Devens Wed. League

On Wednesday I played in the league at Devens, we played random doubles in preparation for this Saturdays fundraiser for Dave and his ill daughter. The results ended up like this:
Results:
Daniel M/Dan N - 49, $12
John R/Ed H - 50, $6
Donnie/Luke - 51
JoBo/Steve W - 52
Marcy/Cali - 72

John and I played well, each saving the others bad shot during the round of best disc doubles. We played with Daniel Marcus and Dan, they were amazing at times, I believe the 49 ties the course doubles record. It was a misty afternoon and the round took a long time but it was a nice warm up. Look forward to Saturday.

Borderland Spring Fling 6/20/09

Last weekend I got to play in the Borderland Spring Fling, at my favorite disc golf course. We had a small field of five, Dave White, Stevie G, Bill Dunne, Randy and myself. Weather was decent and I looked forward to the rounds, white to white in the first round and Blue to blue in the second.
The white to white round went well for me, although it did not start out well. We started on 18 and I threw a great tee shot, over the short stuff on the right of the big tree to 4 feet from the basket 225ft. Being casual though I some how threw the putt off the chains and missed the birdie. Not letting this get to me I pulled it back together and shot a very decent 50(-4). Early in the round Bill Dunne was on and by hole five was -2 but he had three holes in the middle of the round and finished one shot behind me at 51(-3).
In round two playing the 8585 foot blue to blue, everyone behind me started out crappy, Bill took a 6 and 6 on the first two holes of the round. This gave me a strategy shift where I was playing a bit more safely. Sure I had a few sketchy holes but managed to hold off the late charging Dunne with a round of 70 (+2), Bill after his +4 start played at a -1 pace the rest of the way and had a second round 71 (+3).

Advanced Masters Hide Round Ratings
Place Pts Name PDGA# Rating Rd 1 Rd 2 To Par Total
1 Ed Hovestadt 29976 900 50 942 70 944 -2 120
2 Bill Dunne 33978 925 51 930 71 936 E 122
3 Dave White 6301 817 57 855 88 811 +23 145
3 Steve Guiliotis 16822 900 56 867 89 804 +23 145
Randy Ahern (did not finish) 999 999 999

So I managed to pull out a win, I think I did well at not holding onto bad shots. I was trying to be conscious of staying positive no matter how I played. We will see how this approach works when I do not play so well. As a group I think we had a really good relaxed time. Lots of laughing and joking while playing. Randy had to leave after four holes as his head was not in it.

Hunt for a Cure, Medfield MA

On Saturday June 13th I played the Hunt for a Cure disc golf tournament to benefit seeking a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy happened in Medfield MA. The course was designed by Rob Tatro and on the grounds of the Norfolk Hunt Club in Medfield. This temporary course was wonderfully designed, with a mix of lefty and righty holes, OB and long beautiful fairways made for some great disc golf. After a rainy week we got a break the day of the tournament and sun and temps around 75 degrees. Playing in the Advanced Masters Division there was plenty of competition for this event with like 12 players. Karl Molitoris seemed like the player to beat. He plays at a 940 rating which could be Pro or Am.
My game this day was not horrible, I played fairly well but had a couple holes I sort of blew in both rounds. This made it impossible to get to the top. The first round I shot a 61 and was sitting in 5th place. On the second card, second round, I got to play with the great group with Mike Siamond, JC Vermynck, and Rick Williams. The second round I have to say I think I got a bit dehydrated and felt pretty shaky during the round but still managed to pull a 60. It was not enough to win but it was a decent showing. I finished third behind Karl and Randy, with Bill Dunne right behind me. I would post the standings but they are not up anywhere yet.
It is great to get a second PDGA event here in MA where they are few and far between. That is except this week, where there is another PDGA event at Borderland.

