Rest in Peace, Ed

 Shortly after I got home last night, we heard someone at the front door, and then the roar of a delivery truck pulling away from our home.  While we didn’t hear the doorbell go off, we surmised that someone had delivered something for us.

Sure enough, there was a thin square box at the front door.  It was addressed to me, and when I opened it, this is what I found in the box!

It was a “Lines of Headrick Memorial Freestyle Disc” with the inscription, “Herein lie the ashes of “Steady” Ed, founding father of Frisbee and the sport of Disc Golf.  A giant of a man who was many things to many people.  Fly Free and rest in peace.”

It was “Steady” Ed’s wish that once he passed away his ashes be incorporated into discs so that his soul could fly freely. “Steady” Ed loved the Disc Golf and Frisbee® community and wished them to have his discs. Tiny specks of ash can been seen in the disc when you shine a light through it.  It is amazing to know that I have one of these discs.

All proceeds from the sale of “Steady” Ed Memorial Discs go to the nonprofit “Steady” Ed Memorial Fund, raising money to support “The Ed Headrick Memorial Museum,” home to the Disc Golf Hall of Fame, showcasing many historical items from the early days of our sport at the PDGA International Disc Golf Center at Wildwood Park, Appling Georgia.

I received the disc since I was named a weekly winner of the Disc Golf Association’s Spirit of the Game Contest.  While I didn’t win the final prize, a MACH X disc golf basket (which would have been awesome) my essay was one of the four weekly winners, and I was honored to receive this disc.

My first thought was to take it to work where I have a display of some of my competition discs, and that is where it is at the moment. 

However, since his wish was that he could continue to fly freely down the disc course, I will have to honor that request and take it for a spin every once in a while.

Rest in peace, to be sure, Ed!

226 Days to Worlds!!

Dry Creek Monroe, NC

Last week we visited our family in Charlotte, NC.  We often try out some of the disc golf courses there when we visit.

This year we discovered a new course in Monroe, NC, which is just a few miles away from where our oldest son lives.  About half of the holes were in wooded areas and half had more open fairways.  It’s called Dry Creek Disc Golf Course. 

I’ve only played the Charlotte courses when we visit around Thanksgiving, so all I know about them is what they are like during the late fall.  There are a LOT of leaves on the ground.  

This year, there was a fairly big rain just before we got there, so the leaves were quite matted down.  Some years, they are all fluffy and crunchy which is fun to walk through, but discs get lost so easily when there is six inches of fallen leaves for them to disappear into.

On one hole, Danny got as close as a person can get to the basket on his drive, without making an ace!  It was great to watch.

I think this is the kind of course we will enjoy playing again the next time we go for a visit.

A Golden Day

On Friday after Thanksgiving, I had a chance to check something off my bucket list.  Danny and I were able to play the Winthrop Gold course at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC.  This course is the home to the United States Disc Golf Championships (USDGC) which is played each October featuring only about 150 of the best of the best disc golfers in the United States.  It is one of the few tournaments that is televised.

Danny had a chance to experience the course when he played in the USDGC Performance Edition in 2011. It was a daunting experience to say the least, but he actually played quite well.  Since he had played the course during that competition, he remembered well each hole.  Some were slightly different when we were there after Thanksgiving, but mostly, the general layout was still in place.

Of course, none of the out-of-bounds ropes were up, but he told me where they had been and Danny played as if they were still in place.  I just played the course from the short pads, as it stood -- that was challenging enough for me!

We took a few photos while on the course, and of course took some at the famous Bamboo Hole including a video of Danny making the shot through the garage door-sized opening.

Many of the views from the tee-box were exactly as they appeared on Disc Golf Planet, but the shot looked a lot tougher in real life than it did on the computer screen.

Having watched some videos, and having a DVD of the 2012 USDGC, it was so interesting to actually play the course.  I'm going to replay that video now that I'm back home and can do it from the point of view of having been there!  It was thrilling, and definitely a bucket list item.

229 Days to Worlds

Strains of Rocky Playing in my Mind….

For the past three weeks, I’ve been lifting weights for the first time in my life.  In a never-ending quest to get stronger and have more endurance for the 2014 World Championships, I have begun a weight training program.  Our son, Danny, who has been weight training since he was part of the swim team in high school, has been my coach.  He designs my workouts and posts them to a Google Doc that we share.  I do some training every night, varying the type of workout from one day to the next.

Yesterday, Danny didn’t get a workout written before I got to the gym.  I felt as if I was floundering a bit, but decided to just repeat what I had done the week before.  However, to my surprise, I noticed that the workout was significantly easier than it had been the previous week.  Shock and surprise!  I guess it’s starting to work.

