Inertia Overwhelms Me

Ludacris is a rapper and actor, but he has nothing to do with this post (except for the fact that he was born in Champaign, IL). The following picture I took has nothing to do with this post either, but it makes me laugh.



What this post is about is my local disc golf course, Lohmann Park. Ok, so it may not be "beautiful" as the PDGA says. It's a bit short. It's flat. It's fairly open. It's easy. I won't give it high marks, but I will say it grows on you, and it provides challenge enough for me. A couple of the holes are even pretty good.

Also, the PDGA listing says there are three tees per hole. As far as I can tell, there is one mishapen, runway-sized, gravel teebox per hole, except for the last hole for which there is a muddy rut for a teebox. But really, except for the muddy rut, the teeboxes are functional enough. If you do play this course, though, may I suggest a rule of thumb? When deciding where to throw from on these 60-foot tees, throw from where the signs are, which are near the back side of the tees. Otherwise you'll turn some 220-foot holes into 170-foot holes.

My stats show that I've played 18 9-hole rounds here this year (all since Madison), and I picked today to blog this course because I scored well. I'm vain. The pictures suck. But you know what? Screw you. Stop reading. Ok, I step up to the first tee. Here's a view of the fairway:



Oh, wait a second. That's Riverside Park. Damn, would be nice if there were some decent holes like this within 60 miles of this disc golf wasteland. Ok, here's what hole 1 really looks like:



248 feet. (Actually, I would subtract 10% from most distances reported, which I am reading off of the signs. They just don't seem right.) Nice fairway for an open park. well defined line of trees along the left side. You have to throw a straight drive that fades off left at the end, or try a little hyzer (but watch the tree on the right) . My drive here hits the chains! Now you know why I feel like blogging today. It doesn't go in, so I do not record my first ever ace. But I take the drop in deuce.

Total: -1

Hole 2:



192 feet. Right-to-left. That tree I'm pointing to is 30 feet short and left of the basket and I frequently hit it while trying to go around it. So, this isn't an entirely trivial hole. I used to forehand here, but now I throw an anhyzer Roc. In fact, I've virtually eliminated forehands from my game because Ander's tip of releasing at shoulder height for turnovers has given me a very predictable anhyzerish/turnoverish drive. This time, I go wide left of that tree and miss it, but end up 30 feet from the basket, pin-high. The putt goes in firmly. I've eliminated the wobble from my 30+ foot putts by doing a hybrid pitch/throw. I turn my foot about 45 degrees to the left from straight at the basket. When I miss, it does go farther past the basket than the pitch putts but not as far as my old throwing putts did. It's worth the risk, as I'm almost at the point of missing virtually nothing within 25 feet anyway.

Total: -2

I'm pumped and still have "Flight" by A Certain Ratio playing in my head now. (I was listening to it on the car ride to the park.)

Here's hole 3:



No? You're not fooled? Ok, screw it. The real hole 3:



257 feet. The hardest hole on the course. The basket is beyond several trees that are hard to navigate on the drive. The big arms can probably throw a nice hyzer over these trees and let it fall right at the basket. I take a more direct route and get a par.

Total: -2

Here's hole 4:



203 feet. The only hole that is entirely wide-open. It's boring, but I like it because I am good at it. There's one big tree pin-high to the left of the basket, but since it's pin-high, it can only help. I try not to overdrive this one and my disc comes right over the top of the basket (very close) and I sink my subsequent 15 foot putt for a birdie.

Total: -3

Here's hole 5:



232 feet. This is actually a bit tough. The straight path along the left is probably not best because of low-hanging branches in the fairway. The hyzer route indicated is tricky because of a lot of trees. But there is a nice path through them. I take the carefully planned hyzer route and surprise myself by throwing on the exact path I wanted to (I almost never do that). The only problem was, I blew past the basket by 35 feet (I've never been past the basket here before--must be pumped from the funky beats of A Certain Ratio). Then I miss my putt. The funny thing is though, I remember feeling happy even after missing this putt, because for the first time in my life I can walk up to a 35-footer and feel like I have a decent chance of making it. The basket no longer intimidates me. But I'm sure that's because I'm playing alone.

Total: -3

Here's hole 6:



223 feet. Looks wide open in this picture, but it's really not. The basket is about 45 feet behind that pair of trees there, so a straight shot won't work, and a hyzer has a low-percentage chance of reaching the basket, too. I throw an anhyzer, and triumphantly pencil in the "2" on the card even before the disc lands in the mud 16 inches from the pole. Seriously--I got that card out of my pocket while the disc was still in the air.

Total: -4

I come up to hole 7 to see this determined lad, who later won my car in a skins game:



Here's the hole 7 fairway:



174 feet. Nice fairway. Bad picture. There's a 15-foot wide gap in some pines that leads nicely to the basket. You need an ultra-straight midrange throw here to thread that gap. Or you can do what I did and throw it to the left of the gap. The problem with that is there are some low branches protecting the green and it's hard to get within 20 feet of the basket. My adrenaline causes my drive to end up 40 feet past the basket, and my putt hits chains but misses. Big missed opportunity as this shouldn't be hard to deuce.

Total: -4

Hole 8:



192 feet. Very nice hole for a short one. Well-defined straight fairway through some woods. I throw my Roc straight as hell and grab another CTP prize, being only two feet from the pin.

Total: -5

Here's the final hole, hole 9:




About 250 feet. Kind of a crappy finishing hole. No teebox, no sign (the only hole lacking these things). Wide open until you hit a line of trees 20 feet before reaching the basket. I usually fall a little short on my drive here or throw it off-line one way or the other. This time, I throw for maximum distance. When I do this, it might go 220, maybe 285. My form is in a state of confusion and transition now. This time, my drive goes over the basket by about 35 feet. I'm stunned. I'm somehow happier with that result than landing it two feet from the pin. I feel it's about time I make a longish putt. In my yard, I made 11/25 from 36 feet. But I'm feeling the pressure of putting up a low score, my putt sails over the basket and I have to face a 25 foot comeback putt. I sneak it in for par.

Total: -5.

My memory is telling my that my best 9-hole score here ever, since I first played the course five years ago, is a 21. But I'm not sure. So, since I've been writing everything down lately, this 22 is going down as my personal best.

Feeling good, I play another 9. I end up with a 45 for the 18 holes altogether. So, yes, this is an easy course. But when I play it well, it is fun. It was a good morning, but now I am at work procrastinating and blogging this. (I've embraced the word, by the way.) I'm going to try to emulate this guy for the rest of the week:



I have to save up my energy for the Ostermeier-Rigg-Blackburn match-up next week (both disc golf and Mario Kart).