Master's Cup - Day 1
The day of the tournament has arrived and Kristin and I arrived at about 1:30 PM. We went and got some lunch at Tacos Morenos, and then headed to the course. We got up there about 2:00 PM, and Kristin dropped me off and headed to go downtown and shop.
The parking lot was full and unfortunately there was no place to practice putting (as the basket area was tournament central). DGA and huk lab had tents there, as well as the tournament tent with merchandise. I checked in and looked at the player's packages, which looked pretty sweet. In fact, while I did not get mine until the end of the round they had quite a bit of stuff (A beach towel, commemorative disc, full-color mini, stickers and a plain denim hat).
The course was set up with all the pins in their long positions, hole #5 was removed and a 26A was added on the way to the "top of the world" hole. Also holes #13-#16 were OPEN (I have never played these holes as they have been under repair for longer than I have been playing disc golf), and represented some of the most difficult holes on the course. I was not so happy about to hear that these were open and our group had the decision of playing the holes or not - I voted no, but the rest of group wanted to play them and so that is what we ended up doing. Marty was the starter and sent us off right on time at 2:40 PM - our group consisted of myself, Jon, Kane and Jason and they seemed like mellow guys who would be enjoy playing together.
I started off strong and got the tee pad right away. I held it for the first 5-6 holes before giving it up to Jon. It was after playing a few holes I started to size up the competition. I figured that Kane was fairly new to disc golf, as he was having a hard time just making bogey's at times, but both Jon and Jason seemed to be about as good as I was and so would be my main competition. On hole #4 I made a newbie mistake and picked up Jon's disc. We had all driven off the tee and after playing my shot (which was a nice drive and down in the open spot) I noticed a black Wraith just sitting there, and as we were the last group I figured I would pick it up and turn it in to the lost and found. Unfortunately I was not paying attention, and it turned out to be Jon's drive. I said I was sorry for the mistake and put it back where it was. He was not too upset and just informed me that it was never a good idea to pick up a disc at a tournament since it could be a penalty. I said thanks and thought it was the end of it.
After we putted out, we called out our scores and Jon said he got a par. I knew that he had taken a 4, as I did and so asked him if he was sure of his score? He thought about it and then realized that he made a mistake as well and said he had in fact gotten a 4. This was a little unnerving as I didn't want to have to keep track of other people's score to make sure they were not cheating, but figured I would just see if he did it again and decide what to do about it then.
The middle of round I started to get hot, as I made birdies on both #15 and #17. I was excited about getting past the new holes as I just had no idea what to expect. I got a 5 on "I-5" (so named as most people who play it say, "I 5'd") and then took a bogey on #14 and #16, to come out of those holes +3, which I thought was good for the first time playing them.
As we made our way to the parking lot, I realized that I was ahead or tied for the lead and thought this would be a close race between myself and Jon, as now Jason was also struggling to keep up with our pace. Jon was a member of the "Otters" in Carmel valley and had played in their tournament not too long ago. I could tell he was a decent player as his up shots were pretty good and it was only his drives that caused him trouble.
I had a great shot on #20 to start what I consider the back nine, right over the trees and about 25 feet away from the pin. Everyone else went into the trees or down the ravine. I missed the putt and ended up with par. I then doubled the next easy hole when my approach went too far and rolled down the hill. The next few were up and down and then Kristin called and met me in the parking lot as we were getting ready to throw #25. She walked the rest of the round with us and finally got a chance to see me play.
Our group then came to the new 26A, which was a straight shot with out of bounds on either side. I had never seen this hole played before, and it was a little unnerving to see such a straight lane with OB all around. Sure enough I went OB and took a 5. "Top of the world" was also not so nice, as I over cooked a hyzer shot and landed in a bush at the bottom of the hill and finished with a 5 there as well.
We finished at about 7:30 PM, which was about a 5 hour round - Yikes! When we added up our scores, I was 6 back of Jon and in second place. Not bad, as I had not played my best and was still right there with 2 whole days to go. I figured that I had plenty of time to catch up and felt good about my ability to hold off Jason or Kane (since both are quite a few shots down already and would also have to play better to pass me). I hope I can improve tomorrow and just play a little more conservative. Today I ran at a few pins and missed comeback putts, but I have been practicing and putting better so they seemed like good chances at the time. If I cut those down I think I can take it, or at least I hope so (as what I really want is a trophy).
