As September enters in and we approach the autumnal equinox I figured I would take this weeks blog just to give a recap on the summer, the progress I made and what lies ahead.
Summer started with me in the disc golf scene moving up after three straight wins in intermediate on July 1st I made the bump up to Advanced. While it felt like the right move to me Dan Kilgore was still trying to convince me to move into open, dont quite think I’m there yet.
The Bishop 2017. The Bishop held at Lakeview Church in Parma OH is a heavily wooded course. As my first Advanced tournament I had a good showing I played really stead in the first round. playing really steady avoiding trees playing simple par golf a few bad OB on the driveway of the course in the first round which cost me a few strokes. In the second round I started off really hot through the most wooded section of the course putting an ace run off the basket on 15 to start the round and going -3 through the first 4 holes. I struggled late with two, three putts in on a few of the open greens where the wind really effected my putts. Came into the last hole tied for the league and was trying too hard to park the hole for win and turned over my comet too much which put me out of position to par and I ended up putting a 40 foot putt from a knee under a tree for the tied off the basket just an inch low. Finished 2nd.
Medina Trifecta. The Medina trifecta marked the one year anniversary of my first tournament where I finished 2nd from last in intermediate last year. This year I played a lot of scramble par golf through out Sam Masi and Roscoe Ewing courses. I’d never played the long tees on either course so I was largely playing blind. I ended 1 off the lead heading into Poolside, a course that is truly birdie or die, I missed the first two hole just not having great drives, grabbed a birdie, followed by a bad bogey then finished birdieing the last 4 holes to come in tied for second two off the lead.
Red River Gorge Climbing: Rich Haren and I planned to go to the New River Gorge the last week of July, but the weather turned on us so we turned the car to the west and went to the Red. Typically we would not expect Ideal Climbing weather in late July in Kentucky, however while Friday was a rainy mess, the rest of the weekend provided low humid a bit warm but very good climbing conditions. Friday before the rain hit Rich and I headed out to PMRP to the Gallery and Volunteer Wall. We started at the Gallery and found it wet damp and mossy and rough discouraging start to our trip. A quick trip across the creek to the volunteer wall we found overhanging, dry rocks which were beautiful climbing where we did Same Way 11b, and Rich who had just started leading in the spring lead Darwin Loves You 9+.
On our way out of PMRP it had started to rain on us. When we got to the car and got the car back to the main road of the area we found our primary road out was completely submerged from the run off the of the afternoon rain. So we had to wait an hour for water the drain off.
Saturday left us with great weather to climb at Muir Valley. Rich having never been to the Red we took a lot of the trip a general tour of the area. So we traveled all over Muir finding good routes staying mainly on the 11’s through out the valley we found fun routes on good holes and no crowds on them.
Sunday we went up to Zoo and I took a chance and Got on Hypocrite 12a, It was actually surprisingly easy. I went up the route bolt to bolt. Did not get the onsight or the send. we were on our way out when I attempted it and an other group wanted to get on the route, so I never gave it a proper sending effort, however I was happy with how well I did on this trip considering how little training I had done over the summer.
West Virginia State Championship. I had a really rough start to this event, I couldn’t get anything going in the first round, putts weren’t falling, and had a lot of bad kicks off of threes. I ended the first round 16th out of 18. However the second round I played much better playing really well getting clean off the tee, making my putts an unfortunate OB and I had the second best round in the field from the long tees and pulled by self up to 9th place 1 stroke out of the pay out. I was not happy with where I placed however I was very happy with my ability to battle back from a rough start.
Summer Showdown at the Springs: Like the Memorial in the spring, this tournament had begun with a climbing trip to the New with Clinton getting canceled due to the forecast in WV. I started off playing well the first round at Hudson going -2, I took a very unfortunate 5 on hole 15 which was frustrating for me. The second round I played relatively flat, no large numbers but didn’t make the same birdies I had in the first round. I started the round solo in 3rd place, and ended the tournament tied for 3rd. I was happy with this finish and showing heading into Hall of Chains
Hall of the Chains. Hall of Chains was a tournament I really wanted to play well at. I had structured a 5 week plan just to get ready for this tournament. The first round started in steady rain, which really effected my grip of the disc and left the discs largely feeling uncomfortable in my in hand. I had an unfortunate last two holes in the first round and put me a poor spot. My second round I came out hot shooting far better and moved myself up to the chase card, which is where I wanted to be after the first day. However I again stalled out at Massillon. Both rounds I never got things going. I slid back to finish 9th out of 18th middle of the pack. I was largely displeased with my showing here. I just felt off the whole weekend and could not make things happen.
Oderus: The Oderous was held at Punderson a round short to shorts and Longs to Longs. On the first round in the shorts I played really well an unfortunate OB and chain out on 14 on a 15 foot putt ended be -2 one off the lead and on the lead card going into the longs. I stayed steady on the first few holes from the longs but 2 and 3 I took a 10 and 8 which ended up really costing me, as well as not having a good feel for my comet. I ended the tournament in 6th out of 16. I made a few mental mistakes that I would like to have back. This weekend is the Pine Lake Open two rounds form long tees at this course, so I am really looking forward to a second chance.
September in the New: I’ve spent the last two weekends climbing in the New. Last weekend Sept 9th and 10th lead to great temps and I put solid leads on several 12’s I fell off the Crux on Tongue and Groove but lead the rest of the route clean, and one hung the onsight of Fly girls. So last weekend I went back and put an effort on Fly Girls but the humid conditions last weekend found me sliding off the holds that just the weekend before had felt crisp. This left me feeling a bit frustrated because it feels like lost progress to have come close last week and this week to struggle so poorly on the route.
In writing this it feels a bit discouraging because I know the results I’m seeing are not where I want to be I wanted to be climbing harder and winning tournaments. However when I look back to where I was this last year and even this spring, I can see progress that I have made. I’m learning to project routes, I’m playing more consistent golf, and my tournaments that I am not playing well I am still hitting cash line in Advanced, and a year ago I wasn’t close to the cash line in intermediate.
For the Fall I look forward to trying hard climbing if my schedule allows. and beginning a training plan for my January trip to the Obed. On the disc golf side I look forward to working on developing my forehand drives.
I hope you all had a great summer pursuing your passions and are able to find progress in your pursuits. Time to start planning for 2018.