I'm a Lumberjack...

Longest Drive

The early morning sun was starting to light the way as we made our way through Fayetteville, North Carolina on the way to the 3rd Annual Pine Cone open at Anderson Creek in Lillington. My navigator and brother, PJ, was little help as my GPS struggled to give me the direct route to transition from Highway 87 to 210 for the rest of the trip North. We meandered along the neighborhood streets near Mazerick Park before making it over to Murchison Road and passing by Fayetteville State University.

I was starting to question entering this tournament. This was my longest drive to date. I drove both days to King's Cup in Kinston in January and Fayetteville for a one-day fling in May. My only other sanctioned tournament was right in my backyard. This was going to be first course that I would be playing blind as well. I had practiced every other course so far prior to tournament rounds. But I had looked forward to playing this event, run by Hannable McGarity, someone I'd met and had come to know in the past year, my first full year, in disc golf.

PJ was sending video message updates to a buddy back in Wilmington as we rambled along a couple of country roads before turning onto the gravel drive entering Anderson Creek Park.

"There's a basket....There's another one." he said repeatedly as we crunched along the rocks, down the hill and finally turning right towards the parking area.

I was eager to grab my stuffed-full disc golf bag, my golf bag cart and walk at least most of the course before the first round began. It was about 15 minutes before sign-in would open and I figured I could walk nine before and nine more after I checked in.

The Gang's All Here

I didn't want to interrupt the bustling setup as Hannanble and his Fly Guy Disc Golf crew were finishing operations. Geoffrey, Dave, Victoria and the rest were loading totes full of discs from the trailer and stationing them on tables under the Dynamic Discs tents, aside the picnic area headquarters, and getting the registration area established.

I saw Caleb Cooper, a fellow competitor and card mate at previous events, as I walked up. We exchanged greetings and I told him my plans to walk the course prior to play beginning.

"It doesn't matter," he said and smiled at me.

He had a point. I already new the tight lines and heavily wooded course was even going to be more challenging than Barnett Park at my first event in Kinston. He would be on my card for the first round, along with Eric Clink, who also played with me in King's Cup. Caleb's advice later, during our first round, would help somewhat as we played and I knew I would be comfortable with the group, no matter what my game looked like.

A Good Walk...

The morning was going according to plan so far. I was able to walk the entire course before the player meeting. I was perplexed about the lines and discs I was going to have to to throw to navigate some of these holes. It was going to be more "one shot at time," than I normally am in a tournament.

I got checked in quickly and I'll share more about the player pack later (which was amazing) so we can jump into action...but first, the meeting.

You can tell a lot about a tournament by the player meeting. Hannable is a pro as TD. He covered all course info, recognized the junior and women's players (which was more than I'd had ever seen at an event) as well as including upcoming event organizers as we all try to #growthesport. The meeting culminated with the group singing Happy Birthday to Geoffrey, which was special. And thanks to Victoria for providing cupcakes and lunch for the event in celebration. So much information, filled slots for no-shows...and still started on time.

Now, onto my usual technical breakdowns...well, kinda.

What goes A Round...

My first round began with Caleb and Eric on hole 10 which required a soft RHBH fade after navigating a tight window through the trees. I missed the line, but snuck through anyway, layup to C1 and made the par putt.

Number 11 is a 200-foot par 3 that fit my Star Colt on a soft turnover line very nicely. I had a decent tee shot but hit the cage on my birdie look and settled for par. I still wasn't feeling very confident though, especially having gotten lucky on 10. Then my form broke down and caused me to overthink every shot off the tee, beginning with 12.

The 12th hole is 300-feet with a slight uphill finish and a tall, leaning tree in the middle of the fairway, taunting players from the box. Caleb suggested a hyzer with something flippy on the right side line. Uh-huh. I opted for a slightly understable Tursas on the left (outside) line to play safe. I babied the shot and rounded my pull...and hit the tree on the right side to boot, careening my disc into jail to the right. I don't think I would have fared better taking Caleb's advice anyway. I scrambled, badly, to a 5 to go 2-over.

We're going to fast forward here because the rest of my round was a little more "poke and hope" than I would have liked. I had a few nice pars, my putting was solid when I finally approached baskets. The 5 on 18 and the 6 on 1 were serious low-lights of my round. I hacked my way to 12-over, the 3rd worst score in the Rec division. I needed to get more basic, sometimes conservative, off the tee if was going to stay in play and redeem myself.

...Comes A(nother) Round

When you're at the bottom there's nowhere to go but up...ideally. I began, this time, on hole 15, in 15th (of 17) on the last card in the group. The anti-Lead Card if you will.

Fifteen was a "poke and hope" hole to be sure. There was a safe forehand line to layup and earn par. There was a hyzer line to the right, that would likely leave me safe, but still short. There was a line through a loose grouping of 3 trees in the middle of the fairway that, if attacked precisely with conviction, could see a nice fade to a birdie look. I hyzered directly into the leftmost tree and darted left. Scrambled for bogey.

Hole 16 is the mirror reflection of 12, running alongside one another, but shorter at 170 feet. It is downhill then, with another tree in your face. Again, I rounded a bit and released early. I scrambled valiantly with a decent approach and missed a long par save. Bogey. Good grief, not again...

