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

Saturday in Staunton

The first PDGA event at Kiwanis DGC in Staunton and the crew from Spotsy showed up. James came by the second round so I let him use my camera and was able to get some pics of me playing.

The local paper stopped by and did a little video and story on the days event...

Disc golfers compete

Professional event is a first for Staunton

(I happen to be in it....)

 

Me, Justin & Ryan before the first round.

The first round I started off tight and couldn't get it going and made some dumb mistakes. The round should have ended at par. But I wasn't in last and that has been my goal this year.

The afternoon round started on #16 and my drive wasn't the best and wrenched my back on the upshot and actually threw the disc over my head backwards almost hit a guy in my group and landed about 50' back towards the tee. I feel lucky I was able to end up with a 6. I followed that with 2 bogeys but I didn't get upset and started to put some good scores down on my card and hit a string of pars.

If not for that first hole I could have easily shot a 58. I was able to overcome some bad play keep it together and shoot a lower score than the first round. Even though I should have played much better, I was able to play above my rating both rounds. I gained a spot and finished 6th.

Spotsy did damn good too. Austin won Advanced, Ron tied for 2nd, Cody took 8th. Stephen shot -9 to take 2nd on Open and Justin took 5th. Ryan finished 7th in Intermediate.

Check out all the days scores...

Saturday in Staunton

2013 Virginia Team Invitational

This weekend was the VTI at Hawk Hollow. Two divisions, 12 teams and two days packed full of disc golf.

The teams in the Beef Division...

Seneca, Spotsy, Greenville, Lakefront, UniTTy and Triad

The teams in the Dairy Division...

PA, Cowbell, HHome, SHREDS, NOVA and RADL

The weather started off great on Saturday with cool temps and ending with clear skies. The First days matches set up the semi-final matches of Seneca vs. Cowbell and Spotsy made it in to play against PA.

 Hawk Hollow host John Biscoe put together another great event.

The first days weather was cool but ended sunny and a little warmer.

Day two semifinal matches started earlier than scheduled. Cold & rain was expected in the afternoon hours. It was a cold morning and as the first matches ended the temps begin to drop. But the disc golfers bundled up and kept on playing.

Seneca defeated Cowbell 5-4 (in extra holes)

Spotsy defeated PA- 5-3

In the elimination match Triad defeated RADL 5-4

That set up the final round of best of 9 hole matches Spotsy vs. Seneca. Just as the crowd was gathering at the tees for 1 & 10 a few flakes of snow would drop every now and then. As the players began their matches the snow started coming down.

Austin driving off #1 tee pad.

By the end of the best of 9 hole match play the temps dropped again as snow was coming down hard. 

As the final matches finished they gathered at the top of the hill and was tied 4-4 with Bob's match still going on. Bob took the match after extra holes and Spotsy defeated Seneca 5-4.

Team Spotsy

2013 Virginia Team Invitational 

Champs!

Click the link too see all the pics 

2013 VTI Images

Vincent & Jules....

My new 159 Champ Mamba was going in to the backpack so I needed a good idea for the art work. I came across a drawing of Winnie the Pooh & Tigger as Vincent & Jules from Pulp Fiction.

It only took me about an hour to cut, apply & dye this morning.

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.

Latest Disc Dye...

I got my ROC 3 in and it really fits my throw well. It was time to drop a little ink on it. I went with another movie theme. I went with John Goodman's charachter from "The Big Lebowski" Walter Sobchak.

It was a pretty easy cut out and the flat ROC 3 shape made it a breeze to dye. I dropped a little red dye on the glasses for a nice touch. 

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

Another Day... Another Dye

Keeping with the theme lately I dyed a Star Dart putter with the club logo...

 

This Saturday the Loriella Challenge will be my first tourney as an Advanced Grandmaster. I'm spending an hour a day this week in the back yard practicing my putting.  Last weekend I played a mock tourney with Austin and my scores were not good. But I'm going to up my goals and finish in the top half.

Promoting the Club

Since getting back in to disc golf I have met a great bunch of people. The members of the Spotsy Disc Golf Club. They have made playing DG fun again and encouraged me to start tournament play again.

I might not be the best DG'er in the club but I can bring a solid skill set. My contribution to the club is photographing events & players, dying trophy discs and designing graphics.

I took the club logo and updated it and made some stickers. To give to club members. The pic is about the actual size of the sticker. Which isn't bad but it's hard to see stuck on the back of your car.

It was bugging me how to get a big logo sticker until I realize I could cut one out using the same skills I use to dye discs. I took the art and cleaned it up for a line art file and enlarged it to 14" in diameter.

It took me about eight hours to cut the design out of a sheet of Orcal 631 white sign vinyl. But it was worth it.

You can easily see this if you're behind me....

Winter Round

The Spotsy Super Doubles is next week so I went out today to get some practice in. It was cool and overcast but not too cold. The snow had pretty much melted and was not too big an issue. Except on the tee pads, the snow made them super slick.

Disc Golf & Chili...

The Loriella Charity Disc Golf & Chili Cook-Off was a great success. Forty DG'ers from as far away as Maryland. NOVA, Richmond, Newport News & North Carolina. We collected about 150 cans of food and $200 for the Rappahannock Area Food Bank.

