Another set of back to back tournaments this past weekend, this time with some success.  On Saturday, it was the West Thompson Open C-tier at West Thompson Lake DGC in Connecticut, and on Sunday it was the Newton Hill Open B-tier at Newton Hill DGC in Worcester MA.  It was hot, humid, wet, and hot…a typical July weekend in New England.

West Thompson Lake and I have a hot-cold relationship over the years.  Either I score well or I have an implosion or two…rarely ever find myself having an average, ho-hum kind of round.  It’s either a 50-51 type score or a 58-59 kind of round…never in the middle. This day was no exception.

Round 1 featured only one real hiccup, and that came on hole 13 where my drive hit a tree late and ended up about 40 feet out.  From there, I proceeded to three-putt my way to a 4.  The only other score over 3 that I took that round was a 4 on the par-4 hole 10.  The rest of the round was a solid mix of 2s and 3s for a total score of 51, good for the hot score of the round.

Round 2 was another story.  In a good round, holes 1-5 should yield more twos than threes.  And it did for my card mates.  Not so much for me with hole 5 being the only deuce. I closed out the front 9 with a four on hole 9.  Then came the aforementioned hole 10.  My drive rolled OB.  My second shot was OB by a centimeter.  Ended up with a six.  I followed that up with a deuce on the next hole but that would be my last.  A four on hole 15 and the rest threes, and I ended up with a disappointing 57.

I somehow managed to hold on to the last cash spot for $25.  On the plus side, I got a ringside seat to team64 mate Sam Henderson shooting the hot second round and putting himself into a playoff for first.  Unfortunately, he lost the playoff on the third hole.  Still a good day overall for the team.

As warm and sticky (and rainy during round 2) Saturday was, Sunday was decidedly warmer and stickier with temps and humidity levels exceeding 90.  Add to that a course that runs up, down, and across a big hill, and a long and exhausting day was all but guaranteed.

In round 1, all the excitement came in a six hole stretch in the middle of the round.  After starting the round with five consecutive 3s (two of which were the result of missing putts in the circle), the brief roller coaster began on hole 2.  Starting there, the scorecard looked like this: 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 5.

On hole 8, the roller coaster seemed to want to continue when my drive on the short par-3 skipped down hill and into the woods.  The resulting lie was about 25 feet from the basket with an obstructed view. With a straddle stance, I managed to get a putt out, but it hit the front of the cage and rolled back down the hill behind me.  Now I had a 30+ footer to save my three and the only saving grace was that it rolled to a spot with a clean line to the basket.  I hit that line and made the putt.  From there, I carded six more threes in a row to finish the round with a score of 54.

That score put me on the second card at this tournament for the second year in a row.  And it also put me on the hole where the “roller coaster” began in the first round, hole 2.  Fortunately, it was a little bit less of a roller coaster and a bit more successful than the first: 2, 3, 3, 2, 2, 4.  Then on hole 8, I carded a two with another big putt out of the woods downhill of the basket.  After that, I settled into a three groove through the back 9…the only blemishes being a four on hole 15 followed by a 2 on hole 16.  I closed the round with a drop in deuce on hole 1 for a total score of 50.

My two round total of 104, which was exactly the same total I had at the 2014 Newton Hill Open after two rounds (55+49), was good for third overall for the second year in a row, and earned me a place in the final round safari six for the second year in a row.

In the safari six, I made a run at it, gaining at least a throw per hole on the leaders on the first four holes.  Then I ran into trouble on the fifth safari hole.  In hindsight, I’d have been better off laying up my fourth shot, but I decided to try to give it a run and didn’t even get it halfway there thanks to a tee sign that I never should have been near in the first place.  From there, I three putted to a seven and ended the round still firmly set in third place.

It was an exhausting weekend, but it was worth getting through it in the end.  Now it’s time for a bit of a break and running some tournaments, beginning with the annual Greenhorn Tournament and Trilogy Challenge.  Next tournament to be played looks to be the Vacationland Open on August 15.

Busy busy busy…the typical story of my summers. Apologies for not updating after last weekend’s tournament, so this one will be another two-fer.  On July 4-5, I played the Greater Hartford Disc Golf Open A-tier at Wickham Park in Mancester Connecticut.  This weekend, it was the Crane Hill Open B-tier at Crane Hill Park in Wilbraham Massachusetts. All that adds up to a lot of driving and a lot of playing in an 8-9 day period.

