From East to (mid)West

Alright ya'll, with yet another finals season finished, a new time of the year begins (preferably with more disc golf than the last).  My summer will be markedly different than the previous few.  For instance, my PDGA account has not been renewed this year.  With so much uncertainty and busyness and travel in the last couple months and with so much more of the same in the next couple months, I didn't think I would find the time or resources to make renewal worthwhile.  We hope that next year will be different, but it just didn't make sense this year.  Further, the annual disc golf weekend of the SCDGA will be sans Diggs.  I hope the rest of ya'll are still able to get together for a trip, but for similar reasons, the timing and the finances just didn't make it possible.

What I am looking at, however, is a Midwest cameo for about a month or so before returning to the east coast.  During that month, I hope to connect with anyone who might be around the SCDGA birthplace during the rest of May through a fair amount of June.  I would like to see you gentlemen if possible.  I will be without reliable transportation during that time, and with my competition bag staying put out east, I'll be struggling through a meager disc schedule on backup discs.  Such is life.  But after I get back out here, things should open up a bit, allowing a more regular disc fix.

Here's what we're looking at through August:

• MRK has already mentioned a possible trip down to throw a round or two.  This needs to happen.
• I have a couple business trips during the Midwest trip.  One of these takes me to Jiggs' hometown.  We're going to try to get together and play a round at our old stomping grounds
• Another trip takes me to Kansas City for a couple days.  I have not played a course in Kansas or Missouri.  I'm hoping to make both happen
• I haven't spoken with URBWes in awhile, but if he wants to spike some more burritos, he should visit his sister during early June.  URBWes, you want a burrito
• Harky I know is more limited in coming back (that's what you get for living in the Big Cheesy), but I wish him the best in working out a disc weekend!
• When I get back here, I'll have about three guys to play with around here.  They aren't my Cold Lampin' Crew, but they'll do.  We'll be regulars at the Mercer course, which has gotten much better this season
• I'm also hopeful we are able to make a trip to Tyler State Park and maybe even Warwick up north.  These are two well-regarded courses and the best around here
• Most of you will know to whom I refer when I mention the Halo name Reepicheep.  There's a possibility I'll be able to head up to see him this summer.  If so, I'm not sure I could pass on all the quality disc around Rochester

I leave tomorrow morning for a place that was 40 degrees colder than it was here today.  I hope you are all doing well.  Catch ya'll 'round the Lamp.

~Diggs

The Minnesota Majestic: Tourney in Review

I have heard about this tournament for years since I have been living in Minnesota. "You gotta play in the Majestic! It's amazing...." I have been to the Final 9 and the Opening rounds to see the Pro's light up some of the greatest courses Minnesota has to offer. I have seen Feldberg miss a putt and the immediately smack himself in the head with a disc in disgust. I've even dabbled in playing in the doubles tournament that is the Thursday before the tourney starts and we all know how that went. But I have never actually played in the event. UNTIL this year.

Well Poop. We Have Some Catchin' Up To Do...

When I say we have catching up to do, I mean it.  This post will be spanning a time frame of three years.  Buckle up!

• My May and June are pretty crazy.  I am literally home for 1.5 weeks in June, and I will be logging around 100 hours of work in those 1.5 weeks.  That will play into a couple of these bullet points, but mostly I just wanted to see that typed out so I could scare the crap out of myself.  Did it work?  Let me check.  Yup... crap is out.
• Checking back on some old posts, I realized I was lazy.  I started Day 1 of the 2012 Disc Weekend, but I neglected to do absolutely anything beyond that.  Shame on me!  I will start catching up on those soon-ish.  With two posts remaining on the subject, I should get it done before the 2013 Disc Weekend actually takes place.  This brings me to my next point...
• Disc Weekend (Week) 2013 is only about a month away!  I'm a loser, so I made an itinerary for our time.  After some fine tuning, I'll be sending it out.  Get your arms ready 'cuz you're going to need some stamina for this one.  I'll expand upon this in a separate preview post, but for now just know that there will be prizes, awards, skills competitions, and even something called the North Korea Special.  Stay tuned.
• The 2014 World Amateur Disc Golf Championships will be in the Twin Cities
• I am playing tournaments again this year.  I am pretty sure MRK is, too, though I'll let you tell you about that himself.
• Wouldn't it be sweet if the last two bullet points were related?
• My first tourney will be an A-Tier at the end of the month.  I have played precisely zero of the courses on the schedule.  My prediction = my rating will go down.
• I have a pinched nerve in my back that's been going on for nearly a month now.  I have a doctor's visit tomorrow.  Let us see if we can't get Diggs up and going before the month is out.
• I miss you all.  Can't wait to get together and throw some plastic!

