Sunday, April 23, 2006

Pure Pwnage


Yesterday was definately a day of firsts: first time Wes and I have ever kept track of our scores at Acorn, first time we had ever joined up with that many people to play a round, first time I have ever been out-driven by a 12 year old, and first time I have ever heard Wes call me naughty names.


So a couple of days ago, I was sifting through old emails, trying to lighten the load in my inbox, when I happened across a spreadsheet used to keep track of scores and averages for our disc golf class last fall. I ended up adapting it to suit our purposes, allowing us to keep track different stats. For instance, we can now see our averages for any one hole or be able to calculate our handicap.

I was pretty excited to get some scores up, so we decided to really keep score for the first time in awhile. In fact, this was Wes's first time ever keeping score. But apparently we suffer performance anxiety, judging by the number of unnecessary errors we made. I ended up going +2 after 3 holes. I was not happy. Then, around hole 6, we hooked up with another group of 4. It was a busy day and we figured we could romp through the course in just as much time together, and that way, it'd hopefully save some time for those behind us.

The group we jumped in with were pretty cool cats. The foursome included a father (Big Steve), his two sons (an adult and the aforementioned 12 year old), and a friend of the older son. Each could hold their own around the course. In fact, the older son could unleash one of the longest forearms I've ever seen. The added pressure of capable companions did little to decrease our performance anxiety, though it began to manifest itself in different ways in Wes and myself. Wes, admittedly, had difficulty staying focused while I, somehow, began to play more consistantly.

For Wes, it took him awhile to calm down and realize that nobody really cared much about performance. But after a shaky start, he began to settle down and actually had some of the better drives I've ever seen him make. And though the scores don't really show it, Wes has definately improved, even from the beginning of the season.

As for me, I believe I already mentioned that after 3, I was sitting on a +2. This is not a good thing as the front nine are usually the holes to buffer your score with in lieu of the back nine, which is much longer and has more difficult holes. I was able to birdie 4 and get back to +1 and carried that through the front nine. Then disaster. I shanked my next two drives into trees not far from the tee box, giving me consecutive bogeys. But I got one back on the next hole, putting me at +2 after 12. Blotched on 15 but got it back on 17 and then lost it again on 18. And even though the round didn't seem very stellar to me, I ended on a +3, which just so happens to be the best score I have ever posted from all back tees. After I realized this, I was pretty stoked.

My goal for the season is to get to evens with Acorn, a very plausible goal for the season. Mark it!

Splash, Turn, Twist,
~Doug

1 comment:

Bryan said...

Lookin' good out there.