A tiering by the numbers

Minutes leaving work too late to join two I knew for a flex start event: 30

Years since I last practiced at Ingersol: 2

Total tee shots thrown on #6 wondering why the over the tree play no longer works: 8

Hours it took to realize the over the tree shot on #6 no longer works because the tree has grown in the past two years: 62

Holes I had birdied through 2023 being able to reach: 7

Holes I discovered I can now get within 45 feet because I throw farther: 7

Discs from players pack: 2

Holes practiced at Anna Page: 8

People in D pool that started at Ingersol: 37

Holes missed in round 1 by FPO player who got lost on way from Indiana to Rockford: 10

Round one putts taken from 11 to 33 feet: 10

Round one putts made from 11 to 33 feet: 3

Score to par: -2

Lead: 6

Minutes to play round: 93

Minutes between rounds one and two: 177

Estimated number of people at Rockford demonstration showing disapproval of the person attempting to turn the US into a Christian dictatorship: 2,000

Round two holes on east course where I threw a drive then a 50-100 foot shot to less than 10 feet: 13

Birdies/ birdie putts from 11-33 feet: 2/4

Score to par with bogey on the one bad hole the event plays on: -1

Lead after day 1: 2

Value meal main choices at Beef-a-roo: 40

Minutes in the day round three started earlier than round one round: 90

Drives to less than 10 feet from basket: 3

Drives within 11-33 feet/birdies from them: 5/1

Score to par including 38 foot birdie made: -5

Lead going into final round: 8

Minutes between rounds 3 and 4: 175

Round 4 holes I consider a par four: 4

Round 4 Holes listed as a par 4 for the event: 1

Holes on west course where plan to drive to 50-100 feet followed by an approach turned into par: 8

Putts for 2 attempted/made: 4/2

Distance of #6 where I threw a roller to 12 feet: 255

"Birdies" on a hole I call a par 4 that the TD called a par 3: 1

My total to par/ PDGA app to par: -2/+1

Winning margin: 11

Total winning margin of last two events: 29

Fewer total shots taken than expected: 4

Total C1X putting for event: 11/27 40.7%

Number of IOS events played before winning first one: 36

Number of IOS events won in a row: 2

Opposed events won in 2025/more than one round: 4/3

PDGA rating from most recent update: 897

Total below 900 among 5 rounds whose ratings will be dropped for being over a year before event: 92

Total above 900 shot for the weekend: 28

Estimated rating as of the event: 900

Rating of round played on 7/4/24 that will be dropped after I play worlds: 939

Holes birdied over weekend that I had not birdied before: 4

Total unique holes birdied: 983

Alternate disc golf

This Memorial Day marked the first time I played an age restricted division where I was the player significantly better who was asked why I wasn't in a ratings based division? This is opposed to what I experienced from 2015-2019 and I will need to check opponents before committing to a division in future events especially at a C tier.

I also got my 41st and 42nd unique birdies at 50 Acre Park that has 18 holes of which 17 have two tees and the other has 2 baskets. The reason I have 6 more unique birdies there than holes on the course itself is alternate and temp holes.

Some events will have additional or alternate temp holes to fit more players or to adjust to flooding like Emporia, KS had the Saturday night before the Masters Worlds that started the Tuesday after. Mike Walsh at 50 Acre Park has gotten very creative over the years and him asking me how many temps have been done there led me to create this post.

My birdies and better on the actual course:

Ace: 13 from both short and long tee (a picture of the ace disc in basket 13 has been my profile picture for 8 years)

Short tee to regular basket for a 2: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,15,16,17,18 (I consider 11 and 12 from short tee as par 3 though to me they play a par 3 1/2.)

Long tee to regular basket for a 2: 1,2,6,8,10

Short tee to long basket for a 3: 4

Long tee to regular basket for a 3: 12,15,16,17

That makes 25

Alternate birdies from tee pads:

2 short tee to 3 basket (135 feet)

8 short tee to alternate basket away from swamp (230 feet)

11 long tee due west to temp basket hole I call 10A (265 feet)

16 long tee to a basket near 16 short tee (200 feet)

16 long tee to temp basket in trees (420 feet par 4)

17 long tee to two different temp baskets 180 feet each (one along fairway and the other towards 18 short tee)

17 short tee to basket on mound (245 feet)

18 long tee to basket just over water (225 feet) This is where I lost a disc 9 days after getting and ace with it in 2019. A couple times every year I check the pond with a retriever and the Play it Again Sports on 95th just in case.

That makes 9

Birdies from alternate tee pads:

Area near southwest corner of park to open spot near 11 short tee I call 10B (200 feet)

Area in northwest corner of park to 17 basket (175 feet)

Two different parts on the sidewalk near the gazebo to temp basket (175 and 195 feet) Two other people at the Monday event remembered seeing Tom McManus get an ace there. I refer to that as hole 19

Sidewalk near dog park entrance to practice basket (235 feet) I call it long 20

Grass area to practice basket (150 feet)

Sidewalk next to port a john to practice basket and to temp basket near driving range fence (190 and 250 feet) (a.k.a. the shitter hole) Those last three are versions of hole 20.

