New Course Review

Today I took my roommate, Nathan, disc golfing with his newly purchased discs. We decided to find a course near the Sporting Goods store where he bought his "disc value pack" (yes I heartily endorse Fairway Flyers but he wanted the three-disc set which actually is a little chaper even with the Bethel discount).
I found a course just up the road from where I work and we set to playing all 12 holes provided by the park. From the beginning I knew this was going to be a decent park. Aside from the usual false start (we played hole 10 first), the course was well laid out. The end of each hole was followed by a sign pointing to the next one which had distance and approximate direction of the hole. The paths were well designated and bridges were in place to aid during the wetter season. The course weaves around a creek which poses some water hazard, but not much especially in the middle of summer. The entire course lay within the woods which was enjoyable as opposed to an open course which would quickly take the fun out of playing in 90 degree weather. Though the course was wooded, the trees proved navigable (though did present some challenge).
The holes offered a decent variety of dog-leg rights and lefts as well as some straight shots. One hole was 675 feet, but most were simple par threes. I spent the majority of m time with my mid-range discs but enjoyed the many skill shots needed to hit par.
Overall, the course was very enjoyable for it's easy to understand layout (as opposed to many courses such as white bear), decent walking paths, and tricky shots. However, the course may become boring with multiple plays due to it's lack of long shots and fairly manageable hazards. If you are in the cities I suggest giving the course a try, but it will harly become the stand-by course that acorn is for me.

Thanks,
Urbwes

Heat + Discing = Manliness

Hey Bros...It has been a little while, but I thought I would stop in and report that it is HOT discing in Sioux City. Me and my homeboy Sean went the other day for three rounds in the morning, and it was muggy. We sweat profusely, and the pair of us could have been smelled on distant courses (Vermillion called and told us to take a shower). You all are probably experiencing similar heat in your respective necks of woods (?), but I am here to say suck it up! Get out there! Stretch the arm! Report back to your favorite website about all of the fun you had.
I lost an eagle to the infamous woodpile during our endeavors, but a high school dude found it the next day and gae me a call...there are still saints out there. It is amazing to me how many things are a reflection of our spirituality, so let me take a moment to over-spiritualize the sport here. I found one of Diggs' discs last week, shortly before he made his trek out to the east side. The extreme east side. Of our country. I want to confess that my darkness is so profound, still so easily at-hand, that I actually considered keeping it. A friend's disc. It would have been easy to do so...I could have just waited until he left and then told him I found it, or never told him at all for that matter. I even started rationalizing it and telling myself that it was an acceptable act (Screwtape chirping in my ear). It is incredible how easily tempted I was to do such a petty, but such an obviously wrong thing. It is apparent that I have a long ways to go. Diggs and I never ended up connecting before he left, and I will hold on to it and not play with it if it is your desire Diggs. Sorry we couldn't connect, but even more so: I am sorry I even considered doing so evil a deed to a friend. I am stunned at my own capacity for wrong. I, plainly, still am in need of a good deal of saving.

I heard somewhere that confession brings healing...

Keep your respective sticks on your very-proverbial ices my friends.

~mjbombadil

Song of the Week: Sorry to inundate the over-inundated, but I am going to have to go with O Most High (sung by the community of mars hill...check it out on their website http://www.musicatmars.com/ click on the play forward button and then fast forward to the song...it is tight)

Exploring the Breadth of the Disc

Here's a confession... I haven't played a round of golf since Wes came to visit his sister about a month ago. I've gone throwing a few times since then, but nothing involving a catcher or a skill shot. Just driving.

Part of this is due to standing up the whole day at my job. My feet usually don't want to go pound the links at the end of the day. Another factor is the inability to schedule anything with another person. Mike, if you still read this, give me a call! I can't ever get ahold of you. Anyways, I just want to assure you all that I still get my discing fix somehow.

Recently, I've met some people that love to play ultimate. I've played with 'em a few times now. Its fun. I missed playing ultimate. The problem is, I can't throw the friggin' disc. I used to throw a great serve. But now, I just end up burning the disc. Anyways, just thought I'd give ya'll a small update. I'd love to hear how you're doing. Keep me updated.

