2023 Innova Blue Ridge Championship at North Cove (DGPT Silver)

[biscoe]

True. I would love to have seen how it played out in decent conditions instead of a torrential downpour. I suspect BW would have played it the exact same way.

Given the same lie after 2 he probably would have. He might have been in better position after 2 though without the monsoon. I am honestly still not sure what to make of his choice even in the crappy conditions. Not sure there is another player on tour who would not have gone for it.

 

[DiscyBusiness]

Given the same lie after 2 he probably would have. He might have been in better position after 2 though without the monsoon. I am honestly still not sure what to make of his choice even in the crappy conditions. Not sure there is another player on tour who would not have gone for it.

He explains his reasoning here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrJ82xDJz9U/

I just want to add to the positive comments about North Cove, such a cool looking course and I hope to get out there one day to play it.

 

[DannyS]

I have definitely added North Cove to my DG Destination list. I really enjoyed this tournament. Also - didn't realize that Earhart and Perkins were the announcing team I have been waiting for. I thought they were great. Earhart has a traditional sports announcer style and I was really surprised by Perkins' insight and knowledge of the discs being thrown. Telling us the player is throwing a Speed 12 or an overstable Speed 9 is SO much better than telling me the name of the disc. There is no way for me to keep up with all the different disc names from different manufacturers. Knowing the speed and stability is all I need to understand what the player is throwing or attempting to throw. Give us more Earhart and Perkins!

 

[nothinbuttree]

He explains his reasoning here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrJ82xDJz9U/

I just want to add to the positive comments about North Cove, such a cool looking course and I hope to get out there one day to play it.

Yeah, great explanation. With the million dollar contracts floating around, sometimes we forget that most players on tour still are just looking to be able to make it thru the year without going bankrupt. And from that perspective, I agree the chances of hitting the green and sticking from where he was would be a very low single digit percentage.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Definitely a Perkins fan on coverage. He and Philo (wouldn't that be a great combo) really bring a great wealth of knowledge and can quickly apply it to the situation at hand, they talk about hardness of the ground, release angles, flight plate exposure to the wind, landing angles, etc. When an experienced player (though just average in skill) can still learn about disc golf from coverage, that's a good thing!

Agree on the speed vs the name of the disc too. Nice distinction. Several times he mentioned so is so is throwing his most over-stable fairway driver. And usually told us why...

 

[notapro]

I definitely liked watching the pros play this course more than any of the typical ball golf courses we see so often now. But you gotta make do with the land you have, and not everywhere has land like this!!

The more open holes kinda reminded me of Caliber a little bit; generous fairways with woods on one/both sides. Made me wonder, if there was a large event, PT or Silver Series, do you think they would mark OB all up and down the woodline at Caliber? Or would it be natural "rough OB"? Maybe it was the property lines driving the OB in North Cove more than anything else.

 

[biscoe]

If he had gone for it and not hit it his next shot would have been from either the edge of the OB or from wherever he landed had he hit a tree on the way. Either one would likely have been about the same difficulty as his up and down after laying up. he had 2 strokes on third. Either way he is a way better golfer than I have ever been or ever will be so my second guessing amounts to diddly.

 

[acrosley]

Given the same lie after 2 he probably would have. He might have been in better position after 2 though without the monsoon. I am honestly still not sure what to make of his choice even in the crappy conditions. Not sure there is another player on tour who would not have gone for it.

The OB was way too punishing to justify running It from where he was, especially in a monsoon. Probably would have cost him 1000 dollars in payout and the tour points will be a nice bonus if he's close to the championship cutoff in October.

 

[porkturtle]

Who took Perkins place behind the mic for the final round on CC? I thought he was fantastic - miles better than Perkins who I think is just awful.

(Still, hope Perkins qualified for the Champions Cup the other day!)

 

[BillFleming]

I definitely liked watching the pros play this course more than any of the typical ball golf courses we see so often now. But you gotta make do with the land you have, and not everywhere has land like this!!

The more open holes kinda reminded me of Caliber a little bit; generous fairways with woods on one/both sides. Made me wonder, if there was a large event, PT or Silver Series, do you think they would mark OB all up and down the woodline at Caliber? Or would it be natural "rough OB"? Maybe it was the property lines driving the OB in North Cove more than anything else.

I "think" the reason for the OB lines being marked everywhere was to reduce the number of questions of "is this OB or inbounds". Watch the FPO coverage for day 2. I forget which hole, but Sarah Hokom's throw ends in the river on the edge. There's no painted line, so the group had to discuss whether it was in or out. A painted OB line would have made it more obvious and less of a "well, is it or isn't it". Another thing I think is that we will see this at more tournaments....OB being marked by painted lines....it can speed up the pace of play by assisting the players in determining if the disc is in or out.

