Another National Tournament?

I had such a crazy experience at the Glass Blown Open this year, a total mental collapse resulting in horrible last round play that cost me the tournament. It bothered me so much I pulled out of all of my planned tournaments. So why I am signed up to play in another national tournament?

I just really enjoy competing, I’ve always been very competitive. I think if I can just control my whatever it is, yips, nerves, anxiety, etc, I can be fairly competitive for my age group. As I write this I’m ranked #32 in the world in my age group, so I should be able to hang skill wise with the better players.

NADGT North American Disc Golf Championships

This is a pretty big tournament for amateur players. It was originally designed as a vehicle for am players to make the jump to being a professional if they played well in this tournament. But it has since grown to a big event for all am players and not just those who want to turn pro. It’s only 3 hours away in Austin so the wife gave me the ok to play in it plus we’re going to make a vacation out of it.

Of course I booked a hotel right off I35 very close to Lady Bird Lake so I can do a little fishing and go after those 30-40lb Carp and even bigger Buffalo.

wait… Disc golf & Carp/Buffalo Fishing Vacation? What’s the wife going to do? lol.. I had to bribe her with the promise of fine dining every night, hit up a museum or 2, the zoo, and maybe some clubs to watch some live bands play. But since she doesn’t read my blog (or does she?), yah… the fishing just might be the highlight. 🙂

To even get an invite to this tournament you have to either win (or place in the top players) of an official qualifying event. It’s been over 2 months since I played my last disc golf tournament. I took most if not all the summer off from disc golf due to how poor I play in the heat plus after having a few close calls with heat stroke, nah… wasn’t really interested in playing in the heat. But the weather has cooled down a bit, 100s are gone, but 90s are still here. I’ve been playing more the past couple of weeks. The hardest thing is getting my putting back to where it needs to be. There was a NADGT qualifying event close by so I decided to play in that and see if I can get qualified to play in the championship.

Quite honestly, since there’s only a few local qualifying tournaments for the championship, I took advantage of the fact that there was only a few people signed up for this event in my qualifying age group. Plus this was my first tournament in 2 months! In hot Texas heat! I was rated about 50 points higher than my competitors, which means I should be able to shoot on avg, close to 5 strokes (10 points per stroke on avg) better per round than my competitors. Long story short, I won by 10 strokes and received the invite to the finals.

Overall I was satisfied with my playing. I ended up shooting my rating for the tournament. But it also made me realize how bad my putting is. I missed quite a lot of putts from 20ft in which could have resulted in having two nice rated rounds. I have 2 months to dial in my putting. In the old man division, all the better players throw similar distance and accuracy so it always boils down to the putting.

I’m hoping I can handle the mental pressure this time around at a big tournament. This time I won’t be alone, my wife will be with me so I’m hoping she can provide the anchor I need mentally to just chill out and play. I’ll be playing several tournaments leading up to this event, hoping I can dial everything in and play at the highest level I’m capable of.

Health update: As I finish this post up (8/28/2025) I’ve been dealing with the longest sustained heart arrythmia I’ve ever had, over 2 weeks now. Does it scare me? yah… a bit but it’s confusing…. when I play disc golf or exercise it’s really not bad at all, just when I’m relaxing does it seem to flare up. I’ve only seen a cardiologists twice the past 40 years or so. Each time before having a surgery. I put the word out locally for recommending a good cardiologist. I’m hoping to find a younger doctor, up to date on all the latest trends, medicines, supplements, etc. yah.. it’s a bit unnerving… but it’s time.