So I have a disc golf tournament coming up on 6/15/2024 (see the results here) @ Veterans Disc Golf Course in Arlington, Tx. This is going to be a 2 round tournament of disc golf in one day. Typically I try not to play too many tournaments in the hot summer months. I play this course several times a year but I have never done well on this course. Typically I’ll have a decent round going and then I’ll have a total collapse on 1 or 2 holes which just ruins the entire round. It’s definitely a course where “course maintenance” should be in play.
My game is steadily showing improvements this year. Even though my distance off the tee is better than ever, I’ve been focusing more on my short game, shots around 230-280ft and of course my putting. I’ve also recently moved to a smaller disc golf cart which holds half as many discs. I’ve had a few rounds with this new “bag” and the results are very encouraging. By not having as many discs in the bag, it eliminates a lot of the mental thought process that was perhaps dragging me down more than I realized during my rounds. Plus “disc overlap” is a very real thing in this sport. So by having fewer discs the decision process is much quicker. Reality is, in most tournaments I’m only throwing maybe 5-6 different discs the entire round anyway. I’m only carrying 15 discs now compared to about 30 before. 30 discs! Jeesh…. granted I’m from the school of “a disc for every shot” but I think I was carrying way too many similar discs which just bogged down my game. wow…. the weight of my new cart with only 15 discs is so much lighter, this is really going to help during the summer rounds.
So round 1 is from the regular tees which I’m pretty familiar with. But round 2 is from the short “blue tees” which I have never played before. I wanted to practice this layout blind just to see what I could do. After doing some research I found out that most pros shoot anywhere from 10-14 down from the “blues” and 7 down is what I needed to shoot in order to shoot over my rating. One of my disc golf buds Ryan had shot -7 earlier in the day in his practice round and predicted I would shoot -2 which would be way below my rating btw. I felt pretty confident I could shoot better than 2 down, but -7 seemed a bit daunting based on my rounds from the long tees. After researching all the distances for each hole, one thing was immediately obvious. Except for maybe 2 holes every hole distance was exactly what I have been focusing on recently……my short game 230-280ft shots. So I knew going into this round if I hit my line off the tee I was going to have a lot of opportunities for birdies. My putting has been improving dramatically, anything inside 20ft I’m feeling pretty confident, so this made the distances off the tee even more accesable.
Hole 1: 260ft – It’s a simple straight shot or maybe a slight late turning hyzer into the green. I can make this shot with a mid range or fairway driver. In my warms up I’m even hitting the green with a high floating putter shot. There was a slight head wind so I decide to throw my slightly less beat in Leopard 3 on a slight hyzer (which I know I can throw 260-280ft) and it skips up to the basket for a 15ft putt for the bird. Okay… 1 down and I’m off and running.
Hole 2: 252ft – My bud Ryan mentioned this might be a tricky shot off the tee, but it turns out all I need is around 230ft of distance, let the disc hit the ground and slide up to the basket. So I throw my Deputy putter on a slight anny for the easy 10ft putt. hmm.. 2 down after two holes. I’m already at the score my bud Ryan predicted. 🙂
Hole 3: 255ft – This one was a bit longer than the score card showed, I had it around 300ft with my range finder. Again a straight shot up a slight hill. I wasn’t trying for a birdie, I just wanted to have an easy par so I throw my flippy Tern drive on a nice hyzer flip which landed about 30ft from the basket and slid on the hard ground up to the basket for a 15ft putt. 3 down! I’m stoked! 🙂
Hole 4: 210ft. – This hole always screams birdie regardless from the shorts or regular tee. It’s just a high hyzer over the trees and spiking down near the basket. I didn’t throw my Harp disc hard enough so I take an easy par and move on.
Hole 5: 300ft. – Standard hyzer over the trees and perhaps get a birdie op. I had a horrible early release, lots my disc and took a bogie 4 on this hole. For the tournament the only correction I need is to throw it out way more wide to the right and let it hyzer back for an easy par or potential birdie.
Hole 6: 200ft – It’s only 200ft straight but uphill so I decided I need about 250ft of power so I literally park the basket with my Leopard 3 fairway driver. Another birdie!
Hole 7: 205ft – Just a standard right to left hyzer over some trees. I throw my Harp and land within 15ft for another birdie. Ruh roh.. I know this round is going to be special at this point.
Hole 8: 265ft – So this is one of the tougher holes, at 265ft and uphill I’m not immediately thinking birdie because the only route I can take is a bending left to right shot off the tee to go around a very big tree about 80ft off the tee. But I absolutely know I can throw my Patrol mid range 280+ all day long. I take advantage of the ever so slight wind and throw a very high anny left to right shot, it just touches a branch on that fricking tree but still glides to about 15-20ft from the basket. I nail the putt for the birdie! woo hoo! 🙂
Hole 9: 210ft – It’s about 210 to the basket straight on but there the actual line is about 240 or so and you have to throw it high and left to right hyzer to the basket. I threw my mid range Roc 3 a bit too hard and it lands about 25ft past the basket, but the putt is up hill so I go for it and stick it for the bird! Yes.. my putting was on fire today. 🙂
So after nine holes I realize I birdied 7 of them. I’m super stoked but yet a bit po’d because I get these “freaky” rounds once in a while during a warm up for a tournament where I’ll shoot lights out and then on tournament day I can’t come close to replicating what I did in the practice round. Of course I know it’s just tournament nerves, maybe things will be different this tournament? But one thing is becoming clear.. this round is starting to feel a lot like just “up shot practice” for the longer holes in round 1. hmm… so even though this is my first time playing the blue short tees, the layout still feels familiar due to the short tees seem to be similar distances and lines where my typical approach shots would be.