Flip the track,

Bring the old school back

~ Diggs

Song of the Week: "Tough Enough" by Vanilla Ninja

Kinesthesis in Disc Golf

This past semester I was in the disc golf class along with the Mid-Range King and have improved immensely. What is the reason for my improvement? It is not simply information. My success stems mainly from the simple act of repetition and is a product of kinesthetics. When we do something in a repetitive manner, good or bad, physical sensations that are generated within the body which are monitored by the brain eventually establish themselves as a memory pattern. This pattern helps us to recall and duplicate a specific movement during future performances. It my case, I observed good procedure (in the person of Jim Beilby and my good classmates) and attempted to imitate their success. Repeated practice accompanied by a good model helped me to develop a proper memory pattern. Now, I play more consistently and can throw farther becuase of a developed kinesthetic action. However, since the environment changes which each throw I still need to work on successfully adapting my throw to fit situations. Also, I must continue to play often or else I not improve and actually get worse (though not below a certain level). The only other thing standing in my way is overthinking the action (which I do constantly). I need to allow my memory pattern to do its job without hindering it by changing positive aspects of my throw.


Until later,
Urbwes
(you're welcome Doug)

Classic Sioux City Discing

Alright, so I haven't actually made it out to play a round at Sertoma this week. Why then the post title you ask? Well, around Wednesday or Thursday (I forget which), I had the itch to throw... hard. So down to Hoover I went. The problem though, as is always a problem in this town, the wind was ridiculous. Any other day, you just play. Wind will forever be a factor here. But there are days when you should really pause and consider whether or not its worth it to even bring out your discs. And with rumored wind measurements of 50+ mph, this was one of those days. To help you get an idea of what this is like, let me provide an example...

We all know I have struggled to turn over my discs as of late. I've recovered much from this, but we're still not yet back to par on the issue. Well, the winds this day allowed me to completely burn my Star T-Rex when I released it even a bit hyzer. Quite a feat considering I have a hard time even turning over my T-Rex when in good form.

So while I don't necessarily recommend playing rounds in hurricane force winds, get out and throw. Its an interesting experience.

Remember...
Rip the nips

~Diggs

Song of the Week: "The Unguarded Moment" by The Church

Back 2 Good

For those of you who do not know, I have been struggling as of late. It actually started a couple days before the tournament. For some inexplicable reason, I couldn't turn my discs over. And we're not talking about my Star T-Rex. I bought that disc because it takes a little more to turn her. No, I'm talking about my Sidewinder. I just couldn't do it and I didn't know why. This didn't affect me much in the tournament. I simply made allowances for it and everything turned out fairly successfully. But this sitch in my game quickly wore out its welcome.

You see, ever since I refocused my attention on the backhand shot, I have just been able to turn over discs... no problem (yes, I'm a recovering forehander). The more common problem has been that I couldn't not turn a disc over. I was happy with this problem. I mean, I burned a lot of discs that way, but I could usually fix it with a little hyzer. And initially, I wasn't upset with my new problem. I figured everything would work itself out after a round or two.

Weeks later, I was beginning to get frustrated. My D was suffering and I just couldn't stand it. I began getting angry on the course for the first time in a long time. For this, I must apologize to URB and the King. I'm sure it was difficult to enjoy your rounds in lieu of my frustration. I broke the cardinal rule of the SCDGA... I wasn't cold lampin'.

Anyways, I vowed to correct my throw. I'm back in Sioux City for awhile and Pobey has visited his sister the past few days. So, after experiencing the wind at Sertoma, we headed to Hoover for a little driving range action. The first day, I saw a little improvement. We recognized exactly how much unconscious hyzer I was putting on the disc, helping me see where I was erring and correct accordingly. The second day, though, that's when things started getting crazy. Minor adjustments here and there, and now I'm throwing farther than ever before. Albeit, not terribly accurate shots yet, but they're getting there. I'm just happy to be back.

On another note, I'd just like to congratulate both of our SCDGA members who've scored aces in short order. Being present for Pappy's amazing hole 10 shot has definately been a highlight, and acing H4 on Sertoma is equally commendable on Mike's part. As Providence would have it, we have live footage of Pappy's ace... the only throw we've ever really recorded and it just happens to be an ace!

One last thing. In honor of this being Bob Barker's last week of recording the Price is Right, I'd just like to remind you to have your pets spade or neutered. If you watch Monday, you can see my co-worker in the front row in a shirt that says "Iowa (heart) Bob."

