Team Discmania, RPO and Having the Most Fun

A couple weeks ago there was a big announcement that was probably one of the biggest moments in my life, I was announced as being added to Discmania as a sponsored player. This is something I have been working towards years and reaching this step is amazing. I am now even more hungry to accomplish my goals and continue to move onward and upward in the disc golf world. I have to give a big thanks to Discmania for giving me the opportunity. I would also like to thank all of the players/people who helped me get to where I am today. This is only a small step and I plan on continuing going forward.... TEAM DISCMANIA!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! SO PUMPED!!!!... I couldn't help it. Ha!

http://www.discmania.net/2015/06/05/new-additions-to-discmanias-us-promotion-team/
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It had been a while since my last tournament and I was anxiously waiting another chance to compete. After reflecting on my recent poor showing in tournaments I had to dissect what the problem was. I forgot why I was playing disc golf, I forgot that this was supposed to be fun, I forgot that any bad day of disc golf was better than not playing at all. I went into the tournament at a course I knew very little about but was ready to just enjoy myself. Riverpark is a relatively easy course with a lot of birdie looks, it's a course that you should rarely take a 4 but should look to find a lot of 2s. With that in mind I knew I had to let the birdies come whenever and wherever and play smart golf. I was lucky enough to play on an awesome opening card with a bunch of the local guys and my best friend (Chris Tellesbo). Having the local guys helped because they knew the ins and outs of the course and I could sometimes follow their lead a bit. I was mainly throwing off of feel and trusting my ability. I would finish the round tied for 3rd and found myself on the lead card with two of the guys I played the first round with. The entire round I kept making jokes and chatting with everyone and having fun. I was lucky to have my buddy (Brandon Hinson) caddying for me who kept putting positive thoughts and wise information in my ear. He was a big help on that first day, the best thing he told me was to 'get it there' I kept leaving some putts short and he worked that into before each putt he would chime in and it helped. The next round was filled with more fun and lots of birdies and I would only take two 4s over two rounds one from hitting the first tree on a hole, I would get my redemption on that hole later, and from a tight OB just near the basket on a good solid drive that made it back in, so I had very little to be upset about and was stoked that I would be tied for 2nd going into the final round the next day. Brandon couldn't join me for day 2 but I ended up having another buddy step up to do some caddying for me (Casey Lee). Casey had the same influence as Brandon and kept with the positive chatter and fun times throughout the round. I would start the round very slow falling off pace but I didn't put much thought into that knowing we were playing 22 holes and there was still time to make a move. For me on the final round there was one key hole that pushed me to stay in contention, that was hole 15, the same hole I bogeyed the day before but had been moved back and made even more difficult. As we walked up to the hole Brodey Hansen, a fellow competitor and now a great friend after playing with him 3 whole rounds and some, put a bounty on the hole saying he would pay $5 dollars for any birdie on the hole. To give a bit of description to the complexity of the hole, I will say that it is a very difficult two to get, it is there but it takes really strong execution to make it happen, the hole starts with a few trees that you throw through to find the fairway, along either side of the fairway are lines of trees that love to grab on to your disc and sit it down, on the right side of fairway beyond the trees was a small pond that played OB, on the left side of the fairway beyond the trees was another fairway that played in bounds but didn't help you access the basket any easier, so sticking to the fairway was key, down the fairway the basket was tucked away in a bungalow of trees with a small entrance way right at the front, the hole plays 385', I hope that somewhat paints the picture of the hole.

RPO Hole 15, Sick screen shot I know! Ha!

