The Uncle Dennis Rule still applies

In my years of chasing the little white ball around the course and the 3+ years that I have enjoyed playing disc golf, there is one shot that I simply don’t have in my repertoire. The pitch out.

During my white ball days, my family and friends often heard me refer to what has affectionately been known as “The Uncle Dennis Rule.” He and I talked golf on a few occasions and he was a big proponent of taking your medicine on bad shots and putting yourself into position to take a good one, instead of compounding your troubles. Essentially, he said, you hit a ball from a perfect spot off a tee you placed down and missed a fairway that was 40 yards wide. Now, you’re going to take an awkward stance from a less-than-perfect lie and try to make that ball, with a swing you haven’t practiced, get through an opening the size of a postcard to advance on the hole. Pitch out. Give yourself a chance on the next one.

I only played a few rounds of golf with my Uncle Dennis. It was many less than I would have liked and I thought about him as I tackled my first tournament of 2022, The ECO Tour Whiteville at the Beast on Honey Hill. While The Beast doesn’t offer the same type of penalties for missing fairways as Barnet Park and Castle Hayne, where my next 2 tournaments will be held, there can be some application of the Uncle Dennis Rule. However, it does require some modification, since the “lie” in disc golf can be managed differently.

Golf is limited by the ground where the ball comes to rest, the proximity of where I can swing my club and where I can take my stance. In Disc Golf, after taking a position behind my marker or the disc previously thrown, I have options. I can stretch out to one side or the other, throw forehand, backhand, overhand, plus I have discs with different flights and angles I can put those on to achieve different shot shapes. The Disc Golf version of The Uncle Dennis Rule becomes, look for the widest gap, with the latest possible obstacle. I want to hit the last tree possible when I try and execute a shot. Keeping this in mind really makes scrambling the strongest part of my game (sadly.)

Scores aren’t stats

We can continue to have debates on ratings and what par means, but you know I like to look at stats to identify areas of improvement. Scores aren’t stats. Scores are results based on a combination of factors, compiled one shot at a time. I have almost cured myself of the “I could’ve shot better, if I didn’t…” mentality. Recovery is a slow process and knowing is half the battle. Everyone has a shot or two (maybe many more) that they left out on the course.

It’s really difficult not to look at scores though. These 2 rounds (63,62) were one shot higher than my first time here (62,61) during a Leland Monthly a few months ago. Conditions were a little better that day and normally I have difficulty performing under tournament pressure, so I was encouraged by the resulting scores. Let’s play the numbers game.

Round One… Ding. Ding.

Shotgun starts are always interesting. I began my round on hole 15 (which we’ll come back to later.) Suffice it to say, I did not strike fear into any of my card mates once they saw me 3-putt from inside circle 1. I almost bookended the round with a similar performance on hole 13, before scrambling for par on 14. Despite the setbacks, it wasn’t the broken record of roller coaster rounds that I have endured in the past, and the numbers reflected that. When I look at stats following a round, I always look at putting, with perspective, of course.

I took 31 total putts in round one, with 23 coming from inside Circle 1, but only 13 of those putts counted toward the 62% (making 8/13) C1x measurement. The key is looking at the bottom row, which shows an average distance of the made putt based on the range where that putt was made (0-11, 11-22, 22-33 ft.) So a tap-in, inside 11 feet, becomes a 5 in that row, and as a tap-in doesn’t contribute to boosting your average. Overall, I was 78% putting in C1 with my biggest concern being the form flaws of being stuck between a spin and spush putt that led to multiple putts on 13 and 15.

Driving is a constant issue, but I was able to get a decent tee shot on at least 11 holes, but this is where I start to look at recovery rates. I was errant from the tee on 7 of 18 holes, but the 57% scramble rate puts me at par (or better) on 4 of those. I’m not sure I’ve had many rounds where I had a chance to score, or not lose strokes on 15 of 18 in a round. Experienced players find ways to make par, even when they find themselves out of position. Ultimately, I had the opportunity to score or save par 72% of the time (50% GIR C2 and 4 successful scrambles.) That’s a good sign. This is why working on your approach game is key because if you’re out of position, you won’t be gaining shots, but you can’t afford to lose shots either.

Holes 15 and 17 played a little more than a stroke over par, and I was able to scramble for par on 17. Those were the 2 most difficult holes in the first round and the third most challenging, hole 18, played +0.8, so I wasn’t too far off there. My birdies came on 6 and 16, stock forehands with a Lucid-X Felon and Lucid Justice, respectively. These played in the range of the 5 easiest holes. Hole 12 played as the easiest and is similar to 16 with a repeatable shot shape. I had a 20-footer, but yanked it. One of those shots left out on the course.

I was last on my card, 13^th out of 22 at that point, 5-over. After lunch, it was time for Round Two.

Second Time A-Round

I started on hole 16 this time, forcing my shot to miss the birdie chance, but did salvage the par. The putting appears to have been a dramatic increase, jumping to 92% in C1 (12/13) and just 5 tap-ins. The reality is that my approach game was better in the first round, getting around 10 feet or closer, and this time I was often in the 15-25 foot range. But I did make those putts. I did stop the bleeding on 15, my final hole, after numerous shots, with a 50-footer to score that 17% C2 putting (1/7.)

The driving was less sharp after the break and I wasn’t hitting at least C2 at the same clip either. On the flip side, after grabbing 3 extra strokes on 17 and 18, I scrambled for pars on 5 of the next 6. Then I birdied hole 9, with all its OB and elevated basket with the pond behind it. It played as the 13^th hardest hole for the round, with the only other birdies then being from 3 of the Top 5 in MA40. I also got number 12 this time.

Still, I gave myself a chance at par on 14 of 18 holes or 77% of the time, thanks to a 64% scramble rate (7/11.) There were fewer holes that played under par for the division in the second round (4 vs 6) and despite my struggle holes, I fared better by a stroke in scoring.

Wrapping it up

There were 22 competitors in MA40 for this event. I finished in a tie for 10^th. More importantly, I was able to play 2 consistent rounds, both above my rating.

I could get lost in the numbers and lose sight of the fact that the bad putting in Round 1 was just 2 really awful holes with Round 2 being more about upshots and not giving myself tough looks or testers. From a situational standpoint, I made solid putts on 6 and 18 in the first and 2, 9, 15 I the second round. That’s building confidence, which I need to have for every putt.

Hole 15. This one is the beast of The Beast (although 9 long/long is no picnic, but we didn’t go there) and I said we’d get back to 15. I wasn’t fond of starting my round with one of, if not THE hardest hole on the course (1^st in rd1 and 3^rd hardest in rd2.) But I was able to get it out of the way early. In the second round, I was going to have to finish on that dreaded hole. Not that I was scoreboard watching (although I was a little bit,) but knowing that I had 15 as my finishing hole felt like it created more pressure to not make mistakes running through that back 9 on my card. Any strokes I could shave would give me a chance to move up, but most cards in my division had already endured that little slice of hades, so I’m torn about which is better at this point. Which do you think is better, not speaking any English at all, or being Howard Cosell? Maybe you’re just “Better Off Dead.”

I’ll still continue to watch the Driving and Scramble numbers. It’s all about being able to finish. If I can hit most fairways and get the recovery numbers higher when I don't (successful scrambles vs. 18, not vs. total scrambles) and get upwards of 90%, I’ll always be in the game. Going to have to keep The Uncle Dennis Rule in mind and the rest will fall into Flippin place.