(2014)
Everything has changed.

A year ago my wife and I were scrambling to get out of Edmonds, WA. My home disc golf course was Terrace Creek in Mountlake Terrace and I was working toward 400-foot drives.

Plans to start my own small business were in the beginning stages of consuming my time as well...

(2015) "Time goes by."

(2016) "More time goes by."

(2017) "Even more time goes by."

...
...

(2020) Hi everyone. It's been a while.

I'm drinking a Bindle Punk IPA from Wet Coast Brewery out of Gig Harbor, Wa. It's actually my second one. It's 10:32pm on Wednesday, April 1.

The world might be ending. I'll explain later, but you probably know what I'm talking about already.

Looking back at this blog brings back great memories. It's one of those things where I wish I would have kept going. It could have been a fantastic historical reference. For me at least.

Things have happened though. Not bad things, but enough change to pull my attention away. Just the sound of me rapidly typing is bringing back memories. I haven't heard that sound for while.

I haven't written for a long time and it's a shame.

I may get emotional.

A JomezPro video from 2016 is playing in the background. I'm listening to Ian Anderson and Jonathan Gomez commentate on a DGWT round at La Mirada DGC.

Anyways... the world might be ending.

Covid-19 or the Corona Virus has the entire country on lock down. We're not supposed to leave the house or go to work if it's not essential. Parks are closed. Schools are closed. Bars are closed. Restaurants are closed.

Disc golf courses are closed.

It's the shittiest life event I've ever experienced. I'm more pissed off than scared. My family and I seem safe, but there is information in the world that suggests this is something that the country could have jumped on way sooner.

Now we are on lock down and waiting. Luckily my wife is still working, but I had to close the business I worked so hard on. It's the business that pulled me away from disc golf.

Gig Harbor Gondola LLC.

The business is another story and this is a disc golf blog. I should be back soon, because reviving this blog seems like a good idea at the moment. I have a lot to write about.

To be continued...

Thinking In Type: Disc Golf Swap Meets

The low temperatures have arrived and although it has actually been quite nice in my area along the Puget Sound, I haven't been out playing full rounds. This is the time of year when I usually get out and practice putting and throwing for as long as I can and then call it a day.

I have a tournament coming up on December 6, so basic practice is all I want right now anyways.

The other day, as I was lounging around watching my daughter throw puzzle pieces all over my home, I began thinking of the stack of discs I've been wanting to sell. The pictures have been taken and uploaded to my Flickr page, but I still have to rate them and then post the link to DGCR, or Facebook, or whatever.

Procrastination is a trait that has plagued me for quite some time, but there's usually a trigger. I'm procrastinating this time because I don't want to deal with mailing a bunch of discs out. It's really not that big of a deal and I've done it before, but sometimes I wish selling unwanted plastic was a bit more entertaining.

I watch a lot of woodworking shows on YouTube and one of the channel hosts I watch mentions the different woodworking trade events he participates in. That got me thinking about the swap meets I used to walk around in California. Then I started thinking about how nice it would be to attend a disc golf rummage gathering. Then I started thinking about food, but anyways...

Imagine it's a clear Saturday or Sunday morning and you're not playing in a tournament. Maybe you have plans to meet up with friends and play the local course, but then you remember there's a disc golf flea market going on along that walk between hole this and that. You know, the walk where you're usually cussing yourself out for missing that one putt back there?

Then you recall wanting to try that Innova Dart that Nate Sexton talked about in his last In The Bag video.

Maybe someone is selling a used one at the trail sale?

Then you remember your small stack of discs you've been wanting to sell. "Hey, maybe I can offload some of these," you say to yourself.

Then you grab all your goodies, a little blanket and you head out.

When you show up you see an alley of goodness. All the locals are out drinking coffee, sharing donuts. One guy brought a huge pot of soup and a few people are playing catch a little too close to it, but nobody seems to mind.

You notice the vast amount of plastic, new and old, laid out for people to see and purchase. Maybe that one local from Issaquah with the rad disc artwork you saw on Instagram is there. Maybe the local disc golf suppliers showed up with some discs that have been sitting a little too long in the shop.

"Are those glass minis?" you say.

Yep. That guy showed up too.

"Man, those beanies are killer," you say.

Get one then.

You say hi while you lay your blanket down and organize the discs you want to sell. Then you just hang out and talk with the folks cruising by. Maybe you sell some stuff, maybe not. Maybe you found someone selling that Dart. Maybe not, but after some good conversation and coffee it's time to meet up with your buddies to throw. So you pack up, say bye to the disc bazaar and go.

Could it be that easy? Do these already exist?

I would love to find out.

