young gun

[Eric O]

Well several months back I met this young kid by the name of Shane, 22yrs, who is ripping it with a legit 420+ of pinpoint controlled sidearm D. I've seen him hit lines with accuracy over 450, and I'm not talking internet D. Plus he can throw easily over 400 backhand and he can putt, and he doesn't even hit the field or practice putting. It's amazing and inspiring and unfair to the rest of us all at the same time. Not to mention before I met him he had recently finished 3 years of military service, during which time he didn't so much as pick up a disc.

We talked him into signing up late for the open division of the Beaver State Fling. Now here's the funny thing. His bag goes from Buzzz straight to Bosses and shit. The other day I had him throw some of my Eagles and he was killing it. I browbeated him into getting some Teebirds just in time to figure out how they fly in time for the tournament this weekend. I'm pretty sure that's all he needed to put his game over the top, combined with some regular practice sessions. I think he will be putting people on notice this weekend.

Long term goal: sidearm distance record.

 

[sunspot]

Did he play any other sports when he was younger like baseball?

 

[Scoot_er]

I played with a 20 year old kid this weekend who shot over 1000 his 1st two rounda and has only been playing around a year. He moved up to Open after Int, deciding to skip Adv, and he has plenty of talent with his drive looking just like Philo's and his putt is pretty money.

Once he gets the mental thing figured out he will be someone to look for at least within Texas.

 

[sunspot]

Honestly, I think this is somewhat indicative of the growth of disc golf. I think there is some merit in believing more younger players means that it's gaining more notoriety.

 

[zj10021]

I played with a 20 year old kid this weekend who shot over 1000 his 1st two rounda and has only been playing around a year. He moved up to Open after Int, deciding to skip Adv, and he has plenty of talent with his drive looking just like Philo's and his putt is pretty money.

Once he gets the mental thing figured out he will be someone to look for at least within Texas.

Charlie? I was playing manor and caught up to him, ended up finishing the round with him. I walked away pretty impressed. Only thing I disliked was his ego. You can tell the game comes to him easy. I think he played pro at COTO also and played decent. But like I said he has a little bit of an ego. He talked like he was already pro and I was matching or out throwing him on most throws(i play adv). grats on the beeville win as well, fun course in the middle of no where

 

[Eric O]

Did he play any other sports when he was younger like baseball?

I'm not sure, but he is athletic so was probably involved in various sports including baseball. I do know that he first picked up a golf disc at the age of 13, but I don't think he was that serious about it. Probably why he has suck a killer sidearm. Most 13yr olds can probably throw a flick further than a backhand.

 

[racer93]

Honestly, I think this is somewhat indicative of the growth of disc golf. I think there is some merit in believing more younger players means that it's gaining more notoriety.

Nah, I think this is mainly a "young person's" sport. You don't see many established 30-somethings coming out for the first time. Mainly it's teen to twentysomethings, at least that's what i've seen...

 

[Mr. Wick]

Nice Drive Kid posts here sometimes(20 something yrs old). He has really come along lately, bombing 450-500 consistently and hittling lines. He overthrows some holes with a firebird that the upper level pros are throwing bosses and nukes at. He just handily took down one of the top rated players in the Northeast in our match play league. He has only been playing about 2 yrs and is easily shooting 1000 rated rounds. If he ever decides to really push it I think he could do some serious damage. Again.....the mental game and a more consistent upshot are the only real holes in his game. He isn't even a PDGA or NEFA member, just crushes locally right now. Hope you read that Kid...... TT

 

[charris414]

Mullen: is NDK ... Bunce? I thought he was older than 20 ...

 

[Mr. Wick]

Mullen: is NDK ... Bunce? I thought he was older than 20 ...

Yeah Chris Bunce. He is 22 or 23

 

[Scoot_er]

I played with a 20 year old kid this weekend who shot over 1000 his 1st two rounda and has only been playing around a year. He moved up to Open after Int, deciding to skip Adv, and he has plenty of talent with his drive looking just like Philo's and his putt is pretty money.

Once he gets the mental thing figured out he will be someone to look for at least within Texas.

Charlie? I was playing manor and caught up to him, ended up finishing the round with him. I walked away pretty impressed. Only thing I disliked was his ego. You can tell the game comes to him easy. I think he played pro at COTO also and played decent. But like I said he has a little bit of an ego. He talked like he was already pro and I was matching or out throwing him on most throws(i play adv). grats on the beeville win as well, fun course in the middle of no where

Yea it was Charlie and the ego thing was easy to see the last round when he had a few rough holes. Tried to tell him that I normally have a few rough holes a round and if you let it go you will shave strokes later on.

