Prepping for 1st tournament

[Putt for D'oh]

Vitals:
Years playing/experience: A bit less than 1 year, played a little poorly ~25 years ago
Right/left-handed/ambidextrous: right-handed
Throwing Style: RHBH, rotator cuff won't allow sidearm/overhand
Golf Distance (avg/max*) for putter/mid/driver: Envy: 250/280'; Claymore: 320/350'+ Mace : 300'/330'; Teebird/Rival: 360/380' -ish not really sure on max numbers but the Golf distance would be holes that are mostly flat I can reach with those discs that are marked at those distances.

* Max distance is the greatest distance you can throw your top 2-3 drivers with any regularity


Optional:
Age: 42
Sex: M
Injuries/handicaps?: Rotator Cuff stuff doesn't seem to hinder BH throws,
Other sport proficiencies?: Lots, not much the last 10 years or so, recently out of shape

What do you like/dislike about your current bag?: I like my bag for my home courses there is overlap in some places but I go by what i'm feeling in the moment on some throws on the discs that overlap

Specific areas of desired feedback: First tournament is coming up in a few weeks. Curious about extra discs maybe some redundancy in the bag just in case and also the possibility of high winds is real. Wind is not a certainty but very good chance it will be calm and nice in the morning and howling in the afternoon. No idea anything about the courses, it will be 36 holes set up specifically for this tournament right before hand. Fully expect a wide range of design, all shots might be needed.


Bag:

Drivers (weight/plastic/model/(condition)/use):
175 Icon Rival, (lightly seasoned) First choice for throws 350'+ will hyzer flip, handle light headwind and still fade nicely
175 Star Eagle, (beat) - straight or uphill tailwind shots, tunnel shots first choice if fade at the end is desired. Turnover shots, (overlap with the river on many shots)
175 Star TL, (bought used fairly beat) Hyzer flips straight, choice for long downhill shots or where the eagles fade is not wanted. Doesn't like wind.
~175 Champ Banshee (bought used, well used but still very overstable, pre-numbers) Long flex shots, but I normally default to a PD for those. Headwind shots or strong fade desired.
173 Recycled River (8/10) - Uphill shots, turnovers, zero fade desired (overlaps with TL and eagle quite a bit)
174 Recycled Saint (new) - headwind drives, new "high speed" for me at least driver.
171 C-line PD (7/10) - Flex shots, headwind drives. Don't seem to get anymore distance from this than Rival/Eagle/TL/River so open/flat/no wind it doesn't come out of the bag.
171 Neutron Volt (7/10) - Headwind (thought its starting to not handle the wind as well the more I throw it) High Hyzer lines or long drives with good fade at the end.
Not sure if I like the Volt or Saint more for pure distance, though flat ground, no wind I may still throw the Eagle for pure distance.

Mids:
177 Gold Line Claymore (9/10) - Main Mid, Hyzer flips or drives >250 to ~320
175 Crystal Z Buzzz OS (8/10) - Flex shots, hard fade, heavy headwind out to <300'
178 Recycled Mace (8/10) - fit between the claymore and BuzzzOS. I've been throwing it on some holes with a spike hyzer to beat it in a bit.
167 Recycled Fuse (8/10) Tweener disc between my fairways and mids. straight shots and shorter turnovers, short uphills, or finish left out to ~320' or dead straight no fade hyzerflips. Doesn't like wind at all though.

Putters:
174-5 Glow Wizard, used - main putter 5x keep 2 in the bag
175 Soft Neutron Envy - Main driving putter and approach disc. Anything 250' and under this is the go-to (lost this disc this week... I was thinking of getting a new one hoping for a touch more fade as this one is getting beat. I may buy two a hard Neutron and a Plasma now even if I do get it back)
175 Soft Neutron Proxy - Straight at the basket approach/driver when the fade on the envy is too much or unwanted.

Advice on changes for a tournament? My bag will only take ~3 more discs but I can definitely take more and change out between rounds ~20 discs is possible. I see a lot of people take a ton of discs for tourneys. I have quite a few other discs with slight differences from whats in the bag.
Star Beast and Champ Beast, I think the Saint and Volt are pretty similar but I have out driven the Saint on a calm hole by ~15 feet with the Star Beast.
Star Light Teebird old and worn bought used no idea the weight but it doesn't feel much lighter than the Rival. Metal Flake Teebird, new and a lot like the Banshee but longer with less fade and not as reliable in the wind.
Quite a few distance stuff I bought a long time ago and haven't tried throwing since I started working on form and seeing that I can't throw any of them as far or as accurately as the Eagle.

