the delusional disc golfer

So as i mentioned before, I didn't play in the Masters Cup this year- for the first time since 1994, I think. And I was even more bummed to see that the combo of the toughest-yet layout and choppy winds held scores down to the extent that -2 won my division (Open Masters). And from Sunday afternoon to Sunday evening, and I guess even that night as I slept that night, the delusions began to build.

I would have been right there with the lead groups all weekend. My strength is scratching out pars on tough courses in tough conditions. DeLa is MY course. And so it went.

So even though I had an impending deadline on a tough project, come Monday morning I only had one thought: get out to DeLa and play the course I saw giving guys so much trouble all weekend. And so I did. I shot a +3 (with a CTP-worthy birdie on hole 27), which isn't bad considering the layout and the wind. But then, tongue in cheek, I began to make a case to myself that that +3 meant I woulda/coulda won the Masters Cup. Wanna get a window into some real disc golf delusion? Check this out:

• My +3 included two tree OB strokes, one extremely unlikely.
• It also included two double bogeys that - it could be argued - were 5's rather than 4's (holes 13 and 14) if I were not rushing to play through larger groups
• Take away those four strokes, and I shoot -1 rather than +3
• -1 three times is -3, good enough to beat the -2 that won my division in the Masters Cup!

Of course, all that discounts the following tethers to reality:

• I can't play two rounds in a row at DeLa right now, much less three. My shoulder just sorta stops working, pain or no pain
• OB strokes will happen. Truth be told, that round was pretty even, luck-wise
• Playing the day after an NT event on the same course is not tournament golf, no matter how realistically one may try to stick to tourney conditions

My best non-delusional guess that I would have shot +3 at best the first round, +6 at best the second round, and +8 at best the 3rd round. But imagine what woulda/coulda been . . .

Round 1 in the books

DeLaveaga solidifies its position as the toughest course in the world per square foot with the first round results of the 2010 Masters Cup in Santa Cruz, CA. Even though the course is set at 26 holes, only nine players out of 84 finished under par. Defending champ Greh-GORY Barsby leads with a 1058-rated six under, followed by Matt Orum at -5 and Nate "Bobby" Doss at -3.

The Master Cup has by far the shortest average hole distance on the PDGA National Tour, but makes up for it with strategic tree placement, elevation change, and rock-hard, root-strewn greens placed close to all kinds of disaster. DeLaveaga may not have water hazards, but the two meter tree OB rule is in effect and there is all kinds of trouble waiting for discs that stray even slightly from their intended paths. A strong but intermittent wind only made things tougher to predict.

A few random observations:

• another sign of the course playing tough for everyone- The Champ, Ken Climo, is at even par, and he has as good a chance to win at this point as ever
• Sixteen 1000-rated players shot over par in the first round
• Dave Feldberg shot -1 in the first round, but it was good enough for a tie for ninth place, his best position ever after the first round in the Master Cup
• Only one Grandmaster is under par, leader Scott Riley, and I gave him a ride from the outer parking area this morning. Who will I pick up tomorrow?
  

DeLa in all its finery

Another of those times to celebrate the differences between ball golf and disc golf.

The PDGA National Tour rolls into town this week for the Masters Cup, an event hosted by the DeLa Disc Golf Club for the past 25 years. Even though the course will be set at 26 holes for the event - holes 20-22 will be skipped - all the holes (and I mean ALL the holes) are in play right now. Hole 17 is in play, as are 8a and 26a, making 29 total.

Multitudes of volunteers and workers paid by the city have been busy mowing and weed-whacking the fairways and greens, and the course looks . . . . marvelous. It looks, even to the untrained eye, like a golf course. I even saw a rather larger bobcat stalking prey in the suddenly exposed short grass after the mowing.

What's more, each hole is in the longest, most difficult position possible. 23 has a new, longer blind location. 25 is in its new super-uphill position, and 26a is from the new long tee to the old long basket position, a par four posing as a par three.

By my own personal gauge (at this point more what the average joe can do, not a touring pro), only eight of the 29 present a legitimate chance for birdie (can you guess which eight?).

So if you love being challenged to make par hole after hole, the course is like an epic set of waves right now, 15 feet over head. Here's where disc golf transcends it's ancestor: since disc golf is still flying under the radar for the most part, anyone can drive there, pay a couple bucks to park in the lot (or park for free and walk 10 minutes to the first hole) and start playing on pretty much whatever hole he, she or they want.

Try doing that on any ball golf course- much less one where a PGA event is coming up!

Falling Putts can lower your score!

Disc golfer's familiar with the rules of the sport recognize the term 'falling putt' as an infraction that occurs when the disc is within 10 meters of the target. The rules (see 803.04 C) clearly state that a player - when inside this 'putting circle,' must demonstrate full balance after releasing the disc before advancing to retrieve his or her disc. This is to ensure players cannot gain an advantage by shortening the distance their disc has to travel. If this rule were not in place, putting would turn into a Frisbee-long jump hybrid, with players taking 10 paces backward to get a running start before leaping toward the target.

Of course, when this rule is broken it is much more subtle than that. Usually the player inadvertently leans into the shot, and is unable to avoid falling forward. Hence the term 'falling putt. But outside 10 meters, no such rule applies.

803.04 A makes it clear that the main restriction in this regard is that one point of contact (foot, knee, etc.) must be in contact with the ground at the time the disc is released, directly and no more than 30 centimeters behind the marker. And I've discovered that outside 10 meters, the Falling Putt can be a really, really good thing.

All players are different in terms of physical capabilities, of course. But generally speaking most of us can only use our putting style to a distance of somewhere between 30 and 40 feet before the need for more 'oomph' robs our form of its consistency and affects our aim. At this point, players will embrace one of two different strategies:

1. Change from a putting, flip-style throw to a 'regular' throw, where the player stands sideways to the target and pulls the disc back behind her or his body. This method solves the need for increased power and allows the player to regain smooth form, but aim usually suffers considerably.
2. Take advantage of the fact that the rules allow players to 'fall' forward outside 10 meters. When it's legal, and done on purpose, this is usually referred to as a 'jump putt'.
   

I'll usually take the second option, but not always, depending on distance, terrain, obstacles, and situation. And like most players, I initially took the term jump putt too literally. The term implies that you're supposed to jump into the putt, or as you putt, but I learned there are two problems with that. First, if your feet behind the marker leaves the ground before the disc leaves your hand, that is a rules violation. I know it's often hard to tell, because it's almost simultaneous, but it's better to avoid disputes of this nature entirely if you can.

The other problem with trying to jump as you putt is that it doesn't work! If your feet have left the ground before you release the disc, or they leave the ground right as the disc leaves your hand, you don't really get the power you're intending to get. Think of a shortstop in baseball trying to jump in the air and then throw the ball. It can be done, but without feet planted on the ground the arm has to supply all the power. The same is true in disc golf. Also, aim is much less consistent without the stability of those feet on the ground.

Enter the legal falling putt.

I'm not sure how I discovered this, but it enables me to putt from probably 70-80 feet with good control and consistency. By taking the straddle-putt stance (legs apart, facing the basket), then falling slowly toward the target, and putting at the last moment before my feet leave the ground, I get the best of both worlds. The momentum adds significant power, but my arm speed is the same as a much shorter putt. And as long as I don't get too eager and try to jump and throw at the same time, it's remarkably accurate.

Try it, you might like it.

disc golf vs. ball golf: each has a case

Why (ball) golf is better than disc golf, reason #17
There is something poetic and dramatic about the differences between a driver and a putter in golf. To someone that had no idea what either was used for, they would scarcely resemble implements used for the same purpose- to strike a small white ball. One is typically much longer, with a large bulbous head on the other end of what is obviously the end meant to grip with ones hands. The putter, on the other hand, is shorter, with a smaller head at the end. And as different as the clubs are, the swings they are designed for are more different still.

When one looks to 'drive' a golf ball, a full effort is usually employed. The big backswing, the (hopefully) audible whoosh and whack, and the dramatic follow through all contrast beautifully with a putt on a fast green in golf. The operation requires the nerves and steady hand of a bomb-diffuser. When the club strikes the ball, it makes a quiet little click and sends the ball rolling toward a hole not much bigger than itself. Certainly dramatic contrasted with blasting that same ball through a wide open space.

Disc golf possesses many of the most important attributes of golf - risk/reward chief among them - but the differences between a putter and driver are immediately discernible only to the learned eye. They are both roughly the same weight and diameter.

Although a drive in disc golf usually involves more movement of the feet and a faster arm-whip, the contrast between that and a putt is relatively minor.

The best way to sum it up is this: Ball golf players get to whack their projectiles more than twice as far as disc golfers can throw theirs, and yet completing the hole is a far more delicate operation. The contrast between driver and putter, whack and tap, is one of the things that makes golf great, and that contrast barely exists in disc golf.

Why disc golf is better than (ball) golf, Reason #33
Everyone knows that disc golf is "easy to learn, yet hard to master." But simply saying that disc golf is better because it is easier to play than golf is painting with too broad a stroke. There are many unique advantages that fall under this umbrella, only one of which is the following:

Two things combine to make a person's first attempt at disc golf an almost guaranteed more enjoyable, less stressful experience than playing ball golf on a course for the first time.

• Disc golf courses are much less formal environments, with none of the rules and almost none of the social mores of even a public golf course, much less a private one.
• Not much compares to having multiple sets of eyes on you as you swing and miss at a golf ball sitting on a tee. In disc golf, that's guaranteed not to happen! About the only thing that would compare is throwing the disc 180 degrees in the wrong direction (which I've seen). But that's rare, and in disc golf no one seems to care.
  

More signs of legitimacy

When I come across a news item like this one from the Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, GA, it's easy to imagine that disc golf has finally crossed the imaginary threshold into mainstream relevance. The story is about the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship, the existence of which is a statement in itself. But it's also very well-written, in a straight sports reporting style rather than the novelty/human interest angle most coverage still seems to favor. It's written with the assumption that the reader understand the sport of disc golf. That's not the case today across the country or the world, but apparently in Augusta - at least in one newspaper's mind - it IS there.

And I find the fact that it was published so close to the home of Bobby Jones' Augusta National Golf Course, location of the just-completed THE MASTERS, makes the story more notable, not less. Maybe it's an indication that those that are best-acquainted with the virtues of the game of golf understand those virtues exist in disc golf, without limiting factors such as excessive cost, time to play, and difficulty.

At around 10:30 AM yesterday, an orthopedic surgeon showed me, on my MRI, that the rotator cuff on my throwing arm is undeniably torn. He also showed me bone spurs and told me I won't be able to throw full power for at least a year after the surgery. Panic set in immediately.

At around 4:30 PM, I finished a defiant, or more honestly denial-fueled round at DeLaveaga. All things considered, shooting par with DeLa in the long felt pretty good . . . no, darned good. At least it soothed my dessicated disc golf ego. But man, it's hard to submit to an operation on my arm when I can still play decently, and pretty much without pain as long as I don't throw sidearm, over the top, at a hyzer angle anywhere close to 100 percent, or more than once a week or so. It might be better if I just couldn't throw period. Wait, forget I said that!