I was -11 the 1st round with 3 to go then went 2m up in a tree, had a spit, and then got a practice stroke penalty along with an OB to only finish -6. The TD didn't mark the drop zone on hole 1 although the other two were clearly marked with flags, painted stripe, and DROP ZONE painted in orange. I marked my lie where I went out then tossed up to the basket and right after the card behind us yelled that there was a drop zone from a metal pole although nobody on my card knew about it and it wasn't marked.

Needless to say my 1060+ round went to 1007 real fast.

 

[sunspot]

Honestly, I think this is somewhat indicative of the growth of disc golf. I think there is some merit in believing more younger players means that it's gaining more notoriety.

Nah, I think this is mainly a "young person's" sport. You don't see many established 30-somethings coming out for the first time. Mainly it's teen to twentysomethings, at least that's what i've seen...

I probably should have clairfied more. The more you see younger players in greater quantity than time's past means that a certain sport is really starting to grow, not just having younger players playing the game. This seems to be the case with disc golf.

 

[zj10021]

Yea it was Charlie and the ego thing was easy to see the last round when he had a few rough holes. Tried to tell him that I normally have a few rough holes a round and if you let it go you will shave strokes later on.

I was -11 the 1st round with 3 to go then went 2m up in a tree, had a spit, and then got a practice stroke penalty along with an OB to only finish -6. The TD didn't mark the drop zone on hole 1 although the other two were clearly marked with flags, painted stripe, and DROP ZONE painted in orange. I marked my lie where I went out then tossed up to the basket and right after the card behind us yelled that there was a drop zone from a metal pole although nobody on my card knew about it and it wasn't marked.

Needless to say my 1060+ round went to 1007 real fast.

Yeah when I played with him(and his friend), we got onto hole 17 and I out drove him(almost to the big tree after the fairway turns left). I crushed my second shot passed the basket. Instead of helping me find my disc they kept walking to 18 and finished the course while I was still looking. left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth.

Damn thats sounds like a rough hole. that would piss me off having to take those strokes because shit wasnt organized.

 

[jclepa]

How about the 12 year old we just have beat a field of 52 intermediate players to win the Blue Angel Classic here in Pensacola Florida. Did I mention that 2nd place was 7 strokes behind him... Is it possible for a 12 year old to be a sandbagger??

He's heading up to play in the Junior Worlds this summer, and if Vegas would take the bet, I'd put all my money on him in the under 13 class...

 

[krazybronco]

in the augusta ga area we have a 2 young guys one just turned 15 and is throwing in the 400ft range and when his putting is on he is hard to beat but like most young people (myself included) a few bad holes and their mental game goes out the window. then we have a 12yo guy that throws around 350 if not farther and has a mental game that would compete with the the older guys he doesnt let a bad hole get to him and his rating kinda speaks of game
http://www.pdga.com/player-stats?PDGANum=32750&year=2010

 

[JR]

I talked to a local player yesterday. He was throwing all sorts of trick shots so I showed him some more to make him a more complete player. He said that the Finnish record for his age group is 77 meters and he's thrown 120 a couple of times. I believe him because he threw my new Pro Boss around 105 last fall in cold weather and after sun down playing. The age record is for under 12. Not exactly like little Wiggy or Nick Duran and some others but the D difference to the official record stood out. This guy caddied for Nate Doss at Tali Open 2009. Something must have stuck. He said he's been schooled a lot by Jussi Meresmaa during a competition round they played together.

 

[charris414]

my son just turned nine months old yesterday, can really grip a mini tight, and must be rated at least 550, with message board distance throws of 20 feet ...

:lol: :lol: :lol:

just kidding ... can't wait till he's four or five years old to give him something light enough to throw ...

 

[black udder]

Honestly, I think this is somewhat indicative of the growth of disc golf. I think there is some merit in believing more younger players means that it's gaining more notoriety.

Nah, I think this is mainly a "young person's" sport. You don't see many established 30-somethings coming out for the first time. Mainly it's teen to twentysomethings, at least that's what i've seen...

I probably should have clairfied more. The more you see younger players in greater quantity than time's past means that a certain sport is really starting to grow, not just having younger players playing the game. This seems to be the case with disc golf.

I think it's the number of young athletic players picking up the game vs the non-athletic guys that picked it up just for something to do. The increase in athletic players is increasing the distance of a lot of throwers and decreasing the time from picking it up to competing in adv/open. These are folks that pick up this stuff pretty easily - unlike so many of us that have issues figuring out how to throw a disc far.

 

[Scoot_er]

How about the 12 year old we just have beat a field of 52 intermediate players to win the Blue Angel Classic here in Pensacola Florida. Did I mention that 2nd place was 7 strokes behind him... Is it possible for a 12 year old to be a sandbagger??

He's heading up to play in the Junior Worlds this summer, and if Vegas would take the bet, I'd put all my money on him in the under 13 class...

Yes you can............it's just easier to get away with.