Newbie to 2020 disc golf after long hiatus

[Telperion]

The TLR;
I've barely played in 12 years and want to get up to speed, the questions section is a great start and you can work backwards if you need context.

The Background:
I've been playing for about 20 years, since my early teens, but I've basically been out of the sport for a long time with only a round here and there every 6 months or so. I'm getting back into it, going to play some tourneys, etc, and need a general refresher on what I missed for 12 years.

The Bag:
Water hazards, treacherous vegetation, and being left in my car for too long in the hot southern weather have rendered my bag in serious need of a refresh. And by that I mean that I'm down to a Star Boss, ESP Buzzz, Pro Line Spider (the rare completely indestructible gummy kind while Innova was experimenting with plastic blends), ESP Meteor, and some mold of Wizard. I ordered a few things I know I'd like to fill some gaps: Star Destroyer, Star Teebird3 (these used to be in my bag, albeit pre-3 Teebird), Ti Buzzz-OS (I love the mold, needed an OS midrange), and TP Harp.

The Skill:
I have absolutely abysmal putting skills to go with highly competent throwing skills. I've played about 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Played a round with a local, threw his Star Roadrunner a UDisc-measured 418ft on a fairly straight hyzer flip turnover in a field, so I still have at least some of my form. Wizard, line drive measured 286 feet golf distance on a hole. I used to have a consistent 400-420 with Wraiths and Destroyers. I'm an expert at the missed-putt par, basically, and always have been. Throwing was never my problem, putting and risk management are usually what hastens my demise. Missed birdies and scrambled pars score the same, even if one looks prettier off the tee.

The Questions:
How's the current bag, in the context of my throwing, any glaring gaps? I'm in FL so anything elevation-related doesn't apply. I'm not and never will be one of those people who carries 20 discs expecting them to do all the throws as opposed to being able to throw all the throws. That said, I don't really have an understable distance driver anymore for example, a role that used to be filled by a Q-JLS. Gaps like that I'm fine filing.

Is there anything relevant I should know from the last 12 years? It used to be Innova, Discraft, and rarely Gateway, and nothing else was relevant. I'm picking up that manufacturer parity is at an all time high.

Also, I'm going to be registering for a few C and B tier events, and I'm not sure what division to start out in. I'm in a weird place where my throwing ability is completely out of sync with my actual round scoring. Thoughts?

 

[Mr.Big.Shot]

Welcome from another dgcr newb.

That's funny to me because I was playing a solo round the other day and was felt confused.

I felt the score wasn't a good reflection of how well I was playing, haha. 3 big on the first 9.
Took out a towel, gave all my discs a wipe, cleared my mind, next toss was an ace. Leopard 3 forehand, blind basket.

What I'm trying to say is, the score is a reflection of how you play because every shot counts the same. 300 feet or 3 feet.

 

[autocrosscrx]

One thing that I've noticed from looking at local leagues and tourney results is that the round ratings on this site are pretty ball park. Pick a local course on here that a lot of people have posted scores and play a couple of rounds for score. And you should be able to estimate a rating close enough to class yourself.

Or just choose the division that lets you play the course layouts that you want. If I were pushing your distances, I wouldn't want to play a 4000 foot layout that was all putter drives if I had a choice of a longer layout, rating and competitiveness be damned.

 

[Telperion]

One thing that I've noticed from looking at local leagues and tourney results is that the round ratings on this site are pretty ball park. Pick a local course on here that a lot of people have posted scores and play a couple of rounds for score. And you should be able to estimate a rating close enough to class yourself.

Or just choose the division that lets you play the course layouts that you want. If I were pushing your distances, I wouldn't want to play a 4000 foot layout that was all putter drives if I had a choice of a longer layout, rating and competitiveness be damned.

I have no clue how round ratings work. Obviously I can use Professor Google, but is there a primer somewhere that hits the high points? I've played some local courses enough to know what kind of scoring range I'd fall into, so I should be able to generate a rough idea of a rating to bin myself into a class.

Very good point about pad and pin layouts, I always play long pads and pins in my recreational rounds. From the tournaments I've looked at, AM3 is almost always short/short, AM2 is typically some combination of short and long, and AM1 is long/long. Short layouts would be a Harp/Wizard on practically every hole, which isn't terribly fun.