~Diggs

2012 Tournament Season in Review: Bueno

Whew!  With all that tourney negativity out of the way, let us turn to all those things that made the 2012 tournament season a wonderful set of experiences.  Here are the "Bueno-s"

10.  PDGA Membership - #52116.  Along with the custom mini and PDGA issue Stalker, the sweetest part about joining the PDGA is being able to support the efforts of disc golf as a sport.  Not only does it allow for tournaments, but for all the innovative ways in which disc golf is being developed and promoted.  Glad to contribute.
9.    More complete understanding of competitive disc golf - While I had the opportunity to play one other tournament before, the tourney was also the first of the rest of those participating.  Playing in sanctioned events forces you to take every shot seriously.  No longer is it a given that you'll be one of the better players on the course.  The level of competition goes up, and so does the level of your play.
8.    Some of the better rounds I've ever played - Definitely some notable exceptions.  The doubles tourney was certainly a low point in my career, and the first round of the Acorn Open was less than steller, but for one stretch of the second round in the Acorn Open, I hit 6 birdies in 8 holes.  Rock star.
7.    Mini competitions - CTP, ace pools, distance competitions, rings of fire.  Stupid little things to pass the time, but interesting nonetheless.
6.    Meeting some big-time discers...
5.    Ratings - Along with the PDGA membership, every sanctioned tournament round becomes a rated round.  Think of 1000 being a standard for the sport (something akin to par).  Ratings allow you to gauge where you are in relation to other players.  I like the idea.  Now I know for certain how horrible I am
4.    Tournament Flymarts - Sweet Moses, that was a lot of plastic.  Promoters and companies bring a nice little collection of the latest and greatest around to sell to us hapless consumers.  This is on the list because of #2
3.    Duh... winning!  Even though I won exactly zero tourneys this year, for the most part, I was competitive, landing me in the winnings.  This leads me to...
2.    Free plastic! - Placing in these things as an amateur will often net winnings in the form of a voucher at the flymart.  And all those discs you never had the chance to buy suddenly become a lot more affordable

And the numero uno "Bueno" for the 2012 tourney season is...

2012 Tournament Season in Review: No Bueno

With the 2012 tournament season in the books for me, I thought I would go back and touch on some of those things I hadn't had an opportunity to get to during my tourney reviews (let's be honest, they were long enough as it was).  I wish to start low and go high, so we will start with my top ten "No Bueno-s," those things I could have gone without.

10.  Thanking your sponsors - Players, I'm sure it is contractually obligated to mention sponsors following an award, but it still sounds tacky to me
9.    Lack of preparation - Some people have organizational skills; others do not.  Those of the latter should not be running a tournament.  If you do not have an idea for how CTP; distance throws; or between round course alterations will be accomplished, do not offer them
8.    Amateurs taking themselves too seriously - You know the guy who is out to win Worlds at an out-of-the-way C-tier.  Chill, turbo.  Though this could become a "Bueno" when you can catch him in a wrong rule explanation when he's been shoving them down your throat all day
7.    Lack of communication - Fine, you told us that all the pins are now in the short position.  But understand that we understand that to mean existing pin placements.  Doesn't help when you randomly invent pin locations on blind throws
6.    Incorrect posting of scores on the PDGA website - Rings especially hollow when you had just admonished players for accuracy in score reporting.  Just sayin'...
5.    Hills - Man, I hate hills
4.    Wet grass - Man, I hate wet grass
3.    Cold - Man, I hate... you get the idea
2.    Playing a course blind - This hit me on the doubles tourney MRK and I played at the Minnesota Majestic.  MRK mentioned as much on his Year in Review.  This is very much on the player.  We're the ones who decided to sign up for these things.  It would be our lack of preparation that would keep the course knowledge from us.  It isn't like they surprise us with locations.  Doesn't make it any better, though, when you have to scheme a hole on the spot without much concept of how the hole rolls.  I say avoid playing these bad boys blind

And the numero uno "No Bueno" is...

