The Great 8

So, I've finally recuperated sufficiently to write up this year's Great 8.

I've been having all sorts of trouble with Time Warner Cable this week (concluding with my canceling my service after about three days of busy signals, hang ups, customer service lies, and general frustration), so it's taken me awhile to get around to posting on this.

Overall it was a great experience. Last year I came six holes short of finishing, so the genesis of success this year came with my cajoling Todd into coming down this year in order to be able to avoid senseless delays. (We holed out on the last hole with about 2 minutes to go before the 8:30 deadline.)

Todd and I are both intermediate players--but we have complementary games for doubles. He drives farther than I do, but I'm a bit more accurate off the tee and a bit more consistent putting. (Todd will drop in a few long ones and miss a few shorter ones).

I putted above average (not great) all day, including making some crucial momentum putts. Unfortunately, I also threw my only Sidewinder into the pond at Cedar Hills (why I was even throwing that disc, I'm not sure).

We had several obstacles that made it a little tough to stay mentally up. It rained pretty hard the last four holes in Durham (costing us a stroke). We threw at the wrong basket at one hole on Cedarock (costing us a stroke) and had to run the last six holes or so because of not knowing the course. (Biggest preparation omission is that I should have played Cedarock rather than Wellspring.) I mistook a disc landing and had Todd pick up on one hole that also cost us a stroke.

One thing that was surprising and enlightening was that we finished stronger than we started on most courses. My worst habit as a disc golfer is that I tend to have a preconceived notion of how a round should go, so when I run into a bad result on a particular hole, I'll exaggerate how a "round" is going. A typical example was on Zebulon where we started on hole 5 and it felt like, for most of the round, that we were having a mediocre doubles round. We then birdied three of the last four holes. When we got to Wellspring we bogeyed 2 of the first four holes (tired, still wet from rain); it would have been easy enough to just limp to the finish line, but we got a second breath and before I realized it was happening birdied five holes in a row and shot a 21 on the back nine. Don't give up on a round until it's over, you don't always know where your birdies are going to come from. Easy advice to remember--hard to follow some time.

Anyhow, we shot a 402, good enough for third place in the intermediate division. More importantly, we had a great shared day and experienced the satisfaction of pushing ourselves mentally and physically and meeting a goal. I think we could have shot a little better (though I remind myself that Todd was new to some of these courses)--we shot a 52 at Buckhorn and I recently shot a 49 singles at the same course (my best score at that venue)--but I'm pleased that even when we got tired, we did not card back to back bogeys the entire day.

Zebulon (Starting hole 5)
2-2-4 2-3-3 3-3-5 (27)
3-2-3 3-3-3 4-3-4 (28)=55

Cedar Hills
3-3-3 3-3-2 2-3-3 (25)
3-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-4 (28)=53

Kentwood
2-2-3 2-3-2 2-2-3 (21)
3-3-3 2-3-2 2-3-3 (24)=45

Buckhorn
3-3-4 3-3-3 3-2-3 (27)
3-2-3 3-3-2 3-3-3 (25)=52

UNC (Starting hole 8)
3-3-3 3-3-3 2-2-3 (25)
4-3-2 4-3-2 3-2-3 (26)=51

Valley Springs
2-3-3 3-2-3 2-2-2 (22)
3-3-3 2-2-2 3-2-4 (24)=46

Wellspring
3-4-2 4-3-2 3-2-2 (25)
2-2-2 3-2-2 2-4-2 (21)=46

Cedarock (Holes 8&9 skipped for this tournament as instructed)
3-4-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (28)
3-3-4 2-3-2 3-3-3 (26)=54

2008 Great 8 Play Through Prizes

Saturday July 19th is the 2008 Great 8.

In order to play eight disc golf courses in one day (Zebulon, Cedar Hills, Kentwood, Buckhorn, Chapel Hill, Valley Springs, Cedarock, Wellspring) participants have to be a little more aggressive about playing fast, which occasionally means asking other groups of golfers on the course if we can "play through."

To express our appreciation to the disc golfing community, this year we are offering a number of "play through prizes." Here's how it works: if you let one or more groups participating in The Great 8 play through on one of the courses above, leave your name and some way to contact you (preferably an email link) in the comment area of this blog entry. On Sunday the 20th I'll do a drawing from the names here, and if your name is picked you win a prize. That's it. No catches--just our way of saying thanks for helping us meet the goal of eight courses in one day.

Here is a current list of prizes:

1 DX Ontario Roc (New, Hot stamped with circular red flame pattern but no writing).
1 2007 Ice Bowl DX Roc (New).
1 KC Pro 12x Roc (New)
1 Justice League: New Frontier DVD (Used)
1 Cinderella Man DVD (Used, Russel Crowe)
1 Hoyle Classic Card Game CD-Rom for PC (Play Hearts, Spades, Poker, Euchre, and other games on your computer)
1 World Series of Poker CD-Rom Game for PC
1 Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces CD
1 Portable MP3 Player with USB PC interface (Used--Holds 18 to 20 MP3 songs; needs 1 AAA battery [not included])

The Great 8

On Saturday, I played in the Great 8--a marathon disc golf tournament in which players begin at Zebulon Community Park and attempt to play eight courses in one day.

Despite playing some great golf and literally running the last course and a half, my partner (Cliff Patton) and I took a DNF by six holes. We were on hole 13 of Cedar Rock when time was called. This ending was incredibly frustrating for an otherwise great experience. It was not any one thing that caused the delay, rather an accumulation of little things. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to finish (barring an accident) if I play next year, and I've ironed some of the issues that caused delays already.

This year's scores:

Zebulon Community Park (Starting Hole 16)

4-2-4 2-3-3 3-4-4 (29) Out
3-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (26) In 55

Cedar Hills (Starting Hole 1)
2-3-2 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
3-2-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (26) In 48

Kentwood
2-3-2 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
2-3-2 3-3-3 3-3-3 (25) In 47

Buckhorn
3-2-3 4-2-2 3-2-3 (24) Out
2-2-3 2-3-3 2-3-3 (23) In 47

UNC-Chapel Hill (Beginning Hole 8)
3-3-3 3-4-3 2-2-3 (26) Out
3-3-2 3-3-4 3-2-3 (26) In 52

Valley Springs (Durham)
2-2-3 2-3-2 3-2-3 (22) Out
3-3-2 3-2-3 3-3-3 (25) In 47

Wellspring (Running!)
3-3-2 3-3-3 3-3-2 (25) Out
3-3-2 3-3-3 3-4-3 (27) In 52

Cedar Rock (Skipping Holes 8&9/7to10)
3-3-3 3-3-3 3-3-3 (27) Out
3-3-3 DNF