[Vibram] Vibram Disc Golf Thread

[justin]

Then I have a couple of additional questions. Thanks for answering the first one.

1) Metal hits. Is this off of ace runs, birdie runs (or missed putts that would have been for birdies), and or a combination of the both?

2) I have an Obex tester already, but is that included in the box? What type of sampling and or colors did you see? I know that Vibram does not have a huge line-up yet, and above you mentioned that nothing uber-exciting is probably left, but I have to imagine it still has to be a good sampling.

3) What type of draw did you see? Here he is doing it at a park that has a considerable Rec presence, and he is doing it late afternoon on a Friday, so I am guessing it is going to be packed to begin with.

1.) Winner = most birdies - If there is a tie for the winning spot then it will goto metal hits for those in the tie. I hope that makes sense. I believe the winner at Beauty Hill (NH) last Friday had 11 birdies from our short tees.

2.) Obexes are there as prizes only, not for the player pack discs. All his discs are of the latest run so they're all the very bright colors. I'm sure Steve is getting more discs shipped to him in each city. He had 4 or 5 boxes of 50 with him but he was running 3 or 4 more events that weekend after ours. Actually, Vibram has 7 molds (until the Obex is released) so they're accumulating a pretty good selection.

3.) We had 14 people but this is NH on a Friday night in drizzling rain so no one was really coming up from Boston since traffic is horrible on Fridays and 93N goes from 4 down to 2 lanes at the border which makes it even worse. Anyway, we and Steve were happy with the turnout. Steve said 20-25 seems to be the average for the events. Of course he's had some larger ones though.

If anyone's going and they don't have a Sole yet I highly recommend selcting that disc. I got it as a tester and I never would have picked it up otherwise. It's done hugely good things for my game.

 

[Jeronimo]

It's the shame the event's weren't better advertised, even though i'm not quite sure how that could be rectified. I really wanted to hit at least one of the New England ones but by the time I realized/remembered it was around May 5th and it was too late. Major bummed I missed it.

 

[justin]

Good point. Sadly, people in "the scene" up here assume everyone is on NEFA.com all the time.

Hey Steve, it would be areally great idea to click on each course you're going to and adding an event here on DGCR. Your events will get listed on each course's page and the site's frontpage. This IS the most popular DG site afterall.

 

[smarkquart]

Not that it is a huge issue for me, but my first question is still left unanswered. What constitutes a metal? In a ace race it is the striking of the metal on the first and only shot. Here we are shooting for birdies. Does this mean that a metal strike is any shot including the birdie attempt (which on most holes is just shot one and two) that hits? For instance, say I almost park the hole but dink my birdie attempt but at least hit the chains, does that count? I bring this up because we will have at least two holes that are par 4 and likely at least one more that should be considered it. Big arms can definitely make a run for metal on the second shot, and very easily can do it on the third, although getting par consistently is very hard.

1.) Winner = most birdies - If there is a tie for the winning spot then it will goto metal hits for those in the tie. I hope that makes sense. I believe the winner at Beauty Hill (NH) last Friday had 11 birdies from our short tees.

2.) Obexes are there as prizes only, not for the player pack discs. All his discs are of the latest run so they're all the very bright colors. I'm sure Steve is getting more discs shipped to him in each city. He had 4 or 5 boxes of 50 with him but he was running 3 or 4 more events that weekend after ours. Actually, Vibram has 7 molds (until the Obex is released) so they're accumulating a pretty good selection.

3.) We had 14 people but this is NH on a Friday night in drizzling rain so no one was really coming up from Boston since traffic is horrible on Fridays and 93N goes from 4 down to 2 lanes at the border which makes it even worse. Anyway, we and Steve were happy with the turnout. Steve said 20-25 seems to be the average for the events. Of course he's had some larger ones though.

If anyone's going and they don't have a Sole yet I highly recommend selcting that disc. I got it as a tester and I never would have picked it up otherwise. It's done hugely good things for my game.

 

[justin]

I'm trying so hard not to be dominating this thread right now but you are asking me directly so I'll continue.

Steve had us play any part of the basket for a metal hit "including the lock at the base of the pole" he said. Yes, hitting metal on either shot and not landing in the basket is a metal hit.

An Ace is worth three birdies and I believe you can't count a metal hit and a birdie on the same hole. I fear we're starting to worry too much about a tie breaker which isn't too likely to be needed. The point of having the metal hits is to avoid the need for a play-off and make everyone stand around while two guys play 7 more holes trying to out-do eachother.

I thought that counting the metal hits made it more fun when your drive wasn't very good. Everyone has a chance to hit the basket even from a really bad lie but the chance of getting that wild shot IN is quite another thing.

 

[smarkquart]

I fully agree that this tournament is about having fun. I am really looking forward to it and I hope the weather holds tomorrow. More than anything, all the questions are nothing more than just killing time and trying to get more excited about going. I have a big tournament the following day, so the wife is not happy about losing me for two days, especially just before Mother's day. I am leaning towards going tomorrow to the Birdie Bash, but little incentives do go a long way.

I'm trying so hard not to be dominating this thread right now but you are asking me directly so I'll continue.

Steve had us play any part of the basket for a metal hit "including the lock at the base of the pole" he said. Yes, hitting metal on either shot and not landing in the basket is a metal hit.

An Ace is worth three birdies and I believe you can't count a metal hit and a birdie on the same hole. I fear we're starting to worry too much about a tie breaker which isn't too likely to be needed. The point of having the metal hits is to avoid the need for a play-off and make everyone stand around while two guys play 7 more holes trying to out-do eachother.

