1999 World Championships Final Round

[RShott]

I'm not sure if this has already been posted somewhere on this site, but I just found this video on Youtube. It is the final round from the 1999 World Championships. It features Ken Climo, Ron Russell, Barry Schultz, and Scott Stokely. Awesome video.

 

[:::LSWT:::]

pretty cool, thanks for posting!

 

[mullethead326]

Is that a Houckbeard in the gallery behind the second teebox?

 

[discdoh]

The Climo, Stokely, Russell, +whomever era was a great time...

 

[Cgkdisc]

Houck is the commentator along with Amy Bekken (maiden name).

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

>>The Climo, Stokely, Russell, +whomever era was a great time...<<

Indeed! The era where I really got into this sport myself, too.

I have final-9 video of both the '98 and '99 Discraft Great Lakes Open somewhere in the basement here. Climo, Stokely, both Rico brothers, Russell, ... I'm going to have to figure out how to transfer that to the computer one of these days.

Climo drains a 75-footer on it...Stokely throws a Magnet about 400'...Russell throws a 450' roller that circles the pin...Bamba Rico grunts while he throws...Stokely accidentally hits the top of a portable gazebo with an upshot, then tells Mark Ellis that his score for the hole was "tent." Good times!

 

[JC17393]

Ah, 1999 Worlds. First DG video I ever bought. Still have the VHS somewhere (only no VCR to play it on).

Without watching that Youtube to refresh my memory, the two things still stand out to me about that final 9: Barry Schultz's 3 on the 900(?) foot hole and Stokely seeming to miss every single putt. The Schultz thing might not seem all that impressive by today's standards, but back then, seeing someone overthrowing the pin in two shots on a 900 foot hole was eye-poppingly impressive.

And Stokely's struggles around the basket were only emphasized when I attended one of his pro clinics a couple years later and he spent a good 30-40 minutes talking about putting techniques and philosophies. All I kept thinking about during the clinic were all the missed putts from this video and how I just couldn't take him seriously. I'm sure everything he said was likely sound advice, I just don't think I took anything from it. Funny how one impression from one half round stuck with me like that.

 

[Jay Dub]

What a difference one year makes. In the '98 Worlds Stokely missed getting a two on a 900'+ hole only because the disc flew 3' above the center of the chains (it almost hit the number plate) and passed the basket by 30'. He made that putt.
That was my last impression of him.

That was a fun era, there were fewer players which made the sport more personal. We all either knew each other or had at least heard the name before.

 

[takman]

26:50 is why Ron Russell was so good back then, bang!

 

[Three Putt]

I talked to Scott Stokely one time (I think it was before this video was shot) and he said one of the hardest things to do was to focus in a final round where you had no shot at winning and what you did or didn't do really did not matter. Because of the crazy distances he could throw and the "bag of tricks" he had with all the different throws he could make, once he lost focus he really could start screwing around and make some jaw-dropping throws that no sane person would ever attempt. He would take a line that no one else did just because he could to give the crowd a thrill, which really isn't the best competitive mindset.

'99 was a weird World's for him because he played terribly and somehow managed to battle onto the lead card for the final. For a lot of us that makes no sense; if you finish fourth at World's that would seem to be a good tournament for anybody. Not for somebody like Stokely. He battled the yips all week; he was just so good at that point in his career that he could play badly and finish fourth at World's.

 

[Three Putt]

26:50 is why Ron Russell was so good back then, bang!

I wasted about seven years trying to throw/putt like Ron Russell. The blow-by factor when you miss like that is awful. He was automatic like that, but I'd never recommend that anybody else try that.

 

[treehorn]

Can someone repost the link..

 

[Three Putt]

That was a fun era, there were fewer players which made the sport more personal. We all either knew each other or had at least heard the name before.

That was back in the day when you would look at the top 10 at World's and see two or three names of people who had crashed on your couch. It was fun. It's gone, though.

 

[Jay Dub]

That was back in the day when you would look at the top 10 at World's and see two or three names of people who had crashed on your couch. It was fun. It's gone, though.

Yup. Growth will do that.
If you didn't know a player you knew four people who did know them.

 

[nickrew1]

Foot Fault

Did Jim foot fault on that last putt? Looks like he may have. Great video, simple and to the point with some good commentary.

 

[nrihan]

what a gem!

 

[Kenny53691]

That's definitely a fun video to watch.

 

[rj29274]

Awesome video.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

>>26:50 is why Ron Russell was so good back then, bang!<<

God, I love the sound of a Mach III...

 

[steven2361]

Great video, thanks for the post!