February 5, 2011 - Monthly at Delaveaga
The first Saturday of every month, Delaveaga has a competition called the monthly. Others have told me that it is a fun tournament. There are some excellent players who show up for this event, however it has several divisions, so I could play against lower-rated opponents. A couple of weeks ago, I had been playing really well, so I had decided to play my first monthly. About a week before the tournament, I told several people that I would be playing this event. Over the last week, since I have been playing so poorly, I began to have doubts.
Saturday morning, I woke up and my calves were really sore. Plus I had an upset stomach. I had serious thoughts about not playing this time. It seemed like it would be a disaster. I have not been playing well when I feel fine. What am I going to do when I feel bad? After wavering for awhile, I decided to go. The tournament starts at 9am, so I got to the course at 8am to warm up. I did some stretches, played a few holes, practiced a few drives and then practiced my putting. About 15 minutes until 9am, I wandered over to the picnic tables where players checked in.
I was the only person there. I sat on the picnic table and waited. I am looking around wondering if I got the wrong date. A guy wandered past and said that they always start 15 to 20 minutes late. Even then I expected the parking lot to be full, players to be warming up. Something to be happening. At 5 minutes to 9am, I am still the only person there. A few minutes later a few cars start coming in. Then all of sudden cars and people start streaming into the parking lot. Of course, many of them are coming 15 minutes after the competition is supposed to start. In the end, there were probably 40 people signed up.
I get paired up with three UCSC students. The tournament uses a shotgun start where groups scatter around the course to start. Our group decides to start on hole 20. I step up to tee and throw my first drive ... out of bounds by about 2 inches. The second hole, I throw my second shot within few feet of the basket and .. it gets up on its side and rolls 45 feet down a hill. After the first 9 holes I am about 10 over. I find just about every out-of-bounds area. Never very far out of bounds, just enough to give me a penalty shot. Sigh. An awful start. At this point, I decide that I am not going to worry about my score, just play for fun.
The next 8 or 9 holes are bad, not as awful as the first 10, but not good either. It was a strange day. The wind was gusty and blowing hard. One minute it would be calm, the next it would be blowing pretty hard. And it was a warm wind, which seems really unusual in early February. The temperature was very comfortable, shorts and t-shirt weather. But the wind would wreak havoc on longer throws, sometimes it would knock discs down, sometimes it would knock discs up in the air. Sometimes shots that would normally fade to the left would go straight, sometimes shots that would go straight would fade right. I would like to say that my bad play was due to the conditions and bad luck, but I was just playing poorly.
Then all of a sudden, things turned around. I played the last 8 or 9 holes really well. I think I only had one bad hole in there. Every bad throw that I had made in the last week just disappeared. I made good throw after good throw, including 2 birdies in the last 7 holes. In fact, I birdied the last hole. My partners seemed a little flabbergasted. After struggling so much for most of the day, I am starting to make a bunch of nice throws. Where did that come from? Clearly it was too late to salvage my score, but it was nice to play well again.
I ended up at 20 over. I actually beat a player in my group. Of course, he had only played for four months, but I did beat him by a few strokes. The other two guys in my group were pretty good. They tied for 3 over and won our division. Everyone in the group was fun to play with and we had a good time. It was a nice day. I plan to go back again next month. I have no idea if I will be any better or worse, but I hope to have another fun day.
Saturday morning, I woke up and my calves were really sore. Plus I had an upset stomach. I had serious thoughts about not playing this time. It seemed like it would be a disaster. I have not been playing well when I feel fine. What am I going to do when I feel bad? After wavering for awhile, I decided to go. The tournament starts at 9am, so I got to the course at 8am to warm up. I did some stretches, played a few holes, practiced a few drives and then practiced my putting. About 15 minutes until 9am, I wandered over to the picnic tables where players checked in.
I was the only person there. I sat on the picnic table and waited. I am looking around wondering if I got the wrong date. A guy wandered past and said that they always start 15 to 20 minutes late. Even then I expected the parking lot to be full, players to be warming up. Something to be happening. At 5 minutes to 9am, I am still the only person there. A few minutes later a few cars start coming in. Then all of sudden cars and people start streaming into the parking lot. Of course, many of them are coming 15 minutes after the competition is supposed to start. In the end, there were probably 40 people signed up.
I get paired up with three UCSC students. The tournament uses a shotgun start where groups scatter around the course to start. Our group decides to start on hole 20. I step up to tee and throw my first drive ... out of bounds by about 2 inches. The second hole, I throw my second shot within few feet of the basket and .. it gets up on its side and rolls 45 feet down a hill. After the first 9 holes I am about 10 over. I find just about every out-of-bounds area. Never very far out of bounds, just enough to give me a penalty shot. Sigh. An awful start. At this point, I decide that I am not going to worry about my score, just play for fun.
The next 8 or 9 holes are bad, not as awful as the first 10, but not good either. It was a strange day. The wind was gusty and blowing hard. One minute it would be calm, the next it would be blowing pretty hard. And it was a warm wind, which seems really unusual in early February. The temperature was very comfortable, shorts and t-shirt weather. But the wind would wreak havoc on longer throws, sometimes it would knock discs down, sometimes it would knock discs up in the air. Sometimes shots that would normally fade to the left would go straight, sometimes shots that would go straight would fade right. I would like to say that my bad play was due to the conditions and bad luck, but I was just playing poorly.
Then all of a sudden, things turned around. I played the last 8 or 9 holes really well. I think I only had one bad hole in there. Every bad throw that I had made in the last week just disappeared. I made good throw after good throw, including 2 birdies in the last 7 holes. In fact, I birdied the last hole. My partners seemed a little flabbergasted. After struggling so much for most of the day, I am starting to make a bunch of nice throws. Where did that come from? Clearly it was too late to salvage my score, but it was nice to play well again.
I ended up at 20 over. I actually beat a player in my group. Of course, he had only played for four months, but I did beat him by a few strokes. The other two guys in my group were pretty good. They tied for 3 over and won our division. Everyone in the group was fun to play with and we had a good time. It was a nice day. I plan to go back again next month. I have no idea if I will be any better or worse, but I hope to have another fun day.
posted by Steve @ 5:23 PM
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