I posted this over at the StickIt website, but with nobody checking it anymore, I wouldn’t be surprised if the webmaster saves the $7 a year and closes the site. Sorta makes me wonder why I still pay $5 a year for this one. Oh well. I came up with these while it was still 2012.

- Play in each of the Sierra Series tournaments (8 of them this year)
- Come in the top 5 in the Sierra Tahoe Series
- Win my first ever PDGA pro tournament
- Make the cut at the Memorial. This one is kind of a reach, but gotta have some high goals, right?
- Keep my lifetime streak of never DNFing a tournament alive

- At least 4 1000-rated rounds (I’ve never had 4 in one calendar year)
- At least 1 round over 1010 (I have 11 thousand-rated rounds, yet only one above 1010)
- No rounds below 940
- Ending rating above 980 for the first time ever.

- 2 aces, including at least 1 at my home course, which has to have some of the easiest ace runs around
- Never have worse than the 10 Reno tag
- NO OBs during either of the PDGA events at my home course. Seriously, they’re killing me.
- Coming in the top 500 in money earned from PDGA events (last year I was 530th or so. Actually, PDGA lists me as much lower, but the TD for the tourney where I won $250 didn’t enter the amount won).

What’s the who’s taking the over on me hitting half of these? (I should say that I’ve already not done two of them – I’ve had two rated rounds below 940, both at the Memorial, which also indicates how well I did at my “make the cut at the Memorial” goal. However, I DID cash at the GCC (A-Tier), so that kinda negates the Memorial cut.

It isn’t getting any better.

I start the day on the tricky hole 1, a hole that, if you can throw 400’ hyzers, you can try to carry the water and deuce. I was going to play it safe by throwing way to the right. And of course the disc slips out early. It was actually a good drive and I only missed being safe by about 10’, but I still didn’t make it. So I throw a second VERY safe shot. Then I proceed to throw my next up shot in the water. This is my second double-penalty 6 of the tournament. There goes THAT hot start.

Then I start to do something kinda cool. I 3 the next hole for a birdie (probably one of the toughest 3 holes in the whole tournament to bird). I park the 3rd hole for another birdie. Okay, I’m putting the tourniquet on. On hole 4, a hole I pretty much can’t birdie, I have a bad drive and a MISERABLE up shot, putting me 40’ away with a tree giving me a very low ceiling. I STILL hit the putt.

Hole 5, another hole I don’t expect to birdie, I have a 50’ putt for one and I SWORE it was in (hit top chain link and bounced out). The following two holes are great birdie holes, and I’m thinking “okay, I can be -1 here and on my way to a hot round even after that start”. Which is a mistake. I shouldn’t think big picture, I should concentrate on the task at hand. Because for the 3rd time in the round the disc slips out of my hand and I don’t even make it over the tree you have to throw over. I take a disappointing par. Then I have a tiny hole that I parked in practice. I take out a ridge, a disc I’ve had problems with in the past but have felt pretty good about in this tourney (despite throwing it OB on hole 1). And it… slips out of my hand, skips off the grass, and goes OB early. I take a 4 on the shortest hole on the course.

And that was basically it. I proceed to bogey holes 8 and 9 (despite never going OB on either – I had TERRIBLE upshots, but with the ridge). Then you get to the back 9, where every top pro plans on birdieing each one. The problem is, they all throw farter than me. So on those holes, I only have ONE putt in the circle for my birdie and miss it (I was 25’ after an unlucky roll and was facing a headwind on an elevated basket). I par everything except the very difficult hole 18, which I bogey after throwing in the water.

So yeah, the round found just as bad as the 1st round, and it was rated as such. After throwing an average of 25 points above my rating in Vegas, I’m about 30 below my rating on each round here. What’s worse – I’m really becoming self conscious and downright pessimistic about my distance. It’s pretty pathetic. I have lost so much distance over the last year and I don’t know why. Now my crushes are going about 340. That’s not going to cut it here.

Also, I’m glad I did this trip, but I won’t play the Memorial again. It’s a ton of money and I don’t stand a chance because of my noodle arm. At least I get to go see the Indians on Saturday!

