'Merica, Fuck Yeah!

Got up early this Independence Day and played a round at Loriella for tags. I have the worst number, 44, so I wasn't expecting to move up but you never know.

Started out well enough, starting even or close to most of the guys but as the round went on the inevitable bogeys & double bogeys put me in my familiar DFL.

Russell did well considering the windy conditions. Ronnie was able to move up to the top 10 by topping Jeff by 1 stroke.

Betty Queen Open

My first event of 2014 was at the 9 hole Betty Queen DGC. The format was 2 rounds of 18. Each round was first 9 from the short tees and second 9 from the longs.

Tee shot on 1 short

The morning round started out good. I birdied a few of the first 9 and was holding below 60 with 3 holes to go. That's when everything went to shit. By the time it was over I scored 71. It was partly my fault after the second bad hole my "Give a Fuck" meter was red lining.

During the break we ate some delicious soups for the BQO Soup Contest.

The second round went much better. I was surprised I did as well as I did. Mike kept trying to cheer me up with encouragements but I really wasn't in the mood. Before it was over I had the best score on the card. It was the first time I had a better score than Jeff during an event.

Those last three holes of the first round really cost me big. I could have possibly won my division if I had kept my shit together. But I did improve my score by 12 strokes on the second round.

And I did tie for the best soup with my Papaw's Butter Bean & Ham soup recipe.

Inaugural Betty Queen Open PDGA Scores

2014 Chili Cook-Off

Today was the 2014 Spotsy Chili Cook-Off and Charity Tournament to benefit the Rappahanock Regional Food Bank. Everyone brought some non-perishable food and the enrty fee was donated too. Players also donate prizes to sponsor CTP contests. We had so many sponsors there were CTP's on almost every hole. I sponsored 3 holes.

An artic front moved in last night and today it was cloudy, windy and cold. Very Cold.

Did I mention how cold it was?

Eight of us brought our best Chili recipes for the half time Chili Cook-Off.

Your truly garnered the most votes for their favorite chili and I was crowned the 2014 Chili Cook-Off Champ! My first win.

But the Disc Golf was fun despite the cold...

For all the pics of the day click the link...

2014 Spotsy Chili Cook-Off Slide Show

Snow Round at Loriella

Tested out the new GoPro Hero3 with Austin...

2013 Hawk Hollow Open: Ams

It was a long and rainy day....

That about sums up my day helping out at the Hawk Hollow Ams tourney. My feet were soaked from the get go. The morning round took about 4 hours and the afternoon round was about the same.

The Spotsy boys did good. Cody won Advanced, Chris came in 2nd and Ron 3rd.

Ryan won the Intermediate division.

For the  HHO13 Slide Show click here

For The HHO13 Scores click here

My Friend is a World Champ

This week my good friend and disc golf buddy Austin Pfaff traveled to Emporia, Kansas to the 2013 PDGA Amateur & Junior World Disc Golf Championships and came home the 19 & under Junior champ.

From the opening round until the final putt Austin was in control of his own destiny. He played exceptional golf the entire week never letting anyone challenge him for the win.

On the first day of competition he threw a 1026 rated 49 (-6) opening round at the par 55 Jones West DGC. He was tied for the lead with Omar Williams.

On day 2 of competition the morning round was at the par 55 Peter Pan course. Austin threw a 1014 rated round of 48 (-7). He took the lead at -12. That gave him a 5 stroke lead going in to the afternoon round. He then shot a 1000 rated 57 (-4) at the par 61 Emporia Country Club blue course. Austin finished day two increasing his lead by one at -16.

On day 3 Austin threw his fourth consecutive 1000+ rated round at the par 55 Peter Pan course. His 1032 rated 45 (-10) caught the attention of the PDGA calling the round "Stunning". His total of -27 increased his lead to 15 strokes.

Austin may have had a bad Egg McMuffin to begin day 4. His opening round at Jones East was his first under 1000. He shot a (-4) 56 rated at 991. Colten Montgomery made a run shooting 53 (-7) and went from 4th to 2nd. Going in to the afternoon round Austin was still leading at -31 and Colten -17 was still 14 strokes behind.

