Wednesday, April 9, 2014

His: Hurling Plastic.

Our A-Z Blogging Challenge continues. Ready for....
H is for "Hurling Plastic"


Last Sunday I played in a local disc golf tournament in a nearby city. I have been playing disc golf for about two years and even though I am never likely to be World Champion I have a lot of fun playing. I played in two tournaments last year and was excited to return to one of the same courses that I played last year to try out my skills again. Last year I finished near the bottom of the standings, but that was due to a few bad shots and a few silly mistakes. Now that I have more experience and a few new discs for the different types of shots I had trouble with before I was determined to play better and hopefully place a little better.

Disc golf is played in a similar way to golf, but instead of hitting a ball towards a hole on the green, you throw a frisbee style disc towards a large metal basket. There are courses set up in many locations, like local parks and some private properties, and unlike golf most of them do not charge for you to play. If you would like to learn about what disc golf is, I explained it in more detail in one of my previous posts. (Click here to read that post

The tournament started at 9:30am and consisted of two rounds of 22 holes. I was in the recreational division which is designed for players around my ability level. I knew many of the players in my division and knew they had much more experience and were likely to beat me. I decided the best thing to do is just play my own game, and not stress about what everyone else did. If I threw well and didn't make any silly mistakes the rest would take care of itself. I was not able to throw as far as some of the others, but my accuracy kept me on the fairway most of the time and I was able to keep up with the others in my group. I even was able to get a shot right underneath of the basket on my tee shot on one hole which was pretty impressive.

       After the first round I was right in the middle of the pack in my group. In the second
My prize winning tee shot that landed next to the basket.
round I was grouped with the two guys that were one throw behind me. They ended up playing some really good disc golf and ended up passing me in the standings at the end. It was not that I did anything wrong, it was that they simply played better than I did. I still feel like I played as well as I could and was happy with my results. I am sure that with some more practice and experience I will slowly be able to place better in future tournaments. The best part of the day was that I won a prize for getting my disc closest to the basket, so that was a big deal for me since I had never won anything when playing disc golf before. My prize was a $20 voucher for disc golf merchandise so I can buy some more discs. 


Below are a few more photos from the tournament.

Some holes have lots of trees to avoid (or hit if you are unlucky)

And some are more open like this one.

This was the trophy for the winner of my division. Maybe one day I will win one!
My prize for getting the disc so close to the basket in one throw.
I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about how to improve my game. I have another tournament next month so I am hopeful that I can repeat my performance once again. Have you ever played sports competitively? If so what was your best result?



9 comments:

  1. Clever play on words... h for "hurling" HA! I have always been interested in this sport. I really need to get out and just try it!

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  2. Wow, didn't even know disk golfing existed, and it looks much more fun than regular golf. No, I have not competed in any sports activity, in fact I avoid most sports except bike riding and swimming.

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  3. I never heard of disk golf before today - and it definitely looks like fun. It's like a low 'net' from net ball but with a Frisbee.

    I used to play competitive volleyball, tennis, netball and basketball as well as track, and swimming for my school and university.

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  4. I have never heard disc golf, but I could see people getting into it. I remember playing a game of horseshoes as a kid, and this sort of reminds me of that. I know it is different, but not being real sporty, that is as close as I get.

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  5. Congrats on your frisbee-near-the-basket shot and the recognition and prize! It looks like a lot of fun. :)

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  6. Good for you for winning something! I had no idea what disc golfing was until I saw it being played at a park when we lived in Montana. I didn't realize there was an intricacy to it with the discs used, but similar to golf I would imagine. I was saddened in a local park where we now live put up a disc golf course (or whatever it is called) when they did a little rejuvenating at the park but then a week later the course was taken down. I had enjoyed watching some people play it while I was walking Koda (different park than I'm featuring for the A/Z Challenge) and then suddenly it was gone. I only fear it was because of vandalism, a sad thing that happens at that park a lot. I liked it too because everyone who played was really considerate to make sure they weren't "flipping" discs while people were walking by.

    I'm sure each tournament you'll continue to improve!

    betty

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  7. Here in my neck of the woods we call it Frisbee Golf. I've never played but it looks fun

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  8. How exciting! I have never heard of 'disc golfing' before. Last year I found out about a place in Australia that is so hot, there is a golf course with no grass. You play at night with glowing golf balls and a small piece of artificial turf which you take round with you to tee off...and I thought THAT was unusual!

    Visiting from your visit to GenWestUK

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  9. I've never heard of this sport before. But it sounds like great fun. Congratulations on getting the nearest to the basket prize. A xx

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