Ugh with a capital Ugh. When I practiced this course, I didn’t keep score, I was more trying to gauge what kinds of shots I would try. But there were still a number of holes I parked and a few others I had good birdie runs on. The first five holes are all birdie holes (though some are long for me). Either way, you should end up a few down after those holes. I started even through those five, then bogeyed the next one. Great.

Finally, on hole 8 (a tricky hole that is over water the whole time) I throw a great shot and make a good 25’ putt for my first birdie. Then three more pars (one a wasted opportunity and one a near miss putt from 50’ out). With just a handful of holes, I’m thinking about trying to get one or two birdies and end with a 58. So what happens? I proceed to throw OB 5 times over the next 5 holes. The final one was a missed mando, resulting in a re-tee. I then proceed to birdie the very difficult hole, but it’s a bogey. I miss the next MUST DEUCE, and on the final hole, which (like most of these holes) is just beyond my reach, I throw a great drive and bonk the 20’ putt.

It was an abysmal round. Nothing was too atrocious (aside from a couple of DUMB OBs) but everything was a little off. It was rated 929, and I’m 23 strokes off the leader. Worse yet, as I hadn’t anticipated winning this thing, I’m 9 strokes off the prospective cut line. I’m going to have to bust my ass to try to cash, and really I’ll have to bust my ass to even finish respectably.

Well, there’s something of a weight off my shoulders. I don’t have to worry about playing well (my shoes have been hurting me, so I’m going to be wearing comfy shoes with no laces) and I can start to plan my Saturday (I think I’ll be going to see the Indians play a spring training game).

Still, not the start I wanted. I’m in 80th out of 88. Captain suck!

ROAB 5: Travel Day

It was an uninteresting (which equals good) trip from Vegas to Scottsdale, stopping off at a tiny tiny backwater stop halfway to get sodas and avoid the locals. We arrived at the house we’re staying at, checked in, realized that a one hour time change is just enough to throw us off, and we headed to Vista Del Camino to practice. I brought along the camera to get some action shots.

This course is hard, make no bones about it. Just because Paul McBeth shot a -16 here doesn’t mean I’ll do it. Hell, I’d be pretty happy with a par on it (60). I threw many shots on each hole and didn’t keep score, per se, but I had at least one great shot on every hole, and even with all the water out there I didn’t lose any discs in the water (at least 4 holes shoot either directly across water or over it for some of the hole). I made a 120’ birdie, I parked a huge over the water hole. Good stuff.

In fact, I was so excited about my play that I left our $800 camera somewhere on the course. And I FLIPPED. I hate doing stupid things like that. So I backtrack frantically, asking everyone I see if they’ve seen a camera. All the sudden, I hear a tacit “I got it”. From some guy. I walk up, not believing him, only to see it’s New England’s own Daniel Marcus. Sure enough, he takes it out of the bag and gives it back.

The odds of a golfer finding it were decent, but not amazing (there are MANY casuals and even just pedestrians/cyclists on the course). The odds that it were a reputable golfer, even less. The odds that it would be a reputable golfer that I KNEW? I don’t even want to calculate it. I owe that man some drinks.

So now, if I hit ten trees and kick in the water on each one, I still have to think that I walked away with some positive luck out of this tournament.

Tomorrow we hit the oft-spoken-of Fountain Hills. I hear it’s even easier to lose discs in the water. Time to break out the bag of back-up discs.

If you want to save time and not read this blog entry in its entirety, then I suggest reading about yesterday’s round because they’re waaaay too close for comfort. But know that I CASHED IN AN A-TIER BABY!

As I said, this round was uncannily similar to yesterday’s. The wind was a little worse, but not much. The gusts were stronger, but the actual wind was about on par with yesterday. I started with two bogeys (one of which was an OB stroke), but after 10 holes, I was plus 1. Same as yesterday. Yesterday, this is where the wheels fell off. BUT TODAY….. it was still where the wheels fell off. I went OB on 11 and carded a double-bogey (my only one of the tourney), and then took a dumb 4 on the following hole (slipped on the teepad). So on holes 11 and 12 for this tournament, I was +6. SON. OF. A. BITCH!!