 

[armiller]

The Bag:
Water hazards, treacherous vegetation, and being left in my car for too long in the hot southern weather have rendered my bag in serious need of a refresh. And by that I mean that I'm down to a Star Boss, ESP Buzzz, Pro Line Spider (the rare completely indestructible gummy kind while Innova was experimenting with plastic blends), ESP Meteor, and some mold of Wizard. I ordered a few things I know I'd like to fill some gaps: Star Destroyer, Star Teebird3 (these used to be in my bag, albeit pre-3 Teebird), Ti Buzzz-OS (I love the mold, needed an OS midrange), and TP Harp.

The Skill:
I have absolutely abysmal putting skills to go with highly competent throwing skills. I've played about 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Played a round with a local, threw his Star Roadrunner a UDisc-measured 418ft on a fairly straight hyzer flip turnover in a field, so I still have at least some of my form. Wizard, line drive measured 286 feet golf distance on a hole. I used to have a consistent 400-420 with Wraiths and Destroyers. I'm an expert at the missed-putt par, basically, and always have been. Throwing was never my problem, putting and risk management are usually what hastens my demise. Missed birdies and scrambled pars score the same, even if one looks prettier off the tee.

The Questions:
How's the current bag, in the context of my throwing, any glaring gaps? I'm in FL so anything elevation-related doesn't apply. I'm not and never will be one of those people who carries 20 discs expecting them to do all the throws as opposed to being able to throw all the throws. That said, I don't really have an understable distance driver anymore for example, a role that used to be filled by a Q-JLS. Gaps like that I'm fine filing.

Is there anything relevant I should know from the last 12 years? It used to be Innova, Discraft, and rarely Gateway, and nothing else was relevant. I'm picking up that manufacturer parity is at an all time high.

Also, I'm going to be registering for a few C and B tier events, and I'm not sure what division to start out in. I'm in a weird place where my throwing ability is completely out of sync with my actual round scoring. Thoughts?

As far as the bag, it's hard for me to look at someone else's bag and pick out their gaps. That's so game-dependent. However, discs in the speed 8 to 10 range, the so-called "control drivers," have become somewhat more prominent. I'm mainly familiar with Discraft and Innova (still, despite the brand parity that you mentioned), and some discs you should definitely try include the Undertaker, Vulture, and Thunderbird. Of course there are other discs in the same speed range that are tried-and-true (e.g. Valkyrie, Eagle), but these new ones have found a place in many bags, from top pros on down to the amateur masses.

I can't think of anything particularly relevant. Disc golf is still disc golf, though there are many new manufacturers and many new molds. You'll find that many of the most popular molds on here were already around 12 years ago. They were good then and they're good now. Teebirds, Leopards, Firebirds, Destroyers, Wizards, Buzzzes, Comets, and Rocs are no less common in 2020 than they were in 2008, and many "new discs" are attempting to copy these in some way. Spiders do seem to be less popular nowadays, though I recall a thread somewhere with loyal supporters.

You mentioned the Q-JLS. You may want to check out the disc forum, cuz there are definitely supporters still, or people on DGCR that can give you a list of "modern" alternatives. For understable drivers, some good ones that probably weren't around are the Tern (I prefer more overstable plastic like Champion) or Thrasher (I like ESP). Both are relatively high speed. You also mentioned the Roadrunner, and no one would fault you for bagging that. I dunno. In general, the Disc forum would attract attention who might be able to give better advice given that you know a little bit about what you like or want.

As far as tournaments, just get out and start playing. Personally, I like picking a division based on layouts they play on courses I know. The problem is when different divisions play the same layouts. (e.g. MA1 Advanced and MA2 Intermediate) In that case, I guess you could start by seeing what scores are reasonable for each division on a layout you're familiar with, based on a recent tournament. Don't feel bad starting a little lower (e.g. Intermediate if you're between Int-Advanced) but you'll make some enemies if you keep winning at a lower level. So personally I'd recommend moving up an amateur division if you start dominating.

 

[Telperion]

Well, this is pretty indicative of my complete lack of competent putting.