2012 Disc Golf Season Personal Reflection Part 1

As the new disc golf season approaches or it's supposed to here in Minnesota anyway. I thought I would take a few moments to reflect on disc golf "season" of 2012. It is marked with many firsts which I will talk about in detail in the following posts: my PDGA membership, new discs, tournament participation, and a few new courses to add to my growing list.

 For the purposes of this post I will elaborate on my PDGA membership as well as the tournament highlights. So as the story goes, Diggs and myself decided we were going to play in a few tournaments and well those of you who play tournaments know that if you are not a PDGA member the cost is usually ten bucks more than if you were a member.

Majestic Doubles: Truck Confusion

Well, that could have gone better.

Good news, we didn't get last.  We didn't even get last in our grouping.  We actually won our grouping.  But to be any more positive beyond that would be a stretch.  The amateur doubles tourney matched all amateurs against one another and took place at the Hyland Ski Course.  Being my first time on the course, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Guess what... its on a big friggin' hill!  Up and down and up and down and across then up a bunch of hills!  Ugh, it makes a man tired!

As I look back on it all, the result was pretty predictable.  Not only had I never played the course before, MRK (my partner) had played the course a grand total of one time.  Experience with the course was greatly lacking.  Also, experience with that type of course is greatly lacking.  Not too many courses I have played come close to simulating the elevation change and the accompanying length.  Our inexperience with the course means our distancing was off, our shot evaluation was inaccurate, and I just flat didn't know how to throw uphill or downhill like that.  It was learning as we were playing... in a tournament.  No bueno.

Oh, and neither MRK nor myself had really played since our last tourney in May.  I will admit that especially early on I was a liability to the team.  We took nearly all of the King's shots because, well, he played much better than me. 

Doubles are supposed to represent an amalgamation of the two players.  It allows a team to utilize the strengths of the two and mitigate the weaknesses.  It allows two attempts at the same shot.  But when you rely more or less on one of the team, the team loses the bonus of having a teammate.  The end result was that for a good portion of the round, I required the King to work alone.  The end result was a poor scoring performance.  We lacked birdies.  That is all there is to it.

On a positive note, I threw a disc 700+ feet on the last hole.  Downhill but it happened.

It felt good.

Maybe more about Taco Bell and Lion's Park and wheel bearings and watching the pros later.  Right now I'm tired.

Diggs, out.

Tourney Week: Double the Fun

If you hadn't caught the pattern here, our tournament season is punctuated by events about every month or so.  We started at Doane and continued at Acorn.  The next couple events will be change ups to our regularly scheduled programming.  MRK and yours truly will be joining forces for the Minnesota Majestic's Amateur Doubles tourney this week before the 2nd Annual Cold Lampin' Disc Weekend in July.  Unfortunately, neither MRK or myself will be able to play the actual Majestic individual tournament.  Employment requirements preclude such joys for me.  It would have been nice to get in another A-Tier event on the calendar.  No matter, we roll doubles!

In complete honesty, this is probably the tourney that precipitated the beginning of our tourney careers.  I find a certain comfort and confidence in playing with the King.  I've known this kid's game since he rolled with ultimate discs on the course; I was there when he found his first disc the Panther (no joke, his first disc was a find); and we have continued to develop our games throughout the years.  I have a firm idea of his tendencies, his capacities and his mental game.

More after the jump...

Hot or Not: PDGA Player Ratings for May 2012

With so much else happening, I haven't had an opportunity to comment on one more facet of being a PDGA member.  This changes now.  Along with sweet swag, tourney privileges, and a card that says that I'm a BA disc golfer, the King and I are now rated disc golfers.

Ratings are the means by which our community measures ability (at least for PDGA members).  Ratings are not the simplest things to tabulate accurately.  Think of the complexity for a moment.  Ratings need represent the aggregated performance of a single disc golfer across various rounds in various locations in incalculable conditions.

You cannot go simply by course pars.  Who would set the criteria?  Beyond that, how would the ratings take into account 30 mph gusts of wind over and against calm conditions?  Then the location question.  How does a gusty round at Winthrop Gold in South Carolina compare with a calm day at Blue Ribbon Pines in Minnesota?

