Played my 1st ever round today

[Chucker60]

Before today I had only played 4 or 6 or 9 holes at a time on about 3 different occasions for practice; finally decided to play a full 18 to see how I could do. Took advantage of some free time and now my first ever round is done. I played a Par 54 course that's 5100 ft; mostly wooded, wind was about 20 mph. My score was 81(+27) which I think is fairly decent for a total novice (my guesstimate is my round would be rated about 550). Started off poorly with double/triple/triple on my 1st three holes, played better after that and even made 2 pars. Really struggled on into the wind holes; threw my best tee shot 165' and it lead to my 1st ever par - totally fired me up.
Interested to hear thoughts from others that are actually good, experienced players on my score, etc. Thanks.

 

[seedlings]

Welcome to the sport! May I recommend not getting caught up in disc numbers and brands… just throw. Work on form (as you realize there are inadequacies). Those early career pars are why we came back! The wind is a struggle for pros and novices alike, so you're in good company.

 

[Three Putt]

I mean I'm not good, but I've been around.

Struggling into the wind is the human condition, so no big deal there. A couple of pars is good, it shows you that you can get there. The score isn't so much important if you had those shots that made your heart pump and have you wanting to throw again.

On the holes that you struggled on, what was the bugaboo? Distance off the tee or placement off the tee or putting or...or...or...it could be a bunch of things. My basic point is that you can struggle with a lot of things early on, so I'd suggest just identifying what one thing you could work on to take strokes off and focus somewhat on that. For example, my drives are short and a lot of people push me to work on that. If you really watch me play, you realize that I lose a lot more strokes to the fact that I can't hit the broadside of a barn if I aim for it than I do from my short drives. If I wanted to concentrate on getting my scores down, that accuracy off the tee would be the thing.

Once you get the big thing costing you strokes somewhat under control, you move to the next thing. We are always doing that; I'll never be done finding out what I'm doing wrong on the disc golf course.

I've had a lot of injuries and I shoot around +20 now and then; that's on a course I've played several hundred times before. +27 isn't bad for a novice player throwing a course for the first time. Getting more familiar with the course and what shots work where will help take some of those strokes away as well. Stay fired up and it will get there.

 

[etdefender19]

I played my first few rounds on a pretty wide open course. The more wooded courses were frustrating for me at first (still are) - I suspect you had a few throws that may have otherwise been ok, decent, or even good derailed by trees?
Maybe try and find a more open course just to let the discs fly?

Welcome!!

 

[zontar]

welcome! good for you on your par. as others have said, don't get too caught up on plastic and work on playing a lot. on days when the wind isn't up, you'll see nice improvement. as et said, play some wooded courses as well. have fun!

 

[Chucker60]

On the holes that you struggled on, what was the bugaboo? Distance off the tee or placement off the tee or putting or...or...or...it could be a bunch of things.

It's a bunch of things honestly, but the biggest is probably distance. All the holes are par 3's and they're all less than 400 ft. It takes me 3 throws to get within a reasonable striking distance of the basket on the holes that are anymore than 300 ft; so on those holes my best score, if everything goes well, is going to be a bogey 4.
And I forgot to mention that I only have 3 discs (the Innova starter set) a Leopard, Shark, and Aviar - if that matters at all. They seem to fit my ability and came highly regarded on several videos I watched.

 

[txmxer]

Good for you Chucker! As long as you are having fun, you will be alright.

 

[auzcar]

Although I agree that you shouldn't get caught up in plastic too much I still feel it's good to make sure you grasp the basics of stability. I have a couple of friends that's been playing now and then for 3-4 years that still doesn't understand the concept of understable vs overstable discs and can't understand why their disc sometimes does what it does. Throwing a very overstable (or understable) disc and expecting it to go straight can be pretty frustrating if you don't understand what's happening.

I think it's a good idea to have discs that fly understable, straight and overstable for you, and then learn to control those on all different angles. Doesn't matter too much if it's putters, mids or drivers IMO.

With that being said... If you're on this forum I think thst your interest is high enough that this won't be a problem.

 

[Chucker60]

Yeah, I don't have a clue what all those terms mean. I just go out and chuck my 3 cheap DX beginner discs and try to do the best I can. My 'go to' shot is what I call a Swinging Hook, I throw it about every chance I get and its getting pretty predictable & reliable.

 

[2naphish]

learning to throw the disc flat, without the nose up will increase your distance and accuracy dramatically. shots that need to go slightly right or left require a small amount of tilt in that direction. i see a lot of new players over exagerate the angle or twist thier upper body . i think you have a really good group of discs to learn with. throw them till they no longer fly the way you want them to on your good throws. good luck and enjoy!

 

[acrosley]

That's pretty impressive you were able to get some pars in 20 mph winds with the starter set DX!