So after seeing a couple of players find trouble on either side of the fairway, looking to have some fun, and to find some redemption from the day before, I grabbed my trusty C-Line FD and pumped a straight shot that turned over slightly before finding its way in to the opening and scooted about 15-20' long of the basket. I was the only player looking at a 2 on that hole while the other players were having to scramble to find 3s,4s, or 5s after some OB strokes. Before that hole I came to find out after, that I was behind and that hole really opened up an opportunity for me to fight back into contention. After everyone played close to the basket I stepped up to my lie, which was directly in a bundle of trees and bushes, I went to a knee to give me self a better line to the basket and canned my putt. There was a decent gallery and heard some awesome cheers and that the shot was near perfect on the hole. This was such a great feeling, it's hard not to be boastful when you tackle a difficult hole, but I must say if it hadn't been for Chris, Brandon and Casey in the preparations before and during the tournament I wouldn't have been confident executing that shot, so a big thanks to those guys for the boost in my confidence.

Where the people are standing is the opening to the basket. Photo Credit Casey Lee

After finishing up the round I was able to finish tied for 4th place and pretty stoked about the finish. Even with being tied for 2nd, I was the only non-local guy on the final card and I battled all weekend long to a strong solid finish. The tournament was run great so big props to everyone who was involved in running RPO, they really made it an awesome time. After the tournament they were going to have a raffle for a Skins Safari Doubles match, with the top 3 finishing Open players, the top Masters player and the top Female player from the tournament. With my finish I didn't qualify but I wasn't discouraged because I had just played a lot of fun golf and was happy walking away satisfied with what I had achieved. Brodey had purchased some tickets and unbeknownst to me had planned on if he won twice he was going to give me the other winning ticket. Brodey went on ahead an won twice and I was lucky enough to participate in an awesome skins match where 10 of us were competing for $780! On a side note, THANK YOU BRODEY! You're the man and I look forward to playing with you again, I have a PD waiting for you! This was another opportunity to play and have some fun. As the safari match got going I was paired up with Karina Nowels the top finishing Female player from the tournament and an exceptional golfer, I was confident we could take a shot at bringing home some cash. After playing 5 of the 6 safari holes we wen't into the final hole with all skins pushed. All of us were itching to try and pick up the final hole. We had previously discussed if we pushed all holes we would split the pot, so either way we all were walking out winners. The final hole was hole 18 to the practice basket, This was a long shot and would take a total crush to get there for a two and steal the skins. Brock Shepard and his partner TJ Smith both crushed their drives and were looking good. When it came down to my turn to throw I stepped up and said to myself 'have fun and just throw.' I crushed my Maroon Early Run PD2, nicknamed 'Adam Levine', finding a silly gap and skipped off a path way and finished pin high but 50' right of the basket. Karina and I had the closest look after all the drives were said and done. Brock stepped up and jump putted his off the front pan and gave the crowd quite a roar but it wasn't meant to be. Karina took a look from our putt but finished a touch short. Having the last putt of the Safari Doubles Skin Match was a pretty cool feeling knowing that there was a lot on the line but no matter what I still had the feeling that it was just great being there and being able to play. I settled in and sent my P2... it finished and caught the front pan. The crowd roared but it wasn't meant to be. We pushed the skins and in the end it was an awesome addition to a great weekend. This is an event I won't miss next year and hopefully will come back and represent again. I had a lot of awesome feelings going into the weekend, especially after being announced to Team Discmania. Again I am super thankful for to them for the opportunity and am so excited what the future may hold. 

I constantly post about having the Most Fun, I hashtag it, I tell people all the time to remember to have the most fun, I try and live it every time I am on the course. This is something that resonates with me and gives me confidence just like #putterpants does. No matter what this game is about fun and the competition side should be all about fun. Even on the worst of rounds or days you can still find the enjoyment that you are out playing disc golf. I played a round yesterday where I missed almost every putt it felt like but I still had a blast playing. Remember why you started playing the game, if you are like me it's because disc golf gives you an awesome feeling and it shouldn't be ruined only enhanced, and we do that by enjoying every moment.

Next post will be a Discmania P2 review! Going to review C-Line, S-Line and D-Line. I will add some small things about the P-Line, but I don't have any work with the Color Glow P2 so will leave that up to someone else. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading. Keep those #putterpants on and remember to have the #mostfun. I am a Discmaniac. Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z97lQTLFShU
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