In steps the rating system referred to as Scratch Scoring Average (or SSA).  I won't bore you with the details because I can't understand them, but the idea is a relative and fluid system that rates each round not against the tangible, physical elements of the course, but against the intangible, human element of the players themselves.  Each round is evaluated based on how those already rated perform around you, with standard (or scratch) representing 1000.  In order for a ratable round to occur, the round must be in a sanctioned tournament; comparable with at least five players whose rating is at least 800 and whose rating is based on at least eight rounds of information.

It is a complicated system, but from what I can tell very equitable and as complete a system as I could discern.  For more information, please go to this explanation:  http://www.pdga.com/files/documents/PDGARatingsGuide.pdf.

I won't trouble you with the ratings of MRK or myself, though in the future I will likely outline my hopes and goals for my rating in a future post.  Until then, live in wonderment and awe of the rating system!

~Diggs

Programming note: I will try to have a post for you next week, however, I am preparing a vacation to Utah (yes, I know), and I may not have time to produce one in time.  I'll do what I can, because I know the many readers of this blog await my posts in anticipatory silence.  Yeah... that.

Acorn Open 2012: Burrito Power Ups

Second tourney of the year is in the books.  It was, in a word, bipolar.  This is a word I used in description of the last tournament.  It is applicable for both, but for different reasons.  More on that in a bit.

This is a tournament the King and I had been looking forward to playing for some time now.  Honestly, when my interest in playing a tourney was first piqued, this is the one which caused the... piquing.  With the ever-efficacious benefit of hindsight, I'm glad we waited.

The day leading up to the event was an exercise in fluidity.  The original plan was to meet the Mid Range King in the Cities; sneak in a warm-up session; spend the night at my old roommate's abode; then rock faces at the tourney before riding off into the sunset.  Things changed.

Tourney Week: Watch Your Nuts!

A month after the "Groan at Doane", MRK and I will be hitting up our second scheduled tournament of the season.  We will be making a stop by the 2012 Acorn Open.  Taking place at Acorn Park in Roseville, this is a course with which we are much more familiar.  After all, Acorn is a place we considered home for a time.  Being close to our Alma Mater, URBWes, the King and I frequented this place more than any other (save perhaps the Bethel course after it came online).  We threw here before I switched back to a backhand throw.  We threw here in the Minny winters.  And we throw here when we are back in the Cities.  It is that standard by which we can examine the change in our game.

In fact, MRK and I were recently in the Cities at the same time and had the opportunity to get in a round at Acorn as a warm up.  Honestly, it was rougher for us than I thought it would be.  The reason?  Changes in our games.  One would think that as we develop as players our capacity to approach a familiar course with surpassing deftness and command.  Not the case.  Our games have developed consistently throughout our time in the game.  This includes the years since Acorn was our local haunt.  Such is the result when a great change encounters that which is familiar.

Our conditioned minds have an expectation for how to play a hole.  We have played it that way many times before.  It is tried and tested and must succeed the same way in the future.  Apparently my arm failed to get the memo.  I throw a Starfire much differently than I thew it back in the day.  The same for my Roc.  This is to say nothing of the increased reliance upon such discs as the Buzzz and the Stalker.  I would even contend that this presents a unique challenge that may be even more harrowing than playing a course blind.  We must alter entrenched mental approaches, and we all know that altering standing behavior is more difficult than establishing new behaviors.  My game has changed; my approach to a course needs to change with it.

I think I am up for it.  And I think the King is as well.  We will approach the task with alacrity and verve.  We will overcome ourselves.

At least we will have fun in the attempt.


Watch your nuts, Pap,

~Diggs

The Doane Classic: Last Card Perspective

The previous weekend I had the opportunity to attend the 2nd Annual Doane College Classic in Crete, NE with my “traveling” partner Diggs. Let me give you the numbers on my weekend.

