This tournaments followed a Disc Golf insense summer; after touring through Sweden for 3 weeks and playing every course on the way, I participated at the European Disc Golf Championships for the first time and was able to experience a super well run tournament in Tallin, Estonia and watch some of the best in our sport.
The last tournament of the season is coming up in a week and the off-season is almost here. I’m very motivated to work on my form in the off-season as I think there’s still so much room to improve.
Lately, I have taken a liking to the Pekapeka, as it’s a super useful disc for turnover shots (and I need those a lot, as the sidearm is something else I’m working on).
September ‘23 was a great month! Lots of progress was made in my mental game which led to some low scores and happy results. I’ve always had a good arm but struggled to keep my brain in gear after the first round of multi-round tournaments, so making a breakthrough in that area was big for me. September is my disc golf anniversary, (Sep2021 was the first time I was dragged out of my hotel room in California to go throw discs with the boys as they needed a 4th for doubles) so it’s perfect timing to break down some barriers I was hung up against. Those barriers were:
First A-Tier MA1 win @ Keeper of the Chains in Wichita KS on Sep16
First B-Tier MA1 win @ Peregrine Disc Golf: The Battle for the Osage Hills on Sep23
First 1000+ rated rounds, for a total of 3 this month
Keeper of the Chains:
-Shout out to Duck’s Flying Discs for running a very smooth, low-drama multi-day tournament, from experience that is not the usual. 2023 Keeper of the Chains was a blast, a very hot, humid blast, but a blast nonetheless. First round was at Clapp East which has a lot of distance driver shots of various shapes and OB’s close by. (Thanks Kahu Regular and XG!) Kept it between the lines and putted pretty well and walked off with a -3.
-The 2nd round of the 3 was at Cessna park, a classic ~320ft average hole length park golf course, so my Kea and Kotuku were the star players. Shot a clean round with 10 birdies, easily my best round at that course, netting me a 1000+ rated round and placing me firmly in the lead of the tournament @ -13.
-3rd round was Clapp West, which tends to be more technical and shot-shapey, with more OB and mature guardian trees. To be honest, I got a bit comfortable with my 4 stroke lead and went on cruise control, focusing more on avoiding OB than going for shots I knew I could land. Learned my lesson in that department, as my lead turned into a 3-way playoff with 2 very solid players.
-Playoff: Pressure was on! Hole 1 knocked out one of the players, so it was only myself and another local guy left moving on to hole 2. My tee shot was just about what I wanted, (turned my Tara Iti over a tad too much on a high backhand flex trying to avoid the tall pines in the way) while the other local guy was snagged by the guardian trees. His approach was great, in bullseye. I had the putt to secure the win from about 45ft out, and it stuck low on the weak side after an entire day of identical putts splashing out from there. There’s a video of it out on my social media (@dischurler on IG) where I’m so shocked it stuck I ran out of frame!
Peregrine Disc Golf: Battle for the Osage Hills
The Battle for the Osage Hills was a solidly run B-tier in Pawhuska, OK. It took place at The Lodge, home of 2 of the top rated courses in Oklahoma.
-Round 1 was on Moccasin Creek, a course I had played once previously and fits how I play fairly well, lots of long backhands of varying shapes. Putting was on as well, even in the wind, so keeping the OB to a minimum let me walk out with my second 1000+ rated round.
-Round 2 was on a course I have never played, so I leaned quite a bit on the rangefinder and the overhead map on Udisc. The Island Course @ The Lodge is a more technical, wooded course that leans a lot more on forehands and straight 9-speeds. I hung on to my lead by 1 stroke in the end thanks to my Tara Iti and the Kotuku. Irreplaceable discs! Shout out to Peregrine Disc Golf for running a smooth event and handing out some sweet trophies too!
All in all, I’m super happy with my performance this month and it feels like all the practice I’ve put in over the last 2 years is finally paying off. The pieces are finally clicking together and I can’t wait to see where it goes, especially next tournament season in Spring2024. Thanks to RPM for making solid discs that a player can rely on while they’re feeling shaky sitting on top of A and B tiers!