Then on the par 5 (which I had previously birdied and bogeyed), I threw a great drive, an unfortunate second shot that landed me plum behind a tree, and even though my up shot was decent and put me at the circle’s edge, I just missed the putt and got a par. Threw a birdie next (so I was now one stroke better than yesterday). On the long par 4 hole 15, which I had 4′d and 5′d, I throw a very good drive, a good up (which unfortunately clips the farthest-out branch which KILLS the flight), a GREAT 250′+ up which skips in the circle, and then have a nasty spitout on the putt. So I took a bogey without really a bad shot. I par 16. With two holes left, I’m one better than yesterday, but still feeling disappointed.

Then I throw a great drive on 17 (the only hole I birdied two other times) and proceed to miss the 25′ putt for birdie. D’oh! Then hole 18, where I’d birdied and bogeyed. Now, for most of this round, the wind was a non factor. I had two putts that WOULD have gone in if there hadn’t been wind, but really, I should have putted differently to make them. But on 18, I threw a shot that, out of my hand, I assumed was a park job. Good angle, good height, good speed. Then all of the sudden, the crossbreeze (which normally lifts discs) smacked mine down and I hit the hay bales guarding the island green for an OB. I take my 4, but seriously, that was a bit of bad luck away from being a drop-in deuce. So I finish my round 3 strokes worse than I really should have.

I figured that would take me out of the cash, but it seems like other people had issues with the wind. I managed second-to-last cash (and my third or fourth cash in an A-Tier in my life). That makes 7 events so far in 2013 out of 7 where I’ve cashed (4 doubles, 2 monthlies, and now a PDGA event). If I make it 8 in a row, I’d be pretty stoked as it would be an NT, and I’ve never done better than about 10 strokes out of cash in either NT I’ve played.

Onward and upward!

I slept poorly last night. I was too excited about having played well and shooting with a couple of world champions today. All told I probably slept for 6 hours, interrupted halfway by an hour where I couldn’t sleep at all. So when I got up, I didn’t feel bad, per se, but I certainly didn’t have that “I feel great” swagger that I had the first day.

By the time I got to the course to play (I had dropped Skot off at 8am, then drove back home to rest before my 1:14 tee time), the winds had picked up and it was probably 10 mph with 20 mph gusts.  Certainly not terrible, but enough to certainly come into play, particularly when it was gusty. This was exactly the kind of wind I was hoping for – I’ve become decent at playing safe, conservative golf in the wind.

I step up with these world class pros and, on the very first throw, throw a shot so terrible, so doomed for failure, it wasn’t even funny. It goes OB quite early. I follow it up with a tremendous up shot, but miss the 40′ putt to save my par. Bogey. Well, that’s no good (I started yesterday with a birdie on the same hole). But the next hole, I throw some great shots and card a par (a hole I bogeyed yesterday).

We’re going to do some skipping. Over the following 8 holes, I just played solid, error-free golf. I parred the next 8. Pars aren’t great (especially when you consider that I was -2 on that loop yesterday) but with the wind, it was good. In fact, I was telling Nate that I was playing my OWN game, not competing with them. They were getting the tough birdies, and I was okay with pars. So after those ten holes, the two world champs had a few strokes on me (Paul probably more than just a few) but I was beating the other guy on the card, who was a 1000 rated player.

Then Skot came to visit and the wheels came off. I’m almost positive he had nothing to do with it, but as a precaution, he won’t follow me tomorrow (nor I him, as I personally witnessed 7 of his 10 OBs in this tournament so far). On hole 11 I had a good roller that unfortunately got windblown in a rough way, had a pretty good up, but then missed the 22′ putt. Oh well, it was the first missed putt of the tourney, so no big deal. Next hole – great drive, good up, missed the 18′ putt. What? My putting had been so solid. What was going on? Next hole? OB on my second throw, I take a bogey 6 (on a hole I birdied yesterday). Worse yet, I can’t even blame the wind – I threw a wide hyzer that flipped flat and never came back into play. Despite a very very good recovery up and an almost 40′ putt, I was stuck with the bogey.