Dragan Disc Golf Championships 2009

I had the privelege to play in the DDGC 09 this weekend in Auburn Maine. Dragan is a great course, perfectly manicured and deceptively difficult in places. I went up on Friday and stayed at the Fireside Inn & Suites not the best place in the area, but the rate was $75 a night and it was quiet and clean. I arrived at about noon and headed right out to the course. It was a great day, sunny with temps in the low 70's, I payed the $5 to play a round. Threw a 58 and was now looking forward to the afternoon event, the Dragon Challenge.
Headed out to Auburn to get something to eat. It could be that I do not know the area but seemed like a collection of fast food and chain restuarants. I settled on Margaritas for lunch. Food is not bad for Americanized Mexican.
At 4:30 I was back at the course and played in Am1 for the challenge. For the challenge we played a round on the normal course and then played a nine hole variation where we go from tee 1 to basket 2, then play holes 3-9 finishing on tee 13 to the basket on hole 18. I threw a 59 on the regular course and then a 33 on the final nine to win. First AM1 event and I won! Okay now the truth about this, there were only me and Andy in the Am1 so it was no big deal. Actually just happy to have a couple rounds of practice before the Saturday tournament. Showered and had dinner before settling in to watch the Sox on the crappy motel TV. I have to say since moving up to the digital televisions at home nothing else will do.
One thing that did happen while practicing in the challenge was I fell on hole fourteen and wrenched my left knee and foot. It took a long time to walk it off and I was limping pretty badly by the time I got back to the motel. Overnight the knee really tightened up and th4e foot felt sore. I was actually thinking that I might not be able to play. So I sucked it up went out and bought a knee brace, some Icy Hot and ibuprofen. By the time I was done eating lunch at the course I felt good enough to take off the brace, and play. So glad that those magical little pills worked. The day could not be better with temps in the 70s and sunny, just some wind to deal with on the course.
All five of the Advanced Masters got to play together both rounds. It was a pleasure to play with these guys, I think we laughed all the way through the day. Just great personalities. Everyone played competitively but no one was over invested. After the first round Paul Sullivan and I were both at 53, Jim Bobka was at 57, Scott Connell 58 and Rick Williams 60.
In the second round about a half of the way through Sully had a couple tough holes and I had a few throw lead. From there I was focused on getting my threes because in order to catch me the guys behind me had to press for birdies. Luckily no one was able to catch me and my 56 was good enough to win the division.
Since this was a double points event I will move up the Nefa Point series standing and now want to play every week because I am playing so well.

Tuesday @Devens

I decided to skip the Wednesday league at Deven this week and instead play on Tuesday. I will be heading up to Maine this week for the Dragan Disc Golf Championship so I wanted to practice but then have a couple days off to rest. Friday afternoon at Dragan is a one rounder, so Tuesday made more sense than Wednesday. I played with Luke and ran into John halfway through. Stunning day with temps in the high 70s but calm as can be. We started out great each hitting birdies on the first two holes. Unfortunately for Luke things went south for him on hole three. I on the other hand played really well, at the half way point looking at a 26. Naturally on such a tough course things won't always go well but still I had a 30 back half and tied my best round on the hill. Last October I threw a 56 and this day I matched it. If I had not missed that one 8 footer damn... no really I was very happy with the score. You can see my best scores at Ed's Best Scores

I have really been playing very well lately with usually 45 holes played a week, that is Devens on Wed., Burlington 9 on Fri. and Borderland on the weekends if no tourney. My elbow is sore but conditioned right now and I hope I can turn this into some NEFA wins. The competition will get harder with Bill D. coming back to the division and who knows maybe James B. will get tired of Am1 too.

Thinking of going to Vermont the week after the Borderland Spring Fling, will have a bit of a break in July so the extra tournament won't hurt.

Sunday Borderland Blue to Blue

The long course at Borderland State Park is 8490 feet of challenging disc golf. I went down on Sunday for a round of it and ran into old friend Ken Niu. We played together with mixed results. Right from the beginning my luck was good, my drive off the first tee was off line but some how found a path down to the 3/4 point of the 545 foot slightly downhill hole. From there it was not too hard to get a birdie three ad start the game on a positive note. Granted I gave the throw back on hole two a 910 foot monster par five, hole two. That was the tone for me this day make a birdie and give it back somewhere else. I threw a 38 on the front half and a 32 on the back half for a very good 70 for the round. Fourth best round ever on that layout. Ken was not so fortunate on this beautiful day. He struggled early but had a nice back nine to finish at 81. Still could not take away from the great weather in the 70's with a energetic breeze at times. The park course is in really good shape lawns on the fairways are cut, and many of the tee pads have rubber installed. Great day.