Hole 10: 252ft – Okay so now I’m feeling it, I know this is going to be a good round. This hole is very uphill, but it’s only 250ft or so to the basket. So I know I need about 300ft of power for the easy par and possible 2. I need a bit of right to left fade so I throw my newish Tern driver close to full power and I end up 15ft from the basket. Yep… another bird! 🙂
Hole 11: 240ft – This is the signature star hole on the course. The short tee is pretty much wide open and slightly up hill, so it’s just a standard straight shot with a bit of late right to left turn. I throw my Leopard 3 fairway driver and it lands about 10ft from the basket for another frickin easy bird! Wth!! 🙂 lol..
Hole 12: 400ft – Wide open, slightly down hill. Just throw it hard to the right and let the drive fade right to left for the easy par or possible bird. I ended up a bit too far to the right, took the easy 3 and moved on. I think I can give myself a birdie look on this hole during the tournament. Just need to respect what the wind is doing since it’s a slight down hill throw.
Hole 13: 248ft – Another wide open shot but this time to an elevated basket. I just throw my Roc 3 to the right, it slides up to the basket for another 15ft’ish putt for the bird!
Hole 14: 250ft – Slightly down hill through some trees. I see a gap to the right, throw my roc 3 and let it skip up to the basket for another 10-15ft putt. Almost all of my putts are ending up in the 10-20ft range! Another bird, let’s go! 🙂 yah…I said “let’s go!”. lol..
Hole 15: 180ft – Slightly up hill, again.. I see an obvious gap to the right. I need about 240ft of power so I throw my roc 3 again to the right and it skips up to the basket for a birdie op. This was about a 20ft putt, but I nailed it for the bird. I need to throw this shot a little harder on tournament day.
Hole 16: 205ft – At only 200ft or so, it’s also the hardest hole on the course from the short blue tees to get your birdie. There is danger everywhere, trees left and right, the line is a nice left to right late fade which I can do with my newly in play left handed backhand, but I decide to play it for the easy par and move on.
Hole 17: 252ft – Slightly down hill, a few trees near the basket. You can play it a variety of ways, I decide to throw my Patrol mid range and let it turn slightly left to right for hopefully an easy par or birdie op. I throw it a bit too hard but it hits a tree and ends up 5ft from the basket for an easy bird. Yep.. one of those freaky rounds. lol..
Hole 18: 180ft. – I mean…c’mon… it’s only 180ft and I’m at what… -12 with a bogie!?!? Sure it’s up hill, so I all I need is about 200ft of power so I throw my Deputy putter and park the basket for an easy bird to finish the round at frickin -13!! Wth just happened!?!?! lol..
I had a lengthy discussion after the round with my bud Ryan and we agree this layout just suits my game perfectly because instead of having to finesse the shots off the tee (where you have to adjust your power to throw the disc softer) I can throw my putters, mid ranges, fairways pretty much close to full power which gives me way more confidence and accuracy off the tee. And then of course making all your putts needs to happen as well. lol.. But out of 18 holes there is literally 16 birdie ops for me in this layout. I’m guessing during the tournament a pro is going to shoot 15 or 18 down on this layout.
My goal for the tournament is 10 down or better from the blues, if I can stay calm and get a hold of my nerves I think I can make this happen. Of course I still need to get through round 1 from the regular tees, where my goal is just to shoot even par for the course, which I have never done before.
-13 (14 birds with a bogie) wow…. WOW!!!
Update! 6/14/2024 – I played a 1 round Flex Start PDGA tournament on this course today and judging by how well I did yesterday I thought for sure it would be a shoe in to perhaps shoot my highest rated round ever! lol.. Nope… it didn’t happen. As a matter of fact, it was pretty much a cluster **** from the start. Some very valuable lessons playing in the heat today, now it all comes back to me why I don’t play in the heat that often. lol… Actually I had a mild (maybe severe?) case of heat stroke today which was new. I mean muscle cramps from hell in the my legs and hands. First time that ever happened.
So the lessons learned are, in the heat don’t warm up for so long! I’m used to about a 30-60 minute warm up routine, but in the heat all I really need is about 10-15 minutes. Just a bit of stretching, a few putts, maybe a few drives and let’s rock. I was already profusely sweating after the first hole! And to make matters worse, during the first hole I realized I left my Harp approach disc back where I was warming up at. (The disc is gone, hopefully someone picked it up and returned it.) So not having that disc was a huge loss because there was a few holes where I needed that disc from the tee.
Other lessons learned are yah….. hydrate way more, 1-2 days before the round and bring an umbrella to block the sun. Man… I lost so much water while I was playing, after the 18th hole I realized I stopped sweating and my skin was scary dry, not a good sign.
But otherwise I did ok off the tee, had plenty of birdie ops which is a good sign for the tournament. Just missed a ton of putts which I’ll need to dial in for the tournament tomorrow. If I can beat the heat, I think I have a decent chance of getting a win tomorrow. Must make my putts! 😛
June 13, 2024
