I really enjoyed this issue and wanted to highlight a few interviews in the Amateur World Champions section in this issue for those of you that do not get the magazine.
This kid is Tearing It Up!! I expect he will have a great impact on Fantasy Disc Golf next year.
Fantastic story!!
There was also a picture of Tina Hicks with her arm all bandaged up, getting ready to throw a disc. The caption read that she broke her wrist, but still finished the tournament.
It's all about the lulz with the kids. One day he'll have that record
Advanced Senior Grandmasters Champion: Jim Banbury #33708
Worlds was a fabulous experience, made even better by playing with a great group of guys for every round. I played steady most of the week, though I completely lost my mojo at Sugaw Creek in the Friday afternoon monsoon, dropping eight shots in the last five holes. I found it in time to get back to steady for the Saturday semifinals and finals.
Two shots stand out for me. On Thursday's round at Reedy Creek hole 18 with its blind 1:30 pin position, I snapped off a Blizzard Katana forehand that flipped to flat, lasered straight down the gap and disappeared around the dogleg. Walking up to the green revealed a 330 foot park-job sitting four feet from the pin, my best drive ever on the hole. The other shot was on hole 8 of the Final Nine, with me holding a two-shot lead. With my competition safely in the fairway, my drive caught a limb and kicked left into thick woods 80 feet short of the basket, with no direct line to the pin. The only shot I could conceive was a long, curbing, boomerang, anny flick-out and up to the right with a beat comet through the limbs of two oak trees and a slot the size of a shoebox. A miss here gives up one, and possibly two, throws. I popped it up into the trees, sprinting after it to watch it slowly curve in a complete half-circle and settle 10 feet from the pin for a spectacular par save and the best recovery shot of my life to preserve the two-stroke lead.
However, the best example I witnessed of performance under pressure when it really counts had nothing to do with disc golf. As our group was on Reedy hole 15, a player came running over the hill from hole 14 screaming, "Call 911!" He said someone had been stung, was allergic and had collapsed. As I dialed 911, Phil Bryan from our group---who is an RN---took off up the hill. As I crested the hill, Phil was leaning over a man who was white as a sheet with eyes rolled back in his head and pupils fixed and dilated. Phil and three other players were performing CPR, giving him chest pumps and mouth-to-mouth.
As I described the situation to the 911 operator, the man gasped and stirred. We could hear the sirens in the distance and in a few minutes the fire department medics came roaring up in a litter-bearing ATV, jumped off with the portable defibrillator and shocked him twice. With the medics in control and the ambulance on the way, the players dispersed and we went back to our holes. This was very unsettling, very disturbing. Play was suspended until the course was cleared and it gave us a chance to refocus after a very harrowing incident.
This kid is Tearing It Up!! I expect he will have a great impact on Fantasy Disc Golf next year.
Junior Boys <16 Champion: Justin Lammers #37852
My goal for the week was to play safe and stay away from any crazy shots. I wanted to put together seven solid rounds and make it to the Finals. My biggest concern was to have a bad round sometime during the week and cost me a chance to win Worlds. Last year I had a small lead after a few rounds, but unfortunately the bad round came. This year I was able to put together seven good rounds during the week and had a comfortable lead going into the Finals. I plan on playing my first pro tournament later this year. I also plan on playing in the Am Worlds next year in Emporia and turning pro sometime after that.
Fantastic story!!
Michelle Horn #9545
I began playing in 1985, my senior year in high school. I played until I had my two children in 1996. I took 10 years off to focus on the children. I began playing again in 2007. I received a mailed invitation to the Pro Worlds to be held in Indiana in 1996, which I still have. I was never able to play in the Worlds due to distance, cost, and not being able to take off work for that length of time. So it has been a golf career dream to play in the Worlds. When it was announced the tournament would be held in Charlotte this year, there was no question I would play.
Leading up to the tournament, I had been working on trying to slow down my drives. I would throw for distance and found myself regularly getting into trouble after hitting something. The week began slow for me. The first round I was behind the leader by four strokes. I gained two strokes on her the second round but lost another four the third round. We had a break in the afternoon on Wednesday and I broke my toe on a piece of luggage. That was my pivotal point! Thursday we had two rounds. The broken toe forced me to slow down on the tee pad. I was able to place my tee shots in the fairway and stay out of trouble. That allowed me to put my upshots near the basket and make some nice putts. I made up one throw the foot was thankful for. I continued to play steady but lost a stroke, holding the lead by three at that point. Going into the Final Nine at Hornets Nest was the most exciting point of my disc golf career. I couldn't believe I was there, much less in the lead. I played really strong in the Final Nine. I had some great drives and super putts. I was able to finish the Finals four throws ahead to win by seven. I was in total disbelief.
I don't know that I still understand what it all means, but I'm enjoying it. I do plan to play pro now. My first pro event will be the Magnolia in Georgia in October for my birthday weekend.
There was also a picture of Tina Hicks with her arm all bandaged up, getting ready to throw a disc. The caption read that she broke her wrist, but still finished the tournament.
It's all about the lulz with the kids. One day he'll have that record
Junior Boys <10 Champion: Forest Deason #53144
I feel that overall I played very good. I wish my second shots would have been better so that my putts didn't have to be so awesome. My dad gave me a hard time about that. It was more difficult to stay focused and really value each shot than I thought it would be. My dad just kept reminding me to slow down and make the most out of each throw. I had to throttle back on power throwing into the woods, because it was better to be in the fairway than in the trees. It was actually hard getting my power back on holes that were in the open after being in so many trees.
I worried about the possibility of really blowing up on the wooded courses. Conall Stillwagon had two second-place wins at Worlds in the past and proved to be a really good player. I knew that a win wouldn't come easy and that I would have to play my best.
I picked up a 6 throw lead on our first round and this game a lot of confidence for the rest of the week. Conall kept pressure on me all week and even beat me 54 to 57 in the fifth round at bailey. Losing that round made me a bit nervous, but I knew I had a big lead by that point. Coming back and winning the sixth round at Bailey gave me my confidence back.
Seeing my favorite players like Will Schusterick, Paul McBeth, and Nikko Lacastro was cool. I wish I could have seen Barry Schultz so that he could sign one of my leopards that got me through the trees at Worlds.
I eventually want to go pro and beat Ken Climo's record.