The GHDGO proved to be more of the same kind of golf I’ve been playing for the last month or so.  Nothing egregiously bad but nothing extraordinarily good either, and lots of “birdie” chances from 35-50 feet that by and large became easy pars.  It’s not the worst way to play a tournament, but against the stiff competition at the GHDGO, it wasn’t a great recipe for success.

In the end though, the difference for me between cashing and not came down to hole 1. The downhill hole measures at 520 feet with a 350-380 foot carry over an OB area, and that’s from the “regular” tee.  For two of the three rounds, the “pro” tee was in play, which added another 100 feet to the hole and the required carry.

In the first round, with the first throw of the tournament, I managed to worm-burn a downhill throw and never made it across the OB.  Then I threw into the OB long of the basket from the drop zone in an attempt to make up the penalty and save bogey.  That netted me a 6 to start the weekend.  From there, I managed to pull it together and have a fairly good round for 20 of the 21 remaining holes on the course to finish with a slightly disappointing but still one under par 69.

Second round was more of the same…steady play with the exception of hole 1.  This time from the long tee, I failed to properly account for the head wind and didn’t get the lay-up drive I wanted (there is a safe bailout zone to the right that I wanted to get to).  The drop zone from there was the “regular” tee.  More of the same…OB.  To the drop zone again, where I again threw OB through the green.  The damage: 7.  The score overall was a 73…one over or even par depending on who you ask.

Sunday morning brought round three on the hardest possible layout on the course.  No surprise, I played my best round of the weekend on that layout.  Not the lowest score (71) but definitely the highest rated.  The biggest difference was the improvement I made on hole 1.  Again, playing from the long tee, I successfully made it to the bail-out safe zone, and then got on the green within 20 feet on my second shot to card a 3.

Overall, I finished a few throws out of the money.  If I had managed to salvage fours on hole 1 on Saturday, I might have scratched out last cash.  And last cash is about as well as I expect to finish on that course against that kind of competition.  The course, even in the “standard” layout (which is also the shortest), plays against my biggest weakness and that is length off the tee.  I managed to compensate on some of the longer holes with some effective backhand roller shots,  but that can only get me so far.

On the plus side, my putting game was strong.  Only missed two must-have putts inside the circle all weekend, and managed to sink a couple longer ones, including a 55 foot jumper for a birdie 3 on the 720 foot hole 11.

Made the long drive home for a week of work on the course, mowing and weed-wacking.  Squeezed in a round or two as well.  Before I knew it, it was Friday again and I was back on the road for the Crane Hill Open.

This was my third year playing this event, and the first two years did not include a whole lot of personal success.  But the tournament staff makes it worth coming back every year. Third time’s the charm, I guess as I finally seemed to solve Crane Hill.

The frustrating part about the design at Crane, and it’s a good one, is that it requires precision and tends to punish overly aggressive play.  In other words, where you get into trouble and the strokes start piling up quickly is by trying to do too much.  That usually goes without saying on any course, but this one really emphasizes that notion.

Round 1 on the shorter “A” layout started off well enough with a string of ho-hum pars interrupted by a lone birdie deuce on hole 6.  On hole 9, a mental mistake led to my first bogey.  Instead of taking my time and finding a more stable stance, I rushed my putt from an off-balance stance and missed.  I made up for it by draining a 50 footer downhill to deuce hole 11.

Couple more of those ho-hum pars led us to hole 14.  In the A-position, hole 14 is a short but perilous little hole.  The tee and basket are at roughly the same height with a valley in between and a gradual drop off behind the basket as well.  Many drives that land short end up rolling away, and drives that go long leave long death putts that almost always call for a lay-up directly under the basket.  It can be deuced and it can be sixed very easily (I have proof of both :)). My drive this time had the height I wanted to ensure I didn’t hit short and roll, and fortunately the basket got in the way of the throw going long.  ACE!

That got the momentum going in the right direction.  I played hole 15 perfectly for the par 3.  The hole is arguably a par 4 so a 3 felt good.  More pars on next four holes (including a drop in par 4 on hole 16).  Parked the 360 foot hole 2 for the CTP prize and birdie 2.  Finished the round with a drop-in deuce on hole 4 and a final score of 50.  That was good for a tie for fifth place, three throws off the lead.

Second round was on the longer, tougher B-layout.  In theory, the layout had fewer birdie chances and not with the way our group played it.  If one of us didn’t get the birdie on a hole, it involved a great save for the par.  It made for some exciting viewing, if only there was a gallery to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, it took me a while to get on the birdie train with the rest of my group.  I chugged along with pars through the first six holes of the round before finding bogey trouble on hole 8.  Came back from that with a par on 9 and a birdie 3 on hole 10.  More bogey trouble on hole 12, missing a 25 footer for par.  A par 4 on hole 13 led us back to hole 14.  The B-position is about150 feet longer than the A, but still set up well for me as a lefty.  And I proved it by splitting the gap with a Pure and landing 10 feet away for the deuce.