I'm not sure what shot is required for 17, a 355-foot, tightly wooded par 3, but I don't have it. I had heard there's a lefty line, (or RHFH for me) but it's very dicey and an early miss could be disastrous. I managed to throw my Latitude 64 Gold Line Maul on a forehand turnover in round one, a little nose up to encourage a late fade (by sheer luck to be sure,) hitting a tree in C2 but hit cage on the putt, yet saving par. Good result, repeat the shot, right? Only this time, the Maul came out flat and high, it just kept turning...and turning...and turning. I ended up about 20-feet shy of the basket, distance-wise. Granted, I was about 100-feet left of it, just off 18's fairway, in vines and scraggly baby pines. I straddled wide to the right, floating an R-Pro Pig to tap-in distance. Recovery successful.

We're going to glaze over 18. I took double bogey in the first and bogeyed this time. Again, not sure what the line should look like here, maybe a really strong RHBH anhyzer flex shot with something just overstable enough to fight back to flat, but not all the way back around to the left. Whatever the shot is supposed to look like here, I didn't have any of those. Moving on...

Hannable mentioned that I would want the CTP for this round. The CTP was Hole 1 and it was per card. I only had to have the best shot on my card...if only I could throw straight for 235-feet. I didn't. But I tossed by Azalea Am (sponsored by Cape Fear Games) Glow Roc to about 185, slightly off the fairway to the left...and that was good enough. Then I sailed the putt over the basket and left a testy 25-footer for par. Ice water...chains!

We're going to fast-forward some more...par, bogey, bogey, bogey - same score as this stretch last time only in a different order. Then somehow I scrambled to par on hole 6, a 465-foot par 4 which I scrambled in a totally different manner the first round to make par both times.

I released early on hole 7 and knocked around until I made my bogey putt. The first round was more memorable, with an edge of C1 save for par. I was eager to get to 8, a tight, downhill 205-foot hole with another shot shape that fit my Colt nicely. I released early the first round but saved par. This time, I had a pure release and it turned ever so slightly, bending along the gap as it raced toward the basket, I desperately wanted that 3rd ace (and the Ace pool), but it faded slightly at the end, sliding to the left. I would not be denied this time, finishing with my first birdie.

Number 9 is another one of those crazy, pick a side, hit the line, downhill, through the trees kinda hole. I didn't think I would hit that tree in the middle, so I sighted it up, and don't you know, I hit that sucker, glancing left into a sparsely wooded area. The real danger with this hole? The group on the hole behind us.

The tee pad on 9 is a stray shot right disaster area from eight. Now, I'm not sure where these guys were aiming, but my aforementioned brother, PJ, was walking with us today. Not a caddy, per se, but an observer, visual documentarian, and at this moment...spotter. I couldn't see the other group very clearly from my vantage point, but I heard PJ yell, "Look out!" and try to scramble from his position squatting in the pine needles as he tried to keep a visual. We all tried to pick up sight of the flying saucer as we braced ourselves for impact. He really did try to get out of the way. The errant disc pin-balled among the branches overhead before smacking PJ flat on his back and flipping over onto the forest floor. Trey Cooke, you can thank him for potentially saving you the roll-away. I kid...well, kinda. I still think it was lucky it hit him. Sorry, PJ. Love ya, bro.

Meanwhile, back at our hole, I tossed an anhyzer flick XT Colt to a tap-in position, through a gap in the woods that resembles a shot I practice in my backyard quite a bit. Number 10 saw me hit the gap correctly this time, only to get too much fade from my DyeMax Lollipop Lat64 Explorer. Long look at birdie...tap-in par. Back to the comfortable Star Colt turnover at 11, where I was able to convert for birdie this time.

Here we were...12...again. Visually, this hole fit my eye better with a forehand flex shot. I should have opted for this route the last time, because I hit the right-side gap perfectly, drifting left as my BioFuzion Felon fought back to flat, then ever slightly right, slid through a late opening and up the hill at the edge of C1 for a birdie look. Used the entire width of fairway on this one. Converted the 3rd bird of the round.

Numbers 13 and 14 were rather pedestrian, fair tee shots, decent approaches, par putts. Final tally, a 4-over 59, 3rd hottest round in Rec division. Ultimately, I was able to move from 15th to a tie for 9th and last cash.

Wrapping Up

I'm going to have to come back next year now. Between the challenge of the course, the great people, my fave TD, Hannable, and the fact that even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then (i.e. a newbie dg'er like me,) it's gonna happen. The player pack and event was well worth the drive. Add on the voucher take of a Lat64 River and DD Prime Warden, plus the Westside Ahti I won with the CTP, and I had a super day.

Thanks to all the players on my card for keeping it relaxed and fun. Thanks to Team Fly Guy and Hannable for a memorable event. You can read more about the Pine Cone Open from HP's perspective and the tournament history from the link included here. I love when we get to cross streams with our blog posts.

I have a few more discs to play with now as I get ready for my next tournament, the Down East Players Cup in Greenville, NC near the end of October. I need to work on driving, and keep the putting solid like it's been. It would have been nice to have been a little more consistent with my game, but that comes with more practice...throwin' those Flippin Discs.