[Question] Aces - Short end of the stick?

[ian.]

took me over 2.5 years to get one then they came in bunches .. believe i have 7 to date but none over 300ft

 

[primal dg]

Does ace race aces count? I got one on a roughly 225 foot hyper "bomb"

 

[throwfromthewoods]

Aside from little 150'-200' pitch and putt holes, people shouldn't be "trying" to throw for the chains. The point is to play for a birdie. If you aim for chains 4' off the ground on a longer drive, you're likely to end up very far past the basket. So, longer aces are essentially just a player screwing up their birdie drive.

That goes double for tree aces and skip aces. They are a pleasant consequence, for sure. And a fun one. But a player is determined by how they play 18 holes, not how many aces they get.

 

[smarkquart]

I just racked up one yesterday, but it also had me looking over my stat sheet where I keep track and had me thinking exactly what is being discussed here. I have 49 total aces, but they can be divided into two categories; practice and legitimate. I have 39 practice aces where they have come off of second or third shots, either from mulligans or because I was simply taking multiple shots because of practice. I have every intention of throwing them as I did, but I also know that something could be said for "zeroing in" the target.

I also have 10 aces that have come during recorded rounds, where it was my one and only shot on that hole for that round. 8 of those 10 have come from those same shots I have mentioned above, that they were in every way intentional and were good shots. So I do not necessarily buy into the philosophy that aces are just bad shots that were lucky. However, I can remember at least two that came off of tree kicks.

Back to the discussion, no matter how I got them, the majority of mine are on the 200-250 foot variety holes. My shortest was a 150 and my longest (my first ever) was on a 305.

The reason being that the majority of mine come from 200-250 is that anything shorter than this distance is usually a technical hole that requires precision and placement. I am more apt to "approach" drive off the tee with a putter than necessarily run the basket. Aces are definitely nice, but I find that I usually play for the birdie. Aces in these shorter circumstances can definitely be those bad shots that got lucky. I do not trust my putting outside of 15 feet, so I always try to take putting out of the equation. At the 200-250 feet I am not always 15 foot radius accurate, more likely 20-25 feet, so I have less inhibitions to run the basket because the end result if I miss will likely be the same if I did not try to run it.

 

[tomdizzlefizzle]

Op you'll get one someday and when you do my advice is play a lot of golf following it cause for some reason they like to come in bunches.

 

[tomdizzlefizzle]

I dont count chaser aces!

 

[SpikeHyzer]

I prefer to look at them as good shots that got lucky.

:wall:

 

[Questatement]

Aside from little 150'-200' pitch and putt holes, people shouldn't be "trying" to throw for the chains. The point is to play for a birdie. If you aim for chains 4' off the ground on a longer drive, you're likely to end up very far past the basket. So, longer aces are essentially just a player screwing up their birdie drive.

If you're driving with a disc that will only reach the basket at chain height if thown at full power, the disc should have slowed to the point that it doesn't land that far behind the basket should you miss the ace. Downhill, hard ground, etc. excepted.

This is why I love versions of discs that everyone else complains about lacking glide. There just aren't enough long holes (400+) around me to be bombing fairway and/or high speed drivers at full speed without risking blowing by the basket at mach speed.

 

[bogeyfreetilinfinity]

hey buddy when it rains it pours. take trips out to courses with more variety in length. visualize your line and the disc going in before you throw. an ace isn't a bad shot that got lucky, that's just false. it's a good shot that got lucky. playing for a two off the chains is a good strategy.
my first ace was ten years ago and every shot since that didn't go in i felt like a catastrophe.

 

[AndyJB]

a vast majority of my aces have been with putters. That's really all that needs to be said about hole-in-ones in disc golf.

 

[Vonbeezy1]

It is NOT a real ace if it's not your first shot. Throwing nultiple throws negates the whole purpose of the ace. Second shots are always better than the first but do they count? Never

 

[bobmcnelly]

In 3 years I have 7 aces. All at my home course which is all tone poles. So they are all tone aces and all under 300'. Really want my first basket ace!

 

[Questatement]

a vast majority of my aces have been with putters. That's really all that needs to be said about hole-in-ones in disc golf.

I saw a 550' skip ace off asphalt last fall at Yuciapa and the guy called it ahead of time, doing the same thing the week before according to his buddy.

Now that's an ace!

 

[Nemmers]

My take:

I'm happy with a par.

I'm ecstatic with a birdie.

I'm beaming with an eagle.

And If I ever get an ace, I'll be overjoyed.

However, I play because of the possibility of all of the above. I just love the game.

 

[cjrogus]

Almost 2 years of playing and 6 aces in I can say I was only truly blown away by one. 155,179,183,185,268, and 315. The 4 short ones I had hit metal before and when I finaly got one to stick it was just like "Finally I'm done". The 268 was the first hole at leagues with a buzz I have had for 13 months and it should have connected a lot sooner then it did. Hit that in front of 9 people and got 32$ for it, but the only real face-melter was a 315ft tunnel shot with a forehand that skipped in after I called it on the tee. It was my second and that disc got retired.

The main problem I have is that I've never finished the rounds strong. All 3 courses I've shot 5 down or better. Every round with an ace I seem to end on par. I'd rather have a -7 then end +2 with an ace.

And once you hit an ace you have to remember to tell everyone every time you play that hole.

 

[xjohncandyx]

My only ace came on a 240' hole last year...on April Fool's day...when I was playing solo. After 4 years.

I'm just saying, it can be worse. I wish I was kidding. I swear people still don't know whether to take it seriously or not.

 

[TonyVonDoom]

I've been playing less then a year and I've hit one ace. It just happened to be a 350ft shot on the last hole of the round for the win by one stroke. I was absolutely thrilled! It was the only time I've beat the guy I was playing with!

 

[Hoss22]

I've been playing less then a year and I've hit one ace. It just happened to be a 350ft shot on the last hole of the round for the win by one stroke. I was absolutely thrilled! It was the only time I've beat the guy I was playing with!

How far are you throwing? That's a pretty big ace for someone that's been playing less than a year.

 

[hugheshilton]

As many have said, aces seem to come in groups. I hit my only 4 aces in 2012 and I haven't hit one since then. 2 of those aces were on the same hole during the same week. I aced it Tuesday then came back Thursday and aced the same hole with the same disc again. Anyway, it's nothing to brag about; all the holes were between 210 and 235. On the other hand, I have a buddy that's played for like 8 years and never gotten an ace. It will happen eventually I'm sure.

Fwiw, I agree that some aces are lucky, but not all, and going for the basket is not necessarily a bad strategy on every hole. I kind of depends on the hole and the disc you're throwing (and if it's a tournament, what your standings are). If you're throwing a putter that you know will land 20 feet behind the basket if you miss the ace, that's not a bad shot to go for. Similarly if you're throwing a skip shot with, say a gator, and it happens to skip a little high and go in, it wouldn't have necessarily been a bad shot if it hadn't gone in. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Halcón]

It's simple. Two things determine your ace potential:

Time, and distance.

If you never play disc golf, you're not going to ace. Some guys play EVERY day. Of course they're gonna have more aces than you. The more chances you get to throw a disc at a target, the more one has a chance to stick.

And distance, which the OP mentioned. Some courses are just not ace friendly. I've never seen an ace before. And I've seen my fair share of discs being thrown. Really only one hole at my home course is ace friendly. It's a 250' open hole, and that's the one that I've run a couple times, and have seen others come very close.

Just keep trying. It'll happen for you, and for me.