I'm imagining this is something organized through social media at first. Then maybe a club of some sort emerges. Maybe the marche aux puces (Thanks thesaurus!) is held at different locations each time, so different locals can get involved as the event moves closer to them, but two things remain consistent. There is no charge to participate and this is not a place to sell that heavy-ass TV from the 90's. I'm talking to you Grandma Betty.

Now, how do we make these happen and what are some problems we can run into?

Thanks for reading.

A brand new year. Part one.

I was born sometime in the afternoon on Nov. 3, 1976 in Oklahoma. Ed Headrick established DGA that year. "Silly Love Songs" by Wings held top spot on the Billboard chart and President Jimmy Carter had just squeaked out a win against incumbent President Gerald Ford. Sometime in the afternoon on Nov. 3, 2013 I drove a blue Buzzz off of tee one at Lucky Mud DGC in Skamokawa, WA. Something silly is probably topping the Billboard chart and President Obama is freaking people out with healthcare change.

Long Beach, WA. was my choice when my wife asked where I wanted to go for my birthday. We both lived in Long Beach, CA. for a long time and I thought it would be fun to check out the other LBC. Just like every other trip we take I look up where the disc golf courses are in the area.

On this trip there were two: Lucky Mud and Lower Columbia DGC in Astoria, OR.

Rain slapped the ground with the anger of an adolescent bully during our drive down toward the Columbia River. I was worried our day out on the course would come to an end before we even started, but as we pulled off the highway and up the small country road toward Lucky Mud the only worry on my mind was the possibility of getting lost.

Then we all saw this:

The stormy sky was on break. The winds were gaining strength and the road was sketchy, but nothing seemed to matter after I saw the damn swastika. Now I was wondering where the delusional bald dudes were hiding and were they going to greet us somewhere deep in the woods.

Lucky Mud is actually a bed and breakfast sitting on a bunch of acres, so I was optimistic that we would be safe since the hateful symbol was spray painted on a neighboring property.  My mind was put at ease with the gentle smile of the Inn's owner. Jessica welcomed us to her property and gave us a brief run down of the course.

The wind whipped up something special for us all as she was finishing. Jessica pointed in the direction of tee one and playfully said, "Good luck."

We looked at the sky, then we looked at each other. It was time to play.

PDGA Rating Update

PDGA ratings. Some people like them, some people don't.

I don't mind them, because I believe they add another challenge to the sport. Ratings can add healthy pressure to a sanctioned event – motivating players to make solid decisions and to throw well. Although they may not accurately reflect a person's skill they are fun to try and raise.

The Treejectory Am Classic bumped my rating up a whole three points. You can't see it, but I'm raising my roof right now... or is it raising the roof? Anyways, my hands are in the air and I'm waving them like I just don't care. I think the lady looking at me from outside my dining room window does though.

Well, if she knew that I'm now an 889 rated player she would understand. 

So... this means absolutely nothing to you, but means I'm slowly moving back up toward the 900 mark to me.

Back in 2010 I started my membership with a 901 rating, but haven't been able to move beyond that yet.

I've been dropping and climbing in small increments like I'm stuck riding a kid's roller coaster. Good thing I have beer.

That tournament at Seatac DGC really punished me by dropping my rating 15 points. Now I'm slowly making the climb. Hopefully I can continue this trend for a while.

Disc Golf Days #1: The Crack at Juel

Dedicating posts to certain days out on the course is something I've wanted to try here for awhile, but I didn't want to bore people with Intermediate-level, throw-by-throw analysis crap. I didn't want to use the space to review courses either, because that has the potential to be its own interesting topic.

It wasn't until I heard a loud CRACK over my head that I realized what these posts should be about.

Disc Golf Days will focus on the strange and interesting things that happen while I'm out throwing plastic.

Working nights has its benefits. I'm able to sleep in for as long as my child will allow and I'm able to dedicate most of my day to fun activities like visiting parks, playing guitar, cooking food and of course throwing frisbees.

Once in a while I will leave for work early enough to allow some practice time out on the disc golf course at Juel Park in Redmond, WA. On Monday, May 13 I decided to throw because Mother Nature was whipping up something fierce. I love practicing in strong winds since I don't often get the chance to.

On the way to the park I was listening to the news on the radio. Apparently thunder was booming over Seattle and lighting strikes were putting on a show, but all I saw were large patches of dark clouds peppering the sunny blue sky.

A gentle breeze swept through the wide open park as I arrived. I was the only golfer there. As I stood on the tee pad of one and stretched I noticed the gentle breeze slowly transitioning, giving way to a more angry gust.

The sky darkened. I knew it was time to throw when my towel leaped from my bag.

Wind practice had begun.