 

[jdw80550]

When going into a tournament I try to have a backup of things I throw, just in case I lose one, or at least have a disc I can use to create a similar shot. (Z Comet and a Worn Z Buzzz, not the same but can get to the same spot.)

Work with what you've been throwing. DON'T TRY NEW DISCS IN THE TOURNAMENT! Best way to screw yourself up.

Take a stool or chair, there can be long waits.

Bring sunscreen, but only use your left hand to apply it.

Bring chapstick, light snacks, and extra pencils.

Always have more water than you think you will need.

Add an extra towel and mini.

Unless you have hit the shot over and over, play safe. Don't go crazy.

Practice putting before hand, the drives will be what they will, but you can always control how you putt.

 

[hellbound]

jdw80550 is right. Don't change your bag close to a tournament. If your trying any new discs out or buy something day of leave it in the car unless something drastic happens to a go to.

Couple of things I would add is start drinking water and eating high energy food day before. It sometimes can be a long day on the course and your energy can get zapped quick if your not physically(energy wise) ready for it. I tend to start eating things like oatmeal and pasta the day before.

Day of the tournament do not forget to drink fluids. I love to have grapes in the cooler for after. Ice cold and a good treat.

Lots of good info. Look forward to see how your bag does for you. Just make a note on here after the tournament of what you used. Good way to reflect after the fact. Remember Person that throws all par everyone has to beat them first. Birdies will come around.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

Great advice, will need to remind myself to treat this just like any other sporting event rather than just any other weekend with a few rounds.

As far as new discs, I am about 3 weeks out which I figured was minimum time if there was something particular I could add. I am really worried about dealing with wind, but luckily that will be a common factor for everyone... and we may get lucky with it as well.
I always found it funny (or frustrating) there are people that want to change stuff day of competition. Had a guy on our 4x100 team in college that would see the team with the fastest qualifying time had totally different handoff style than we did and he'd get all excitable and want to switch to how they were doing it. I'm not normally that guy.

I'll for sure give an update how it goes, but I don't have illusions about winning I don't think. Looking at people I play with that have ratings I would think I should fall somewhere in the 860 range if I do well for me, which would put my toward the bottom of the Masters that are currently registered. I just want to feel good about how I played at the end of it.

 

[hellbound]

I'm in the 860 range with you and have been making a point to better the way I play and its showing with more consistent golf and shooting above my rating that I will expect to see a good jump by the end of the year. Took me a while to realize that I was beating my self up trying to be better then I was. When I started coming into the event with the mind set of not trying so hard the rounds started getting better and better. (still have a bad one from time to time)

As for dealing with the wind. My personal thought on it is how much does it really effect my drives? I usually will disc up some so that I am using a faster disc. You know your tools and how they play. Normally I will always go with my first choice.

Have you played the courses yet? Recently? One thing that has not been said yet is to keep practicing your putts inside 10-15 feet max. Don't be that person trying to sink 30 foot warm-ups. Heck I would rather make 100 putts at 5 feet then 1 out of 20 at circles edge when warming up. But don't be afraid to move out a little.

Things Ill add to the bag not listed
Birdy bag for keeping the hands dry
towel for hands. (I like small wash cloths for this)
towel for mud and water
one extra mini (keep it light you don't need to bring six)
make sure I have a pencil and a sharpie
light snack?
Plenty of liquids with the warm weather coming on.

 

[DiscBaltimore]

Have fun.
Trust yourself to pick the right for the right shot. You have played these holes before right? If not, just trust you insticts, and don't be upset if you wish you had played them before .

I would recommend only throwing discs you know best and are most comfortable with unless you really feel that this is the right disc.

Take out that one did you have that flies just your favorite one but isn't as good as your back up that you haven't thrown in over a week bc..... you don't know it all that well.

Good luck!

 

[DiscBaltimore]

Oh- pack too much food. I aways carry some high protein snack.. hard boiled eggs, sandwich, protein bar, cheese, fruit or veggie is nice too.

If you make 3 mistakes in a row.. eat!

 

[Putt for D'oh]

Just make a note on here after the tournament of what you used. Good way to reflect after the fact.

