2014 In The Bag - Part One

TEAM DISCRAFT - TEAM GORILLA BOY - TEAM PARAGON

With the start of the 2014 season I am fully in disc golf mode once again. Its an exciting year for me as all three of my sponsors have been working on big projects that I get to directly benefit from. First let me say thank you to my amazing sponsors, listed above, for supporting me in my disc golf career. If you get a chance, click the links and visit my sponsors!

Lets take an in depth look at what I bring to the course, and what I keep in the car for back up for this 2014 season. Part One, Putters and Mid Range:

Putting

Not much has changed for me in the putting realm. I still use twin Pro D Ringers, in fact, the same two I had for all of the 2013 season. You know, I still don't know which one is which after a year straight of using them?

These particular two Ringer's aren't all that stable, which is hardly noticeable since I only use them from 60ft and in. They are meant to be interchangeable, and I incorporated this method to my tournament putting after I discovered I liked the feel of holding two discs while practice putting. Its actually fairly liberating, I carry no bad history or psychological baggage with either of my putters. To a mildly neurotic golfer such as myself it's a good thing. 

I carry four putters in the bag at all times: The aforementioned Pro D Ringers for putting only, one old Pro D Ringer (first run, circa 2009) and a premium Ringer, aka Pro Line Breaker from DGA. 

I use the "seasoned" Ringer for touch approach shots. It is quite beat in and turns very easily on both backhand and forehand shots. I also use it for over hand throws in the woods to get out of trouble. I'll use it for longer putts or low ceiling putts since is straightens out with little fade, which is great when you need to putt on a laser line.

The Breaker is incredibly versatile and I get a kick out of throwing it off the tee on 300 ft straight shots. Great for hyzer approaches too! This is one of the best driving putters in the game right now - for those with power its a nasty straight flyer and doesn't give in to high speed pressure.

Beyond those four discs, I don't have anything in back up at this time. It would probably be prudent to practice with a few extra Ringers at this juncture...

Mid Range

My Mid Range game has steadily developed over the past few seasons. I am in the unique category of elite distance throwers (2010 WFDF World Distance Champion here folks) and that affords me a great variety of discs to use off the tee. When I can I disc down as much as possible and throw slower molds on straighter lines - I do. This fits well within my comfort zone of a full swing mentality. In other words, I would rather throw a Hornet 340 ft on a full drive directly at the pin instead of a Tracker at 70% power. I tend to be more accurate with hitting my lines when I'm throwing at 85%-95% power.

The Z Hornet is my favorite midrange disc, possibly of all time. The problem is - I currently don't have any Hornets in the bag! I lost my only Hornets at Trojan at the ORDGC last year and haven't found a good replacement disc yet. However, I did get some brand new Hornets in the mail last week and I can't wait to try them out, they feel like winners to me.

So instead of the Hornet, I have been using a Z Wasp. It works just fine for now, and I do like how it feels in the hand. The Wasp seems to keep up with the Hornet on a majority of the lines I use it for, but I submit that the Hornet flies farther naturally.

The Z Drone also plays a pivotal role in my game. I use this disc for pretty much all of my forehand needs 300ft and under. I carry a Z Drone and a Ti Drone as back up (Ti is really really stable). After each tournament as I go through my results hole by hole, the Z Drone accounts for a majority of my birdies. It is a perfect go to disc, and has netted me no less than 4 tournament aces.

The ESP Meteor rounds out my short range game. This incredible disc never ceases to amaze me - how freaking straight can a disc fly!? This is one of the rare ESP discs in my bag - simply due to the fact that the Meteor was just now released in Z. I don't plan on switching any time soon to Z, they tend to be less stable - too under stable for me.

That concludes part one of this two part blog. Part Two will feature all of the drivers I currently use and am excited to try this upcoming season!

Dion

Ft.Steilacoom 36 - NT Practice

TEAM DISCRAFT - TEAM GORILLA BOY - TEAM PARAGON

Ft. Steilacoom NT Practice!

I spent the weekend in Steilacoom, Washington visiting Stephanie's family. On Sunday my father in law, Steve,  and I met up with local legend Chandler Fry to play Ft. Steilacoom and we were able to get all 36 holes in! Here is a simple hole by hole recap, enjoy!

