First Ace!! and upcoming State Collegiate Championships!

After I decided to start writing this blog, I went out and played a round at Carroll Marty so I would have something to write about....

 For those who have never played at Carroll Marty before, it is a course in Ames, IA about a mile from my dorm.  It is a relatively short course, but it has some really nice elevation that makes playing the short tee pads still ok to play.  Besides, it is really hard to find time to play the longs because the course is usually packed with college students and wait time is always a factor.

Today I was just playing a casual round of shorts because my arm was hurting from the previous days of disc golf and I wanted to stay ready for Saturday where I would be competing in the State Collegiate Championships. 


I started on the back nine because there were like 3 groups playing from tee 1.  I played the back nine and come out with a decent 4 under.  It was super super windy and I had made 3 really nice putts over 35 feet to get the birds.  I then started on the front nine.  It was going ok until I stepped up to hole #3 it is about a 200ft. tunnel shot with a really tight hyzer line to the right.  The day before I had hit a small annoying tree about 30ft in front of the tee that is left of the hole.  So I told myself that there is way more space to the right than the straight shot at it, so I should kind of just put it out on a nice hyzer line and let it do its thing.  Well, the plan didn't go as planned.  When I threw it, I let go of the disc too late and it went way higher than I wanted it to.  It flew on a hyzer line straight towards this grouping of trees.  It was then I noticed that if somehow it made it through those trees, it was on a really good line towards the basket.  I watched, waiting for the disc to smack into the ground short of the basket, but it didn't.  It miraculously found a line through the trees and smacked right into the basket! 

I didn't know what to do.  I had hit chains so many times before that, but none had ever stuck in.  It was my first ace.  I raised my hands in triumph, executed a vigorous fist pump and yelled, "YES!"  A moment to remember.....

After that, I played pretty bad, but obviously I didn't care.  Seeing as I had finally gotten my first ace.  I finished with a decent 5 under par and called it good.

The reason behind going out today was this Saturday's State Collegiate Championships.  They held tryouts to see who would be the two subs for Iowa State's 9th ranked disc golf team the week before.  I tried out.  It went pretty well.  I didn't really shoot what I wanted to shoot, but I think I demonstrated a lot of the skills that I have.  They decided to wait and decide who would go to nationals with the team in the spring, and just take a second team to the state tourney composed of the 4 top qualifiers.  So that is where I am going this weekend.  It is being held on the Indian Hills Disc Golf Course in Ottumwa, IA.  Fortunately for me, I live about 20 minutes away from the course and have played it a bunch of times, so I feel really comfortable with it.  I'm hoping this gives me an advantage and allows me to show off my skills and impress the team leaders. 

I might be going out today for another outing to prepare for tomorrows tourney.  I have to be at Hy-Vee at 5a.m. tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to.  But as I always say, "All is fair in love and disc golf."

The Opening

A little bit of background information about me.  My name is Joey Lane.  I am 19(about to be 20) and have been playing disc golf since my sophomore year of high school.  (I guess that is like 4 or 5 years).  It is my favorite hobby and there are even times where it consumes my life.  Oh well, ya gotta do what makes you happy right??  Anyways, there I was sitting in my college dorm room, bored as none other.  There were no new disc golf videos on YouTube, and I was sore from playing disc golf the last three days.  So I thought.... I should write a disc golf blog! and the rest is history......