Sanford Spring Sling III

Observations:

1) I got miscalibrated on this course. I know it had been over a year since I had thrown it, but I had recollections of -3 being "about average." Now, I suppose tournament conditions might add a stroke or two, and it was windy. But I had a tough time shooting par (only 1 in 4 rounds). More to the point, the scores across the board were not reflective of the degree of difficulty I remembered. For example, I remembered the course as being maybe a "tad" tougher than Kentwood, especially on the back nine, but while a 49 on the former was rated as a 905 round, a 53 at OT Sloan was rated 922.

2) That 922 was my highest rated tournament round of golf, I think. First time I shot over the 915 threshold, which is supposed to be the window for the advanced division.

3) I hit the red number on the top of the basket on 15, narrowly missing my fourth career ace. It's been almost two years since my last ace, and I've hit chains and basket several times on my tee shots in the intervals (on holes 1, 5, 9, and 15 at OT Sloan; holes 1, 7, 8, 14 at Buckhorn, 1, 6, 9 at Kentwood...you get the drill). This effort did get my a CTP--a cordless phone and t-shirt from Windsteam Communications (love them sponsors).

4) I struggled for most of two rounds (the early rounds both days) and really worked to not just explode. Not giving away loose shots when things aren't going well really is a discipline.

5) If you're only going to do one thing marginally well, it might as well be putt. Putting not only helps your score by getting birdies, it increases your margin for error on approaches. The extra strokes you don't add to your score are just as important as the birides you make.

6) I really need to learn to throw a thumber. I don't even need to throw it well, just enough to have it in a place where that is the only throw called for.

7) There are jerks (I was going to use a word that started with "A" and ends in "holes") and nice guys at pretty much every tournament and at most levels of competition.

8) The worse a good player is going, the bigger jerk he is. The better a novice/intermediate player is playing, the bigger jerk he is.

9) There are a lot of foot faults in disc golf, even in tournaments.

10) Over four rounds I took 14 strokes on hole 5--the easiest on the course. Go figure.

11) I lost a second CTP by the length of Gary's toe. Grrrr.

12) I'll never understand why people don't want you to clear the basket after a made putt.

13) I'll never understand why people ask you to clear the basket after a made putt and then don't wait for you to walk clear of the basket before they putt.

14) Applied learning is a wonderful thing. I remembered the lesson from Roselane last week about a heavy tail wind on a short approach. I putt a bit more on a short approach and sure enough when the tail wind knocked it down still had enough to get it close.

15) I hit four trees less than fifty feet away from me (three on intermediate approaches)...man that is annoying.

16) I'm getting to the point where playing 72 holes in two days is bordering on work rather than fun--and where I feel it in my back and muscles for a day or two afterwards.

17) Ticks bite...and they suck.

Round 1 (Starting Hole 12)
3-4-2 3-4-3 3-3-2 (27) Out
3-4-2 4-3-3 5-4-2 (30) In 57 (Rating 857)

Round 2 (Staring Hole 13)
3-3-2 2-3-3 4-3-3 (26) Out
3-4-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (28) in 54 (Rating 889)

Round 3 (Starting Hole 13)

3-3-2 4-4-3 3-2-3 (27) Out
4-5-2 3-3-3 5-3-3 (31) In 58 (Rating 858)

Round 4 (Starting Hole 12)
3-3-2 3-3-3 2-3-2 (24) Out
4-4-3 3-3-2 4-3-3 (29) In 53 (Rating 922)

Postscript--I believe this makes my average rating for all four rounds an 881, which means I shot a whopping 4 points above my PDGA rating (877); Looked at differently, the PDGA rating correctly predicted my score after 4 rounds to within 1/2 a stroke. Sheesh. I guess Bill Parcells was right...you are what your record says you are. (But at least I'm still getting better.)