The forecast was supposed to be clouds & sun with it reaching about 65°. In reality a thick fog settled in on the area and kept it cold and damp all day long. But it didn't matter. For the first time #12 was an Island Hole. A 40' circle surrounded #12 basket and if you didn't make it in you were teeing off a second shot at 3. If you miss the second tee shot you had to go to the drop zone just outside the island for a 6. Miss that shot & you're putting for a 7. So 12 could be a disaster.

The morning round I was playing great. I was hitting the fairways not getting in to trouble. I didn't throw one bad shot off the tee pad and didn't make any stupid mistakes.  My putter was on target and I was hitting 30' - 40' putts easily.

On hole 12 I threw a straight champ sidewinder (Pictured Here) right at the basket for an easy drop in birdie. I finished the round at 56 (+2). My best Loriella round in a tournament.

The afternoon round didn't go as well. My drives and upshots were fine but I proceeded to 2 & 3 putt just about every hole. Nothing sucks worse than driving a tee shot 20' from the basket and ending up scoring a bogey because I all of a sudden can't hit a putt.

I ended up exploding with a 70 (+16). About 10 of those strokes were extra putts after misses. It was so bad it was beginning to get funny. The other guys on the card couldn't believe I was missing so bad on just about every putt over 20'.

But it was a fun day and I was able to hold on for 5th. I would have finished second if I had just been able to hit my putts. I guess I just got too tired that second round.

Blast From My Past

1991 I designed my first hot stamp. I designed a Florida Disc Golf Association for Bob Lewis. I was FDGA member #86. I don't remember how many were made but before I could get one they were all sold out. Which really bummed me.

I did get a few of the minis and saved them in my collection.

Fast forward 22 years...

When the Maryland vs. Virginia Ice Bowl was over there was a bin of old plastic for sale and one of the first discs I pick up is a never thrown DX Aviar putter with my design on it. I made this design on a MAC IIsi with Illustrator 1.0. Now I have a disc to go with my mini for my collection.

Maryland vs Virginia Ice Bowl Battle IV

Got a ride up with some Spotsy DG club friends to Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg, MD for day one of the Maryland vs Virginia Ice Bowl Battle IV.

I did ok, Finished middle of the pack for my group. If I had not started off so badly I might have made top 5. But I had fun and played a new course. We raised $1,750.00 for the local food bank.

Tomorrow is Day two at Giles Run DGC in Lorton, Va. I'm going to have to skip it though.

New Putter Dye...

It's been a while since I have dyed any new plastic. I got some new Star Dart putters. I wanted to stay with Keep Calm theme but make it different.

This is what I came up with...

Nothing is more aggravating than putting low and hitting the basket. Especially when it's a birdie putt.

Great Way to Start the Year

Austin and I traveled south to Richmond and teamed up to play the Hangover Dubs Tournament. at Gillies Creek Park.

The morning round we both played good. I was even able to contribute 3 solid tee shots for birdies. We  had no bogeys and were both hitting our putts. I even hit a high sweeping hyzer putt from about 45' to save the birdie.

We ended up at 9 under par. One stroke ahead of the second place team, Allen & Patrick.

The second round didn't go as well in the beginning. We weren't hitting our drives as well and had to make a couple of long putts to either get the birdie or save par. We did have a couple of missteps. On 18 we both gacked our tee shots but Austin made an amazing shot out of the woods to save par. By the middle of the round we were 2 shots behind. Allen & Patrick were really hitting some shots. If one missed the drive the other ended up parking his tee shot for the deuce.

We slowly battled back and with two holes left we were one behind for the round and tied for the lead. On the last hole I throw a low straight shot that skips up about 12' short of the basket. Austin go for the chains and over shoots. The other team's best shot was about 20' behind the basket on a slight uphill grade. They had been making some great putts all day and all they had to do was hit this one to stay tied for the lead. First putt misses wide and the second putt hits the basket. I hit the birdie to tie the round at -6 and a one stroke win finishing at 15 under.

Allen & Patrick played great all day. They were right there all day long and were a fun team to play against.

We won some sweet Prodiscus discs and custom engraved beer glasses. For the first time playing this course I played way above my usual self and hit several great tee shots and long putts.

New Backpack

My current Cabella's backpack is in good shape I decided it was time to get a backpack that was specifically designed for disc golf.

I ended up getting a Grip EQ large backpack in all black.

The first thing I had to do was put some patches on it to customize it a little.

The patch with my name I had made at a local embroidery shop. The black & grey flag patch was chosen to fit in with the all black bag.

I had to put my Towlie patch on the towel pocket...

The Grip bag seems to be very well made. Instead of PVC tubing to frame the bag sheets of rigid plastic are built in to the bag to keep it's shape. the back of the bag forms to your back making it a very easy back pack to wear.

It is a very comfortable backpack. I have about 18 discs in the main compartment and there is room for a few more. The putter pocket up top has room for a few discs and the side pockets have plenty of space. The front storage pocket has just enough room for my keys (there is a clip for them) my glucose meter & wallet.


I'm keeping my Cabella's back pack as a back-up (that bag is a great economical alternative to the Grip bag)

 The Grip will be my primary backpack now. I highly recommend this backpack to anyone who is looking for a top of the line disc golf backpack.