2 Rounds @ Loriella

Jerry and Sean came down from Maryland and we hit Loriella for two rounds today. The weather is cooling down and it wasn't too bad at all.

I didn't do too bad either. I must be getting in a little better shape I was able to play the second round and not burn out the gas tank.

Jerry even helped me figure out my mechanics problem and helped me improve my grip off the tee.

Good & Bad day of DG

Austing & I traveled to Ruckersville to play Green County DGC.

The front 9 were fine. The holes were straightforward and not too tough.

Then came #10...

It's a straight downhill shot and the basket is across a little stream at the bottom. It doesn't seem tight woods but the thick briars on both sides you don't want to wander far from the fairway.

Austin steps up and throws a brand new neon green TeeBird and it goes hard left in to the thick stuff. We know this one's going to be tough to find.

Then I step up with my 150 Champion Leopard. My first disc dye with Eddie The Head on it. My favorite straight shot woods disc.

I throw a snappy straight shot down the middle right side.We both think are going to park by the basket. But it hits a tree and then drops straight down. It didn't kick left, it didn't kick right. It shot straight down. I never took my eyes off it. I watched the flight. I watched the tree hit. I watched it shoot straight down and bounce at the base of the tree.

At no time did I worry that I wouldn't find this disc.

Austin goes left to begin the search for his disc and I just want to find mine so I can take my backpack off and help look for his. I get to the tree I hit and no orange disc to be found.

We look for these discs for about an hour and nada.

Eventually we gave up and continued on our round. Losing this disc really sucked. It's not a long distance driver for me. I never throw it over water.

All I can do is hope that whom ever finds it calls the number on it.

PDGA World's, the rest of it...

It has been a long few days editing through thousands of image files. In a nutshell. for every keeper there are 10 you have to dump.

Out of all the groups I followed I had more fun photographing the junior divisions. They had so much fun just playing. They were competing but after the round they were goofing around and enjoying the moment.

My favorite pic of the tournament was taken early at Eager Beaver DGC. Braxton Lawrence missed a birdie putt and was frustrated about it. The amazing thing about it was just after this moment he saw me and started smiling. He walked over and wanted to see it and thought it was the funniest thing. Any other division if a player got mad or reacted badly I would just walk away because they were in a funk and didn't want a camera around.

To see the rest of the images click the link...

2012 PDGA World Championships Slideshow

First rounds at the Worlds

it's been a long and sometimes frustrating week. I got a lot of great pics of my friends and pissed off a few top pros.

Chris on 18 at Nevin.

Two off my friends were playing on Open Masters and Ken Climo showed up and they forgot he was playing Masters and not Open Pro and didn't have a card. So they put him on the first card with my friend.

On hole 7 Climo complains on the tee pad that I'm too close and in his line of sight. My friend tells him if he motions at me I'll move out of the way. But he doesn't so I don't move from my spot and The Champ sends one down the right side in to the woods. Then a course marshall tells me that Kenny said not to take his picture and stay out of his line of sight.

It bums me a little because I wasn't there to shoot Kenny but to get some good pics of my friend. Kenny was just a bonus.but I walk away and shoot other groups.

Day Two at the World's

This morning I stopped by the Blake Hotel to pick up my credentials.

I then played Nevin Park with Bob, Chris & Kristin while scouting shooting locations. My first day of shooting will be at Nevin with Pro Masters in the morning and Advanced Women in the afternoon.

After a lunch break I played Eastway Park and then headed back to the house for dinner.

First Day in Charlottesville

Jeff, Bob & I made it too Charlottesville for the 2012 PDGA World's. The first day of shooting will be Tuesday. Today we arrived at the house we rented this afternoon and after unpacking the truck I headed to Eager Beaver at Elon Park and had a great round with some Jr division players from Oklahoma.

Latest Dye...

I had one disc left in my back pack that didn't have any ink on it so I began searching for an idea. Then I remembered a great graphic by Steve "Espo" Powers. It's everything I like about graphics. It's simple, clean and has a great message.

I was able to get clean straight lies by using a steel strait edge on the text. It turned out really well and only bled a little near the edge where the blizzard plastic has texture.

All Ready for the World's

Saturday morning we head south to Charlotte, N.C. for the 2012 PDGA Disc Golf World Championships. Bob, Jeff, Chris & Austin are playing.

My original plan was to go with them and have fun and shoot some pics of my friends playing the event. Then the call went out for photographers so I'm going free lance the event for Disc Golfer Magazine. I'm still going to get shots of the Spotsy DGC players but I'll also be covering other divisions.

So if you see me out there don't be shy and come up and introduce yourself.....

Too Hot to Play...

I head out to Loriella by 8 am and by hole 5 the sweat is pouring off me like I'm in a rain storm. The heat was just too much so I headed home.