I follow it up with a par on a hole everyone else birdies (things are NOT looking good all the sudden) and on the next hole, despite having the best drive in the group, I card a 5 because of a lousy 2nd shot and a missed 24′ putt (W. T. F?) So in 5 holes, I card four bogeys. This is a shame because the first 10 holes, I had only 1. Hole 16 is a tough birdie and I par it. So here it is, 16 holes in, and I can’t putt and I haven’t thrown a birdie yet (despite throwing 7 yesterday). What a difference a day makes.

Hole 17 was one of my birdies yesterday, and I throw a similar shot that hyzers out a bit early. I’m left with a 25′. Screw this, I’ve missed too many. I hit it. Good, finally got a birdie. Hole 18 was the one that cost me my best round when I took a birdie hole and threw out of bounds, carding a 4. Today? I parked the hole. So at least I finished strong.

Because of the wind (and slight ratings inflation b/c of the caliber of player), my round was rated 980, which I feel is a little high, but I also did play 13 good holes, so maybe it’s not too far off. I’m just playing against myself and the course, not against the other players. That mentality is helping me shoot well and keep cool.

I’m currently tied for 21st, which is considerably better than I thought I’d be after what I thought was only an okay round. Right now I’m above the prospective cash line, but just barely. I’ve still got to play good, keep the mistakes to a minimum (so far, only 5 OBs in two rounds, which isn’t stellar but is pretty good). Gotta take advantage with some good putting, and ignore the wind.

So far, though, this road trip is going exactly as I’d hoped.

I went to bed at 9:30pm last night. You did not read that wrong. I was beat. And I got up before 7, but guess what, that’s still 8 hours of sleep, which I haven’t gotten in ages (sorry honey!) How did I respond with the extra sleep?

Well, before I played, I had to drive Skot to his round which was 3 hours before mine. I walked the first 10 holes with him before breaking off and getting ready. I was feeling pretty good. Not sure why as I hadn’t played a big event like this in ages, but I felt good. After I got the first shot out of the way, and birdieing the first hole (which is a pretty tricky par 4), I was feeling VERY good. Then on the 2nd hole, I griplocked and missed the mando. For whatever reason, I was unfazed, and managed to still card a 5 (bogey) with the OB stroke on one of the hardest holes on the course. Okay. Then I card a few birdies.

I was playing smart. I was putting well, I was upping very well. Things were rolling. Then I step up to hole 12 and, instead of throwing a driver which had been working for me all round, I throw a buzzz and go OB (by 6″). I make a pretty sick out shot and card a bogey. I follow that up with birdieing the long par 5. Awesome. In fact, I get a couple more birdies along the way. I nearly ace hole 17 and get another birdie. Finally, hole 18 is an island hole, but very birdieable. I turn over my Q-Sentinel just a touch and am OB by 2 feet. I end up throwing another bogey (my only bogeys were OB strokes). I come in at a 59, which was my goal for the round.

It turned out to be rated 1011 (if it stays, it’ll be my second-highest rated round ever) and am in a T-12th. Tomorrow, on my card are Nate Doss and Paul McBeth, who have 3 world championships among them. Yikes!

Actually, I’ve been here once before, playing a big tournament and killing it the first round. I responded quite poorly then, but hopefully with a good night’s sleep and much relaxation, I’ll be set. It’s supposed to be a little windier tomorrow, so we’re just going to try to play smart, keep my pars, and hopefully continue the play I did today.

I’m still revved up though.

Thursday Feb 21st

Got to Vegas in about 7 hours, leaving plenty of time to warm up before doubles. I had expected some crazy action with the world’s top players. Ahhhh, turns out pros get good not by playing doubles with lesser peon players. There were 24 players, most of whom knew the course. I showed up with Skot (and we met up with Arjang) – together we comprised ¾ of the people from the Reno/Tahoe area.

The course is set up quite long (average hole length is over 400’) with OB on nearly every hole. There are deuces to be had, but otherwise all the holes are birdiable. However, you could easily bogey or worse if you start missing the OB lines.
After 9 holes, my partner and I were even. That’s pretty lousy, even for me not knowing the course well (I haven’t played here since 2007). In there we threw a 6 on the only par 5 with an OB. Basically, we were out of the running for cash. Then, I guess when we were both warmed up, halfway through the round, we got our act together. We birdied holes 17, 18, and 1. Then two pars. Then we ended with our last four, each of which was a PARK JOB (two by my partner, two by me, including a pretty awesome shot on a 361’ with danger all around the basket).