So everything went ok. Beautiful, enormous course. It was 27 holes set-up on coastal ranch land just for the purpose of this tournament. A few very punishing holes with lots of lost discs if you threw poorly. Friday was practice rounds/doubles play and the tournament was saturday and sunday. I was an absolute train wreck on Saturday but picked it up and played pretty well on Sunday. Pretty much one of the only lower level players to show improvement the second day and one of the very few to show significant improvement. I think the course was physically demanding and wind conditions were worse the second day so fatigue played a part for a lot of folks.

I ended up dead last in the AmMasters, mostly because my first day was the worst score in that division by 4 strokes for either day. If I had put together two rounds just like I had on Sunday I would have moved up to tied for 5th.

Disc feedback.
On friday dubs I lost my BuzzzOS which I replaced with a Drone. It worked out, I only threw it 3 times and it did great for me. Second hole was a short very hard hyzer line around/over some trees. I was the only birdie on my cards both days on that hole. Then I had a wicked gusty headwind putt late the second day I decided to putt with it. Worked.

I took the TL out of my bag and replaced it with a new FD3 to tackle some headwind. I had ordered what I thought was going to be a MetalFlake PD but got the FD3 instead. It is pretty. I went to the park and threw my PD and the FD3 a bit the week before and felt there was a place for both but also they could replace each other if I lost one or the other. I dont' think I threw the PD all weekend but did use the FD3 a couple times with a bit of success. That is MF and new it is super meat hook and was one I threw when a lot of my card grabbed Firebirds and Destroyers.

I took the Fuse out of the bag. I was turning it over a lot in the field and decided I didn't trust it right now.
For whatever reason I packed 2 claymores on Saturday and a good thing. I grip locked on hole 4 and launched my favorite OB into a no trespassing property. (still haven't heard from it.) I threw the second one a few times on each day and still love the disc. They weren't great shots but that was on me.

I have a Metal Flake TeeBird that is fairly new I didn't list initially. It has come and gone from my bag and I thought I should put it in as it could be a better backup to the Rival and see more use than the Banshee. I was right, I had a drop in birdie on a long-ish open hole with left to right wind during practice and almost aced it Sunday with the TeeBird. If there was no wind it would have been an obvious Rival hole.
I defaulted to the River over the Eagle for tailwind or open long drives.
I Threw the Rival when I needed to just get right, which I did toward the end of the first day, but then slipped on a sideways slope and shanked into an overgrown creek area/jungle. looked and looked and looked after the round both days and the following day after the tournament. Found 3 Blizzard bosses but not my Rival. Good thing I had that Teebird.
I didn't once take the Saint or the Volt out of the bag, didn't trust my ability to throw them well, and the longest holes were extreme down hills. I used the River or FD3 depending on wind, or I disced down to the Claymore or Mace for a safer shot as there was a lot of potential for trouble going long or missing left (basically watched a few discs fade over cliffs and glide hundreds of feet left of their target).

I hardly used the proxy at all but still has a place, just that the Envy had a better place. I did buy 2 new envy's since I lost the one was listed in my bag. A firm Neutron and a Plasma. I've been throwing both and don't see much different in flight between the plastics but we'll see as they beat in. I threw them a LOT. Short drives, and many many upshots, even got an ~80' birdie on Sunday with one.

Other take away's:
Thanks so much for the advice, especially the food. The rounds were unexpectedly long... like almost 7 hours on Sunday. Just a new course for everyone and several holes with large backups and disc losing potential. Flow was much better the second day but lots and lots of food and water.
The advice to practice the short putts was spot on. I was amazed at watching guys I see in casual rounds regularly drain 40 footers having trouble with putts 20-25'. Tournament putting is an entirely different monster than anything I've ever done in sports.

Great experience overall, just hope I can make time for more in the future.

 

[corin_brown]

Nice! Sounds like you got some great action.

Just curious, which tournament was this and which course is this located at this gorgeous coastal ranch? Sounds sweet.

 

[hellbound]

Glade you had a fun time! I like how you have reflected on what worked and what didn't work for that tournament. Makes a great mental note for the next time you play a tournament with the same conditions.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

Nice! Sounds like you got some great action.

Just curious, which tournament was this and which course is this located at this gorgeous coastal ranch? Sounds sweet.

https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/20th_annual_UFOS_ProAm_presented_by_DGA_2016

http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/25278

The attached pic is from I think around hole 11. The group way down the hill walking away to the right, middle of photo are leaving the basket.
Hard to tell without a full size and being able to zoom in but there are about 8 or 9 holes or tees visible in this pic.