Remember,

Keep your feet on the ground

and keep reaching for the stars

~Diggs

Song of the Week: "Anytime" by Neil Finn

A Round of Ups and Downs

It was a cool and damp morning last Friday, May 25, 2007. The Players in my party included: long time mentors and disc golfers Douglas Walters and Wes Myers. We chose to go to Acorn Park to play our final round together as a collegient threesome. The round could be characterized as a typical round. Lots of crappy shots mixed in a with a few good ones. I started out my round in the plusses going the first three holes with bogeys. As for my counterparts they played their typical supurb preformances. Each having amazing shots on two and three.
After the first three holes all of us began to settle down and play our style of game. Despite what doug says, he played well. Everything was as usual until we reach hole 10. I pull out my roadrunner and get ready to throw. The pole-hole is playing in the back position. I throw my drive and watch it sail up the hill until I cannot see it any more and then all of a sudden we hear the sound of the chains clanking together. I turn around and look at doug and wes. I say "No freeken way! That didn't just happen!" We pick up our bags and run up the hill looking, hoping to see what we all think did happen. YES!! It did happen, I had thrown a hole in one. It weaved arouond trees and landed in the basket! I still couldn't beleive it.

Reflections

There comes a time in every mans life when it's appropriate to reflect on the events that have taken place over the last few months. This is one of those times. The semester I had the privilege of being enrolled in a beginners disc golf class here at Bethel University. I went into the class with no expectations of getting worse at the game that I very much enjoy. I went into the class with only the intentions of becoming a smarter player and tweaking the few mechanics that needed tweaking. Now that the class is officially finished pending the final grades to be posted soon. I want to take a moment to reflect on my disc golf experiences this semester.
The disc golf class first met on a very blistery day in the wretched athletic facility called the SRC. It was here that I first met my Professor of Disc Golf, Jim Bielby. Let's be real, this guy is good at what he does theologically, and disc golficlly. I was very intimidated because I didn't know who was going to be good and where I ranked as far as they were. The first class period was mostly lecture on basic rules of disc golf and how to even throw the discs. Hey, it's a basic beginners class. Though, I was no beginner, as I have been playing since the beginnings of my high school career. (Thanks Diggs) It was good to review the proper ways to throw the disc. I will say that I did learn some new terminology that I try to use when ever possible. The class ended with Bielby watching us throw just to gauge how much he was going to have to work to correct our technique. Bielby came past me and said, "Wow, you have a nice throw. Probably won't have to make too many adjustments right off the bat. I think we'll wait till we get out on the course to fix anything." I was so happy when I heard that. I thought he was going to rip me apart. After that Bielby and I were tight.
The disc golf classes consisted mostly of playing actual rounds of disc golf out at our very own dg course on campus (which I feel that I have a pretty good handle on). It was good to be just playing consistently and learning from mistakes.
Another highlight of the semester was playing in the first ever Bethel University Disc Golf Championship. It was a privilege to play along side a colleague of mine, many of you know him. The ever consistent Douglas Walters. We both played very excellent as he has already alluded to in a prior post. I'm going to speak for my part on the tourny. My goal in the tourny was to just play my game. Hopefully, that would end up being pretty consistent and like usual it was. My game was just to play each hole one shot at a time and play for pars. My philosophy is that the birdies will come so just play for the par. My two rounds were pretty solid if I do say so myself. I made probably only a half a handful of mistakes and they cost me 5 bogeys. Those five bogeys along with the two birdies allowed me to claim a share of the fourth place winnings. (2 Innova Disc Golf Discs, Archangel 165g, and a Shark 161g) Like Diggs mentioned, I did not expect to even be close to winning the pot. I just wanted to place. I was amazed at some of the scores that turned up compared to ours. Mad Props to Diggs for edging me out. Honestly, I didn't know the scoring for our round till we tallied it at the end. Great Job Bro!! As far as the CTP goes I can't say anything to it b/c I dont' think I could have done it again. I just threw a solid hyzer up into the trees and it happened to not hit any of them landing closest to the pin. Overall, not a bad showing for my first tourney, I think I would like to play in a few more after that experience.
As the class went on I feel that I have definitely improved in many aspects of my game. By far my mental game has improved the greatest. I am more confident in the shots that I make and my disc choice for shots has also improved. Since the class has ended, I am coming off my pedestal of amazingness and am realizing that disc golf is much like our Christian lives and there comes many ups and downs in our lives. The game of disc golf is not a constant mountain top experience, but it's in the low, dark valleys that many experiences shed their skin. I am very greatfull for the experence and knowledge that I have gained from the course.