We managed to pull out a 55, which put us in a 3-way tie for 2nd (they paid top four, conveniently). In the playoff, we all birdied the first hole (I leaned it up against the base of the basket). On the second hole, a long par 4, we both had unlucky drives (hitting tiny twigs), but I had a SICK 300’+ up shot to put us with a 25’ putt. Arjang made his putt to go ahead on the hole, and we both boned ours (one of my few missed putts).

We ended up edging out the competition on the next hole and won $15 a piece (entry was $5). So in the 6 events I’ve played this year (four dubs, two tournies), I’m 6-6 in cash. I’ve got to have my A+ game on this weekend to keep up that trend.

It was an uneven round for me personally. My putting was very solid – I only missed 2 in the circle and made at least 3 outside the circle, including a 50’ with OB behind it. My rollers were hit and miss. It took me a while to get it down, and I never really hit that one amazing rollers, just some decent ones. My air shots were SO SO SO short, but otherwise okay (what happened to my distance?) But my luck was ATROCIOUS. The one amazing roller I put down, I hit a pine cone as it landed (one of maybe three on the entire course) and killed the trajectory and distance. I hit a light pole 250’ off the fairway as it was headed straight for the basket. Two of my other rollers hit trees well down the fairway.

This kind of play won’t win me anything, but it was still a nice vote of confidence before I start tomorrow. Oh, and how did Reno/Tahoe did in Dubs? Skot was 1st, Arjang 2nd, and me 3rd. Not too shabby.

Tee Time is 1:15 or so, though Skot is my ride and he tees off at 10, so I think I’m getting there quite early. Maybe I’ll walk the course with him, or maybe I’ll bring a book and enjoy the nice weather.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say, but the tee-times are up for the Memorial (which doesn’t start until next week, even if my trip starts tomorrow). There are now 88 players in open, and by rating alone I am T72. That’s… not so promising. Although if I cheat and bump myself up to a rating of 978 (the highest I was last year), I’m in 52nd (quite close to top half). I’ve got my work cut out for me.

I don’t know any of the guys I’m playing with – but there’s no huge name either. I’m the lowest-rated in my group, but not by much (ratings are 963, 979, 986, 992). I think that’s good. That way if I am not at the bottom of my card, I’ve at least beat someone “above” me.  But I won’t feel deflated by someone beating me by 15 strokes or more. At least, I hope that won’t happen.

Now, I should probably get to packing…

I took part in a monthly tournament at a ball golf course that had 18 temp holes set up. All greens and bunkers were OB (as they should be on a ball golf course). It was open, not very breezy – good conditions to practice for the GCC and the Memorial. So what happened?

MY FIRST THROW WENT OB. I knew when I threw it it didn’t have the distance to carry the bunker, and sure enough I was dead center. It’s okay, I followed it up by very nearly acing the next hole (which was probably about 400+ downhill). Bleeding stopped, right?

Well, after an uneven bunch of holes, I throw ANOTHER OB. This one was not user error. I threw it very well, put it about 40 behind the basket (and well over the nearby green), but it kicked up, rolled down the hill (back the way it had come), and onto said green. So I was safe by about 50′ and still went OB. Again, I followed up with a great birdie on the next hole, but still!

Oh, and that’s not it. I threw a third OB later in the round. It was TOTALLY a dumb through. I just put nothing behind it, no anhyzer (on later introspection, I plum picked a wrong disc). Never had a chance. I followed that up with a birdie too.

But seriously, OBs are becoming a problem, and that is BAD NEWS for these next two tourneys, where just about every hole will be laced with OB rope everywhere. I came in tied for 4th or 5th, but had I not thrown those 3 OBs, I would have been in 2nd alone. That is uber frustrating.

I will pride myself on not letting a bad shot throw me off. Each of my OBs was followed by a birdie. All in all, considering I really didn’t have my best stuff out there – my distance was sorely lacking though my putting was pretty good) – I guess I did okay. However, “average” will just not cut it this week.