8 of those, 42 total.

Though I initially thought there was only one temp hole I never birdied, there are more:

7 long tee to basket 6 (245 feet)

9 short tee to basket on hop of hill (240 feet)

10 long tee to basket in southwest corner of park (700 foor par 4)

13 short tee to temp basket near short 8 tee (200 feet)

14 short tee to 16 basket (600 feet par 4)

15 short tee to temp basket making it a straight shot and a shorter walk to 11 short tee (300 feet)

18 drop zone to 18 basket (150 feet) Used for women's and junior divisions

That makes 24 alternate holes that I can recall.

Having a Google Doc listing every unique hole I ever birdied was the only reason I could create this post and when I get to 1,000 hopefully this year, there will be another long post and if you find doing this as unusual, please reference the title of this blog.

Practice summary

Though it was an enjoyable weekend of disc golf, there were things to learn and to get them out of my head and to have somewhere to reference, posting them here:

1: Neither course has a forced water carry or many places to lose a disc and there isn't an anticipated shot that would need an addition to the bag unless the same winds from last year in Kansas appear in Minnesota. 

However, it makes sense to keep backups especially for dx Leopards since it felt like I threw more last weekend than the rest of the year combined.

2: Focus on the courses played. Last year along with the weekend storm that caused changes to the Olpe Lake course and delayed my practice there, I ended up playing 38 holes in Emporia, KS not on the event courses and the fatigue showed on Friday. Last weekend was to play new courses for the stat sheet and tournament week needs to be for the event. If I visit Blue Ribbon Pines on Sunday or Monday to take a picture on course #4, don't try to play other holes.

3: Better intake: That Friday afternoon was spent dealing with fallout from what I ate the previous 30 hours and I ended up dehydrated when I got to Kahn's for dinner. There is a Super Target across the street from the hotel and a grocery trip there on Sunday is a must.

4: Underwear: Last year and last weekend, I failed to realize that after a round, there is a desire to shower and put on clean clothes. A dozen pair is the minimum that must be packed.

Practice weekend by the numbers

Time out the door: 515AM

Temperature °F: 46

Cars stopped by police on Wood Dale road: 2

Increase in cents of cost of gas per gallon compared to Jan 20: 30

Decrease in cents in cost of gas in Beloit, WI compared to station near me: 60

Years since I drove down Wisconsin Dells Drive since I had to exit expressway to talk on phone: 10

Places remembered with daughter who turned 25 on that day: 8

Cost of Osseo Hardee's lunch: $13.27

Gal of gas put in car Osseo Speedway: 11.13

Years since previous time there when I made a joke about employee hydrating a pizza: 10

Total dead deer seen on I-94 in Wisconsin: 10

Total floors of elevation required to navigate Oakwood disc golf course: 11

Birdies on course including ones throwing the shorter layout while scoring the long one: 5

Holes where I expect OB or Mando added for worlds as the fairways are close to each other: 3

Distance in miles from Northwood Park where I played rounds 2&4 of 2022 worlds to Pizza Ranch: 2.7

Distance in miles from Jones Park where I played rounds 2&4 of 2024 worlds to Pizza Ranch: 1.5

Distance in feet from basket 18 at Oakwood Park where I will be playing rounds 2&4 of 2025 worlds to door of Pizza Ranch: 306

Maximum height in feet of entrance to parking structure at Mall of America that a driver in a box truck ignored: 7

Number of FB posts seen about baseball preference of the new Pope: 10

Distance as the crow flies in miles from hotel to tee one at the Bethel University course: .9

Driving miles: 2.7

Driving time in minutes from hotel to Bethel University course: 9

Cost savings per night at hotel reserved for worlds compared to Worlds main hotel: $20

Travel minutes from Quality Inn to Treasure Island Casino where Weird Al will be on June 28: 55

Hotels in that area available for that night only: 0

dx Leopards thrown at Bethel University: 7

Baskets on a significant slope or next to a dropoff: 8

Birdies: 1

High temperature on Friday: 80

Birdies on Acorn Park course playing two layouts at same time: 12

Dollars including tip for two bowls of Mongolian cooked vegetables with noodles and some shrimp served with rice: 40

Birdies at Lakewood Hills course played early Saturday morning after checking out of hotel: 4

Signs in northern Wisconsin endorsing eliminating an option for female reproductive treatment that my mother 18 months before I was born had in order to save her life: 4

High temp encountered on Saturday: 80

Times in 2025 visiting the Speedway advertised station at exit 69 to find out it is now Amoco: 2

Dollars to play Madison, WI Capitol Springs course: 8

Total open holes up or down the main hill: 13

Birdies including playing some from short tees: 6

Total new birdies from weekend: 28

Temp when home: 60

Total time in hours: 61

Hours from beginning of first of five played rounds to the end of the fifth: 50

A new era in Chicago sports failures

A recent FB post stated a Chicago area team in the four major sports (not including what I call "Minor League Soccer") has not advanced in the playoffs since November 2016 so I had to do the math of all that happening.