 

[txmxer]

Yeah, I don't have a clue what all those terms mean. I just go out and chuck my 3 cheap DX beginner discs and try to do the best I can. My 'go to' shot is what I call a Swinging Hook, I throw it about every chance I get and its getting pretty predictable & reliable.

Right Hand Back Hand when thrown adequately fast for the specific disc:
Overstable--finishes hard left (in ball golf terms a draw)
Stable--tends to fly straight with softer finish to the left
Understable--tends to "turn over" and drift right (ball golf it would be kind of like a slice)

discs tend to become more understable as they are thrown, hit things, get nicks and scratches, i.e., "break in".

Lots of good info on youtube for educating noobies. Danny Lindahl with Dynamic Discs is a good one to watch among the many:

https://www.youtube.com/c/dynamicdiscs
https://www.youtube.com/c/DannyLindahl

another one that is really helpful to learn the basic terminology:
https://www.youtube.com/c/Bestdiscgolfdiscs

 

[Chucker60]

That's pretty impressive you were able to get some pars in 20 mph winds with the starter set DX!

Well thanks, but I don't know. One of the pars was on a 156 ft hole (basically a free par even for a brand new player). The other one was downwind, slightly downhill about 300 ft - not really challenging either.

 

[elmexdela]

Well thanks, but I don't know. One of the pars was on a 156 ft hole (basically a free par even for a brand new player). The other one was downwind, slightly downhill about 300 ft - not really challenging either.

idk mate ive taken 8-10 on 156 footers before

 

[wolfhaley]

idk mate ive taken 8-10 on 156 footers before

Pretty much any sub 200' hole is either a 2 or 4 for me. Usually 4 because I go for the 1.

 

[ray1970]

Pretty much any sub 200' hole is either a 2 or 4 for me. Usually 4 because I go for the 1.

Weird. You would think that would make those holes a 1 or a 3 for you.

 

[Three Putt]

Weird. You would think that would make those holes a 1 or a 3 for you.

Oh, I do this all the time. Aces were created by the Devil to make us play stupid golf. You get aggressive going for the pin and go long, where you get into all sorts of "behind the basket" trouble that you wouldn't have to deal with if you were playing for the 2. At that point you are scrambling for the 3, and if you don't scramble you are taking the 4. Maybe a 5. I've given away so many strokes on short holes trying to get an Ace it boggles the mind why I would still be doing it. I do it all the time. I'll do it again as soon as I'm healthy enough to throw.

I took I think a 13 on a 168' hole once; there was a drop-off to an OB creek and I went long and ended up in the creek. So I get to the bottom of the hill and its a gauntlet of trees so I tomahawk a throw to the basket; it hit a tree, came down on an edge and rolled back down into the creek. Then I threw more of an anny forehand up the hill; it made it through, landed by the basket, rolled around the basket and back down the hill into the creek. I finally got the thing to stay up top, but I overcompensated and left myself with a long putt toward the dropoff. I gaked the putt, it hit a tree, landed on an edge and rolled back down the hill to the creek. After some more poor scrambling and another missed putt (that stayed up top this time) I ended up standing there trying to count up all the strokes and wonder why I couldn't have just thrown the damn drive in front of the basket for the birdie.

Then we played round two and I threw for the pin again. :| Some lessons are impossible to learn.

 

[zontar]

I never remember a nice easy birdie. but I ALWAYS remember a short ace.

 

[Chucker60]

Was able to get out and play my 2nd ever round today; conditions were much better as there was very little wind, maybe 5mph.
However, my score was only slightly better this time; shot 40/36=76 (+22). I eliminated all the really high scores and made 1 par (3), 12 bogeys (4), and 5 doubles (5). On most holes I'm just trying to make bogey 4's, which is OK for a novice like me right? Pretty consistent round overall I guess, & now I've got a new PB of 76 to try and beat.

 

[Rastnav]

Was able to get out and play my 2nd ever round today; conditions were much better as there was very little wind, maybe 5mph.
However, my score was only slightly better this time; shot 40/36=76 (+22). I eliminated all the really high scores and made 1 par (3), 12 bogeys (4), and 5 doubles (5). On most holes I'm just trying to make bogey 4's, which is OK for a novice like me right? Pretty consistent round overall I guess, & now I've got a new PB of 76 to try and beat.

The best thing for you to do right now is not worry about how well you are doing vs. anyone else, and just worry about how much you enjoy what you are doing. If some sort of assessment helps you in enjoyment, then assess yourself against yourself. Enjoy the process of improvement. Everyone starts at different places, so there isn't one "typical" new disc golfer.

It's also important to realize that both raw scores and scores relative to par will vary wildly based on what course you play, what tees you play, and what the conditions are. If you find a course that's close to you that is a par 54 (all par 3 holes) that has green or even red level tees, you'll find yourself scoring better and working on different, perhaps more foundational, parts of your game than a longer course with lots of holes topping 250 feet. Nothing wrong with playing a bunch of holes that are under 200 feet!

But mostly, just do what you do, and have fun doing it!