCaliber tomahawk on 4 to navigate the guardian trees off the tee and it worked with limited success. Approaches and finishing was not always solid.

Hole 5 is deceptive. It is slightly uphill and shows fairway with a RHBH fade line, but there's a direct route as well. The uphill usually gets in my head and I would often miss the line left, fading badly or a tree kick left. Again, I solved this with the Saint, 2 pars and 2 bogeys, but at least I gave myself a chance.

Number 15 is a dogleg right par-4. I have tinkered with turnover shots that work a little bit and forehand shots where I'm trying to find the right distance and fade to get around the corner. Firebird was the most successful here, again, 2 pars and 2 bogeys.

Number 17 is a straight-shot 480-foot par-4 with large trees mixed throughout the fairway. I was consistent here, finally. Missing a short par putt and 2 more 2-putts in Circle 2...I could have gotten this hole to even par instead of +2.

To make a long story short

Too late! Overall, one third of my holes were par or better (24/72) which, sadly, means that two-thirds were "other." Not good. I had 16 two- and three-putts and was mostly in the 70-percent range inside C1 (89% for round 3 though,) but I did hit 3 nice putts in C2 which saved my numbers from blowing up even more.

There will be lots more field work in my near future as I try to get my forehand smoothed out and my backhand tightened up. Looks like I'll be working the XT Colt a lot more with putting too.

I had a very hectic week following the Azalea, so lots more to share. I played 3 new courses in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and checked out another in Virginia during the road trip with my brother. I've already posted some, which you can find through links on my website at Flippin Discs Golf. I also got to visit a cool new disc golf store in Allentown, PA and meet the DiscInsanity dude, Jeff.

Everything now is slowly working toward the Sexton Shootout and Copperhead IV in May. Plenty of time to throw some flippin discs, until then, with more stories to come.