Friday, September 16, 2011

Here's How It Goes

Every member of the MCFC has there own coulda', woulda' and shoulda' been story. It often revolves around your score while standing on the the #17 tee box. I love the one where, "I was 1 under my personal best on #18 and I thought about laying up...". The game of disc golf is a marathon, not a sprint (even though A-course feels like one). Old Tom Morris decided on 18 holes for a reason, that reason is open to debate. Some say it was to stretch out the round to allow for mistakes and opportunities. Others say that there are 18 shots in a bottle of Scotch and therefore should allow for one bottle per round. Due to the regulations at the Mendocino Frolf Course I doubt that designers Erin and Rick Hemmings considered how many drags it took to finish a joint. Regardless, 18 holes is awholelotta holes and with wind, rusting of basket hardware and just plain bad luck, something is bound to fall out and leave us with a coulda been. I offer now, my version of "-5, -5 aint nothin', I coulda been..."

I like to play disc golf. I like to do other things too. This is a conundrum. I haven't been playing very much lately and my scores have shown it. I do, however, love the B-course. This alternate layout of the Mendocino Frolf Course offers more distance, obstacles and strategic play than the A-course. Where A is a "birdie or die course" (I first heard that term after the 1st round of Willits KOA Pro-Am Jam and found it perfectly descriptive), B tends to be "par and steady" and "get 'em when you can". This type of course plays to my game. That is why I was so excited when it was announced that we would be tournying on B. That is also why I was so disappointed by my first two scores. I thought I could play B consistently below par. I thought wrong. Things are just a little harder when Sunday Tournament is on the line.

My best score on B up until last sunday was -3. A hard fought -3. A I don't know how much better I could play -3. Not a coulda' been better -3. On sunday I shot -5 and thought, "Oh, that coulda' been...". I shot 9 birdies and had 3 bogies, one of them a double. My first bogey, and I hope George and Wip will collaborate my story, was on #10 (from the bullpen, through the trees and to A-course basket 4). I drove decent, laid up decent and left a 20 footer for par. With the wind, I put away my putter and opted for the mid-ranger and nailed it. I would have scribbled a 3 on the scorecard if my disc hadn't gone through the chains, hit the pole, then scrambled out the back. Mark it 4. The rest of the strokes came on #17 ( I nipped a cross branch, not a tree trunk on what looked like the upshot of my life from the aluminum bleachers; mark it 5) and #18 (one of those where you want to argue with the guys judging but you know deep down, "It was a little short"). That's how easy 9 becomes 5.

Wait there's more. I will now degrade myself as far as a man can go and look at the missed birdies (is he really gonna recount his missed birdies, we all miss birdies, man, come on, show a little restraint, a little style ((yes I am going to because it was what makes up the coulda', shoulda' and woulda' been theme of this post, man))). #7 is a birdie. I think it is the one hole that gets easier than its A-course brother. I drove it well, just didn't keep it on the stairs. I am willing to say that the put directly below the basket but down on the field is about 25 feet or shorter. I chained out; that's one. Next hole (which I chained out the ace the day before and shot the identical shot) was on line for the ace, skipped just below the basket and went down the line along the fence. 6 inches higher and it's an ace (did he just do the ol' "if only that one was an ace my score would be...?"((yes))). The last grudge towards the course was on #16. I fired my shot right where I aimed it (so you want to know where that is, cannot tell or everyone will start birdying it). The putt was longer than I would have liked but 30 feet was no problem that day and I missed inches to the right. Looking at it in a truly "coulda' been" fashion, I shot a -13. Now that's a score you can hang your hat on. Or not.

I guess I should also mention the putts on #2, #3, #5 and #12 that didn't exactly hit dead center and still stayed in. You might also be interested in #15 where I drove deep into the trees, threw my disc at the only hole in the trees, trying to make par, and heard that chime and clank that only means birdie. This falls under shoulda' been but we are making my score BETTER not worse.

In summary, I challenge anyone to recount a round that coulda', shoulda' or woulda' been better than -13. Let the blogging begin.
Aloha, pau.

5 comments:

  1. Do I get a second place credit for B-Course Tournament record next to Erin's -6 Record? Jim has one for C-Course or is that just for guys who live in Mendocino?

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  2. Thanks Erin. I wonder if we should start posting records of shoulda' been rounds.

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  3. Ryan- Did you get my posted comment? I can't find it.

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  4. No. I was thanking you for adding the records.

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  5. Bread,

    I guess those other things you like to do (that you refer to in paragraph 2) include daydreaming, coming up with new ways to score a disc golf round, and creative writing (LOL or COL Chuckle Out Loud). Thanks for posting! Also, nice 5 under B course round...5 under ain't nothing to shake a stick at.

    MCFCers,

    I wasn't at tourney on Sunday but I heard Jeremy won and parked hole 17 for a drop in birdy. Nice win Jeremy! He also aced hole 3 in Fort Bragg during the doubles round.

    DaveyD

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