Ace Pot Shot-Say hi to Mr. Bill

Travel Time/Distance:
Friday
5:40 AM Leave Boyd, MN
12:00 PM Arrive in Omaha, NE
Total Distance Traveled = 295 miles give or take a few for construction.
12:03 PM Lock Keys in Car (Don’t ask why or how)
2:00 PM Leave for Lincoln
3:00 PM Arrive in Lincoln, NE
Total Distance Traveled = 56 miles-ish
3:10 PM After Gas-ing up the Impala
4:10 PM Arrive in Crete, NE
Total Distance Traveled = 26 miles

Grand Total = 377 miles driven just to get to this place called Doane.
The course from my perspective: First of all, Diggs did an excellent job at describing the layout of the course. It is quite challenging if you are of the tree hitting folk. Being that I had never had the opportunity to play the course until the day before the tournament. I’d say it was definitely a course for those who favor the short/mid-range game. I know what you all are going to say. “You are the Mid-Range King, You must have just tore the course a part.” I wish that were the case but inexperience of the course and good old “Pappadackis nerves” got the best of me. Diggs was not joking about the back nine. Short holes with about a zillion trees on each hole made for near impossible lines to throw through.

The Doane Classic: Soggy Tacos

It is official.  Not only are MRK and Diggs PDGA members, we now also have rated rounds under our belts.  This will lead to our first official PDGA ratings!  We'll have to dance a little jig when they come out in the middle of May.

We popped our ratings cherry at the 2nd Annual Doane College Classic in Crete, NE this past Easter weekend.  I have the scratches to prove it.  We had settled on the Doane classic for a number of reasons.  It was close to me; we were both available; and it was a sanctioned tournament without the pressure of the other tournaments we are looking at for the rest of the year.  It is a small C-tier in out-of-the-way Nebraska.  We figured we would be able to get our tournament feet under us without having to compete against the best of the Twin Cities or the crowd an A-tier would draw.

Course:
The main hitch to the plan was our unfamiliarity with the course.  Until that week, neither of us had even seen the course.  Being close enough to give it a look, Diggs-Jiggs Express trucked our way down there early in the week to get a sense of what we were looking at.  MRK and I were also able to hit it up the day before.  Well, most of them.  The course has undergone a few changes.  We missed about 4-5 holes, though we were able to get in most of them.

The course is truly bipolar.  The beginning holes play pretty open.  Trees shrubs are in play for most of the holes, but lines are generally widely available, especially the first holes.  They play typical lengths, and the designers did a fair job in utilizing the surrounding grounds to create some good golfing.  Then comes the back nine.  You cross a road and feel like you've crossed to another course.  They fairly typical, open holes are replaced by very tight, short holes, most are shorter than 200 ft.  This continues until hole 18 which brings you to a nice tunnel shot.  The course plays to the short to mid-range game, especially those adept at anhyzers/short, precise forehand shots.  This is not the strength of my game.

More after the jump...

Playing with Uli

Just a quick note before the disc weekend begins.  Word has come down the pike that Paul Ulibarri, a top ten player, will be playing the Doane Tourney with the MRK and myself.  It'll be nice to know how truly horrible I am compared with those who know what they're doing.  But still, playing with that caliber of a player will be the balls.

Jealous?

~Diggs

Hole-ly Saturday

Around this time of year, a lot of strange names are given to days in the Christian tradition.  Ash Wednesday was sometime back (where folks put ash on their faces), marking the beginning of Lent (another odd word).  In a couple days will be Palm Sunday, followed consecutively by Maundy Thursday (not Monday Thursday), Good Friday (which didn't seem that good), Holy Saturday (a meh-type of day), and (the big one) Easter Sunday (and I have now hit max number of parenthetical remarks.  Congratulations, you have just witnessed history).  The day that nobody does anything (Holy Saturday)... (alright, I'll stop), will be transformed to Hole-ly Saturday in commemoration of the first tourney of the year for MRK and myself.  We will be participating in the Doane College Classic next weekend as intermediates.  Neither one of us has played this course, so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.  My prediction?  MRK says it best...

 

~Diggs, out.

The Hummel Tourney That Wasn't

As a follow up to my previous post, I say, "not this time, folks." On Friday, I was able to hit up Treasure Cove DGC over in Council Bluffs (it's actually a nice course they have over there) with my local partner, Josh "Jiggs" Van Roekel. While windy and chilly, we were hopeful that the day would prove fruitful, giving last minute practice for me in prep for the tournament the next day and giving Jiggs a chance to see some decent course action before the Bachelor Weekend of the Century (official new title).