 

[sidewinder22]

I have definitely added North Cove to my DG Destination list. I really enjoyed this tournament. Also - didn't realize that Earhart and Perkins were the announcing team I have been waiting for. I thought they were great. Earhart has a traditional sports announcer style and I was really surprised by Perkins' insight and knowledge of the discs being thrown. Telling us the player is throwing a Speed 12 or an overstable Speed 9 is SO much better than telling me the name of the disc. There is no way for me to keep up with all the different disc names from different manufacturers. Knowing the speed and stability is all I need to understand what the player is throwing or attempting to throw. Give us more Earhart and Perkins!

I played there 2 years ago, before the Gorge was put in. I liked River Run more than Boulders. The slick rubber tees they had were awful and the kudzu/poison ivy rough. The views were beautiful though. I might go back to play the Gorge, but I'll probably still much prefer Sugaree over it.

I also do like the disc speed mentioned in the commentary, but I cringed at some of the technique advice/analysis.

 

[BrotherDave]

Yeah, great explanation. With the million dollar contracts floating around, sometimes we forget that most players on tour still are just looking to be able to make it thru the year without going bankrupt. And from that perspective, I agree the chances of hitting the green and sticking from where he was would be a very low single digit percentage.

This is all the more reason to avoid holes (at least down the final stretch) where the approach is too high risk/low reward. A bigger green plus normal OB rules and BW might have ran it.

I played there 2 years ago, before the Gorge was put in. I liked River Run more than Boulders. The slick rubber tees they had were awful and the kudzu/poison ivy rough. The views were beautiful though. I might go back to play the Gorge, but I'll probably still much prefer Sugaree over it.

I also do like the disc speed mentioned in the commentary, but I cringed at some of the technique advice/analysis.

The pads are much better now and most of the nasty rough is gone. I still prefer Sugaree both in aesthetics and playing style though.

 

[sidewinder22]

This is all the more reason to avoid holes (at least down the final stretch) where the approach is too high risk/low reward. A bigger green plus normal OB rules and BW might have ran it.

I don't understand why BW laid up on 17, knowing he was laying up 18.

 

[BrotherDave]

I don't understand why BW laid up on 17, knowing he was laying up 18.

Same reason. He decided the green was too risky to attack and stuck to his game plan. He'd rather guarantee 2nd then run down Gannon.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I don't understand why BW laid up on 17, knowing he was laying up 18.

He said the day before that his plan was to play for par on the last 2 or 3 holes regardless of his position and he followed through.

 

[sidewinder22]

Then why does he even pay attention to the scores?

 

[txmxer]

I liked the courses in general. Do need some tweaks IMO but watching the event was enjoyable.

 

[@CD-]

If he had gone for it and not hit it his next shot would have been from either the edge of the OB or from wherever he landed had he hit a tree on the way. Either one would likely have been about the same difficulty as his up and down after laying up. he had 2 strokes on third. Either way he is a way better golfer than I have ever been or ever will be so my second guessing amounts to diddly.

He only had 1 stroke on Klein at the time of the decision to layup. Klein had laid up his third shot nearer to the island green than Williams' 2nd shot and ended up running a long putt from across the creek 90+ feet for par - he pulled it right by a couple feet. Klein ended up missing his putt from the resulting island lie to take the double bogie after Williams laid up onto the green to clinch solo 2nd with a bogie. This is where looking at the final results doesn't really paint the picture realistically - the odds that Klein does not throw/putt it in from distance and misses the C1x putt on the green were pretty low (90% C1x on the weekend).

The odds were not in Williams' favor to attempt a ~140 foot throw in for a tie and walk away with more $. He had hyzer and anhyzer options to throw in it looks like with 2 trees on each short side of the green as blockers. From what I could see on coverage the rainy/windy conditions, size of the green, and the number of potential trees to kick off he very easily could have taken the extra couple strokes to drop past Klein's expected final score (Klein is more likely to make that C1x putt than not) and ended up solo 3rd with -$585 difference in payout.

We don't know if his sponsorships only give substantial performance bonuses for Silver series / A-tier events for first or second.

The OB was way too punishing to justify running It from where he was, especially in a monsoon. Probably would have cost him 1000 dollars in payout and the tour points will be a nice bonus if he's close to the championship cutoff in October.

:clap: I don't expect Williams is worried about qualifying for the DGPT Playoff events (DGLO/MVP Open) but the seeding for the DGPT championship is typically pretty close for those final 10-16 spots.

 

[foxdawg10]

Then why does he even pay attention to the scores?

This was his game plan. He stated as much in his post round interview on Saturday. The last 2 holes didn't play to his strengths. No matter what the score, he would have played the holes the same.

 

[sidewinder22]

This was his game plan. He stated as much in his post round interview on Saturday. The last 2 holes didn't play to his strengths. No matter what the score, he would have played the holes the same.

That is definitely not killer instinct or winning attitude like McBeth.

"Everyone has a game plan until they punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson