A Blast in Sarasota - Part 2

The second round at the Sunshine State Shootout in Sarasota, was the most difficult for me.  The course had a lot of trees which usually don’t bother me, but I had a hard time finding the groove for throwing throw the trees.  It was held at North Water Tower Park, which was a great park, but one with lots of trees and narrow paths for the disc. 

Since I’d never seen the course before, it was a good exercise for me to prepare for 2014 Worlds.  At my home course, there are plenty of trees on T-2, but I’ve learned the best path to go.  I still fumble the throws from time to time, but I do know where I’d like to make the disc land.  On a new course it isn’t always so obvious.

The final round of the Shootout was at Payne Park.  This is an urban park in the heart of downtown with rolling terrain, but few trees and even less water hazards.  I think this was my most successful tournament play ever.  Danny caddied for me and he helped me keep focus, place my disc well, and continue to play with confidence.  The course itself was a fairly open course with few trees and few water hazards.  The distance to each basket was manageable by me and that helped me gain confidence as well.  I think I had more pars on this course than on any that I’ve ever played in regulation play.

Up next is the Orlando Open the first weekend in May, followed by the Women’s Global Event (WGE) the following weekend in Floral city.  This past weekend I practiced a lot on my home course – one day I played with a local disc golf club.  Having some actual competitive practice was good as I had to deal with a couple of holes where I didn’t do so well, and then had to refocus on getting back on track.  There was a tremendous amount of wind which comes into play when I’m using my lighter weight discs. 

Once again, I got a birdie during competition, and that was definitely a confidence booster.  I came in fourth overall and got some payout for finishing well. I spent my winnings on a mini, which will be a commemorative disc to be added to my display at work.

124 Days to Worlds!