2015 Ledgestone NT presented by Discraft

[bwgort]

Random thoughts:

Nate, thank you for putting on this huge event. The overwhelming majority of disc golfers appreciate all that you did. The very nature of internet boards is that people who have a gripe are much more likely to post than folks who were pleased.

In hindsight, were some of the holes too far skewed on the risk/reward spectrum, yes. Adjustments will likely be made. Some of the designed difficulty was compounded by the wind.

Also, big events do have to accept tradeoffs in order to accommodate fans. Crowds can't all be stuffed into the woods. More open holes can't just be distance/hyzer bomb events. That all said, I am not a huge fan of deciding really big tournaments with a handful of "new", "highly tricked up", Safari holes. To often, the golfer that has just spent several days playing the best golf on a handful of real courses (and ones that they have likely put in some quality time to practice) can get derailed by the increased level of "randomness" that accrues by placing a handful of competitors on holes that haven't been part of the competition and haven't been practiced.

There was only 1 safari hole in the final 9 and you had to play it exactly the same way hole 4 was played in the tournament unless you can throw a 500 foot spike hyzer. Thanks to Nate and his team for a great tournament!

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

This thread is starting to hurt my brain more than the worlds thread.

You should get some air. How about a round of frolf ?

 

[Horsman]

I'm just not a fan of MORE penalty for going OB.

You go for it and land OB, take the stroke and throw from where it went OB. Why complicate a few holes with this rule and then NOT apply the rule on other holes?

It's artifciallly increasing the challenge because the course is too easy. This cant be the best temp location that Peoria had to offer as far as location, is it? I didn't watch all the rounds to see what the permamnet courses looked like but damn, that was gimmicky on a large scale.


And no, I don't like USDGC hole 17. Or any of those fabricated circus holes. JMO.

Northwoods and McNaughton are great courses and Lake Eureka has a permanant course but its not the greatest.

 

[teemkey]

In (weak) defense of JohnE, the payout difference between third & fifth was $900. For a player trying to make a living at disc golf, to lose $900 because of spectator interference, as opposed to being outplayed, would be extremely frustrating. That, however, does not excuse his behavior.

I'd also like to add that I played a round and had lunch with JohnE and his wife when he was here for Portland Worlds, and at no time did religion come up in conversation. He may be a believer, but he's not a proselytizer. Super nice person 99.99% of the time.

 

[bhadella]

There is a reason everyone took smarter lines/shots at that hole while JohnE twice threw a ill-advised routes. Those OB strokes are on him, not a spectator hopping out the way as a disc comes in from behind them while standing OB.

 

[discguy42]

Watch the Jomez Productions final 9 vid and you can plainly on JohnE's first drive on 17 he hits the spectator that is OUT OF BOUNDS to start with and the dics almost KICKS back in off of the girl it hit.

He will probably feel like a jerk when/if he ever sees what really happened :doh:.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34r1gzpSdrM

JohnE's drive starts at 5:55 in the video.

Also his shot thru the bridge was awesome :hfive:. Terry and everybody thought he was going to lay up when he pulled hid putter out of the bag....than BOOM! Too bad he was too pissed to can the short putt for the bird though....

 

[bballr4567]

Watch the Jomez Productions final 9 vid and you can plainly on JohnE's first drive on 17 he hits the spectator that is OUT OF BOUNDS to start with and the dics almost KICKS back in off of the girl it hit.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34r1gzpSdrM

JohnE's drive starts at 5:55 in the video.

Yea, that was pretty cut and dry. Don't think that was coming back in but he sure did let it dictate his round.

 

[jvphobic]

Just to jump in here (because I own/use a Steadicam Pilot)....

I would totally avoid a chest-mounted system unless your camera operator has experience using and - most importantly - balancing and re-balancing the system on the fly. Steadicams can be very finicky and using them effectively seems to be an artform in its own right (I'm terrible at it. Other guys on my team are much better).

One of the handheld gimbals (Movi, etc) would probably be much easier on your budget and your camera person from an operational standpoint. Even a shoulder-mounted ENG style camera setup would help immensely. Full disclosure... I have no idea what kind of cameras you are using and am assuming something relatively small that requires a tripod/mono pod already.

Wireless mics come with their own set of issues that i'm sure you are aware of. I'm guessing terry really needs that freedom of movement when he's out on the course so its probably a necessity.

If we go wireless, we will ALWAYS have a backup XLR in the bag with us. Because of such issues. But being wireless would help Terry get further away from the players to comment more freely.

I have heard the same about the vests. And maybe we start out with a handheld gimbal and work our way up. The issues with the gimbal is that I hear it is tiring to use because you don't really ever put it down to rest. And when we go 3+ hours for a round, I can only imagine how painful that could get. Unless there is a gimbal/monopod option???

 

[Matt B.]

Watch the Jomez Productions final 9 vid and you can plainly on JohnE's first drive on 17 he hits the spectator that is OUT OF BOUNDS to start with and the dics almost KICKS back in off of the girl it hit.

He will probably feel like a jerk when/if he ever sees what really happened :doh:.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34r1gzpSdrM

JohnE's drive starts at 5:55 in the video.

Also his shot thru the bridge was awesome :hfive:. Terry and everybody thought he was going to lay up when he pulled hid putter out of the bag....than BOOM! Too bad he was too pissed to can the short putt for the bird though....