NW

1. The pin was in a different position than what I played in the tournament last year. In comparison it is a tad longer and to the left. I threw an anhyzer Z Wasp (poorly) as my first drive out of the gate and bounced around the fairway and left myself about 60 feet away. I settled for a par. 

2. Classic hole two at Steily fits well into my forehand Z Drone range and I landed pin high about 22 ft to the right. Birdie!

3. Check the vid: Hole 3 NW Ft. Steilacoom. I clipped the tree on the right and had to settle for a par. 

4. I again threw the Z Wasp anhyzer with poor results - par. 

5. One of the best par fours in the NW, hole 5 consists of hitting an initial gap with a right to left flying shot (Z Pred, nailed it) than having to follow up with a tunnel shot (Z Drone, also nailed it) to a tight green. Give me a tap in birdie please!

6. Breaker under the pin, birdie. 

7. Forehand Z Pred into a jail approximately 50 ft short. Forehand layup with the Ringer for a tap in par. 

8. Backhand Z Pred into the first tree...ouch. Backdoor forehand Z Hurricane that gets rejected resulting in a very rare thumbed flop shot for a tap in bogey. 

9. Uphill right to left shot, parked with the Breaker for the second time of the round. Birdzee.

Front Nine recap: 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, 2: 25 (-3)

10. Low forehand (Z Surge) that just barely got caught on the corner. Fluffed my 38 ft straddle jump putt - par

11. Deep gully shot - Z Drone flick, failed to convert the 28 ft putt - par

12. Z Tracker turnover into the "non-gap" and hope that it doesn't kick back into the wild. Mine didn't! Short chip shot up the hill for an easy birdie. 

13. Did not committ to the turnover Z Drone and left myself stranded on the walkout about 40' above the pin. Par

14. Smooth forehand with the Z Surge that skipped down the hill. I tried a high release spin putt a la Doss style and came up just short and sadly rolled back to myself. Drilled it on take two! Par. 

15. I drilled a low line drive with a Z Force and had a 90 ft chip shot to the pin for a tap in par. 

16. One of the more fun downhill drives on the course, I threw a Z Pred to straight and long and wound up in the brush with a very small window of escape. I tossed a single pan hammer with the Ringer and scrapped a par. Chandler very kindly referred to me as a disc wizard - or dwizard as it was. 

17. 465! I threw a tad low and was 60 ft short and right and did not hit the long deuce - sadly just a par on my favorite hole in Washington. 

18. Forehand Z Surge under le pin for a round ending tap in bird. 

Back Nine recap: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 (-2)

Total: 51 (-5)

SE

1. Anhyzer Z Force, chip shot with a Ringer, birdie 3. 

2. Forehand Z Pred hit the corner tree and bounced back. Long putt with danger behind it was short - par.

3. Perfect Z Drone forehand for a gimme bird. 

4. Very fortunate turnover Z Tracker that landed long of the pin. Clanked off the front rim for my first of several missed birdie putts of the round. 

5. There are a few trees on this hole, I may have hit one or three of them. Bogey

6. Forehand Hurricane / Forehand Ringer / Clank / Bogey. 

7. Excellent turnover down the hill with the Z Hurri that found the green and I finally made a birdie putt outside of 28 ft. 

8. Forehand Z Surge, straddle putt off the rim...getting a bit tired of missing short putts. Mostly due to fatigue though, my shoulders were sore!

9. Breaker to the edge of the green on the left, hit a kneeling low ceiling deuce!

Front Nine recap: 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2, 3, 2: 26 (-2)

10. I tried throwing the Meteor turnover shot up the hill but yanked it right and clipped a branch. Par

11. We played the traditional par four position since the temp basket with OB is not set up during non-tournament play. I hit the green in two and since Chandler and I were joking about missing putts I promptly missed mine and my comeback - bogey 5. Coolest thing about this hole was my tee shot - I flicked a First Run Z Crank about 390 ft with little effort!

12. Good drive and a better putt - birdie!

13. Easiest hole on both courses and I flubbed it short and doinked the putt. 

14. Forehand Z Drone for a tap in bird. 

15. Backhand Breaker for a tap in bird. 

16. Flex Z Force and almost converted the jump putt for an eagle. Easy bird.

17. Backhand hyzer with a Z Force that settled nicely on the left side of the fairway. Sky cut roller with the Z Surge to about 50' short and left. Pulled the jump putt wide for my second eagle attempt in a row. Tap in birdie four. 

