Monday, December 29, 2008

Holiday Disc Golf

Season's Greetings-
Frolf has continued through rain, hail, sleet and cold.
I was too busy and-or modest to post last weeks tourney results but here they are.
I shot a -9 to take the overall pot whose participants included Jim, David, Derrick, Mathew, and myself. The -9 equated to a -3 after hc which was good enough to win the handicap tourney over the second place score of -2 shot by Rusty. The ace pool was also drained by a skip ace on hole #2 by... me.
In an effort to spread the wealth there was a wicked cool mini ham and eggs disc CTP prize offered generously by Derrick which was won by me on hole 11. Thankfully, there was one more CTP on hole 18. Not one of the 7 drives split the uprights! We had to settle it with a playoff to a short hole 10. Jim snuggled it in and won a holiday song mix compiled by Davey-D.
Whew! 5 for 5 would have been a little over the top.


Yesterdays tourney was the last of the year and had a decent showing of 10 guys. Rusty has been on everyone's heels and he finally didn't get second place, HE WON! He shot an impressive -1 which dropped to a difficult to beat -5 ah. Jim and I tied for second with -4's ah's. Which was settled from the top of the world. I had a brand new Firebird and confidently threw it out wide and let it tank to the left through the uprights within 10'. Jim missed, then threw back through the posts and absolutely nailed his 50' par putt. I felt only slightly bad sinking my birdie..
As consolation Jim did win the only CTP of the day by making the best drive on 18. He won the last bottle left of the ginger beer Lindsey and I made for Christmas. Cheers Jim!
See you all next year, and don't worry next week my hc will be back to the impossible to win -7!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Thunderstorms & Lightning!

While Fort Bragg was getting dumped on by a major thunderhead we were granted fair weather for Sundays game. Our first true wintery feeling tournament was attended by a dedicated group of eight frolfers. Jim, Ryan, Mathew, Vince, Spoon, Nate, David, and myself. Mathew shot the round of the day -7! and sunk many long rainbow shaped putts. Second place was taken by Vince with what I believe was a -1? Jim, David, and I were in the overall pot and all shot pretty lousy games. David and I tied at -1 and we settled it at the top of the world 18. Whenever I play this shot I never know how to get my distance right, I usually just throw a big heizer to the basket, but I am long or short more often than through. Anyway, this time I went through barely. David missed by less than a foot!

No photos this week, but not bringing my camera was a big mistake. While I was warming up, there was an incedible, vivid rainbow over the northern headlands that lasted a good 20 minutes. The clouds were imressive and ominous, showing dark bellies of some large anvil shaped thunderheads. While rounding the bend on hole 17 we heard some deep rumbles from a couple miles north. Which brought up an interesting disc golf ruling question, "What happens when a lightning bolt hits the basket, and instantly melts your putter? Is the put good if half the putter puddle is still in the basket?" We need answers...

Friday, December 12, 2008

Late Recap

Better late than never. Here is the recap of Sunday's tourney:

We had one our largest turnouts yet with fifteen (paying) participants. This meant three payouts and a larger spread of wealth. The round started out breezy at about a 'Four' on the Beaufort scale, where " dust raises and loose paper; small branches are moved" and quickly turned to a 'Five' where "small trees and branches begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters". Needless to say, the scores suffered a bit with the wind. David Stein won with an uncontested -6 bh, -3ah.

I have to mention that Jody also shot a -3 ah. WAIT!, now I remember what happened. I added her card up wrong and got her hopes way up, but for naught. She was only -2 under. Sorry again Jody. Anyway Tim, our newest member and quickly advancing frolfer, tied Jody for second. These two had yet to place in the money previously, so all eyes were on the top of the world playoff shots. Jody made a real run for the goal posts, but Tim walked away with second place, and Jody with third. Dallas and I tied for the overall with -7's and we also had a playoff from the top. I missed, he didn't. Damn. Overall it was a nice round for most, with a beautiful high strato cirrus sunset, and a nice send-off round for Jody and Bryan who moved north on Monday. Hood River's Gain, Mendocino's loss. Mendo disc golf will miss you guys, and we eagerly await your return!

I forgot to mention the spicy nuts ctp. Mathew came through once again with a great ctp prize of home brewed spiced almonds, which Roy excitedly accepted for his skillful shot on #3. Roy throws ctp's all the time it seems ...just wait untill he starts sinking those 30' puts!


