With the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge only 24 days away, the pressure is definitely rising. The last ratings update on PDGA.com was not kind to me (I’ve played some really crappy tournament rounds this past year), so saying I feel like I’ve got something to prove is one heck of an understatement. I managed to beat a 915 rated player a couple weeks ago, so I definitely don’t feel like I should be 802…ugh. But enough about that. Complaining never solved anything!
I had some big plans this past weekend, but as it is with the best laid plans – they went awry. I had a friend coming over on Saturday, and she had mentioned that she wanted to try “this whole disc golf thing”. As you can imagine, I may have been a little excited 🙂
I had the whole thing planned out. She was going to get into Langley, quick tour of the house, then jump in the car and head out to Thornhill. One round from the A tees, potentially get her interested in a second round (probably wouldn’t, but I could try), and then get a beer and some freaking delicious pulled pork fries at Billy Miner’s in Maple Ridge on the way home. (PS – if you have never been to Billy Miner’s and you live in the Greater Vancouver area, I suggest you go NOW. THE BEST. PERIOD.)
Unfortunately, Saturday dawned icky. Not enough to deter a hardened disc golfer, but just enough to convince someone trying the sport for the first time that we should sit inside and drink coffee instead. Not that I have anything against that delicious beverage, but a) you said you’d play disc golf, and b) I want to play disc golf. Yes, you can call me selfish, but I have a lot of practice to get in!!
We ended up making it out to Langley in the mid-afternoon. I knew that it would not be a heavy duty round, so I only grabbed a couple discs. The sky was drizzly, the course was super muddy, and when she saw some of the other guys chucking, the round turned into a walk around the course….which was fine, but disc golf…cue pouty face. At least she gave it a couple hucks, and I think I can convince her to come out again when the weather is a little nicer. Fingers crossed anyways.
We had a lovely evening despite the lack of disc golf. Side note: yes, I realize how biased and whiny I’m coming off in this post. Yes, I know it was somewhat unreasonable of me to expect a newbie to play in the rain. Yes, I know you don’t always have to play disc golf. However, right now, I NEED to be playing disc golf. As foolish as this sounds, I have this funny sense of National pride in going to Nevada for the tournament and representing Canadian disc golfers, especially all the women I have played with/against. I probably need to take a chill pill, but 20+ years of competition in softball, volleyball, track, school, basically everything, and now disc golf, has me conditioned to want the best, and I will do anything to achieve my goals….ugh, I am exhausted just thinking about it.
Which leads me to this next thought – you ever get somewhere and wonder how you got there? When I look at where I am, I start stringing together the path that got me to this point in my life, and it’s a little unbelievable. The collation of events that have placed me here, on February 1st, 2016, wearing these clothes, doing this job, and feeling like this…holy cow. It all strings back to my mom putting me in softball when I was 4, and it’s a little scary that that decision has moulded my life to this moment…I’m sorry, I will be stepping away for an existential crisis for a moment.
ANYWAYS – after a pot and a half of coffee with my buddy Sunday morning, she left and I immediately scooted off to Passive. As you can imagine, I was a little fidgety (so much caffeine!), so I made it a multi-disc round, with a special emphasis on upshots and driving. My putting was shit, and I knew I didn’t have the concentration to practice it and have it be worthwhile.
I played my round like this: I walked up to the tee and threw whatever I normally threw when playing a normal round. Then I picked up another disc and tried to replicate that throw
Ie: I typically throw a hyzer on #10 with my Star Katana. I threw my Katana, then picked up a G-star Daedalus and tried to have it s-curve to the spot I like to sit for my upshot.
Then, if I felt it was prudent, I would pick up something completely different and try a different kind of throw.
Ie: I typically flick my beat-in MVP motion on hole #12. I threw that, then my more overstable motion, then backhanded my Vulcan into a tree, and then gave my Nuke SS an anhyzer chuck down the fairway before concluding that I should probably keep to the flick in a tag match, but the backhand may one day be an option on that hole.
About halfway through the round, it became clear what my caffeine-addled brain was looking for – something new. We played a round of Ript Revenge the other day, and having discs taken away and different throwing types selected for me was a real learning experience, and rather than falling back into my same pattern of knowing all my shots, I wanted to keep the change going!
I really benefited from the last 5 holes of the day. For the past 3 years, I have been throwing a hammer on Summer #16 at Passive. That’s what I do. No more, no less, and everybody knows it. Sunday changed that. I looked at the 150 foot, slightly uphill shot, said “screw it,” and parked it with my Shark. In complete shock, I threw my Tern – parked it. I threw my Nuke SS – not as parked, but birdie-able. Finally hucked my Roc3, and monkey pawed it into a tree. But three backhand shots within birdie distance on a hole I have literally never thrown anything but my Firebird on? Heck yeah. I’d call that progress.
Emboldened by my success in shot-selection risk-taking, I gave it another try on winter #17. Again, I hammer this. It’s just a smart life decision. However, in the name of change and growing my confidence, I gave my Tern huck – probably would have been better if I hadn’t accidentally hyzered it. But my Shark…15 feet from the pin. Apparently I now drive 200 foot holes with mid-ranges?! Who is this chick…not the girl who walked out on the course and threw a +26 at Langley a million years ago, that’s for sure.
To sum it all up – while I wasn’t keeping score yesterday, I certainly feel like I came out a winner. Side note: yes, that was cheesy, but it just felt so good to throw a disc (backhand!) and have it do exactly what you thought it would. Just a breath of fresh air in regards to consistency that felt amazing.
In other news – new resolution for February is to do one disc golfy thing each day in order to stay hyped for Vegas. Probably a little overzealous, but by this point, you know me…
Happy hucking!
BC Disc Chick 