I thought that counting the metal hits made it more fun when your drive wasn't very good. Everyone has a chance to hit the basket even from a really bad lie but the chance of getting that wild shot IN is quite another thing.

 

[zenbot]

Initial thoughts on the Obex. I like this disc. Stability was definitely a few notches above the Ibex. Nowhere near Gator overstability. My favorite shot with this disc was big sweeping annies. The extra stability kept the disc landing flat and not knurling into the ground. As with all Vibrams I've thrown it was very forgiving when hitting trees. Unless I hit a tree dead center it absorbed much of the impact and kept flying in a semi-forward direction. I did notice that my medium got gummier after half an hour in 85 degree sun.

 

[Moify]

I left my xlink, Sole out in the sun today and the top kind of flattened out. Made me wonder if it might make it more like a VP or something. Not sure how different the molds are, though.

 

[Jeronimo]

Leaving your Vibram discs out in the sun is never a good idea. They are rubber and sunlight will destroy them.

 

[smarkquart]

Played in the Birdie Bash today, what a blast. I did not know I was suppose to go to the store first to sign up, but I likely would have been late anyway. I was at the course in time and was still able to pick out some discs I liked. Ended up with a Medium 166 Ascent and a Firm Sole that is likely mis-marked Medium. I thought I was being smart by going with the Ascent for driving on the long holes, especially since it is a lighter Ascent, hoping to get my points there, but I should have known better. Most of the points to be had we're on holes I could have easily driven with the Ibex. Oh well, I still had a good time.

What most impressed me was how awesome of a putter Steve is. Wow, he was nailing putts I was just hoping to get metal hits with.

I have two Sole testers already, and I was not setting the world on fire with them, so they never became my main putter. However, I did not miss a putt today inside of 25 feet. For me that is a huge accomplishment. Recently I have been having a horrendous time making putts longer than 15 feet. I have a huge tournament tomorrow, and the only reason I am playing intermediate instead of advanced is because of my putting. I would rather miss putts and still be competitive in a division where I know I am going to have fun. That is where most the people I know are in. Last year when I played advanced in some big tournaments I could drive with them, but I was constantly losing strokes here and there because of putting. That is no fun because I could not keep up with people I did not know well. After the way I performed today with the Sole, I will take the placebo effect and place it in my bag for tomorrow's tournament.

Thanks Steve for the wonderful tournament.

 

[eegor]

Any idea when "us regular folks" can get our hands on an Obex?

I'd like one firm...

 

[solomon.trenton]

Any idea when "us regular folks" can get our hands on an Obex?

I'd like one firm...

mid july i believe

 

[eegor]

mid july i believe

Thank you, Sir!

 

[solomon.trenton]

mid july i believe

http://www.vibramdiscgolf.com/obex.html

 

[E_Rock25]

I won the Vibram Mini Birdie today... I am an official Vibram tester. Very cool! What a fun event, I liked it better than the ace race and winning didn't hurt either. I really like the Trak and the Sole seems like a good disc for up-shots.

Steve can play man he beat me by two birdies and he played the course blind. I threw 7 birdies and had three metals for a total of 17 point. Had a blast today and won my first organized disc event.

 

[smarkquart]

I won the Vibram Mini Birdie today... I am an official Vibram tester. Very cool! What a fun event, I liked it better than the ace race and winning didn't hurt either. I really like the Trak and the Sole seems like a good disc for up-shots.

Steve can play man he beat me by two birdies and he played the course blind. I threw 7 birdies and had three metals for a total of 17 point. Had a blast today and won my first organized disc event.

Man, I was in Steve's group and he was just lighting us up. He can flat out putt.

 

[Old Bassman]

I won the Vibram Mini Birdie today... I am an official Vibram tester. Very cool! What a fun event, I liked it better than the ace race and winning didn't hurt either. I really like the Trak and the Sole seems like a good disc for up-shots.

Steve can play man he beat me by two birdies and he played the course blind. I threw 7 birdies and had three metals for a total of 17 point. Had a blast today and won my first organized disc event.

Way to go!!!

 

[smarkquart]

Man, I was in Steve's group and he was just lighting us up. He can flat out putt.

I had 11 points, 3 birdies and 5 metals. Two of my metals were in the chains but would not stick for birdies. If we had another round, and I am sure most could probably claim this, I know I could have done better. I had misfires on Hole 2, 3, 6, and 17. On 2 and 3 the Ascent was just more stable than I was giving it credit for, and 6 I just flat out did not clear the shrubbery in front of the tee. On 17 I under-powered the Sole because I was worried about hitting Critter's girl who was parked just behind the basket as she waited for him to tee off on 18.

 

[uncle pennybags]

I wish I could have gone to this awesome sounding event. 4 hours of driving round trip was just a bit more than I could afford.

So tell me Mr. Dodge, could we see more of this organized by local TD's like the Ace Race in the future? That would be great!

 

[smarkquart]

I wish I could have gone to this awesome sounding event. 4 hours of driving round trip was just a bit more than I could afford.

So tell me Mr. Dodge, could we see more of this organized by local TD's like the Ace Race in the future? That would be great!

Local TDs run events like this all the time, but it is the vendor/ manufacturer involvement that makes these events so popular. Take a look at what Discraft can accomplish with their Ace Race. This will be my second year running that event locally. I would love to be able to host a Vibram sponsored event like this.

The best part of this event over the Ace Race is that a course does not need to be altered. What it does is forces you to look at a familiar course in a different way. I would be all over running such an event if allowed.