Maybe, I should have put this under the COURSES Topic
but it is also appropriate for this one too.

Have been playing seriously for a year. And I have not played outside TN. and KY.much at all. And my first Tourney looks to be next month.
I am wondering this................ If you have a home course that is very very challenging with woods ,length, elevation, tight fairways etc..etc... And you practice your tail off on this Course and keep getting better and better at it , how will this translate to playing on other Courses in other States and at other Tourneys around the country ??
Will someone who regularly plays the toughest Course in TN.(like myself) have a competitve advantage over someone who plays an open relatively short Course such as Cane Creek in Cookeville,TN. if the two players played at a location which neither player has ever seen or played before ?? And both have comprable skills and abilties as well as experience.

I guess I am trying to figure out once you develop a certain standard of Skill in DG on a awesome Course that has everything, is it applicable to other Courses and will you excel at these other Courses that you have never seen and you play for the first time ?? And because of your developed skills on this tough as hell Course you can hop on any Course for the first time and kick butt ??

Lets say theoretically if Barry Schultz goes up to PA and plays Nocamixon for the very first time and at that first Round ever for him on that Course (and he has never seen it or walked it) would he wipe away a local very good Advanced player who has played there for 20 years at 10 rounds a week ?? (I know the Course has probably not been around that long but just for the sake of argument)

Knoing the course you're awesome on only makes you awesome on that course. If you go to a new course, you don't know it as well as the locals. This is some sort of universal constant. There are always local routes, subtle grades, etc, that a person who knows the courses you go to knows how to play. I play some tough courses where I am, and when I go out of town for tournaments, people that are right about my skill level will beat me because they know the course. The best tip I can give for going somewhere to shoot in a tourney is to get there early and get a few rounds in on the course. If a hole looks similar to one on your home course(s), don't think `I can play this as if it's this other hole` but think, `I should play this like I play that hole`.

Also, playing in an open course when you're used to tight ones, you're gonna see some people use some HUGE wide open shots you might not be able to practice on your home courses.

A good player from texas was at our local league game tuesday. He's used to playing difficult courses, but not ones with elevation changes. He kept right up on the holes that were relatively flat, but when there was an elevation change, I was able to outperform compared to him.

On an aside, his name was Shoeless Bill and he was one of the nicest guys you could hope to run into on a course.

I agree, I play on arguably one of the toughest courses in the south, George Ward Park in Birmingham AL. (The home of the World Famous 700ft monster).

Our course is tough because it has a little bit of everything, elevation changes (base of a moutain), swirling winds (east wind on the tee box, and a south wind 300ft away at the basket), tight holes, open holes, long holes, short holes, lefty shots and righty shots, with water on 3 holes, not to mention OB on 21 of 24 holes.

Locals will always have the advantage. We were just at a doubles tournament and there were 15 teams in our divsion (MA1). We place 7th, the only teams to beat us were all local teams, we never played the courses before.

The best advice I can give is, make shots. Don't think about simiarities of different holes on another course. Think, "Ok, this is a 370ft straight hole with what appears to be a net-zero change in elevation, but it is over a valley. Can't let it hyzer out or go long, I will be OB, if I turn it over too much I will land further away down the right side of the valley, there is a branch blocking the sweet route to the hole, but I can turn over something stable out to about 2/3 the distance to the pin, and have it fade back to the basket. Now, what is that wind doing?"

That is what should be going through your head. Granted, knowing what to do on a hole is different then the execution. If we could always throw what we are thinking, then the world championships would always come down to a 100 player sudden death match.

Doesnt matter what your home course is. All that matters is how much you practice and what shots you have in your bag. I know alot of guys who are sweet at their home course because they have thrown those same shots FOREVER and they just know them but when they go to another course no matter if its easy or hard they suck just because all they know how to throw are the 18-24 holes on their home course.

Play shots not rounds. Play lines not holes. Play safe and youll be fine.

There could be someone out there with NO home course but they practice their AS$!!! off at the local field and when they show up to a course they have every shot in the bag and whoop up on just about everyone.

Sometimes locals have the advantage but if your good your good no matter where you play :D

Play safe and youll be fine.



Not everytime. At the same doubles tournament, we were down 4 strokes to the guys on our card, when we came up to a 370ft s-curve hole in the woods, fairway was 15ft wide at best. Considering we only had 4 holes left to play, I just said F-IT! I am going for it. I took out one of my most trusted disc which I knew would be great for that distance of a S-curve. I just stepped up to the tee box, lined up my feet and chucked it. It followed the route perfectly and landed 4ft from the basket. The guys in our group took a 4.

Sometimes, if you know you can do a shot, don't think to much about it, and trust yourself. If you over analyze you will surely mess up.

Summary of my this and my last post....

Think about what has to be done.
Don't think too hard, you will second guess yourself.
Trust yourself and just throw the shot. ;)

Best of luck.

Dont listen to him. Listen to me :DLOL

Hey, just because I haven't won two A-tiers doesn't make you a better golfer then me.....wait a second, it does. But I still at least know what I am talking about.

