Flippin' Discs

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 g...

I have enjoyed getting involved in disc golf. The people, the challenges, learning new skills, new shots, new plastic, all of the things that make the game fun. I love that. I'm not good at hanging out, sitting around the yard and chatting with friends. I like doing stuff...doing stuff like throwing some flippin discs with good people. But I'm still not good at just having "fun," per se. I'm always working on something. Maybe I'm trying a new shot to build confidence for the next time I find myself in a situation. Maybe I'm trying to groove an approach with a disc that I've almost got completely figured out. I enjoy the company, but I do look forward to the organized competitions too. Not just a caddy Last month, I caddied for a friend, not because I'm not good enough to play, but it was an opportunity to watch, learn, listen, and see how other players approach the game, and the course that I am about to play this weekend. I am sure there we...

Disc golf is supposed to be fun. It is a whole lot more fun though when you're playing well and not finishing DFL (Dead Flippin' Last.) The monthly tournaments held by one of the local clubs in which I participate, are quite challenging. The skill level of the players here is top notch and the course can be an adventure. As a 789-rated PDGA Member, I was pleased to take advantage of the turnout for this one. Essentially, I am a novice, I play Rec division and really would be over my head against the other Amateurs here. There's a Pro division too, and it will be a long time before we talk about that here. Four players is enough for a card...and a Rec grouping. The people that you meet Preemptively, I will note that we had one player that grew frustrated and abandoned us midway through round 2. Cameron, was my main competition, and he brought his son to play as well. Cameron is new to the sport, like me, and had a brief stretch where he had suffered a broken right...

I wasn't really sure what I was going to write about this week. As usual, I have a thousand thoughts streaking across the grey matter, but all in state of disarray. I looked to my sage, Hannable, this week for a spec of inspiration, but that only brought on a thousand more thoughts as I try to get ready for my next tournament, the Azalea AM, in 2 1/2 weeks. Keeping it close Every process has peaks, plateaus, and the dreaded valleys. I'm sort of in a plateau at the moment. So I decided to take it easy this week. I worked on putting, but didn't use my usual PerfectPutt 360 app, plus I worked on laying up from 50-80 feet for tap-ins. I have no business running anything beyond 30 feet anyway, so I might as well learn to make finishing a touch simpler. I've got some consistency in my bag (for the time being) and I'm really working hard to learn my discs. There hadn't been much time spent with my local club, but Sunday Service was the perfect opport...

I had a buddy get me into Triathlons a few years back. In 2005, I entered my first, the Emerald Isle Triathlon. Now it wasn't anything crazy like Ironman distance or anything. I think it was something like a little under a half-mile ocean swim, a 12-13 mile bike and finished with the 5k run. They call that "sprint" distance. Um, yeah...sprint. Long story short, I really thought the swim was going to kill me, but I made it. Then I got a leg cramp about halfway through the bike portion, but I made it. By the time the I trotted across the finish line, it had seemed an eternity since I lost my breakfast (twice) on the dunes between the surf and the staging area for my road bike. Not to "Ron White" you here, but I told you that story, so I could tell you this story. The Usual Suspects I've been to one PDGA sanctioned event, but I've met some people whose company I enjoy. As players were swarming the check in, I found James and Geoffrey on the sidewalk ju...

I like quotes. I'm a writer first and a disc golfer second...distant second. Growing up I loved baseball. My two passions collide with so many lines attributed to Yogi Berra that I could go on for days. One of my favorites is "Baseball is 90 percent physical, the other half is mental." While there are disputes over who actually delivered the line and whether or not the quote was, in actuality, "Ninety percent of the game is physical, the other half is mental," is for old men to debate over their morning coffee with each other at Hardee's on any given morning for years to come...it does bring up the side of sports that generally rears it's ugly head in the greatest of mistakes, or the greatest of victories. The mental game of disc golf was a topic of discussion, briefly, during my last semi-competitive round at one of my local courses. Golf...any way you play it It was Caleb that advanced the brief conversation by dropping the name of Dr. Bob Rote...

I recently read a post written by someone who I had the pleasure of meeting and playing on the card for 3 rounds during the King's Cup in Kinston, NC. I was a little disheartened at first, but it just took me a moment to get refocused. I mean, that's not me. He's more seasoned as a disc golfer and quite honestly, my expectations for performance are pretty low as a newcomer to the game. Not exactly baby steps There are 5 weeks to prepare for my next tournament. Another B-tier. While this is a local event for me on a course that I have played almost a dozen times now, I haven't played it very well. The par 64 course near Wilmington, NC is called "Castle Payne" for a reason, beyond being a playful pun referring to the Castle Hayne Disc Golf Course. My first time out there was last August and I shot a 94. I wasn't sure that I'd make it out alive. My best round so far has been a 73, where I made par on 9 holes and birdied the treacherous par-5 12th w...