She's 3 feet out of bounds, and it didn't look like it was going back in.

 

[bhadella]

but if you DON'T have the shot for the hole (and honestly, don't discount a turnover shot, it's only 280ish), you can STILL suck it up, go right and have a pretty simple 3, or at worst, a 4.

I was sort of under the impression that the tee was elevated on Eureka 17. being that it is flat, there's very little chance for anything but a roller to work for a lefty.

This x 1000. That lefty hole over the water at Maple Hill is only 280' and even more forgiving of a 280' as you can throw really short and be safe. Turnover, forehand (flex with really overstable disc or hyzers), thumber are all good options on that one. Way easier for a righty to birdie than a lefty to birdie 14 (the longer hole over water finishing left) at Maple Hill.

Oh, and drop zones if you miss your teeshot.

 

[discguy42]

Wow! I cant spell worth a crap when I am trying to multi-task...sorry .

 

[Rockwell]

On Johne's OB on Hole 2: It was a misfire to begin with or it wouldn't have flirted with the line like it did. I was 10 feet from where the disc was coming in and everyone around there said that the disc hit the ground and stopped itself, the guy was narrowly missed.

On the Course: It was actually a pretty fun test of disc golf that I've rarely played elsewhere. I have never felt so on edge from both drives and putts. If you controlled your disc well, made smart decisions, and stayed mentally tough, you could beat the course and the field like simon and paul did that 4th round. Me, not so much. But it made me want to have another crack at it.

 

[JohtoVillage]

I had heard something to the effect that the Masters and/or GM were told that they'd be included in the final 9 and then nixed on Sunday morning. If I was wrong i do apologize.

Masters were in the Final 9, but not MPG. The MPG division was never intended to be in the final 9 and was posted when registration opened and posted earlier in the tournament week. We also posted the final 9 layout on Friday and it included the divisions in the final 9. I understand there was some confusion on the website with who was playing the final 9 and that was my fault, but I never nixed that division from playing in the finals.

 

[luckless_pedestrian]

My thoughts as a fan watching the Final 9 coverage by Jomez, which was great, btw...

It didn't look like the players were having fun. That makes it way less fun to watch. And that's not even taking JohnE's mood into account. I was really looking forward to watching this today, and Round 3 was great -- on a real course. That Final 9 just seemed to suck all the fun out of it for everyone.

I felt bad for JohnE. The throw probably wouldn't have come back in bounds, but at least there should have been someone there to tell him that, among a whole slew of coulda shoulda wouldas. I'm sure he'd have liked to have kept it together better but I don't fault him one bit.

 

[Jax11]

Yea, that was pretty cut and dry. Don't think that was coming back in but he sure did let it dictate his round.

He was clearly OB on the drive you guys are talking about. The real controversially throw in question was on the 3rd hole of the final 9 which was Hole #2 of the non final 9 Eureka temp course. It was a big flex shot around the football upright. His 2nd shot he played for the green. I was about 50ft away from where it may or may not have hit the spectator, I was on the near side of the OB on an elevated playground structure. The disc was coming in with some juice. I believe it hit the spectator, but I am willing to admit there were people that were closer that may have had a better vantage point than me.

I would estimate it had an 85% chance of landing in bounds and 15% of being OB, if it had not struck the spectator.

 

[Pbmercil]

Watch the Jomez Productions final 9 vid and you can plainly on JohnE's first drive on 17 he hits the spectator that is OUT OF BOUNDS to start with and the dics almost KICKS back in off of the girl it hit.

He will probably feel like a jerk when/if he ever sees what really happened :doh:.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34r1gzpSdrM

JohnE's drive starts at 5:55 in the video.

Also his shot thru the bridge was awesome :hfive:. Terry and everybody thought he was going to lay up when he pulled hid putter out of the bag....than BOOM! Too bad he was too pissed to can the short putt for the bird though....

I think the questionable one was not 17, that was clearly going to stay out, but the second shot on the par 5 hole they played after that. Jomez didn't have a good angle on that one. You can hear JohnE and nate having a laugh about how the crowd said "it didn't hit anybody"

 

[Pbmercil]

There is a reason everyone took smarter lines/shots at that hole while JohnE twice threw a ill-advised routes. Those OB strokes are on him, not a spectator hopping out the way as a disc comes in from behind them while standing OB.

Yeah that flex shot on the par 5 was pretty questionable. There is probably a reason the winner (simon) executed the most conservative game plan

 

[bballr4567]

That one on 5 was iffy. Even if the crowd was off the lines ten feet it would be close.

 

[frasnow]

Whenever I see scores like a 10 by Ricky Wysocki on hole 2 at Lake Eureka Temp, I can't help wishing John Oliver would take on disc golf's stroke and distance rule. I mean, he took down the FIFA president and got our nation's Pandas to mate. :hfive:

 

[bwgort]

Whenever I see scores like a 10 by Ricky Wysocki on hole 2 at Lake Eureka Temp, I can't help wishing John Oliver would take on disc golf's stroke and distance rule. I mean, he took down the FIFA president and got our nation's Pandas to mate. :hfive:

It's pretty simple, don't go for it and you can take an easy par. Go for it and you risk a double bogie. Go for it again and you risk a really big number.