Knowing what to do and executing it are totally different things. Give me time and I will be pimp slapping you all the way to the bank! (Bank = cash in Open). You have been playing competitively about a year longer then I have.

Hey, just because I haven't won two A-tiers doesn't make you a better golfer then me.....wait a second, it does. But I still at least know what I am talking about.

Knowing what to do and executing it are totally different things. Give me time and I will be pimp slapping you all the way to the bank! (Bank = cash in Open). You have been playing competitively about a year longer then I have.



Care to make a wager on that???

Care to make a wager on that???



Well, next year when we are both playing open, will we not already be playing for each others cash? I suspect we will both be at the Bowling Green Open right? I may not make it to Michiana because that will likely fall on my 1yr anniversary. Maybe at Brent Hambrick I will be able to compete against you. Perhaps a side bet could be in order?

We shall see. I will hopefully be on tour full time starting late April or early may of 2006 so I will be hitting as many NTs as possible :D

Best of luck with that. It can get expensive. I was just talking with Matt Orum's (the 17yr old ahead of Kenny at Worlds right now) dad this past weekend. He was the only one of their 3 person touring group that wasn't completely broke when they got to Pennsylvania. Of course winning over $2k at Michiana between 1st and the bonus cash for the doubles didn't hurt him at all.

Actually Kenny is on the lead card. The thing is I dont care if im broke while im on tour. As long as I can make it from tournament to tournament and be alive that will be enough for me. It will sure beat the heck out of working 50 hours a week at this job that I hate :D

Id rather be broke and happy then rich and miserable any day :D

I does not mater how hard your local course is and how many times you have played it, you need to play other courses. No matter how good a course is and how many different shot it encompasses there are only at most 27 holes and those 27 holes will not get you ready to play on any course in the nation but it's a good start.

Play the courses that you hate and learn to love them.

Lets say theoretically if Barry Schultz goes up to PA and plays Nocamixon for the very first time and at that first Round ever for him on that Course (and he has never seen it or walked it) would he wipe away a local very good Advanced player who has played there for 20 years at 10 rounds a week ?? (I know the Course has probably not been around that long but just for the sake of argument)


If this advanced player has been playing ten rounds a day for twenty years and he's still an advanced player Schultz would eat him for breakfast.

If this advanced player has been playing ten rounds a day for twenty years and he's still an advanced player Schultz would eat him for breakfast.



He said 10 rounds a week ( Id love to see someone play 10 rounds in 1 day :D)

Schultz would still eat him for breakfast even if he was the best Advanced Am in country.

The point is the guy has to suck if he's still an advanced player after twenty years of play, especially if we plays that much.

Since you guys are talking about theoretical people, this theoretical Am is a 1050 rated Am since he has never accepted cash in his many PDGA wins. This guy would give Barry a run for his money (this am does win lots of side bets). :D:confused: :D

Since you guys are talking about theoretical people, this theoretical Am is a 1050 rated Am since he has never accepted cash in his many PDGA wins. This guy would give Barry a run for his money (this am does win lots of side bets). :D:confused: :D


Talk about a bagger, jess it sounds like this guy needs to be tarred and feathered.

to the original post:

There is something to be said for learning one course really well. It might not get you the experience you need to be successful at any given (not previously seen) course, but it does provide good practice and teaches you how to fine-tune your shots. That being said, everyone needs to practice on a variety of courses. Learning how to play in different climates, on different hole layouts, on different terrain, and under varying types of physical and psychological conditions is what really builds a good golfer. The ability to take all of that into account before you plan a shot will give you a distinct advantage over those who have yet to learn those techniques.

If you really want to get serious about competitive disc golf, my advice is simply to play as many tournaments as your schedule and pocketbook allow. Travel when you can, play with different people on different courses. When you don't have time for things like that, I'd recommend spending more time practicing your putt than playing the same course over and over. We all know that putting is what wins tournaments :)

There is a reason that pros show up to courses a week before large tourneys. It takes a few rounds to dial in certain holes and figure out optimal routes.

Most top pros that I've talked to practice in a field (not on a course).

I does not mater how hard your local course is and how many times you have played it, you need to play other courses. No matter how good a course is and how many different shot it encompasses there are only at most 27 holes and those 27 holes will not get you ready to play on any course in the nation but it's a good start.

Play the courses that you hate and learn to love them.



Yeah, what he said.

I know advanced players who can shoot 1020 golf on their home course, but take them on the road and they only shoot 920 golf on other courses.
Part of it is that they've mastered holes not shots. The other part is that they are both comfortable and confident on courses they know well.
To be a good golfer you need to be able to shoot from all kinds of tees (flypads,cement,crushed stone, natural) and all kinds of lies (grass, rocks,roots, run up and stand and deliver). No matter how tough your home course is you need to venture out to other courses as well as to fields to practice all kinds of shots, not just holes. A truly good golfer shoots his player rating regardless of the course type or conditions.