90 days of disc golf: whirling dervish

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Jul, Tue 24th, 2012 Posted in : 90 Days of Disc Golf, KCFDCblog By : Loomis 0 Comments Tags: 90daysofdiscgolf

The dust hasn’t settled from Worlds and Facebook is quickly filling with constant reminders of the outcome. “Thanks for the support. Sorry I didn’t win.” posted 1140 people. “Hey, guess what? I did win!” posted a lucky few. As more photos are posted, I have yet to to find the one which really tells the tale of these worlds. That one pic which could give the casual observer some idea of what went down. So far, nada.

It was hot, but not like back home hot. Each day the iPhone told us of how much our friends and family were suffering in the record heat back in KC. Knowing that made it harder to complain about the heat we had while “playing” all week. But it was hot, and very humid. And we knew it would be coming in. Surprisingly, it wasn’t intolerable just annoying. It had to be dealt with but at least you could deal with it. For those of us who are human showers when it comes to sweating in the hot weather, each round made for some incredible laundry. In fact, three of the shirts I wore during the week,and most of the socks, had to be thrown away. It was that disgusting.

There was also a constant threat of rain, which appeared, like clockwork, at 4 PM everyday. It would pour biblically for thirty minutes or longer, creating small rivers everywhere. This produced a wonderful mud which was red-orange in color and the consistency of toothpaste. Once it touched you, it was there to stay.

The number of complaints I have about the tournament are numerous but it doesn’t really matter. The only two worth mentioning are the lack of information (I didn’t know if I made the semifinals or what time I tee’d off until 1130 pm. Tee off was at and the OB was poorly marked. Imagine playing down under with OB on every hole which is marked with only tiny orange flags every 20 feet. It was a problem. Other than those issues for me, this tournament comes in as a semi-decent “B” tier overall. People complained about other things but I don’t have opinions about that. I think people b%tch about those things for every tournament.

Minna did well, regardless of what some people think. The courses in Charlotte are tough, mostly long Down Under courses with lots of thick vegetation and hidden creeks along the fairways. As I mentioned it was wet and the mud made for some interesting footings. She wanted to play with people her age and that factor made all the difference in her enjoyment of the events. She finished third and took home a painting by Cam Todd for her efforts. I had a different worlds. I played two of the toughest courses and one of the courses which I kept playing like a child. It was just one of those tough weeks for me. My elbow finally came back to me somewhere near the end of the week and I was able to turn it on to finish in the money. Money we like to call, “a hotel room instead of camping.”

My favorite pat of the week was seeing someone I knew from KC. I saw Pete Englemann, Marc Wisbey, and Jack Lowe quite a bit and that helped. I also played with Ron Convers and George Smith, both of whom are semi-local. Seeing them kept the experience in check for me. It wasn’t just me seeing and doing all of this, there was someone else who could relate to. I knew they were acclimating the same way I was and it was interesting to see how they handled it. Wisbey sweats like a sprinkler.

The courses did not live up to the hype. And though the people of Charlotte could not have been nicer and more accommodating, I think the combined worlds in KC was a hundred times better. We just offered more and did more. Sure, we included Shawnee mission, but we had no choice.

Were back on the road and it’s morning in Delaware. We played the Blockhouse complex and Seneca creek on our way here and Tyler state park is looking us in the eye. Pittsburgh is a few days away and there’s no rest in sight for this tour.

I walk away from this week with a trophy of my own, a lovely swath of poison-something on my calfs.

Thanks for the support everyone. Sorry I couldn’t beat Ken Climo for the title but he is rated higher than me.