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Brody Movement






Hey guys this is Bryan Brody. Just wanted to drop a line and update you all on the courses we have come across on our move to Hood River. We got to hit up the Redwood Curtian in Arcata. This is the complete opposite of the high school. We only got to play the first nine, but what a beautiful course. We did not have really great games, but really great times. The pictures are of us teeing off on tee 2. You have to climp up on the stump and chuck it. Hope to make it back for the whole course. We drove north from there and stopped for the night near Roseburg. We woke up and headed east toward Crater Lake. We went to Whistlers Bend DGC. Well worth the journey off of I-5. http://www.dgcoursereview.com/ rates this course at 5 out of 5, and we would have to agree. There is a 600' hole with about 100' of elevation. I got my longest drive ever out of it. There is also a picture of that hole. This course really has every type of hole. Tight wooded, wide open, and water in the background.
Hope this finds you all throwing great games and having wonderful days.
We look forward to playing some rounds with you all soon.
More pics avalible at myspace.com/kinfolkfan.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Handicap Theory

How about a post on the theory of handicaps?  Here is my question:  Does our current handicapping system primarily reward inconsistent play?  For example:  if a player was so good that they shot 17 under par every time they went out, they would have little if any chance of winning.  Is this a good thing?  If we agree it isn't, is there any kind of fix to the problem?

Ah, but weather plays into it too, doesn't it?  Presumably Mr. 17-under will have a better chance in more difficult conditions.  So weather could even the scales a bit.

Complex issue.  Opinions?

Sunday, November 30, 2008

It was just my day..

It feels damn good to finally win. It's an interesting system, this whole handicap thing. Even though we play against each other, it's really just your handi that your battling.

It was beautiful once again, and there was a big turnout of 15. We split into three groups and did a traditional tournament start with each group starting at a different hole. This worked well at first, but we found ourselves crossed up too much, anyone have a better method?

Here is the wrap up:
Erin (me) won the handicap pool ($60!) with -13 bh and a-6 after handicap.
Bryan placed second ($10) after a three way playoff against Rusty and Brian with a -4 bh & ah.
No aces this week, although Mathew kissed some chains on 15.

I'm heading north this week up into Oregon and beyond. I'm definitely going to play some disc and I will be blogging it up when I get back. Thanks for a great day!



Monday, November 24, 2008

Sunday Tourney Ace Pool Aces

First of all, big cheers to Erin for setting up this blog for Mendo disc golf, and by extension, the Mendocino Frolf Club!  Looks great, and, once we get into the swing, should be a big bundle of fun for everyone.  Secondly, nevermind my question about signing up.  Everyone just has to respond to your invitation, and everything is pretty easy to figure out from there.  
Those things acknowledged, I'd like to post about sunday tournament aces and the ace pool.  In another post, Erin mentioned hole 14, and I was going to clarify that actually hole 14 has only been aced once in tournament competition since the ace pool has been established. Then it occurred to me that I have been present to witness all three tournament aces in the ace pool era!  Am I the only one?  I'd like to describe what I recall from each of them!:
The first ace occurred, appropriately enough, on hole 1.  Davey Stein, madman extraordinaire, pulled out a relatively new disc for him, a bright red-orange dx-plastic Firebird acquired at the Willits tourney he had attended with fellow MFCers Matthew, Erin, Rick, Tommy, and myself. There was a strong wind from the north ("The sea was angry that day, my friends!"), and when I saw Dave let it go, I wasn't optimistic.  First of all, the disc came up to level almost immediately, and it looked as if the thing HAD to turn over, which would have spelled doom.  The strong north wind at the Mendo course has a powerful propensity to keep these kinds of throws turned over until they come crashing to earth short right, or at best, long right.  But the dx disc was new enough that the Firebird stability kicked in, and the disc refused the turnover, glided flat for a piece, and then began to turn back left.  At that point, it looked to me like the big wind would get under it and unquestionably carry it well left of the basket.  As we watched, though, that Firebird instinct to tumble to earth began to take over.  The wind tried to push the throw left, but the Firebird, against all odds, said "not today buddy!" and made a beeline down toward the basket.  And damn if that thing didn't fold neatly into the chains!  We all jumped up and down and turned to mob Davey, but he was gone, tearing around the parking lot, wings straight out, a la a goal-scoring european soccer player!  His winnings?  Something in the neighborhood of a cool $150!  What a memorable ace to kick off the MFC ace pool!  Fly like an eagle, Davey!
I was lucky enough to register the second ace pool ace on hole 4.  That day we had south wind, which is somewhat unusual and generally signifies a coming rainstorm.  Despite having two previous aces on the hole in past years, I hadn't been playing the hole particularly well as of late.  I pulled out my dark red star-plastic Monster, and let 'er rip well right of my normal target, letting the wind bring her back over.  I don't remember much, other than holding my finish and watching as that red beauty dove behind the bush that fronts the basket.  It made the kind of sound where there isn't much doubt of the result.  A great feeling!  My winnings?  About 100 clams baby!  How sweet is it...
Big number three was thrown by Big Derrick on the aforementioned hole 14, and of the three, it unquestionably had the highest level of difficulty.  With the south wind making a heuser throw to the right over the blackberries unattractive, D scoffed and threw an anheuser shot to the left.  The thing tore through the defenseless wind, and then disappeared to the right, headed for paydirt, until we heard something no one really expected:  big chains!  Since it is a blind shot, we had to yell to the group ahead to confirm the ace, which Dave and Erin promptly did, and the third ace in MFC ace-pool history was official!  And unless I am mistaken, the shot was Derrick's first hole-in-one ever!  Even better.  It probably deserved the greatest monetary reward, but unfortunately came hot on the heels of ace #2, so yielded the lowest (how much was it, Derrick?).  Fortunately we ain't in this for the money, and ace#3 will live on as a killer toss nonetheless!
I hope this post is just the start of an ongoing thread on these first three aces, and all the astounding ace pool aces to come!  