It gave me the idea to take a pic of my putter and do a little Photoshop magic on it. Maybe this evening it will cool off enough to play.

Bored = Dye Some Plastic...

Played a round at Loriella this morning and by noon it was 105° so it was time to go home and cool off. Before you know it I was bored and started cutting some masks to dye some plastic.

The first one dye was my new 145 Champion Blizzard Krait. As a teenager in the 70's Cheech n' Chong were everywhere and some of my favorite movies. (The comedy albums were awesome too)

My next dye was fairly easy. I cut out a rip-off of the Kiss Army patch and put it on one of my Crystal Buzzz discs that I won last month. The Battlefield Stamp is still visible but it didn't bleed the dye too much.

I Just Can't Stop....

I bought a couple of Star Classic ROCs and decided to dye one of them for my backpack. I was considering a Cheech & Chong design (possibly my next disc) but it seemed to typical.

Then I saw this on a disc golf through history thread on DGCR....

Forum member Timber posted it but it was just too good not to do something with it. THis is what I ended up with...

I turned out really well. Only a few small bleeds and it is a sweet design for a disc.

Too Hot to Play...

Last night the storm-aggedon tore through the 'Burg and knocked out power all over. Last year when this happened it took 3 days to get it back on.

The timing couldn't have been better. It was forecast to break the 100° mark and with no AC it was going to suck.

It was going to be too hot for a round of Disc Golf so to kill the day I decided to use the last day of my National Park season pass and ride Skyline Drive. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. As long as you were rolling it didn't get uncomfortable. Only when you were stopped in traffic did it get hot. All along the ride today there was damaged trees, down lines and cops directing traffic downed lights. Sperryville looked like a bomb went off with all the tree damage.

Skyline didn't disappoint. As soon as I started up the twisties of 33 the temps began to drop. Once on the Drive when the canopy covered the road it was nice & cool.

There wasn't much traffic up there today and the power was out at Big Meadows. The restaurant was closed but they had enough power to sell itms from the camper's store so I was able to get a soda & peanuts to snack on.

The gnats were a bit much today when I stopped at an overlook to take a break. But you keep your goggles on for that.

I headed home down to Culpeper and lucky for me The Stable was open so I got my Robert E. Lee and didn't even realized that it had rained while I was eating dinner. The clouds were rolling in pretty dark so I took the chance of trying to beat the rain home.

I almost made it too. Nothing stings like rain hitting you at 70 mph. I had to stop at the Shell near Germanna until it passed by. It didn't take long and the roads were drying fast so I finished my ride and made it home. It was a bonus when I hit the driveway. I left the front porch light on before I left and it was on when I pulled in. So the poser is back on and I can sleep tonight with the AC on.

Bayville Bash

Spotsy DG headed to Virginia Beach this weekend for the Bayville Bash. Two rounds on Saturday, morning round on Sunday and a final 9 for the top players in each division.

You can't win a tournament in the first round but you sure can lose it. That's what happened to me. 

The course is mostly in the shade but it was already in the 90's by tee time.  Round one was from the long tees to the short baskets and I was doing ok until about #8. I came prepared but my glucose level dropped faster than I expected. I noticed my hands shaking a little and began seeing double. It was so bad I needed the help of the other guys on the card to spot my disc for me. But I held it together while I ate a couple of Jolly Ranchers. I figured that some of the trees on the course weren't there so I just had to figure out which ones to throw at. Putting was easier I just aimed at the middle between the two baskets. By #13 or so everything came back but it weakened me a little but I toughed it out and finished the round.

But I ended up throwing a 70 which set me at +10 after the first round and in dead fuckin' last. 

Now that I'm at the bottom the pressure is off cause I have no where to go but up.  The bright spot was the second round was with Lauren & Erin.  

This round was from the short tees and should have been a birdie fest for me. I did hit some birdies but not enough and ended up with a one under 59. I thought we all played well we were on a streak of pars for a while and Erin ended up with a 59 also and Lauren had a 63. I was disappointed with this round, I missed 5 birdie putts.

The first day is done and I'm still in last place +9.

Sunday morning was the last round for me and since I was still in last place it Erin & Lauren were on the card. I thought I did ok from the blue tees finishing with a 63. I missed a few birdies and kept the bogeys under control. Erin hit a 75' up shot to birdie and I was able to hit a 50' hyzer shot around a tree to birdie #1. 

So I finished 12 over for the weekend and ended up last. So after the Battlefield Open the universe is back in alignment.

Spotsy Disc Golf did pretty good. Steve won the Open division. Austin came from behind being last after the first round. Made the top 4 after the second round, was just one stroke behind the leader after the third round and hit a 25' putt on the last hole to win the Advanced Division by 1.

My goal was not to finish last so I blew that one. I knew I would never make the final round. So I brought my gear down to photograph the players and get some practice before the World's in Charlotte.