Stay tuned, more to come.
The parking lot was full and unfortunately there was no place to practice putting (as the basket area was tournament central). DGA and huk lab had tents there, as well as the tournament tent with merchandise. I checked in and looked at the player's packages, which looked pretty sweet. In fact, while I did not get mine until the end of the round they had quite a bit of stuff (A beach towel, commemorative disc, full-color mini, stickers and a plain denim hat).
The course was set up with all the pins in their long positions, hole #5 was removed and a 26A was added on the way to the "top of the world" hole. Also holes #13-#16 were OPEN (I have never played these holes as they have been under repair for longer than I have been playing disc golf), and represented some of the most difficult holes on the course. I was not so happy about to hear that these were open and our group had the decision of playing the holes or not - I voted no, but the rest of group wanted to play them and so that is what we ended up doing. Marty was the starter and sent us off right on time at 2:40 PM - our group consisted of myself, Jon, Kane and Jason and they seemed like mellow guys who would be enjoy playing together.
I started off strong and got the tee pad right away. I held it for the first 5-6 holes before giving it up to Jon. It was after playing a few holes I started to size up the competition. I figured that Kane was fairly new to disc golf, as he was having a hard time just making bogey's at times, but both Jon and Jason seemed to be about as good as I was and so would be my main competition. On hole #4 I made a newbie mistake and picked up Jon's disc. We had all driven off the tee and after playing my shot (which was a nice drive and down in the open spot) I noticed a black Wraith just sitting there, and as we were the last group I figured I would pick it up and turn it in to the lost and found. Unfortunately I was not paying attention, and it turned out to be Jon's drive. I said I was sorry for the mistake and put it back where it was. He was not too upset and just informed me that it was never a good idea to pick up a disc at a tournament since it could be a penalty. I said thanks and thought it was the end of it.
After we putted out, we called out our scores and Jon said he got a par. I knew that he had taken a 4, as I did and so asked him if he was sure of his score? He thought about it and then realized that he made a mistake as well and said he had in fact gotten a 4. This was a little unnerving as I didn't want to have to keep track of other people's score to make sure they were not cheating, but figured I would just see if he did it again and decide what to do about it then.
The middle of round I started to get hot, as I made birdies on both #15 and #17. I was excited about getting past the new holes as I just had no idea what to expect. I got a 5 on "I-5" (so named as most people who play it say, "I 5'd") and then took a bogey on #14 and #16, to come out of those holes +3, which I thought was good for the first time playing them.
As we made our way to the parking lot, I realized that I was ahead or tied for the lead and thought this would be a close race between myself and Jon, as now Jason was also struggling to keep up with our pace. Jon was a member of the "Otters" in Carmel valley and had played in their tournament not too long ago. I could tell he was a decent player as his up shots were pretty good and it was only his drives that caused him trouble.
I had a great shot on #20 to start what I consider the back nine, right over the trees and about 25 feet away from the pin. Everyone else went into the trees or down the ravine. I missed the putt and ended up with par. I then doubled the next easy hole when my approach went too far and rolled down the hill. The next few were up and down and then Kristin called and met me in the parking lot as we were getting ready to throw #25. She walked the rest of the round with us and finally got a chance to see me play.
Our group then came to the new 26A, which was a straight shot with out of bounds on either side. I had never seen this hole played before, and it was a little unnerving to see such a straight lane with OB all around. Sure enough I went OB and took a 5. "Top of the world" was also not so nice, as I over cooked a hyzer shot and landed in a bush at the bottom of the hill and finished with a 5 there as well.
We finished at about 7:30 PM, which was about a 5 hour round - Yikes! When we added up our scores, I was 6 back of Jon and in second place. Not bad, as I had not played my best and was still right there with 2 whole days to go. I figured that I had plenty of time to catch up and felt good about my ability to hold off Jason or Kane (since both are quite a few shots down already and would also have to play better to pass me). I hope I can improve tomorrow and just play a little more conservative. Today I ran at a few pins and missed comeback putts, but I have been practicing and putting better so they seemed like good chances at the time. If I cut those down I think I can take it, or at least I hope so (as what I really want is a trophy).
Stay tuned, more to come.
posted by Scott at
9:19 PM
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