DG.12.16

It was an absolutely beautiful day under God's perfectly blue sky. Just a hint of wind, but the perfect temp (while the sun remained up) and good companionship. We hit a round with another newbie, Will this time. On his 7th hole, Will outscored me, holing a 4 to my 5. Twas my humble contribution to Will's self-esteem and confidence. Probably he'll be a champion one day due to my sacrifice.

Steve and I arrived early. Steve goes to 1st Methodist and spotted a group of kids from the youth ministry there. It was good to see them out, playing football and having fun. They aren't perfect angels, and they'll probably make a lot of mistakes in their lives. But, I know that I spent too many pretty Sunday afternoons during my 17th year driving around and doing stupid stuff. It was good to see that these kids have a better foundation than that. Here's to hoping that foundation props up good families led by these soon-to-be men.

We played 9 and Steve had to leave, but the rest stuck around for 9 more and we took on a couple more players, a college-aged guy and what might have been his girlfriend, or soon-to-be, perhaps. Nice pair. It's great to see women out playing, too. I think that's a healthy sign for disc golf. Sports completely dominated by men end up fizzling or becoming so testerone-laden and competitive they lose all sense of "sport." Behind our group were two older women, too, playing together. They appeared to be new to the sport, but from the neighborhood. That's awesome to see. If the locals are using the park for d.g., it will be there for a long time.

I'm not sure who this week's champ is, as we stopped keeping score as to not intimidate any new players. But Aaron played pretty well so I'll call him this week's champion. We couldn't fit the huge, solid-gold imaginary trophy into the back of his F150, though, so we left it at the park.

DG.12.09

Big weekend at BAF, with The MoB reaching a bunch of new men. We had signup sheets in the church bulletin and ended up with around 75 people completing them. Check the MoB web site for more details, and to sign up on the newsletter if you haven't already.

DG.12.09.07 was great -- a bit windy, but fun. Last time for Paul, who is hitting the road and part of his military tour of America. Godspeed, Paul. He and I commiserated about the difficulties in trying to adopt from the foster-care system in America. You'd think it'd be a lot easier. It's not. If you have a heart like Paul's, or Paul's friend Brandon, then it breaks when you are sitting, waiting, wishing.

In addition to Paul and I, we had Aaron and Mike, our newbie de jour and who took his first par on his 11th hole. I probably disc golfed 11 times (for a full 18 each time) before I had a par. I guess that just means our group teaches well? I don't know, but we aren't inviting Mike back until he vows to play worse.

Good times. Largely because Bruce wasn't around, I took the solid gold, room-sized imaginary trophy home. Woohoo!

Videos from today (from my phone):

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Champion

Bruce only played nine, so he could get back to get ready to host a party for the Cowboys game, but given that he had 5 birdies and a bogey IN THE FRONT NINE gives him the award at -4. Bruce is fun to play with because he can really light it up. But, he can depress, too, if you are throwing one feeble drive after another or missing short with yet another 25 foot putt. But you learn from those better than you, and I learn when I'm hanging out with these guys. It's a lot of fun, and a great group. We'll be there again next Sunday at 3:30p.

What we'll do for a stuck disc!

Forgotten Champion

I didn't post last week, the champ was Tom, who joined us for the first time. He's a good disc golfer who frequents the course in Victoria.

Throwing Solo

Sunday was the big Dallas Cowboys vs. New England Patriots battle of unbeatens so I was out soloing. I committed to being there, but I understand: Texas is football crazy and even the "I'd rather do than watch" crowd wanted to watch the biggest game so far in the year. At the end, probably most of them wished they'd gone disc golfing instead.

Anyway, I won!! It was very windy and I took a +7. Still can't break that par barrier, but it's been so quiet here lately that it took some adjustments to play in the wind again.

Already a two-time champion!

Bruce won it again. The guy is a bunch ahead of the rest of us. He shot a -3 and didn't even play that well, for him (he commonly takes it down to the double digits below par. Another guy we had in the group today, Justin, recently shot -9 at Lamar in the blind doubles and lost. Three groups shot -11 that day! Come on, that's just not fair!

Game Over

Steve and I had a good game yesterday. We met up with Justin, who was a much better player than Steve and I, who were more evenly matched. Though Justin was tiring after playing several rounds before Steve and I arrived, he still played well enough and took the weekly crown, though I'm not sure I even told him.

Hope we get a better BAF men's turn-out next weekend; and I hope the weather starts to cool down and isn't so steamy.

First Game/Meeting

We had 7 players at the first meeting. That many players made play slow, but that left a lot of time for fellowship and getting to know one-another. I wasn't able to be in on every conversation, but there was a lot going on. We had a good time.

The 1st F.o.L.F. Champion is Bruce, who wrapped up the front nine at -2. David placed second with his handicap adjusted -1. That's a good start! No one else was far behind.

We'll meet again on Sunday the 30th at 3:30 at Lamar. Several people asked about taking some day-trips to the excellent courses in Victoria and Beeville. Being in new places and trying new things is one of my favorite things to do, so we'll do this eventually, especially when it cools down as we get into autumn. Next week, it's Lamar again, at 3:30p. Call me if you need anything, 774-0545 (Hans).