While the fruit did appear in those two regards, we had underestimated three items. Both the wind and the cold were substantially more unfortunate than we had estimated. Wind in general is a bummer, but everyone has to deal with it. Fine. But cold creates such a problem because in order to function, you have to add layers. These layers (sweatshirts, coats, etc) invariably alter throwing mechanics, and I had no desire to mess with those just when I was getting them down. And the other variable was the ground. While it had rained here for the previous couple days, I figured it would have been absorbed enough to provide fairly reliable footbing. Not so.

And so, as I arose on Saturday morn to see that the temperatures were lower, the ground remained soggy, and the wind blew stronger. Therefore, I declined to enter the tournament. I didn't like it, but that's what happened. I will certainly get up to Hummel as soon as I can. I'm pretty excited to throw a wooded course again.

I'll be sure to give you my impression of the course once I play it, as well as other course reviews from around the area. Also on the docket, South Sioux City has introduced their first disc golf course this month! I was able to confirm that the course is up and playable. That being the case, the King and I should have a chance to hit that up during Memorial Day weekend, and hopefully our old home, Sertoma. I'm pretty excited for a reunion run with the King!

Finally, a big welcome to Josh "Jiggs" Van Roekel to the blog with his first post on the homemade baskets. I've known Jiggs for years. We were on the same floor in our college dorm, we played on the lacrosse team together, and has become a reliable and dare I say excitable discing partner this past year. He will be joining the rest of the crew at the Bachelor Weekend of the Century. He's a good ship. The rest of you will like him.

Have a great week ya'll. I'll meet you back at the basket.

~Diggs

To Hummel or Not to Hummel

Tis a question...

I may or may not have been lamenting the limited discing presence in the Omaha metro. Admittedly spoiled, I have come to expect more. Options are thus...

1) a 5 min drive to a rec course with ungodly wait times during non-school hours and a marked lack of etiquette. The course is decent, but not if I have to look over my shoulder at every corner for jokers throwing in to me!

2) a 20 min drive to a lakeside course that does not incorporate the lake... or teepads... or baskets in some cases. It is also the course that ate my first favorite driver, Da Bomb. The course and I have issues.

3) a 25 min drive to another state to take part in a pretty nice course. Only issue is that unless its the weekend, the distance makes the trip prohibative.

Thankfully, they are opening a new course. Hummel Park will open itself up to our brethren. While still a hike at 25 min away, it is a step in the right direction. It's much more wooded than the holes around here, and from what I can tell, they've taken quite a bit of care in developing the course. At least as much as noob designers could.

As I was warming up with a little putt-putt action, I was approached by a leader in the local dg club. He invited me to take part in the inaugural tourney to be played this Saturday. I remember first thinking, "certainly, it was not my putting that gave him the impression I knew what I was doing." After my initial reaction, I became pretty excited to hit a tourney up again. If you're interested, here's a further look at the tourney and course: http://nebdiscforums.yuku.com/topic/3547/May-14-Hummel-Park-FUNdraiser-tournament-Omaha-NE

Downside, this would also be the first day after Cammi's last final, and I'm sure she'll want to celebrate. So... do I embrace my role as her future hubby and become the always present rockstar fiance or do I forsake such things for a shot at immortality! ...at a non-sanctioned tourney ...which I'll likely lose. Hmm... to Hummel or not to Hummel, indeed!

I'll let you know what happens in this unfolding drama. Until then, keep your woman tight and your approach shots tighter.

~Diggs

A Change in Programming

If you've visited the blog recently, you'll have noticed a change of scenery. I've been messing with the layout a little bit. Let me know what you think of the new look and what else you'd like to see around here.

Interesting note... I hadn't checked around the admin features in awhile, but I happened by our stats page, and noted that while we don't really write for anyone other than ourselves, we are apparently not the only ones reading. We have had viewers from Canada, Great Britain, China, Japan, Russia, and several other countries. Why they would want to visit our blog I will never know. But we're global, baby!

On another note, tournament schedules have been released, and I'd be interested in hearing if you all are looking at for the summer. I will release the tourney schedule for my area soon. Let me know if any of you would be interested in joining me for one!