In the afternoon Jones East round he cam back to form shooting the low round of 53 (-7). The 1024 rated round moved him even farther out of reach with a 23 stroke lead at -38.

In the semi-final round he threw 1012 rated round scoring 48 (-7) taking him to -45 for the finals. 

The players for the final 9 were Austin Pfaff (-45), Colton Montgomery (-23), Jake Laubner (-16) and Jacob Files (-16). The final round was played at the Emporia Country Club and it was just a formality until Austin putted out the last hole to win the championship.

He fininshed up the great run of disc golf rounds with a 943 rated 29 to end with a total 385 (-45). Colten Montgomery finished 2nd at 406 (-24), Followed by Jake Lauber at 414 (-16) and Jacob Files at 416 (-14).

Austin scored a rating of 1000+ on five of the six full rounds with his highest rated round at 1032.

 Austin on the Champions podium

 Celebrating the win!

 Photos courtesy of Jenn DeVries

Bayville Bash IX

Last weekend was the Bayville Bash and this year I played in the Advanced Grandmasters division. The first day went pretty good. Because of the large number of players 4 extra holes were added to the course making it a 24 hole round.


The opening round of blue tees to the short baskets I was able to hang with the card. Four birdies and only 2 bogeys and no doubles was one of the best tournament rounds I have ever played.

The second round of the day was short tees to the long baskets. Not as many birdies. Only two and one double bogey. By the end of the round I was getting pretty tired. I missed two 10' birdie putts. Those 2 misses ended up putting me in 5th place with the longest round yet to go.

I was feeling pretty good in the morning. I was only  few strokes behind 4th and had a few strokes on all the players on the card. If I could keep it together and made up those strokes I would make it to the final top card round. But that was not the case. I let my glucose level get too low and blew up on the back side and took a 7 when I just gave up and threw a disc at the basket a few times. I wanted to quit. But I threw an angry hyzer bomb on the next hole and got my only birdie. I finished the round but it was dissapointing.

If I could have just kept it together that last round the 4th place guy posted an 88. I could have easily made it in to the finals card if I hadn't given up.

The good part of the weekend was Austin Pfaff winning the Open division against a good number of experienced Pros. He came from 6 strokes behind during the 3rd round to take a one stroke lead in to the finals. He was able to throw a great round to beat Schwebby by 2 strokes.

Ron Mattingly beat up on the Advanced Division and Cody Bradshaw took 3rd. Laura Clinton took 4th in Advanced women. I finished tied for 6th. But I wasn't last and even though it was a longer course with 16 more holes my scores were better than last year.

Bayville Bash Final Round Slideshow

 

See all the Bayville Bash IX Scores 

Winchester IFO

Headed up to Jim Barnett Park today for the Winchester IFO (Identified Flying Objects) in Winchester, Virginia.

The morning round didn't go too bad. I only had one bad decision on #9. Shanked a shot in to the woods and instead of playing a safe out and trying to save the bogey I tried to be the hero and unlike John McLean I did die hard. I ended up playing the next shot out to the fairway and two putted for the double par.

But I recovered and held on for a 61. My goal was to stay under 60 so I just missed out on that. I was 3 shots behind the MG1 leader and tied with the other player in the division.

MG1 division - Ed Steele, Bruce Tobias and me...

My goal for the second round was to not do anything too stupid. My upshots during this round was my saving grace. I missed at least 3 birdie putts but didn't 3 putt any holes this round. We all stayed pretty close but Ed hurt his back early and it started to show. He just couldn't throw off the tee well. Most of the round Bruce and I were within one stroke and on hole 7 he took a 5 and that gave me a 2 stroke cushion.

Then came #15. I was 3 stokes ahead with 2 holes to play. All I have to do is safe down the middle. What do I do? Grip lock a shot to the right. Bruce cooly throws a laser shot down the pipe and almost hits an ace and is parked for an easy birdie. My upshot wan't the best but I had a chance for par. But I gacked the putt and took a bogey and now the lead is 1.