I also must give a very loud shout out to my good friend Urbwes for his phenomenal improvements that he has made by being apart of the class as well. Wes, there wasn't a day on the course that you didn't impress me. You have improved greatly over the last semester. Keep it up.


Until my next post.
Keep your hyzer lines steady and don't let the wind take them

Yours truly,
Mid Range King

SCDGA... Represent!

This past Wednesday, Bethel held their first annual DG tourney. A 5$ entry fee got you a t-shirt and entrance into the 18-hole tourney at the new campus course. Now, I'm broke... but I ain't that broke. And I have homework... but there isn't enough homework in the world that would keep me away from such festivities. So, despite the fact that I handed in a late paper for the first time in my four years of college and am probably looking forward to an all-nighter tomorrow, I made like Tonto and jumped on it.

Thankfully, I was not alone. The King himself decided to give it a go, as did a number of other friends and acquaintences. On the notables list for the event were Jim Beilby (PDGA rating around 950) and Josh Gerth (placed 3rd at Amateur Nationals last year). Fortunately, they (and they alone) played in the pro division. The rest of the 38 competitors played in the men's division. Unfortunately, URBWes was not able to attend. Music majors always have these concerts that get in the way. He was greatly missed during play, but was sweet enough to show up for the award ceremony. Wes is basically the man.

Anyways, Pappy and I had the fortune of playing in the same foursome. We were assigned hole 6 on the shotgun start. I'm not going to lie, I was anxious. For Pappy and I, this was our first tournament and neither of us has an abundance of experience on the course. In fact, I had only played the blue tees twice. So, stepping up to the box on my first drive, my legs weren't quite steady. But the impetus of not looking like a goober was enough to get beyond my jitters. Shame was my motivation.

We both got off to a good start. A slight set back in my drive on 7 made me make a tough putt to save bogey. Despite this, Pappy and I were on top of our foursome throughout, taking 1 and 2 respectively. Let me tell you, Pappy's drives were on. So much so, I considered renaming him the Long Range King. He even set the standard for the CTP on hole 2. So, I ended up playing catch-up for the whole round. It was all I could do to stay within 1 of the guy. I'd tie it up with a birdie and he'd come right back over the top, Stallone style. At the end of the day, my saving grace was my putt & approach game. Odd enough, my putting game is what has kept me out of negative digits more than anything. But I made smarter plays than normal, putted consistantly and it worked out.

Pappy and I ended up finishing +3 and +2. Until the score was calculated, I could have sworn I was still behind. So we made our way back to the award ceremony to see how we did. They placed up to tenth, and I was just hoping to make top ten. I figured the winner would be somewhere around -1, so the King and I had a good shot at hitting prizes. But I guess nobody else had as consistent of a day as we did because they placed tenth at +6. Ridiculous! I saw a bunch of guys hitting 30 ft putts over and over again before the tourney and yet they still started at +6? But I knew some of the guys had a good chance of going negative. I was just happy to hit my goal of a top ten finish.

...And they kept placing... and Pappy and I still waited. In the end, Pappy ranked 3rd, pulling down three free discs; and I pulled out 2nd, taking home three free of my own and a $10 gift certificate. Pappy even won one of the three CTPs, though I forget what he got for that one. What's more, the winner finished +1! We were so close to the W! But I'd say we represented well for our Iowa brothers. We made a strong showing, got over our anxiety and had a good time. Hopefully, more tournies are in our future.

Keep your feet on the ground

and keep reaching for the stars

~Diggs

Song of the Week: "Come Home" by Willie Herath

And so it goes...

If anyone was foolishly jealous of my epic round last week, sleep easy my friends. The same DX eagle, the same hole, better weather...I lost my disc today to Mt. Sertoma, just one of the many that have been claimed by her. I am pretty upset, being as how that is the third disc this year that I have lost!!! I let it go too late, veering the disc way too far right, but it seemed to have landed it afairly reasonable place, where I would have a difficult second shot but still a chance for three on the hole. The demons of disc golf must have been hot on the pursuit after my miracle, however, and we spent 30 minutes looking for it, but to no avail. On top of feeling stupid and really frustrated, I lost all focus (as you can probably relate to) and started throwing four's like it was going out of style. O cursed hill, that you might be conquered by the weary souls you torture!

melodramatic as always,

mjbombadil