Blog
Now we're getting somewhere! I played a crazy event this last week. My first Glass Blown Open in Emporia, KS! The tournament is insanely well organized, in this amazing little town that is ALL ABOUT us disc golfers! The newspaper featured our tournament every day, the signs of even the mattress store read "Welcome GBO Disc Golfers!". You can't drive anywhere in that town without running into one of the other 1,200+ other disc golfers. It's really an experience unlike anything I've been a part of. Along with the crazy disc golf friendly atmosphere, there was also crazy Kansas weather. We were caught in the middle of tornado and flash flood warnings! This is the first tournament I’ve played that had a lightning delay called twice which forced us to finish our round the next morning. What this meant was that we spent many hours in the cold and rain to only finish 8 holes on one of the longest courses, and then were forced to play the remaining 10 holes at 7:30am followed by our final round on another pretty long course. This was my most exhausting weekend yet and I actually ended up getting really sick on Sunday. I’m finally recovered from a cold/flu that completely took me out until today!
During this tournament, I certainly felt more myself. I do feel like I still belong in the advanced field while I work through these struggles I’ve come across. My first round it was sunny and beautiful, I played with some REALLY lovely girls and ended up coming in with one of the best rounds the TD had seen all day. I shot a +1 on my first day, rated 898. I thought I had kicked my mental battle already and was quite pleased, yet still skeptical. The bad weather set in and my plan was to throw my stable discs and stay in bounds. I was doing pretty well for how bad the wind and rain was. I stayed positive and stayed in bounds most of the time. Then the lightning delays came. We started the next day in nice weather. Still chilly, still moderately windy but not bad. We started on hole 9, the hardest hole on the course in my opinion with 2 island like sections with water and OB everywhere, including in the middle of the first island you play to. My first throw of the day - OB, my second shot over the water, skips OB, and I’m still 400+ from the basket. I played the rest well, got to the basket hit a good putt and it spits out. That’s it, that’s all it took to make me snap. My confidence was shot, I’d felt so good going in and after one hole, I feel defeated and crushed. I wish I had someone there to shake me and remind me that the game isn’t over and that every single stroke counts and you cannot play a round of competitive golf feeling sorry for yourself. I proceeded to take some 5’s, lots of 5’s, missing silly putts and throwing out of bounds quite a bit. I’m glad I was able to talk it out after and re-group about what was happening before the 2nd round of the day. I went into that last round with a good positive attitude and played much better except for a 6 on the last hole where I think I was just too excited. I want to say another thank you to all of my friends for reaching out with good advice and positive thoughts when I was in need. I got a bunch of personalized message from people I haven't heard from in years even. You guys really helped keep my head on straight and kept from making the problem worse. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I ended up tying for 4th again in this A-tier just like the Memorial in Phoenix. This time out of a field of 30 advanced women. I think this is certainly an accomplishment considering 4th is my worst finish in advanced women so far this year. I learned a lot this tournament and I feel good going back to Portland playing well over my rating again. I’m starting the drive back tomorrow and spending a few days in Salt Lake City, Utah with friends and my new/old job starts on Wednesday. I get to make my own schedule so I’ll still be hitting the tour pretty hard. Next up: Daisy Chains - Santa Cruz, CA Masters Cup Pro - Vending - Santa Cruz, CA The Lynx - Cottage Grove, OR Zoo Town Open - Missoula, MT Beaver State Fling - Estacada, OR AM Worlds - Madison, WI I’m actually starting to get excited to get back to Portland, even for the job. I function well with a schedule, especially one I make myself. It’ll be good to get away from the tour and focus on just me and I can train on my own and hopefully surround myself with my support system in Oregon. Road life has been good but hard and I’m actually looking forward to some much needed me time. I plan to putt and throw putters every day on my lunch break. I plan to make a bunch of money to set me up for a better tour later this year and next year. And I plan to come out on the other side of this job a better, more centered person. Portland did that for me once and I expect it to do that again. Keep your chins up, stay positive, and just throw some damn frisbees! Tina |
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Author
Tina Stanaitis - Professional Disc Golfer (#68076), Entrepreneur, Full Time RVer, and Dream Follower Extraordinaire!
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