On the last hole Bruce pulls a wide drive that goes OB so all I have to do is throw a safe shot and go for the par. I was able to trow my Mamba where I wanted it to go to about 50' short for an easy lay up for par. Bruce took a 5 which gave me the win.

With my 61/58=119 I was able to shave 11 strokes off from last years scores of 65/65=130.  

(L-R) Bob Cannon won Masters, Stephen Miller won Open, I won Advanced Grandmasters and Tom Coffin won Grandmasters. Austin tied for 4th in open division. I had to use an IFO sticker for my trophy. Since the other MG1's were walk ups Brandon didn't make a trophy. So I held up my "better late than Never" Sherando Spartan trophy from a few weeks ago. Brandon is sending me the IFO trophy when he get the chance to make it.

Spotsy had a good day today.

Battle in the Blue Ridge

Walnut Creek Park just south of Charlottesville was the location for Battle in the Blue Ridge. It's a two day tourney and I didn't want to drive both days.

Luckily there is a KOA campground just around the corner from the park with nice log cabins. I took Friday off and headed down a day early to relax and practice a few shots at the course. I got the 1 room cabin for me & Austin. Billy & Sean reserved the large cabin right nest to us.

I brought my Discatcher to goof around with and Billy brought his after grillin' some steaks for dinner we set up next to the horseshoe pit and played some Disc "shoes".

Saturday morning and I was feeling good and the round went OK but could have been better. There were only 4 in the grand masters so we played all rounds together and started on #9 each round. This round was short tees to short baskets. There were plenty of birdie opportunities.

I missed an easy par and birdie putt that cost me 2 strokes. Hole #10 should have been an easy par. I practiced it on Friday and did fine. I kept the mistakes kinda low and was only a few strokes in last. 

The afternoon round was from the long tees to the short baskets. It started great. I threw a good drive on #9 to start it off and hit a sweet 75' shot with my ROC 3 straight at the chains for a birdie. But just a few minutes later is where it all fell apart on hole 10. It should be just an easy straight shot down. Nothing fancy just easy and safe. What do I do? End up in the thickest, darkest rough and ende up with a double bogey. A sweet 6 on 16 and that pretty much killed me for the rest of the weekend.

Billy on #17 tee,

The final round was going to be the real test. Long tees to long baskets. I was 7 stokes back so unless I played super great and someone else blew up bad I wasn't getting out of 4th place. All of us had our bad holes and par was like hitting a birdie. The gusting wind didn't help much either.

Just like in the other rounds #10 was my nemesis and it cost me 7 strokes all weekend. I was able to keep up with the guys and it wasn't a badd round because I was expecting a lot worse. I ended on #8 and launched a sweet drive that landed me close enough for a long birdie shot but ended up with a par.

Billy, Kevin, Barry & me...  to keep it less confusing Kevins were  K1(me) &  K2. on the last tee.

I could have done a lot worse. I kept it close except for the blow up on the middle round. I'm keeping up with my goal for the year. Even though I finished 4th out of 4 in MG1. I would have not finished last in Intermediated or Advanced. I also played better than my rating all three rounds. 

Bob won his Master trophy on the last hole and Austin threw two 1000 rated rounds to take the lead and a 965 rated round to take the Advanced trophy.

For all the scores...

Battle in the Blue Ridge

Knocked for a Loop Today...

Today I received probably the biggest surprise I have gotten in a long time....

My in box contained an e-mail from the PDGA with my invitation to the 2013 Amateur Disc Golf World Championships this July in Emporia, Kansas.

I have friends that were expecting to go but I had no idea I had earned enough points. Getting the invite is cool in it's own right. Now I have to decide if I want to go or not. I had to look my name up on the invite list to see what division I qualified for and it's looking like Advanced Grandmasters.

Hell Hath Frozen Over...

Today was the Sherando Spartan.

The Spotsy Crew. Russell, Justin, Marla, Cody, Ron and me.

Last year I played in the Rec division since I was just starting to play tourneys again. I didn't do very well. Out of nine players I finished seventh. My scores were 70 from the short tees in the morning and 77 from the long tees in the afternoon for a grand total of 147.

