I have been playing disc golf since late 2006 after college baseball and a short (and expensive) stint playing ball golf and trying to play competitively. I started out by finding the best disc golfers in Boise to ask questions of, play against, and push me to get better quickly.
My 1st tournament was a local winter series event on a mountain course that I threw 75% thumbers - after baseball the thumber is natural for me and I can get it out 350 with no problem. I would have finished 3rd in open, but I was playing intermediate and had no clue what I was doing. After a winter of decent intermediate play I made the jump to advanced (probably prematurely) and played in the middle of the pack most of the next two years with a few good tournament finishes (top 5) and a handful of non sanctioned wins and strong finishes.
I was looking forward to 2009 being a breakthrough year after a decent '08 season. I revamped my arm motion over the winter to keep the disc closer to my chest on the pullthrough, resulting in increased distance and a more consistent delivery. After asking many pros and very good ams, I came to the conclusion that the difference between winning a tournament and finishing in the middle was not in how far you throw it, but how few putts you take in a round. So, I worked my butt off over the winter putting in my house, after changing my delivery slightly to eliminate extraneous movement.
The first big tournament of '09 was the Treasure Valley Cup at Eagle Island State Park in early April, a one day PDGA C tier event. I played very well in the TVC in 2008, so I was expecting to perform at a high level again. I ended up making the Safari 6 in second place, and I held on to tie for second for a great start to the year. My rating went from 911 to 944 after that tournament.
The Gem State Disc Golfers (www.gemstatediscgolf.org) run the Snake River Series, six tournaments featuring Souther Idaho's best courses, the second of which was the Magic Valley Shootout in Twin Falls held at the College of Southern Idaho course and Rock Creek Park over the last weekend in May. Two rounds at CSI on Saturday and one at Rock Creek on Sunday, followed by a Safari 5 for advanced am and pros made up the format.
I came into the tournament with tons of confidence in my game, especially my putting. The College of Southern Idaho course is moderately open with an 8 foot wide ditch running the length of the course. I started off great with a 5 down my first round at CSI, followed by a 7 down, 1007 rated round showing, my best tournament performance to date. Everything just seemed to go my way, but it could have been better, as always! I minimized the mistakes and capitalized on most scoring opportunities. I ended the day leading all advanced ams by four strokes, 12 down on the day.
The final round was held at Rock Creek Park, a course carved out of a small canyon, rock walls on one side and a stream on the other, running the length of the course, with a few elevated tees. The signature hole is around 270 feet with the basket sitting on a 12 foot wide ledge, 40 feet up the face of a rock wall, trees protecting almost every look at the basket. I shot 6 down leading my group easily, not the best I could have thrown, but good enough to still lead by 4 strokes after 3 regulation rounds.
There was a long break between round 3 and the Safari 5, and keeping my head was a bit challenging. The Safari 5 was fun, and I played well on all but one hole on which I took a 7, two obs will do that to you.
I held on to win by three strokes for my first advanced am win, along with my best overall tournament performance. I am looking forward to the Idaho Masters in June, and putting together another good tournament.
Thanks for reading,
Jordan
Get Better: http://www.averyjenkins7495.com/history/tournament-focus-and-mental-game/
0 comments:
Post a Comment