Leaving in 1 hour to be at Bradford at 1AM and get some rest before the 7 AM alarm goes off........ Next Worlds post for me - and my Worlds Blog covering Grandmasters play and PDGA evening functions will be SAT night.

Worlds Mixed Doubles at Bradford went off on Sat with 25 teams starting with the new mixed modified format.
I thought that the way it was setup that no one teed off on the same hole twice during the day was a nice concept as it ensured that both partners had to contribute on each hole throughout the day. The only thing I wished was a little different would be to have equal # of holes using alternate and best shot instead of 24 alt and 12 best shot.

Lorelei and I had some ups and downs, but she putted well on most holes getting us a 2 from 25 feet in the 2nd round alt shot hole and making a few others from longer range. I messed up several of the holes where I had to drive first causing a lot of "just get into the open" 2nd shots by Lorelei.

It was a hot muggy day (the first of many I'm sure) but at least being from FL and living the last 6 in GA makes it easier to know how to deal with it - stay hydrated and stay in the shade as much as possible.

Congrats to Uli and Catrina Allen for the win overtaking Pierce and Owens in the 2nd round to force a playoff which ended on the first hole.


Mini rant time........

After seeing the course, I'm even more upset the GM's aren't playing the long holes as there will be little scoring separation - where the longer pads would create several opportunites for some scoring spreads on the 4 holes with widely different pads (don't even get me stated with the 4 -5 holes that the tees are literally 30-40 feet DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF the long tees, even on downhill shots.
Here are the hole descriptions on those 4 holes that for those not familiar with the course.

Hole 2 from the short tees on flat ground across a wide open field where the scores will be 3 and 4 - from the long you need to tee uphill from the woods with an approximate 40 foot elevation rise before you get to the open field and it could add 1-3 strokes to the scores depending on if or where you landed getting uphill through the tunnel. Great use of land from long tee, boring hole from short.

Hole 8 (one of the landing zone hole from longs) from the short tees takes all the design elements out of the hole as you tee off from one of the landing zones from the longs and the basket area is cleared of trees for 100 feet in all directions meaning scores of 3 and 4 where scores from the longs could be between 4-8 (or higher) from the long tee depending on how clear you were from trees. In doubles where both players could throw after the drive there were scores from 4-7 that I saw.

Hole 12 tees from the lower elevation and long from the elevated parking lot (which brings the parking lot OB into play) - this tee change is more asthetic than score changing - only 1 stroke probably as both tees are throwing to a landing zone on the dogleg hole with 2 OB ponds to the left - and it is easier to hit the landing zone from the elevated tee.

Hole 18 from the shorts tees in the open to an elevated basket with scores of 3-4 where the long tee has a wooded tunnel with a mando that you need to get out of before reaching the open field which could add 1-2 strokes (witout missing the mando).

The GM's are going to be at the course the entire day to play both rounds and there is plenty of time to play 2 rounds and still get to the evening activities as even a 6some in the modified doubles format only took 3 hrs and 15 minutes to play.
I know it won't change for this year, but hopefully for future Worlds, GM's and Pro women will be able to play course layouts that allow scoring separation which in theory are going to allow the better OVERALL talent to rise to the top versus who makes the most 30 ft putts.

Sunday is time for Field Events - checking out the other 2 courses I play (Scrapyard and short Hornets Nest) and check-in.

More from Worlds in Charlotte tonight.

Keith

Sunday was field Events and course practice day.

After doing the putting contest (was 5th in GM with a few more contestants to still throw - hopefully I'll have a shot at last cash) I threw in the long drive competition where my longest throw into the cross headwind was 460 feet with a 175 gram Champion Archon.
The setup for long drive was squirelly as the line for spectators was only 8 feet behind the line to throw from and with the large PDGA tent creating shade everyone was crowded up to the line and the ground was wet and muddy causing several people to slip on the throw - it was definately different to see the lack of openess for the players to throw their shots.

Old Man Wallis and BOB did an awesome job of keeping things moving and the spotters, helpers and the other staff kept things running smoothly (at least as seen during the 3 hours I was at the area).

Then it was off to Hornets Nest to see for the first time the short course (I had only played the web during the NT in 2010) and I walked the course without taking my discs as I was familiar with the discs needed for the type of holes there. Holes 1-6 were different, 7-9 were identical, 10 and 11 were different, 12 was the same, 13 different, 14 and 15 the same with 16-18 different. Overall the course was nicely mowed and except for the super slick teepads, I'm looking forward to playing the course where I won my first NT as a GM.