The weather was perfect. Cold in the morning and warming up nicely. There was still snow on the ground but the melted snow made the course very soggy & muddy.

This year I signed up for the Advanced Grand Masters and I was the only one in that division. But this morning Ed Steele from Harrisonburg walked up and signed up for MG1 to take one of the remaining open spots.

I had one of the best opening rounds I have ever had. Three birdies, seven bogeys and 10 pars. No double or triple bogeys. I ended up with a 4 over par which could have been better. I had a 15' birdie shot on 14 hit dead center and spit out.

But I was very happy with my round. But I didn't know Ed's rating he could have been a much higher rated player. Turns out he was about the same as me. He threw a 64 opening round too. The second round card we were paired up with the intermediate womens players. Which never bothers me. It makes the round so much more relaxed and bonus Marla is on the card.

The afternoon round from the long tees started good for me with a birdie on 13 but two double bogeys pretty much killed any advantage that early good start gave me. Ed and myself go back and forth for the lead, Ed hit some amazing long putts for par on a few holes. 

The difference came in late in the round. With about 6 holes left Ed was beginning to miss some of his tee shots and I was able to keep it pretty much together. I missed another gimme birdie on the "X" hole but Ed took a 5 on that one and took a 6 on #6. The morning workout sessions I have been doing all winter seemed to be paying off. I wasn't tired or hurting too bad until the round was over. 

So, I ended up with a 68. Eight over from the long tees and an 8 stroke win over Ed. 

For all the scores.... Sherando Spartan 2013

Today I earned my first ever win in a PDGA event. Even though there was only two in the division I guess a win is a win. I shot my two highest rated rounds back to back (866 & 911)  Fifteen strokes better than last year. I didn't hit the wall and fall apart the second half of the afternoon round. The best part was the day was fun all around, I didn't let the bad throws or bad breaks bother me.

Stephen won the Open division. Cody won Advanced. Bob took second in Masters and I won Advanced Grandmasters.

A good day for the Spotsy Disc Golf Club.

2013 Loriella Challenge

The 2013 Loriella Challenge weekend has come & gone. I wish I could have done better but I did finish better than last year. This was my first year in GrandMasters division. There 7 in my group. My morning round went alright only 2 bad scores. If I had kept it under control I should have had a 59 or better.

When it was all said & done I was in 3rd only a few strokes off the lead. Then the second round happened. Just when I think I have had my worst round ever I promptly beat that worst score. I'm not going to get in to too much detail. I started this round on #3 and disaster ensued. That 7 put me in a hole that I never came out of. I did get within a few strokes of the other guys on my card but eventually It was an all time high score for me on that course set up.

It wasn't all bad I was able to finish 5th out of seven. I finished dead last of all scores last year.

For all the scores and winners....  Loriella Challenge Ams


Sunday was the Pro day and I stopped by to take some pics of the action....

Brian Schweberger (waving at you) won his 6th straight Loriella Challenge Open Division title. To see all the scores & winners....

Loriella Challenge Pros

Loriella Challenge Pros Pics

Turkey Day Doubles

I got up early this morning to play a Thanksgiving day round at Loriella with Austin, Justin & Tim. The weather couldn't have been better. We ended up playing double. Me & Austin vs. Justin & Tim.

Justin & Tim ended up -10 and Austin & I ended up -8. Austin was hitting the drives and I was hitting the putts to keep it close.

Austin throwin' a 450' shot...

Bored at work = evental disc dye

A few nights ago I was bored at work and started tinkering around with the Spotsy DGC logo to see if I could update it.

This is what I ended up with...

I think I did okay. Later that night I figured it would make a pretty good disc dye and after about an hour of cutting I ended up with this on my old 166 Discraft Glide....

It turned out a lot better than I thought it would considering it was a beat up disc. There were some bleeds but not too bad. The outer edge is not as dark as it looks in the pic.

Hawk Hollow Open - Ams

Today was the Ams turn at Hawk Hollow. Two roundsof disc golf in perfect weather. 

 

The light was ideal combined with the fall colors. To see all the pics click the link...

Hawk Hollow Ams - 220 images