There were a couple play in wins but as stated, those don't count.

That means for 9 NBA, NHL, and NFL seasons without appearing in the conference semi final and 8 MLB seasons for two teams not in their league championship series as MLB has one less round.

MLB: 13/15 to the eighth power squared = .101 or 9.9 - 1

NBA: 11/15 to the ninth power = .061 or 16.4 -1

NHL: 11/15 to the eighth power times 10/14 (as Las Vegas made the Western conference 15 teams in 2017) = .06 or 16.6 to 1

NFL: 12/16 to the ninth power = .075 or 13.3-1

Total: .0000277245 or 36,070 to 1.

Eligibility part 5

Two people at work ignored the first place plaque at the desk to ask me about a specific FPO player whom most people in the disc golf community had never heard before Friday when after being introduced at a Disc Golf Pro Tour event stated her refusal to play against a transgender player and walked away.

Since I had never heard of her, I checked out her profile and discovered two things:

1: She is not currently a tour level player. Though her rating is higher then mine, it is not by much. In four events last year, she barely tied for the last cash spot once. Ten of the other 49 players at that event had an overall rating higher than her highest ever rated round.

Since there are groups that offer incentives for players to do what she did and seeing how many want to support her, her walkout definitely was more profitable than anything she could do on the course.

2: She is a hypocrite. Her profile picture shows a disc with a Vulcan "live long and prosper" salute on it and she is doing one as well. The world presented in Star Trek is one where differences are ignored and people are judged by what they do instead of what they are. I later discovered her concern about no longer being welcomed on the tour following the walkout was related to her previous warning about deliberately misgendering the transgender player.

If I was involved with the disc golf pro tour, I would try to get her to play the next event (since she isn't registered for anything) and make sure she is interviewed the day before and then put her on the co feature card. This way she can babble her racist ideas the day before, get a "hero's welcome" on the first tee from the extra people who would pay to show up at the event to the extra viewers who tune in to see her, and then watch a 919 rated player play her first round in front of the cameras or at least part of the round since after a few holes, her lack of ability will likely show and similar to other players, coverage of her will stop and then on the fourth page of the leader board, people can see how insignificant she actually is.

What a difference a decade makes

In my first MA50 event, discovered there was an elite area player in that division and lost to him by 19 shots. Over the next half dozen years with one exception would lose by at least double digits in events which he played.

In 2022, he turned 60 and later that year won the US championship and for three years, didn't have to face him.

Since then, I got better and this weekend is the first chance in MA60 to show him. He struggled out of the gate hitting an early tree and three putting for a double bogey then got it back as I doinked a putt I should never miss.

Somehow the rest of that round, I was able to just miss trees, recover from the ones I hit, make a couple putts, and have a drive skip off the top of a boulder almost going in for an ace. When I was done, discovered that not only was I ahead of him by two shots but it was at least two shots better than all but one of the 55 MA3,50,60, or players on that layout and by rating the best lifetime round.

Next morning was the same score after the first 6 not getting a bogey but having a 25 foot birdie putt hit left side chain, hang on the rim, and fall the wrong way. My opponent didn't bogey the first and gained a shot on me in that stretch and tied on the 7th as my 25 foot birdie putt hit right chain but didn't fall. I was fortunate to stay in bounds off a tree and make a long approach for a birdie later and after nine, we were tied.

There was a dispute on where a drive of mine went off the fairway into water but stayed calm enough to salvage a bogey and after his drive 2 holes later, he was up 2 with 4 to go. My next drive was the worst one of the weekend and after approach to save bogey hit a tree, needed to make 15 foot uphill putt for double. As I walked away, I heard a clank and his 6 foot par putt fell short as he lost focus.

His next drive missed left early and I put my drive under the basket for a drop in birdie. His 15 foot par putt to stay down one clanked short and 1 shot with 2 to go. My next drive trying to get extra to get to the green went way right and my approach shot faded out 20 feet away. His 30 foot birdie hit top of basket but did not fall in and I drilled my par putt to be down one going into final hole.

Unlike 3 hours earlier when I hit first tree in practice, the shot had perfect location and angle to curve left into a head wind and was unfortunate to hit the last tree leaving me 30 feet away. His drive flattened out and went way right but he made a great shot through the trees to save par. The putt to tie was exactly as desired.

Playoff started on Dellwood #13, the hole I proudly played 20 minutes after being divorced, and my drive found a gap to 8 feet before his drive hit and early tree and I won my second B tier in 7 months after going 17 years without winning in over 50 tries. It was cool that people who I know congratulated me on the win.

In the past, the issue with the place to play my shot after OB would have pissed me off and potentially throw me off my game but realized the 25 foot uphill putt from a bad stance likely wouldn't go in, stayed calm, and showed no strong emotion until my tying birdie putt on the last hole. Though I played just as well in round two overall, when my bad drives happened caused me to be four shots worse than the previous day.

The rematch is in Rockford in a week.