Click on this link to see the 

Bayville Bash Slideshow

The Ring of Fire was the last event of the day.

I always wanted to try something different and this time I laid down under the basket.

I ended up making a stop motion video....

Latest Dye...

I have a pretty dark fucked up sense of humor.

My latest disc dye started out with me reading one of my old copies of  Bloom County. Bill the Cat then became my next design. I then decided to push the bounds of good taste by naming it "Bad Pussy".

It only took me a few hours to cut out and I put it on my Champion Super Stingray.

This turned out to be one of my best dyes yet. Only one small bleed which is incredible considering all the intricate cuts I had to make. I finished this one just in time for the Bayville Bash this weekend in Virginia Beach.

Austin's Trophy Disc

Austin is a great kid and an awesome disc golf player. At the Battlefield Open he came from behind in the second round to win the Advanced division. The second round was from the long tees and he managed to throw a 1000+ rated round.

When he saw my trophy dye and asked if I would do the same for one of the discs he won for his victory. He picked a green Crystal Z Nuke.

It took me a few hours to cut it out and I dyed it this morning. It was an incredible 2 rounds of golf and since no trophies were given out this will make a great wall hanger.

Disc Golf Tour

It was clear skies and about 80 and Austin & I went on a disc golf tour. Our first stop was Westover Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Westover is a nice course with tight fairways and a low ceiling. The local club has recently added some nice tee signs with bag holders. They also added 3 new holes. 19, 20 & 21 are wide open big arm throws to contrast the wooded main course.

The new # 20 basket...

Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia was out next stop after a lunch break at Subway.

Bridgwater was about 9 miles away on the way south on Hwy 11. It's a wide open 9-hole course with most holes 250' - 300'. There are a few over 400' and a couple of shorter holes. (We both hit the basket on #7 for a cubby Ace) This course is a great place to stop by after the tight fairways of Westover. You can come here and play a quick nine and just air it out.

The next stop on south Hwy 11 was Blue Ridge Community College. It's a small 4-hole course and we stopped there just to say we played it. This course has a lot of problems but could be so much more if it were re-designed. Anyway if you live nearby it's a great place to get some safari golf going for practice.

The final stop on Hwy 11 was Kiwanis DGC in Staunton, Virginia. I was starting to feel the first three stops but was determined to play this course. Kiwanis is another great course. Elevation changes, open, wooded holes and new tee signs being put in. There are long tees & long baskets which gives you 4 layouts to play.

Austin played long tees to long baskets and I played short to short. I played pretty well considering how tired I was the last few holes.

The new bench put in by the #1 tee...

#6 elevated tee over the road....

Elevated basket (orange is the long position)

I was able to hit a few birdies and keep up with Austing considering he was playing the long to long set up.

250 miles traveled 49 holes of disc golf at four locations. It was a great day of disc golf. Some highs and lows (Blue Ridge 4).  The plan is to do this again, maybe hit the new courses up at Haymarket.

Enjoying the Moment...

The last week has been a great Disc Golf week for me. I have played some of my best DG and had so much fun. I have fun even when I'm last on the card, but it's amazing how much more fun it is when you're playing well.

Weekend before last I was able to play well enough to help Austin to win our division at the June Juggernaut charity doubles tournament. My first ever win in any event I've ever played in.

It must have carried over. Last Saturday at Dorey Park for the Battlefield Open I was determined to have fun no matter what. But I did have a feeling of confidence I had never had before. I missed some drives and gacked a few holes. I could have done at minimum 5 strokes better. But my putting was on target for the most part and I was hitting 20'-30' consistently for the first time.

Getting back in to tournament play my first goal was just to not finish last. Then my goal was to finish in the top half, then make the prize cut. I was able to make two goals with this effort. To commemorate this I decided to dye me a trophy wall hanger with one of my prize discs.

Hopefully I can keep this going. My next goal is to become competitive in AM Masters.

Last Day of Vacation

So I took a week of for family visiting. They went home early leaving me free for the weekend. Yesterday I had a great day of disc golf and today was pretty good too.

Ken wanted to go for a ride today so I met him for a ride down to Waugh's in Orange for a classic car show. Then a sweet ride north on 522 to Culpeper to stop by our favorite restaurant "The Stable".

As usual I got the Robert E. Lee and Ken ordered the U.S. Grant.

As we were leaving I stopped and talked to a couple at the bar, Pete & Terry. They had recently moved to  the 'Burg from Maine and didn't know the area too well. Ken & I wasn't sure where we were going after lunch. Pete & Terry had never been on Skyline Drive I suggested we hit it and they were happy to come along.

We continued north on 522 to Sperryville and rode Skyline south to Ruckersville and then back to The 'Burg. Pete & Terry were great and we had a great day of riding and looking forward to our next ride.