On tee three I drove two discs. This hole would be a straight 300' shot if it wasn't for the trees lining the right side of the fairway at about 250'. Some of the looming branches reach out like giant hands blocking the straight path to the basket.

I usually try to hyzer flip something and have it fade to the right just beyond the green mess. My first shot was with a Discraft Stalker. It flipped up and headed in the direction I wanted. I thought I was going to card my first ace in Washington, but it dropped short and parked next to the pole.

My second shot was with a Lat. 64 Bolt that I've been wanting to try out. It's another under-stable disc and I figured I'd give it a rip before I moved on. That thing came out fast and flipped immediately. Instead of flipping over and going around the branches it headed straight for them. I watched it fight through and then ricochet off the thick trunk of a tree.

I tapped in my putt from the first throw and began the search for the Bolt. Deep in this wooded area grows a massive amount of greenery. Losing a disc in here is easy, especially when you lose sight of it in flight.

I was lifting the arms of a bright green fern when I heard a loud crack over my head. I dashed out of the woods hearing branches collapse under the weight of a heavy trunk. I thought for sure a mammoth tree was coming down on top of me.

When I hit the open field running I looked back to see if I could see the tree falling. I couldn't spot it.

So I stopped and searched the long line of trees. Only the tree tops where swaying in the wind. Everything seemed somewhat peaceful again. I have no idea where that tree fell, but I was glad it wasn't near me.

My heart slowed to a regular pace and I went back into the woods to find my disc. I was on the brink of giving up when I spotted it. As I bent down to grab it a loud explosion-type sound reverberated through the woods. I freaked out and ran for the open field again. This sound didn't come from the trees though. Something off in the distance blew up. I scanned the skyline for smoke. I couldn't see anything.

A few minutes went by and then I heard the faint wails of sirens from emergency vehicles. I decided I had enough wind practice and headed for the car. Things were getting too weird.

I searched the news later that evening in the hopes of finding an explanation to the sound I heard. I failed to find anything.

I guess it will remain a mystery.

Exploring the World of Disc Dyeing

Dyeing a disc is something I've been interested in trying for awhile. After reading a bunch of different dyeing threads on DGCR and watching a few videos I decided to finally do it.

I knew going in that RIT had changed its formula a while back and the new stuff wasn't supposed to work as well, but I found some liquid RIT at the closest store to my place so I just bought it to test it myself.

It didn't work.

After reading about this shaving cream dye technique I decided to try it, because it seemed so easy. After my first attempt failed I hopped online and ordered some iDye Poly, since that's the stuff everyone uses now.

I was extremely pleased with myself while washing off the shaving cream. My yellow Flex Avenger SS looks so cool now.

Dyeing is a lot of fun. I'll keep doing it and post the results.

If you've never tried this and are interested here's what I did:

1. I sprayed enough cheap shaving cream to fill a plate evenly into a big bowl.

2. I added a little water to make it creamy then mixed it by hand.

3. I filled the plate and smoothed out top to make it easy to put design on.

4. I mixed cold dye with a little bit of shaving cream in a small bowl.

5. I used an eye dropper to suck up dye mixture and then put lines of dye all over shaving cream bed.

6. I used an old art tool (you can use anything you want) to swirl the dye into a design I was happy with.

7. I placed disc carefully onto bed and didn't push down. I just gently set it on top and then put the plate somewhere nobody could mess with it.

8. After 24 hours I washed the disc and then stood amazed that it worked.

That's it. If you've never taken a stamp off of a disc just use some acetone. Not the nail polish stuff though.

AFT Update

The Treejectory AM Classic tournament was a damn good time and I'm glad I participated. I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while, I got to meet new people, I got to throw a Seattle Rainmakers ultimate disc made by Innova and I got to play two tough rounds of golf in sporadic windy conditions.

I'm refusing to litter this post with excuses about my poor performance, so I won't go into detail about what could have, or should have, been. I just knew it was going to be business as usual when I watched my first drive of the day sail in a direction I haven't seen in a long time.

I thought to myself, "Here we go," while standing one over par on the second tee with muddy shoes. The fact is my first round was comical. I shot a 66 and sat in last place after the round.

While eating pizza during the break I thought about the comment left by Ryan in the last post. He gave me some great advice.

1. don't put too much pressure on yourself, disc golf is meant to be fun, keep that mindset...
2. don't look at those problem holes as problems, it will only bring in the negativity...look at those holes as a challenge to better your game, in a positive mindset...ahead of time, visualize your perfect drive...
3. whatever time you devote to practice putting, devote the same amount of time 'meditating' on putting...practice in your head making every, single 25-footer, watching in your mind's eye as they crash the chains every time...trust me, this works!
4. block out all the other players, if you can. play your game. don't let another player get in your head.

