His Weekend Shenanigans

Most of our weekend was pretty boring so this Weekend Shenanigans will be about the big event -- my first disc golf tournament in Virginia Beach.

Playing in the Cottonmouth Classic

     I have been playing disc golf for about 18 months and I play whenever I get a chance. Its very similar to regular golf except you play with a frisbee style disc and you aim for baskets like the one pictured to the left. Most courses are free to play and are in city parks. You only need one disc to start so it's a pretty cheap hobby.

    Normally I play with my friends or relatives at a course nearby for fun. I felt that it was time to participate in a real competition and see how I would fare. I knew most people would be much better than I am but I thought I might learn a few new techniques or tips to play better and that I would have a good time even if I finished last. I found a tournament that was about an hour from the house and I talked my father in law into playing with me.

My bag with several discs and water bottles

      We got to the park, signed in and practiced for a while before the tournament started. We also watched some of the other people practicing and saw that many of them were really really good. There were about 100 people playing so it was a pretty popular competition. We were split up into 4 person groups and headed out to our first tee.

      I was hopeful that since I had registered us in the "non serious" division that we would play from the shorter distance tees. However this was not the case as we had to play from the long tees for the first round. I knew this would be a disadvantage as I cannot throw the distance that some of the others in my division can, but I hoped that accuracy would make up for the shorter distances I would throw. I did ok in the first round and although I had a high score I didn't go out of bounds or get any of my discs wet. My father in law was not so lucky and got the same disc wet twice. Once I was able to fish it out as it was right next to the shore line but the second time it went into the middle of the inlet and it will now be a new toy for the fishes. Maybe they can practice putting with it.

Some of the prizes for the winners of each division.

     As expected our scores were near the bottom of the standings. We had lunch and then headed out for the second round. I was excited for this round as the distances were much shorter and I was more familiar with the course. I played pretty well and even though I had a few less than perfect throws, I managed to beat my previous round scores by 15 throws which I was very happy with.

     We ended up finished near the bottom of the standings but we both had a great time and I was a lot closer to the people above me then I had expected. I am sure that with some more practice I can get better results in future tournaments. I have a few more tournaments lined up that I would like to play in so I will keep playing and hopefully be a little further up in the standings next time. No matter where I place I plan to have a good time and enjoy every tournament I enter. Who knows maybe one day I will be near the top of the leaderboard!