2021-06-03 Bogey Streak Today I played a round of disc golf with Lydi in Soehnstetten. At around 25C and hardy any wind it was nice to be on the course. Lydi played with only a lightweight DX Cobra. This was just the right disc for her. Her score was +34 (=88) with 6x4, 9x5, 2x6 and 1x7. I played with a Comet and a P3, a combination I've never been to Soehnstetten with. Usually I play with discs that have a lot of HSS, but both of these two discs has quite some turn. It's not that they would flip right away, but you need to be careful about how much flip-up or turn you'll get. Hyzers don't really work with these discs. They flatten out so quickly. Forehand hyzers are even more difficult. (The Comet actually is a no-go for forehands.) Let's run through the holes: #1: Comet backhand, unfortunately turned over right down in the trees. P3 layup hit something and rolled back down even farther. P3 back up. Then made a quite long putt. -> 4 #2: I had no suitable disc for this hole. Went with the P3 back- hand. This wasn't a bad choice, but I should have thrown a big anny (like hole 8 in Goettingen) instead of a straightish line. Of course it faded out down the left. Went up with a thumber, but got deep into the scrubs from where I had to pitch out. -> 4 #3: Comet backhand. I went a bit left (behind the trees), but with the Comet I threw equally far as with my drivers usually! I lacked all lines, hit a branch and kicked backwards. Another ap- proach, then the putt for bogey. -> 4 #4: Comet backhand, a good throw. Approach went a bit deep. Un- fortunately I couldn't make the 8m putt. (The bogeys start piling up.) -> 4 #5: Comet backhand. The approach leaked a bit left. Missed the uphill putt. -> 4 #6: The short hole downhill: I went with the P3 forehand. Of course I needed hyzer ... but I didn't realize how much hyzer I would have needed (or how much height as an alternative). I went with a half power low shot. That stood up quickly and gained speed form the downhill lines. Straight down it went. A beautiful line if one ignores that I wanted to land near the basket. From about 50m past the pin I approached back up, and needed two putts to finish the hole. -> 4 #7: P3 backhand this time. I had learned something from the pre- vious hole so this drive was a bit better. When I putted, I hit the cage in a bad angle, the disc then rolled 20-30m down the hill. Long approach back up ... and eventually ended the bogey streak with a double! :-( -> 5 #8: But what about bounce backs?! Now we were down in the valley and things were different. Great Comet drive on the 100m hole. Then made the 6m putt for birdie! :-) It's interesting that the Comet many times flies just a far as my drivers. -> 2 #9: Comet backhand. Such a beautiful flight! Just not quite near enough to run the putt on the now rised basket! After the trees around the tee were removed last year, the hole had become too easy, now they rised the pin to make it difficult again. -> 3 #10: Comet backhand, good drive. Approach. Putt. -> 3 #11: P3 backhand, with a bit too much hyzer. (I should remember that throwing uphill makes discs more overstable -- that's per- fectly clear but I either don't remember to think about it or don't want to trust my wisdom.) I had an obstructed look but couldn't make it. -> 3 #12: Comet backhand hyzer. Went too short left. It was a bad drive. Layup. Putt. -> 4 #13: Comet backhand, yanked it right and got an awfully long full flight down the hill, at last even skipping off the roof of the lift cabin. From down there (pin-high) I approached back up and hit the important putt to safe par. -> 3 #14: Comet backhand, on a good line. Unfortunately I missed the 6m putt. -> 3 #15: Comet backhand. Not the worst drive but I couldn't connect on the uphill putt. -> 6 #16: Comet backhand, a bit short. Approach. Putt. -> 3 #17: Comet backhand big anny. I went all the way to the left side of the OB fenced square. That's about equally far as with my drivers. Unfortunately I had a bad approach and missed the putt. -> 4 #18: Comet backhand. The drive was okay but it landed right behind the big tree, thus the putt had low chances to go in. -> 3 The overall score is bad, which mainly stems from the first half of the round: six bogeys and a double to start with. Part of the problem were getting used to these unfamiliar discs for these holes. (In Ehningen or Wiley these discs would not have caused that much trouble.) The Zone was the disc I missed the most. It would have provided forehands and more reliable approaches. On open holes and for straight drives the Comet was about as good as my drivers (in low wind). There was not much distance missing. On holes #3, #8, #9, #14, #17 it went just as far. On #4, #5, #10, #16 my driver usually flies a bit farther. Hyzers were dif- fiult with the Comet. On #2 forehand impossible and on #12 back- hand with a mediocre result. I still don't know what to do with the Comet. It clearly has the nicest flight of all discs. It works great for low power straight flights and slow long annies. That can be good in the woods or on tight fairways (safari golf comes to mind). But I can throw it only backhand and it's more of a one trick pony ... which col- lides with the style of my bag and my approach to the game. Thinking of the P3, I probably should throw it more. Usually I only putt and layup, jump putt and thumber approach or scoober with it, plus an occasional short roller. For all throwing I use the Zone (except hole 5 at Wiley). P3 and Zone are almost dis- junct in their use. Of course, this makes decisions easy, but the P3 could provide some nice flat landing or slow turning lines that the Zone does not. This could improve my finess and touch game. It's remarkable how seldom I lay putt's up, since quite a while. Also I don't really care much for comebacker length. Sure, in death putt situations or in danger of rollaways I calculate my risks, but without such danger I run all putts, even from outside the circle. A year ago or so this wasn't the case. Too much I feared the problem of long comebackers and three putting. Seems I now manage to keep the comebackers short and thus can run putts from farther away. Maybe the difference lies in the putting flight. Maybe I have the nose more down and don't get lifted that much. Or maybe I putt stronger and directer with more spin? What- ever it is, putting better has made the game less stressfull for me. It feels like driving into the circle and approaching close to the pin are the more challenging parts than putting. That feels good. (It's not that I would putt well every time, but it doesn't build up that much pressure.) http://marmaro.de/discgolf/ markus schnalke