This being Thanksgiving week and all, I’m expecting that my workouts will need to be somewhat abbreviated later in the week, so tonight I’m going back to the gym and work out some more.

Sometimes, by the night’s end, I hear the sounds of “Rocky” playing in the mind as I feel as if I’m getting just a little stronger every time I lift.

My gym is connected to an online system where you can go in and look at the workouts you have completed, the amount of weight lifted, and an evaluation of your form.  It’s based on whether you are lifting too fast or touching down on the weights in between reps.  They also put a little chart on the sign in page indicating how much you have lifted in terms of how many “elephants” you’ve done.  

As of yesterday, I'm up to 14 elephants!  Inconsequential data, I realize, but a very visual representation of one’s progress.  

I'm a Weekly Winner!

Just got word that I'm the third of four weekly winners of the Disc Golf Association Essay Contest to win a brand spanking new Mach X Disc Golf Basket.  YIPPEE!!!!

After next week's winner is announced, there will be a determination who of the four weekly winners has won the basket.  I'm still a bit shocked that I was chosen.  Now, I'll just have to wait a couple more weeks to hear the answer.

Click here to see the post:

It would be absolutely super to win this practice putting basket.  AND, I definitely need the extra practice.

Doing Nothing

For the first time in 63 days of preparation for the 2014 World Disc Golf Championships, I did NOTHING yesterday.  I didn’t walk, I didn’t lift weights, I didn’t even pick up a disc.  I just don’t know what happened.

The day started a little late.  I didn’t get up until 7:27, and I needed to leave the house by 7:45 to get to church.  Not a good beginning.

Got a call from Danny that he had locked his keys in the car.  That meant a trip to DeBary was in order at some point during the day to get him his spare key.

On Saturday I drove up there to caddy for him for his second round of the day at the DeBary Open Disc Golf Tournament.  It was interesting watching him as he competed with other guys in the Pro Open division, which was a first for him.  He had hoped to be able to compete with some disc golfers who were at the next level to learn from them.

Some of the holes he played brilliantly, but then there were a few that got the better of him.  The best hole of the day from round two was hole 13, a 422 ft par 4 where he threw a brilliant drive, that landed about 35 feet from the pin.  And BAM!  He made the putt, too, for an Eagle!

Only hole that surpassed hole 13 was the second last hole of the afternoon.  It was hole 1, a CTP hole.  From the tee pad you could see the marker where the previous best throw landed.  It was less than a foot from the pole.  Danny decided to flick, approaching the shot from the left with a skip shot to the pin, avoiding the trees and overhanging branches.

It was a perfect throw, with a big skip, that I thought at first might make it in the basket.  That didn’t happen, but his disc hit the pole and died right there.  The shot ended up landing just a few inches closer to the pin – for a nice win of $92!

That was fun to watch.  The trip back home after the round was over wasn’t nearly so much fun.  Traffic worse than rush hour as the Interstate turned into a parking lot for at least 10 miles.  My nerves were frazzled by the time I got home.

So on Sunday, making another trip to DeBary wasn’t something I looked forward to, but of course, sometimes we just need to do those things for family.

In the afternoon it got quite cold, and my energy level was at an all-time low.  So I did nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Watched some TV, made supper, enjoyed my grandsons, but basically did nothing. 

I’m not proud of that.  Tonight I’ll dig in again, and start with weights and cardio.  It’s Thanksgiving week.  There’s going to be enough calories to eat later in the week!  Better start working off some of them ahead of time.

236 Days To Go!

Free Basket – Sure Thing!

Disc Golf Association is offering a chance at a free disc golf basket on their Facebook page.  All you have to do is submit an essay and then get people to vote for you.  It’s a typical sort of social media campaign, and normally I stay as far away from those things as possible.

This one, however, was particularly appealing to me (obviously!) since I’d love to have one of those new baskets to practice with in preparation for Worlds.

So, I’m going to do some shameless promotion here, and let you know that if you would like to be a part of my journey to do well at the 2014 World Championships, you could to on Facebook and vote for me.  I’m currently in second place and you can vote for me if you want to.  Click on this link:  Spirit of the Game Contest

Ultimately, I’d love to see more people become aware of the sport of disc golf.  It’s great for all ages (I’m a perfect example of that) and all abilities (ditto on the example thing) and all levels of fitness (need I say it again?  Ditto!).

Thanks for reading my blogs, and hopefully you’ll also vote for me!

Spirit of the Game Contest