By the time the second round started I was in a positive mood and ready to have fun. I ended up shooting a 59. Even though it wasn't one of my better scores on that course I was extremely happy to shoot seven strokes better than my first round.

I still ended up near the bottom after all the scores came in, but I didn't care too much. If I would have played my normal division I would have tied for second place, which would have been fun because I could have participated in a playoff for the trophy. 

Going in to this I wanted to learn something. I found out that consistency is the only thing keeping me from competing in the Advanced division. I have the distance. I just hit more trees. I can scramble, but I can't sink as many putts. I'll be working on my putting a lot more in the coming months. I've been so obsessed with gaining distance I've weakened other shots in my bag.

So, next time I'll be back among the Intermediate folks, but I'll make sure it's not for too much longer.

In the last post I mentioned four problem areas I was worried about. Here they are:

1. The OB on fairway one.

2. The trees off the tee on three.

3. The low ceiling and narrow hallway tee shot on 11.

4. The possibility of a lost disc on fairway 18.

Here's what happened.

I kept my Surge SS in bounds on one during the first round, but hurled it OB during the second round. There was a slight tail wind and I didn't think about what the wind would do to my shot.

On the first round I smacked an early tree off of the tee on three. I made it through during the second round

I had low straight drives both rounds on 11, but I missed the putt to card a 4 in the first round.

I was relieved to hear there would be spotters on the fairway of 18. I threw a strong drive and landed close to the fairway during the first round, but sailed off into some trees during the second. Never lost a disc though.

Just in case you're interested here's a link to the scores:

Scores.

Another Freaking Tournament (AFT)

I registered into another freaking tournament.

The first Treejectory Classic tournament at the Terrace Creek disc golf course is slated for April 27. I'm excited and honestly a bit frightened, but I've been practicing as much as I can on the course and I feel the fear slowly subsiding.

Terrace Creek is technically my home course and I've played really well there in the past, so I decided to really torture myself and sign up in the Advanced division.

I've thrown among intermediates in all the tournaments I've played. I never learn anything. If I'm not going to place near the top of the pack then I better look for a way to get a lesson. Signing up as an advanced player should help with that.

I haven't posted about my distance progress lately, because I'm tired of guessing and Google mapping lengths of throws. I'm saving up for a laser range finder and when I acquire that I will post accurate distances.

I will say I know progress has been made.

Although with this progress a small issue with consistency and accuracy has plagued my regular play. I've discovered "timing" when driving off the tee and when my timing is off I can create advanced personal fairways if you know what I mean. Trees lose bark and squirrels scream for mommy.

This random inconsistency will have the back of my mind pulsing on every tee pad, but there are a few course features I will be worried about too. Here's a list:

1. The OB on fairway one.

2. The trees off the tee on three.

3. The low ceiling and narrow hallway tee shot on 11.

4. The possibility of a lost disc on fairway 18.

The tee shot off of tee one gives me nightmares. The distance to the basket is only 300 ft. or so, but it's slightly uphill the whole way. I've been told it plays more like 350' to 375'. That's not the problem though.

The problem is the busy road that hugs the left side of the fairway and the trees to the right near the basket. This situation creates a small gap to pierce in order to land in the circle.   

I'm a right hand/back hand thrower with a forearm only good for escaping tight spaces. I only have two options right now. I can either hyzer flip something without hitting the trees to the right, or fail to hyzer flip something and watch the disc hit a car.

Since starting this blog I've created a mental list of additional goals and one of them is to card a birdie on this dang hole.

Now tee three is like throwing a hail Mary. From the pad a disc golfer has to clear a ravine to reach the basket. It's not that far of a throw, but the trees in front of the tee pad mock you. They call you names. They stand only feet apart and dare you to clear the gap. If you fail you turn an easy bird into an exhausting bogey... or worse.

Throwing off of tee 11 hasn't been too much of a problem for me lately, but it's still a hole I think about. Your drive doesn't have a lot of room to play in the air.

Lastly, during casual rounds I've been in groups that took well over three minutes to search for a disc off the fairway of 18. Some of the time it's been my disc that we're looking for. This hole is a 500 ft. hallway shot with decent elevation. I've read roughly 70ft. Right handed throwers tend to fade out early and dive into a thicket of trees and blackberry bushes. If you turn one over to the right too much you lose site of the disc and end up in a jail of head-high reeds of some sort. Also, that area is flooded this time of year.

This tourney should be interesting. I have a few more days of practice coming up, so hopefully I can get myself ready for competitive play, or at the very least an enjoyable and informative couple of rounds of disc golf.

Wish me luck.