Since then I have decided that from now on I'm only going to play Recreational because my PDGA rating has dropped down to the 830 range. Two Weeks ago at the IFO I finished 8th out of 12. The first round was fine and was in 3rd place but the second round I had my usual bad play late and ended up 8th out of 12.
The Fall Colors is one of my favorite tournaments. But it's in Newport News which is 120 miles away. Is it worth it to drive 240 miles to play Rec? There were 24 in Rec and most players were rated around 825-860 except for a few unrated players. It's the unrated players that usually end up winning. Sometimes it's just a new players first event but they are usually pretty good players that if they were PDGA members would be rated too high to play Rec.
The morning round I started on 18. Despite the cold it wasn't too bad. I started off slow and before you know it I was 8 over and was looking to drop out after the round. Hole 5 was a custom set up that sucked. It was a severe right hand dogleg in to tight woods. Throw a great drive to set up the up shot and end up with a 5 after missing an easy putt. Hole 6 I was able to hit a 30' turbo putt through the trees and promptly double bogeyed 7. I started cruising after 7 and threw some great drives that parked 11, 13 & 16 for easy birdies. It kind of saved the round from total disaster.
I ended up on the 3rd cars in 12th place. The leader shot 60 so being 6 back I figured I was probably out of the prizes. I was going to drop out and drive up to New Quarter park and play 18 before driving home. But was talked out of it.
The afternoon round started on 12. I was looking forward to this start figuring I could hit a few birdies early. I was still throwing great drives but this round they were just off enough to keep me out of putting range. But I got in to a groove and with 8 hole left was only 1 over. The hole 5 again. Great tee shot good up shot but a tree kicked me away and I ended up missing another putt. Hole 6 was just a disaster. I was getting tired and hit the first tree about 10' off the tee and my "Give a Fuck" meter hit 11. I went from 1 over to 6 over in three holes. I figured I was out of it. Uncharacteristically I was able to pull my shit together and finished with 2 straight birdie shot, finishing at 4 over.
Over all it wasn't too bad of a tournament for me. Just a few mental errors. I had consistent tee shots and putts. My up shots let me down this time.
I ended up in 10th place out of 24. The prizes were paying out up to 12th. I ended up winning a Crystal Buzzz.
As I expected the Rec winner was unrated and shot both rounds 900+. Out of the top 5 3 were unrated.