Battlefield Open

I made it down to Dorey Park in Richmond for the Battlefield Open. I wasn't planning on it but my cousin that had been visiting left a day early so I got up early and was lucky enough to get one of the few open spots left.

First round was the short tees. My group started on #16 and I was able to get about 8' past the basket and immediately donked the birdie putt. But I put it behind me and started rolling off pars. I was able to hit a few birdies and had only one bogey to finish at -2. For the first time I had the best score on a card. I'm usually the worst.

I get back from the lunch break and I'm in a three way tie for 9th place.

The second round is from the long tees, a completely different course. I start off with a grip lock shot off the tee of #13 straight in to the woods and end up with a double par 6. But I settle down and hit a string of pars with a few birdie chances. On the back nine I begin to feel fatigued but I keep it together enough finish with some bogeys for a +12.

This was the first time playing this course and I was very happy with both rounds. I was in two groups of great players that kept everything fun. I get back and I was good enough to finish 11th in Intermediate Division (26 players). Prizes were up to 13th so I had just made it in. This was the first time in 25+ years of disc golf that I have won discs in a PDGA sanctioned event.

I won these 3 Crystal Buzzes.

To make it even a greater day for the Spotsy DG Club. Austin finished 1st in Advanced, Russell finished 2nd in Open and Jeff finished 1st in Grand Masters.

Danielle's Putter...

I took Danielle, Corey & Adam for their first disc golf round last month and now Danielle wants to play again. She wasn't sure what discs to buy so I took a couple of new DX Leopards that I have found to give to them. I picked out a found DX Wraith for Adam. I don't have as many putters but I do have some Champion Rhynos that I don't use anymore.

For Danielle I dyed the Hunger Games logo on her putter.

It's not a perfect dye but it turned out ok. I have to do another one for my niece Amanda who is going to play her first round of Disc Golf next month.

June Juggernaut

 My friend Jerry was hosting a tournament Hot Shots disc golf course in Lexington Park, MD to raise funds for the new concrete tee pads. 


Austin & I made up Team Wonderboy and Russell Jessop and Justin Ruongrat rode up with us. It turned out to be a great day for some disc golf.

The format for the tournament was all baskets in the long position. The first round would be from the Blue tees (long) the second round would be from the Red tees (short).  


I was in a great mood today which is weird because I generally don't like to play doubles. I don't mind playing bad and ending up last but to fuck it up for a team mate really bothers me. But Austin is a great player and if I can just hold it together and play decent then we would have a good day.


The plan was for me to throw first off the tee an make a safe shot that didn't  have to be long just leave us a good up shot for par. Then Austin would have the green light to attack the course.  I felt good and was excited to play. My putter seemed to be working well in the warm up.


We started off the round with 3 pars & a bogey, then we settled in for ten more pars with a few bogeys and a Birdie on #17 and five pars. The only bad hole we has was #14 we both went OB on our second shot to end up with a circle 7. We settled down with some more pars to finish the round with 60. (Par for the course) We felt pretty good about the round but it wasn't until all the scores came in until we found out that we were in the lead with the 2nd place team four strokes back.


We set out for the second round in the lead but anything is possible and we found that out on the first hole of the round when we score a Bogey and our opponents Par the hole to gain a stroke off the bat. but we settled down with 5 consecutive pars while the other team struggled with a string of Bogeys. 


Then came #13. 


Thirteen is a 383' hyzer shot over an OB road with a mando tree down the middle. I make a great safe throw down the left side. Austin rips a huge throw that misses the Ace shot & hits under the basket but kicks up towards another OB road. When we get to Austin lie his disc is just a few inches from being OB and putting for Birdie. But before I can stop him he picks up his disc without marking his spot now we have to play from my shot. I throw my upshot short & Austin goes long and we end up missing our put and having to score a Bogey. Here's the rub, if we had taken Austin's OB shot from where it went out we would have had a 15' for a circle par.


Fourteen we played smart and ended up with a Bogey which saved us 3 strokes from the morning round. Then a string of six Pars with a Birdie in the middle got us cruising through our final holes but I began to hit the wall and was not throwing that great and finished with two Bogeys and a Par. Our opponents began to pick it up and Birdied #4 and finished with pars and gaining a few strokes.


But Team Wonderboy finished with a 57 and they had a 59 giving us a six stroke lead on the 2nd place team. As long as one of the down card teams didn't catch on fire and shoot an amazing score we should win.


Team Spotsy ended up sweeping the event. Justin & Russell finished on top with a total score of 109. Austin & I also finished in the top spot with 117. Today was the best two rounds of disc golf I have ever thrown and did something I have never done in a tournament before. Not only did I make the prizes but actually won an event. 


For the first time in over 25 years of Disc Golf I won an event. We both made a great team and played well especially when one of us made a mistake.