2007 Cha-Ching & Zing

I had pretty much decided not to play the 2007 Cha-Ching & Zing.

Zebulon has always been a long course that pretty much kicks my butt, I had had faded badly at a tourny in Kinston earlier this summer (and resolved to not play any more two day tournies), I was getting ready to play the Great 8 and go on vacation....

But the PDGA ratings came out and I went down 4 points (877 to 873), I got an unexpected cash flow problem worked out, and I didn't want to leave for vacation with that bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I had one of my better rounds at Zebulon during the Dogwood Crosstown Challenge last year, making me wonder if maybe I wasn't better off on a long course.

Well, I took a 6 on the very first hole, and I thought I was in for a long weekend. It was a long weekend, but I somehow managed to hold it together. I played three mediocre/poor rounds (70, 68, 70 on 19 holes) and one great for me round (58 on 18 holes).

To give an idea about the last round:
1) It was the highest rated tournament round I've thrown, ever.
2) It was the highest rated round for my division (Advanced Masters) that weekend.
3) It tied or beat 6 open players and 6 Open Master players. (Not that my overall score was anything close to them...just saying on a given round if I play over my head and they have a terrible round...)

Now this is strange. It goes against several "conventional wisdom" points I've developed...specifically a) I do better on short courses than long (because I can putt and can't drive over 260 feet consistently; b) I have to start hot and hold on because I wilt over time as I get tired; c) I do better if those around me are playing better.

Granted it may just have been a strange biorhythm day or something, but I felt strong and despite having some ups and downs and not getting a good score in the morning, I was still able to finally break through and shoot a good round on Sunday afternoon. The last round should erase the other three as far as my rating (all four average 870) tourney should help my rating a little, I think, and I'm glad I went. Next stop, the Great 8:

Saturday
RD 1 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2B)(837 rating)
4-2/2-5 4-4-3 6-3-4 (37) 6-3-3 3-3-3 4-3-5 (33) (70)

RD 2 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2B)(866 rating)
3-3/3-4 2-5-3 3-3-6 (35) 3-3-3 3-4-4 4-5-4 (33) (68)

Sunday

RD 3 (Starting on Hole 17)(Alternate hole=2b) (841)
4-3/3-6 3-4-3 4-3-6 (39) 3-4-3 3-4-3 4-3-4 (31) (70)

RD 4 (Starting on Hole 14)(18 holes) (936)
3-2-4 3-3-3 4-3-4 (29) 4-3-3 3-3-3 4-3-3 (29) (58)

A couple of things I learned, too:

If I'm having mechanical problems, I need to fix them with the mechanics, not by changing discs.
A stroke counts the same no matter where you get it. We tend to think that the blow up holes are the ones that get us, but I felt like I was doing well in Round 3 but flubbed a few approaches and had two penalties for OB making 4s out of 3s and a 6 out of a sure 5 and maybe a 4. Every hole counts.