We then went to the Scrapyard where I played the course with Joey Mela, Glen Patterson and Speedy Guerrero. This course is relatively fair and nowhere near as bad as some reviews have stated. The fairways are reasonably wide with a slight lefty favoritism (even acknowledged by Mela who is a lefty) with only one hole at 215 feet long that had a 7-10 foot wide fairway. Them most open fairway was Hole 9 which throws over water for the entire fairway and watching Joey go in the water to fish his 2 discs out was the highlight of the afternoon. Speedy was kind enough to film Joey's swimming adventure and I'm sure someday it will end up online somewhere.
The other interesting hole was a U shaped hole (15 or 16 I think) where the smartest shot is to the bottom and then throwing back up to the pin.
Overall I liked the course and if you play smooth and don't try to reach the pin, you'll probably do well.

Monday night is the player's meeting and then the fun begins!

More later....and thanks for reading,

Keith

I really enjoy reading your blogs every year! Thanks taking the time to doing it for those of us who need someone to live through!

Monday was a non disc golf family day during the day followed by the players meeting this evening at the host hotel.

We walked to the Nascar Hall of Fame (although neither of the family are NASCAR fans, my brother-in law worked with Ray Everham who was Jeff Gordons' crew chief, so we know some of the characters and teams) and spent the afternoon there having a great time with all the stuff to look at as well as the interactive exhibits.
With a 1/2 hour left until closing at 6PM, Lorelei and I raced the full sized simulator cars with all of the realistic things that could go wrong during racing (1 of the 2 races I blew an engine when in 2nd gaining on the leader with 1/2 a lap to go) as well as the thrill of victory when winning. Lorelei beat 3 other racers in one of her races and I won against 2 others. Our lap times were less than 2/1000 of a second apart and we finished 22nd (me) and 23rd out of everyone that raced there during the day - over 300 people.
We then set the family pit crew time record for the day of 13.49 seconds with Lorelei working the lug wrench changing the tire and myself raising and lowering the jack and filling the car with fuel.
We had a great time without having a clue that we would have a good time when we first walked in the door, basically visiting because it was in walking distance of the hotel and we wanted to stay to remind playersclose by for the players meeting and not have to worry about trying to find a parking spot.

Now to the Disc Golf stuff...
The players meeting went well with a HUGE room filled with over 1000 Disc Golfers and family members and friends and we saw a nice procession of flags from the 13 countries represented at this Worlds and there are players from 47 states in the US here in Charlotte.
The Parks representative received a standing ovation from the players for all the help and cooperation they have given to the Charlotte club and volunteers who are diligently working to make this experience one to remember for the players.
"Crazy" John Brooks entertained and kept the show moving with his introductions of key people from the PDGA nad Charlotte club as each came to the podium to talk to the players.

The highlight of the evening came when Shawn Sinclair had come up to speak and had just finished saying this "would not be a Q&A session and no questions were to be asked" and as he went on to remind everyone to take provisional shots if they weren't sure of a ruling - out of the silence came a young child asking "What is that?" to someone next to them.
Of course the child was not asking Shawn but the timing was excellent and Shawn tried to compose himself while the audience was laughing hysterically so he could continue on.

When it was over we said our goodbyes to everyone we knew, wished everyone luck, got Lorelei's (everytime we see him) picture with "The Champ" and headed back to get ready for a few hours from now to start Lorelei's and mine quest for 2012 Worlds titles.

Thanks for reading...
More later and good luck to everyone playing!!

Keith

Today was the start of singles play for myself playing 2 rounds at Bradford and Lorelei playing in the morning at Winget and the afternoon at Elon (Eager Beaver course).

I was on a card with a Champion, Hall of Famer, and the only person to have played in all 31 World Championships - Mr. David Greenwell! - for the 1st round.

Worlds got off to a great start as all of us 4 on the card got a 2 on the first hole.
For myself it was an up and down round with several 2's and with 3 holes to go in the round I was tied with David and looking at being at 51 with a 2 on any of the 3 remaining holes.

Long story short, I went 4,5,2 with the 5 being a story unto itself and ended up with a 54.
On Hole 8 (the cedar hole) I put my tee shot 25 feet past the basket and to the right on the edge of the woods. My putt was a little low, hit off the nubs and dropped 2 feet away. Then the fun (for the rest of the card) started. I had my driver in my hand, threw it into the basket which bounced of the pole, bottom of the basket and proceeded to roll 35-40 feet away. I chained out left before making the 3 footer for a 5 making it the 2nd time in 17 years of play I've 3 putted from 2 feet.
Robin Billig was making almost every putt attempted (including a 90-100 footer on the 4th hole) to be in 2nd place with a 46 to Jim Oates 45.

The second round 2 hours later (for some unknown reason even though we were 1 pool and not travelling we had to wait 2 hours until 2 pm to tee off for the 2nd round) was less wild, but I still shot another 54 moving up 7 spots to 30th.

Lorelei's day went better with her being in 1st by 2 after the 1st round and 12 after the end of the day!!!
We went to the Flymart afterwards, saw the 3 Hall of Fame inductees for this year, bought the signed by all 3 2012 HOF disc and also got some nice paintings by Cam Todd, the nice giveaway freebie T-Shirts from Innova, saw good friend Steve Dodge and many other competitors I hadn't seen so far.