18. Too low again! I've thrown this hole too low like every time. par finish.

Back Nine recap: 3, 5, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 4, 3: 27 (-4)

Total: 53 (-6)

Combined 104 (-11) on the day! Great times, thanks Chandler and Steve. 

Season Start - Career Recap

Stumptown Slosh #3

PDGA C Tier at Milo McIver

Results

I started the 2014 PDGA season at one of the best disc golf venues in the world: Milo McIver State Park. I was both excited and nervous to play this event. I haven't been practicing as much as I'd like to this off season. I played at the super bowl scramble event at Timber and threw some mediocre shots but surprisingly putted well from the mid distance (25-30). In reflection I was less than pleased with my play at the scramble. I would be lying if I didn't say that it was weighing on my mind going into my first sanctioned event.

This past season was a turning point for me mentally. This can be attributed to the fact that this sport is now just a hobby/release and supplemental income for me. Having a wife and a full time job shrank my practice time and event schedule, but boosted my confidence and general state of mind. There isn't any of the pressure I was feeling when I went on tour in 2011. As a result, I don't seem to go on tilt during tournaments. In the past I would follow up one bad hole with a few more. That wasn't the case this weekend as after every mistake I got a birdie the following hole. I count that as no small victory.

I was worried that my putting would not be up to scratch and that if I had to play in inclement weather during the weekend I would fall apart. Luckily both of those things proved to be untrue. I didn't put myself in position to have to make long putts, and as always my execution off the tee was my greatest asset. I had seven deuces in the first round on the East side, all of which were 10-22 feet from the pin. I only missed one putt inside the circle in round one, and that was during the worst wind/rain bout that occurred during the day. I did miss back to back putts inside the circle in round two, but again, followed it up by getting birdies on 3 of the next 4 holes. In fact, most of round two was really solid and consistent, except for hole one where I threw OB twice! My tee shot rolled OB left, than my scramble bounced off a branch and slid off the curb OB again. Ouch.

By the numbers:

Of the 36 tee shots on the weekend I had:
2 drives that were bad and cost me strokes
5 drives that were poorly executed and made me scramble
7 drives that were average but didn't cost me anything
11 drives were well thrown and created opportunities
11 tee shots that yielded instant strokes on the competition.

I putted 39 times inside the circle and only missed 3. (92.31%)
I attempted 7 jump putts. Most of these were long layups or putts toward OB designed to lay up. Only one of them was an actual bid, and I missed just shy off the left side.

This was my 138th single event as a pro, and the start of my 8th professional season. Due to my excellent driving and proficient short range putting I ended up wining by five strokes and getting my 24th career win!

Career Recap

I've updated my career stats page and wanted to share some interesting things I found:

It took me 20 events before I got my first pro win (Eugene Celebration, 2007). It wasn't till my 49th event that I won for a second time (Midsummer Glide, 2009).

I didn't take a second place finish till my 40th PDGA event (Daylight Savings, 2009).

In my first 50 PDGA events I had a total earnings of $6,384.00. 1 win, 1 second, and 6 thirds.

In contrast, my most recent 50 PDGA events I have a total earnings of $13,902. 11 wins, 9 seconds, 6 thirds.

In 2010 I played a total of 32 events and won 12 of them, which counts for half of my career victories.

This is my favorite state and perhaps an Oregon record: From (6.26.2010 to 9.11.2011) I played in 15 Oregon A, B or C tiers and took top three in all of them! That's 15 consecutive tournaments in Oregon on the podium. 7 wins, 6 seconds, 2 thirds.

My longest streak of consecutive events that I have cashed in is 25 events (8.21.2010 to 6.5.2011)

I've cashed 120 events (87%) and missed cash 18 times (13%).

Although I've won multiple times on certain courses, the only event I have repeat victories in is the Pine Jam.

Summary

I am super stoked about the 2014 season and I will try to recap all of my events from this year. Some folks may find these blogs a bit boring, but that's just cause I lean towards the analytical/statistical side when I write about disc golf. For those who are stats junkies like me, you'll love this stuff!

Thanks, 

Dion

Team Discraft - Team Paragon - Team Gorilla Boy