So the Disc Golf season is off to a fine start. The Memorial, the first National Tour stop of the Year, was held this past weekend in Phoenix AZ. I look forward to this tournament each and every year. It is a gathering of great friends and many attendance coming from the cold midwest to temporarily escape the winter weather.

There were 105+ Open players with over 25 of them over 1000 rated, which made for a very competitive field. I started the first round with a lack-luster 64 course par with the hot score being a 54 shot by Greg Barsby, quite impressive accounting for the wind and the amount of OB on every hole. I have no idea what is in the air down there, but for some reason I developed a bad congestion of the sinuses and I could barely breathe most of the time with my head feeling like a 20 lb weight. I just need a few putts to fall the round would have turned out that way it should have.

The 2nd round was held at Fountain Hills, one of my top five courses in the country, on one of the windiest days that I have witnessed in quite a while. Not for the players that made their way down from Vegas the weekend before, this did not even compare to those conditions. I played a conservative round of 54 to get back into the top 10, a score of 50 was the round of the day shot by the eventual winner of the Master’s division, Jim Oates. Feldberg took the lead by 2 going into Sunday.

The 3rd round, the best conditions of all the previous days, 75-80 degrees and slight wind. I came out on the attack, no where to go but up. I played a strong front going for a lot of the water holes, especially when the Disc Golf TV cameras came around. I finished the round with a so-so 60 which put me in a 5 way tie for 9th keeping me in the top 10. I kept close watch of the lead card to make sure that Feldberg was handling his business and not letting it slip through the cracks. I kept hearing different scores for the lead group from different people, still wondering what was the differential for the top 2. Coming down the stretch, I saw Dave second on the tee and assumed that he had the lead. With a easy 3 on the last hole, he dropped the putt and celebrated the first NT victory of the year, the trophy is coming to Oregon.

The overall experience felt like the season of last year never ended as I met friends again that I have not seen in over 4 months. I wish that I could have played a higher caliber of golf, but I attribute a majority of my play on the lack of practice due to school this time of year. I am currently taking 20 credits at the University of Oregon and keeping super busy with exams and papers. I returned home, still thinking of the season ahead, I can’t wait til I can get back out there on the tour.

Spring Break in two weeks!

Next Stop : The Dogwood Crosstown Classic – NC

3/8/07