Wednesday is my and Lorelei's 1 round (at 9AM) day and then in the evening we will be at the PDGA Banquet and Awards at the Blake Hotel.

Hopefully I'll play better at the Scrapyard and Lorelei will continue well at Eastway.

More later, and Thanks for reading!

Keith

Blog update Part 1 (covering WED)
Sorry for not writing yesterday, but after my round and 2 hours of swimming - after the dinner and PDGA Awards we came home and went to sleep as we were all exhausted.

So WED starts out with me playing the one round day at Scrapyard and Lorelei one round at Eastway.
Things were going good for me on the first 7 holes and I was 2 down and on the box on hole 14 and lining up my shot when at the last second as I was starting my throw, I saw the group in front of us coming back down the fairway(14 to 15 is the only backtracking fairway) and my shot was yanked into a tree starting the 6 hole stretch that ended my chances to make the cut or cash - as I went 4,5,5,4,5,4 for the next 6 holes and even with a par finish for the last 5 holes, the damage was done with the 3rd highest round in my pool for the 1 round day and with no redemption until FRI.
Lorelei's day ended ok with her holding an 11 stroke lead going into Thursday's 2 rounds.

As mentioned earlier we went to the Mecklenberg Aquatic Center located across the street from the Host Hotel the Blake before heading back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the PDGA banquet and awards and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Dinner was good tasting, but I was surprised that it was only pasta with meat sauce, or pasta with chicken for dinner.
The awards were very sparsely attended (surprising as there are over 1100 players here plus others) and it was painful to hear name after name of players who won awards and who were at the Worlds that were not there to accept. By the time the HOF induction ceremony started there were less than 50-60 people in attendance and for the first time in the times I had been there, only 12 of the current HOF members showed for the induction ceremony of Tim Willis, Jeff Homburg and Bob Gentil.


Blog Part 2 covering Thursday's rounds coming up in the next post.

Keith

Blog part 2 (covering THURS)

I had 2 rounds at Hornets Nest while Lorelei played Sugaw and Kilborne.

I played decent for a majority of holes but missed several oppotunities inside 45 feet for 2 (8 actually) and the highlight of the round was getting a clean birdie 4 on hole 12.
In the second round I played 16 of the 18 holes at 1 under par (again getting a birdie 4 on 12) but had a 7 on Hole 7 and Hole 16 thereby ending up with a 64 and dropping down to 40th place with 1 round to go.

Lorelei had issues with 2 holes at Sugaw (including losing her Roc) and with the lost disc penalty and the distance loss from going back to her previous lie and the high score on another hole, she gave up up 8 throws and some confidence in her midrange game.
At Kilborne Lorelei bought a Roc from the course vendor and after a shaky start where she lost the lead she fought back to be only 1 down going into Fridays final round.
After my 2nd round ended at the Nest, a buddy drove me over to Sugaw, so I could attempt to try to locate Lorelei's Roc in all of the Kudzu and vines on Hole 15. Of course this was right as the thunderstorm started and after spending 25 minutes in the driving rain looking from where my wife "thought" Lorelei was standing in the tunnel before she threw to extrapolate the general area where the disc could be, the rain let up and I had Lorelei show me exactly where she was and what direction the disc starting heading and in less than 3 minutes I found it 3 feet from the edge of the fairway. After high fives were exchanged, we headed back to the hotel, with me sitting on a bag to keep the seat from being ruined in the car, so we could shower and go to dinner at 9PM.

In the morning Lorelei plays at Elon and I'll finally get to see her play as my 1 round is in the afternoon at Scrapyard.
I'm hoping that the day goes well for her and she plays smooth and has the opportunity to pull out the victory as there is no finals in her division and she'll have to make these last 18 holes count.
I hope that everyone that know her, has met her, or has seen her sponsorships signs at courses and Events around the country will put your good thoughts and vibes her way!

More later and as always, thanks for reading!

Keith

Congrats to Vivian Dillen - your 2012 Under 16 Junior girls WORLD CHAMPION!!!!!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all in 2013.

Keith

So what is the deal with pool B open players round rating being 30 points lower than pool a open players? pool b Zach Melton 48 rated 1058, pool a Dave Feldberg 49 rated 1079. Max Nichols pool b 49 rated 1049. This was in round 5.

So what is the deal with pool B open players round rating being 30 points lower than pool a open players? pool b Zach Melton 48 rated 1058, pool a Dave Feldberg 49 rated 1079. Max Nichols pool b 49 rated 1049. This was in round 5.

Different courses. A Pool played Nevin, B Pool played Bradford.

Keith, how about a final wrap up ?

Keith, how about a final wrap up ?

After the way FRI GM round went and the misinformation from FRI and SAT from the PDGA - it is better for me to have that previous post be my final wrap up -

Keith

Too many people can get very confusing. Next year should be better.