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sunset Discin'

Can't beat these conditions Folks. Today's frolf tournament was Beautiful and sunny with NO wind. We had a casual showing with 11 peeps. The scores were casual as well, well except for Bryan..

Here were the non handi scores:
Terry +6 Tim +11
Rusty +3 Roy +2
Nate +7 Bryan -4
Brian +9 Jim -8
David -4 Erin -8
Tom -4

Bryan won the Handicap round with a -5, Roy came in second with -4 Jim and I tied for the overall with -8's and after three playoff holes I finally won! Nate won a new Star Wraith with a CTP throw on hole 12. Nate it's in my bag when I see you next. See you all next week.

I'm going to try and have current handicaps posted on the blog every Monday or Tuesday if Mathew is up for it.



Monday, November 17, 2008

Another Nate Win and an Impressive Ace!

The tourney was awesome. Temp in the 70's along with some extra low scores thrown in windless skies. 13 players in all, we split into two groups and teed. The first CTP, a new star wraith, was won by Dallas Albright on hole three with an 8ft from pin measurement. (He passed on the prize so it will be offered up next week.) The second CTP, a sticker, was won by Dennis on Hole 13. The highlight came soon after with an ACE on 14 by Derrick!
This blind hole has hosted 2 of the three ace pool shots. As far as I know Derricks throw is the first official tournament anheiser ace, cool.

After doing the final tallies Nathan was announced as the handicap pool winner with an even round, -6 under after hc. Bryan and I were tied for second with a -5 after hc. We went to the top of the world 18 and both missed the uprights. He parred, I didn't. Dallas won the non-hc with a -12 and I was one back at -11. That's the wrap.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

-Little Lake Tournament-

Sunday November 9th was an experiment. Would it be possible for our Sunday A course group to abandon the high school and try something new? You're damn right! Thanks to everyone who came to the pond course and had a good time. I had a lot of fun designing the course layout with Davey-D and even more fun watching people make some great throws and putts with what I thought would be a tougher course than it really was. Having an occasional change of pace and playing a new course is not only more fun, but it helps your golf game as well. I'm already contemplating how to improve the course layout, so when my turn to be TD rolls around we can all head back up the hill to play what I promise will be a more challenging disc golf course..

My only regret? No photos! and also all those lost discs...especially Roy's newly earned Ace disc.
Plans to siphon the pond and return lost discs is in the works. Thanks again everybody!

Oh yeah, here are the results:
Nate Dog won with an impressive -1 under, -7 under after hc.
Derrick claimed his second place prize with a -4 under after hc, nice one..
Tom and David tied for third at -3 after hc, and I won the overall purse with a -7 before hc.
No aces, come on people.
Hey Mathew, maybe we can come up with a way to post each players last 10 scores or something? Let me know what you think.