Afternoon at Sylmar DGC (19th Hole Sports)
Yesterday was a relaxing afternoon after an oddly broken work week with the 4th hitting us smack dab in the middle of the week. At 5 pm I headed to Sylmar by myself and played 2 and 1/2 rounds. I started alone, but ended up finishing the 2nd round with another Jon, only I spell my name with an "H." (Quick note: this is the first J-O-N I have ever met whose name is not Jonathan.) I am not a Jonathan, but I have an "H" in the name... cool, right?
I am proud to say that I birdied the 1st hole all 3 times I played it.. I used my cheap-plastic Leopard, which I love, for all 3 drives. The downside was, I had birdie opportunities on the 2nd for each round, but missed each one. That's disc golf.
As I sat at the 5th hole, catching my breath and waiting for a threesome to finish up at the chains, Jon, whom I had not met as of yet, dinged the chains on the 7th long position. I was 10 feet from him and said, "nice run." He turned and said, "Man, this front nine is playing tough today."
He was right. All the holes seemed to be in their long positions. I had wished I made each of those birdies on 2 when I had the chance, because the rest of the front, I was saving pars and doubled bogied once during both rounds of 18... rough.
My saving grace was the second round of 18. At the turn, I was 2 over par. I hate being over par. I took it in stride, and shot a 2 at 3 of the 4 following holes. 10 was in a different location than usual, playing a different route entirely. I threw a huge anhyzer with my Coyote, and parked it 3 feet from the pin, it was gnarly.
The magnificent 11th hole was playing in the position left of the pyramid. Earlier, during the first round, I sank a sweet birdie from 50 ft out, but I had been disappointed with over-driving the hole. So, instead of using a driver, I grabbed my gator on this second attempt. I made the right choice, because once I descended to the hole, the Gator was lying 7 feet from the basket... Birdie number 2.
Hole 12 is always a bitch for me, and I parred it... barely.
Next came hole 13. Hole 13 is the only hole I have ever ACED. However, today it was not in the location I dropped it in one a few months before. It sat to the right, requiring a completely differnt throw. For me, a different disc. My ace came with a ROC, which I have continued to use every time I attempt 13. On the first round, I continued this practice and hit the tree 15 feet off the pad. Not on the second round. I went with Coyote, because it is more flippy than the ROC. Right choice as the Coyote "S'ed" around the bush 180 feet out, and settled 45 feet from the pin. I drained the long putt with ease.
The rest of the round resulted in another bogie, but ended with 3 more birdies on 15, 16 and 18 (short.) I was on fire.
Found a Legacy Disc. Sylmar is the home of Legacy creators, Steve and Bubba Rico. The disc is a Grinder. I called the number and left a message to return the plastic, but I still enjoyed throwing it around to get a feel for Legacy discs. The flight is smooth and reminds me of the flight of Millennium's JLS. I think I am going to get one or two. Peace out.
