A first...tournament...win...

Joseph played in his first formal Disc Golf Tournament this past Saturday. Joseph has participated in doubles (league) play in the past. This was his first official tournament where he played solo.

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He was the only player in the Juniors division, which made him more excited to play. The first round (which I was not there for) he shot a 112 for 18 holes. The second round (which I caddied) he shot a 109.

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Joseph has only been playing disc golf for about a year and only became serious about the sport over this past summer. He has improved his putting game tremendously by practicing in the yard. The picture above gives you an idea about how good his form is becoming.

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For winning the Juniors division Joseph received dog tags (as all division winners received) and a $10 merchandise certificate. He also won a CTP (closest to the pin) and that prize was two golf discs and a backpack. The best part of all (at least for me as the caddie/Dad watching him play) was his play on #1 during the second round.

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Here's the story...

Innova Champion Discs is very good with helping out local tournaments. They made available several brand new Star Cro Golf Discs. They were given away to players based on how they played #1 during the second round. There was one disc per group on the course. The player who was closest to the hole on #1 from their drive would win the golf disc. Joseph was playing with three intermediate men. All more experienced than Joseph. Well wouldn't you know it? Joseph out drove them all and won the disc! That was very cool.

Private Course, Of Course...

Pictures will be posted soon.

Now that I have rediscovered disc golf I have gotten all three of my boys playing. But when you have an 11 year old, a two year old and a three year old, going to the heavily wooded disc golf course with the kids is not always a good choice. It's not wagon friendly and there are way to many things for the boys to get into like fire ant hills, rotting logs and a creek.

So I decided to buy my own disc golf basket. My wife didn't want me pulling money out of our normal account so I had to become somewhat creative. I've started selling my old golf discs on Ebay. I sell the discs that I never have thrown and probable will never throw. I was able to make enough money to buy a basket about a month ago. So I now have one hole. I bought a second basket that should arrive this week. So I'll have two holes. And I hope to make enough money to buy a third hole between now and spring.

For those that play disc golf...here's the scoop:

• The first basket is a DGA M-14. With shipping the cost was $145
• The second basket is an Instep basket from an Ebay store for $80 including shipping
• The third basket with be a Innova Discatcher for $115 (no shipping since their east coast operations is an hour from my inlaws

The benefits of the DGA M-14:

1. Two sets of chains
2. An inner set and an outer set
3. It's DGA (they invented the sport)
4. It weighs 25 pounds
5. It snaps together
6. It's portable

The benefits of the Instep Basket:

1. It's adjustable - I can lower the basket so Kallsen and Parker can get the disc into the basket easier
2. It's inexpensive
3. It's portable
4. It includes three discs with the basket

The benefits of the Innova Discatcher

1. It's made by Innova (my choice for the discs I throw)
2. It's considered the top portable in its class
3. I can get it for wholesale with no shipping (saves me about $80)

At our place in Seneca we have a little more than an acre and just enough trees to make some challenging 'touch' shots and enough open space for some holes to be more than 200'...which is plenty long for Joseph to be able to work on his distance game.

I plan to have three baskets one day and three tees per basket so we can have our own course. I'll post pictures of the baskets and the holes soon.

A Nice Father's Day

It began with a trip to the Park in the morning with my three boys. Kallsen and Parker decided it was too hot on the sand/slide/swings and said they wanted to play BB. Which is short for Frisbee. So we moved over to the ball fields and played Frisbee for a good hour or so.

We then headed home to a nice lunch made by my wife of chicken, corn on the cob and potatos. Then the two little ones were off to take a nap and Joseph and I went to play in a Sunday disc golf doubles league. The leauge is random draw. I asked Joseph if he wanted me to fix it so he was my partner and he said he wanted to play like everyone else. So random draw it was for both of us.

Well the league went very well for both Joseph and me. My partner and I were able to snag first place by shooting a 50 with four birdies and no bogies while Joseph's team had four birdies and one bogie and tied for second place. Joseph's team ended up sercuring second place with a throw off on hole number 1 with Joseph having the best throw of the bunch. Joseph also won the CTP (closest to the pin) during the round and won a new golf disc.

So I walked away with $17.50 for my team winning, Joseph walked away with $12.50 and a new golf disc.

After the disc golf league we went home and watched the end of a great US Open and then we watched the boys play in the pool into the evening.

Needless to say, I think the day Joseph had at his first official disc golf event has him hooked on playing disc golf. A good day indeed.

AJ

Get 'em Started Early

This is Parker eyeing his shot. You've got to get them into the game early. Parker will probable follow his brothers' lead and be a champion player. Disc Golf...A game for the whole family...

263'

Nothing but chains. Assuming this weekend was the last chance to play before winter finally sets in and not being able to travel to Minneapolis like we had hoped, I took advantage and played three rounds of disc golf yesterday and three rounds today. This afternoon, on the second round of nine, hole number one, I hit my first hole in one in more than 12 years and my 7th overall.

AJ