Just like the first round, momentum was gained from that hole as I scored solid back to back par 4s on holes 15 and 16 (both could arguably be par 5), including a 40 foot putt on hole 16.  Made another 40 footer for deuce on 17.  Missed a putt on 18 for deuce then finished the round with a par on hole 1.  Final score 58 (par = 59).  Total score 108.  Final placement, tied for 4th, four throws out of first.

Between the good finish, the ace pot, and the CTP, it was a very good day for me.  Really starting to feel like my game is gelling.  Only three bogeys all day, all of which were silly mental lapses and thus feel “fixable”.

Next weekend is another two-fer weekend, playing the West Thompson Open C-tier on Saturday and the Newton Hill Open B-tier on Sunday.  Took 2nd place at last year’s Newton Hill Open…hoping for a repeat performance, if not improvement.

No better way to jump back into the tournament season after a month off to run the DDGC than to embark on a three day, two tournament, two state, 700 mile round trip sojourn around the northeast.  I started the weekend at the J-Park Jammer B-tier in Ravena, NY on Saturday and finished with the David Stidham Memorial C-tier in Charlton, MA on Sunday.  Lots of driving, lots of golf, lots of weather, lots of sore muscles.

Joralemon Park is one of the most beautiful settings for a disc golf course I’ve seen in person.  It features a little bit of everything…some open fields, lightly wooded areas, heavily wooded areas, gigantic boulders and elevation changes.  I played there once before just passing through on the way home from a visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  I remembered two things about it…the incredible terrain and the ace I snagged on hole 25. Ever since that visit, I’ve been anxious to go back and play it in a competitive setting.

Finally, after four years of conflicting schedules, the opportunity presented itself and I signed myself up.  The day couldn’t have been better with perfect weather to go with the great course conditions. Unfortunately my play didn’t quite keep up with all the other good things.

The big struggle of the day was getting into the circle for birdie chances.  This tournament featured that great little touch of painting out the 10-meter circle so stat-keeping got a bit easier.  Of the 18 holes played in the first round, I only got myself into the circle for a birdie chance four times, converting three of them.  In the second round, off the 27 holes played, I was 4 for 5 on birdie chances in the circle.  Good conversion rate, just not nearly enough opportunities to be competitive.

I lost count of the number of times I found myself 6 inches to 10 feet outside the circle for my birdie chances, but it seemed to be a frequent occurrence and I only managed to throw in one birdie from outside the circle all day (made a couple par saves from there too). The only holes I played consistently well in both rounds (birdies both times) were #4 and #25.

Hole four is a 460 foot par 4 that tees into a rather open field for the first 350 feet or so before turning 90 degrees to the left into the woods to a basket perched on a 12-15 foot high glacier-carved boulder.  Despite the low ceiling at the tee, I was able to get two good rollers into the field and around the corner into perfect position to approach and land on the boulder near the basket.

Hole 25 is the hole I aced (#13) on my first visit.  It’s a narrow 300 foot, low ceiling tunnel shot finishing slightly left.  It doesn’t appear to set up well for a lefty, particularly one without a solid forehand, but I was able to sneak a hyzer-flipped Stag under the low branches each time and gently glide to the basket for deuce.  Not many holes I’ve played multiple times and can boast a sub-2 (1.67) scoring average on. 🙂

At the end of the day, the lack of birdie opportunities gave way to lack of par opportunities as I limped to the finish.  Downside, of course, is that I was near the bottom of the standings and won nothing, but the minor bright side? Early departure to make the 2.5 hour drive to MA so I could crash at a decent hour in order to get up early the next morning to take on the monster that is the Buffumville Lake DGC.

Woke up Sunday to pouring rain, so the drive to Buffumville was a bit of an adventure.  Saw a car skid out on the wet road and slam a guard rail, and had another car pass me going the wrong way on the interstate.  Fortunately, I got through unharmed (and hopefully no one was seriously injured) and I managed to get to the course without further incident despite the rain getting heavier.

I arrived relatively early as usual, but didn’t bother to venture out on the course just to get soaked.  I also figured after 45 holes the day before, it wouldn’t take me long to get loose so I could get by with a few tosses and putts before the two-minute warning.  I wasn’t alone in that strategy. This is what “warm-up” looked like for most of us…

Luckily for the tournament, the heaviest rain passed by before round 1 got started, so for the most part the morning was wet but not miserably so.  It mostly alternated between hard rain, mist, and nothing and the wind swirled a bit (the old headwind no matter which direction you face kind of wind).

Early on, I paid for the no-warm-up choice.  Threw a perfect drive on the first hole (18) for a drop-in birdie, then sawed off the drive on the next hole and ended up OB.  On the third hole of the round, I thought I hit my line just right, only to watch my disc dip just a bit sooner than expected and not quite get back in-bounds (3 feet short).  So a birdie two followed by back to back bogey fives wasn’t the ideal way to start my day.  I steadied the ship from there, parring everything I needed to par and birdieing the holes that I needed to birdie.

That was until I got to the first of my two Buff nemeses, hole 9. I wrote about my last encounter with the hole in my Tourney 54 post.  That involved a great pair of lucky breaks to card my first ever birdie 3 on the 700 footer.  Not so much this time.  The headwind blowing at the tee flipped my drive into the OB riprap rocks, then failed to hold the turnover on my approach from the drop zone, resulting in a bogey 5. I recovered from there to par my way through most of the back nine, including the newly lengthened to par-4 status hole 14 (great change, btw).

I arrived at my other Buff nemesis, hole 17, to finish the round.  They call it a par 3, but it seems no matter what I do with it, I’m fortunate to come away with a 5. Way back when the course first went in, I had little trouble with the hole, even birdied the original shorter pin on occasion.  But the course is now 15-16 years old and the trees have grown up and out and really narrowed the desired flight path.  The ideal line is a hyzer-flipped righty backhand S-turn (out to the left swinging way to the right before finishing back to the left).  That’s a line difficult for a lefty to emulate without a monster sidearm, which I definitely don’t have.

So my approach to the hole has had to change. Instead of trying to bomb a drive on a nearly impossible line, I’ve taken to dumping a putter short of the water.  Still a semi-blind hyzer shot, but relatively simple for me with a Harp. For the first time since adopting the lay-up strategy, I managed to keep my second shot from skipping through the green into the OB road beyond. But the drawback was I left myself short, on the edge of the circle putting directly at the steep drop off to the road.  Laying up for a four still felt like a win to me, even if it meant my first round at Buff out of the 50s (60) since the switch to Lat64/Westside/Dynamic.

Not my best score at Buff, but also not my worst score.  It put me in the hunt though not quite in the top half of the field. Only five throws separated third from 14th so practically everyone was still in it.

Second round brought more contrast in weather conditions.  It began with one last downpour, then about four holes into the round the sun came out and the temperature felt like it spiked up about 15 degrees. Sadly, the humidity didn’t go with the rain, so what dry towels I had left went from wiping wet discs to mopping sweat from my hands and brow.

More relatively steady play to begin the round.  One birdie through the first six holes, including a par 4 on hole 9. A bogey on hole 10 brought me back to even.  Birdied hole 13 from outside the circle to get back under par, but a 15 footer for par spit back out at me on hole 15 to bring me back to even again. Another safety-laden bogey 4 on hole 17 moved me over par for the first time in the round.

On hole one, maybe I was subconsciously worried about going OB right like I did in the first round, but I yanked my drive left into the OB riprap. My throw from the drop zone skipped hard and left me under a pine about 35 feet out. I pulled a straddle putt out of my b…imagination to make the par save.  Threw two perfect shots on the par 4 second hole to birdie it and get myself back to even.  On the final hole of the day, I found myself about 15 feet away for birdie on hole 3, and had another putt hit dead center and spit back out off the pole.  Even par 58 for the round, two over 118 for the day.

Ended up tied for the first spot out of the cash.  Those two spits late in the second ended up costing me the last cash spot.  On the plus side, those two spit-outs were the only putts I missed inside the circle all day.  Just like Saturday, I was capitalizing on the birdie chances I had, I just wasn’t giving myself enough of them.  Considering the course and the challenges it presents me (particularly when it comes to finding birdie chances), I still feel pretty good about the way I played.  Baby steps are still steps.

Taking this coming weekend off.  It is Maple Hill Open weekend, but I did not have an opportunity to qualify and didn’t bother with the waitlist route since they rank it by rating rather than first-come first-served.  I’ll watch it online though, and will be rooting for my Twisted Flyer and Team64 teammates.  Next event for me is the Greater Hartford Open at Wickham Park in Connecticut, an A-tier.  That’s another course like Buffumville where I’ve got to convert every birdie chance I get because they don’t come easy there.