So this past weekend at Mathews Park in Monroe, GA. It had been since December of 2008 that I hit an ace. That ace was hit during the ace pool throw-off at the end of a tournament at Sequoyah Park. We were throwing from hole 13′s tee box to 17′s basket on top of the hill. Nothing like slamming the chains in front of 40+ people to win $100.

This ace wasn’t as climatic but it sure did feel good. As time passes the feeling of “I am due of an ace” begins to weigh down on a player. It is an irrational thought as most hole-in-one shots are bad shots that just happened to go great. Anyways it was nice to get the Ace Monkey of my back.

My ego was hurt a little from the last course I attempted to play blind. I wanted a little redemption so I signed up for doubles after only playing the first 4 holes. Might as well jump back into it with both feet and playing doubles with a local partner would save me from my mistakes I might make. Well there were only six that signed up so we made the decision to change the format to winner-take-all singles. So here I was now going up against five other players that have played the course many times and I guess I set the expectation for playing well pretty low.

First hole two people get within the circle, myself and another threw into the shule to the right, one to the left and one golfer threw it two times into OB off the tee. I knew this would knock him out of contention as he holed out with a seven (he eventually quit after the front nine). Second hole my drive went right down the right side of a dog-leg left hole. Got a good kick and had an easy three. Third hole I threw pin high about 40 feet to the right in the woods and still saved par. By this point I had cemented myself at the top of the tee box and I didn’t give it up too often. I just played par and didn’t try to force anything which is what you have to do in the woods. I had a couple of putts that should have gone in for birdie in the middle but finally broke the birdie seal on hole 15 with an ace run on the 300-foot downward shot. I must have been about a foot away from hitting chains. It was at this point I knew I had a chance to win it.

Sixteen I got a birdie. Seventeen played it safe and got the par. Eighteen I tried to play it too safe and ended up getting kicked into deep shule and had to fight my way out to get a five. I beat second place by a stroke. Shooting a 59 might now be phenomenal at that course but for playing the course blind it was pretty damn good. The only thing that sucked was that I was paid out in merchandise rather than cash but who cares it was nice to get a win. I am sure I pissed those locals off that day.

I was really hoping I was going to start blogging about disc golf again in a positive light. I have been training for the past few weeks. Working out on a regular basis, watching what I am eating and taking vitamins. I have been putting in the backyard a least three times during the week. The few practice rounds I have been able to squeeze in during the evening have been good and productive. All that work was suppose to payoff this weekend when I was to play the toughest course in Georgia.

Well the toughest course in Georgia had other plans for me. When I added my strokes up after the first round I couldn’t believe what I had shot. Sure I had a few mistakes and even more a few unlucky shots that resulted in some penalties but I didn’t think I could have shot what I did. To add insult to injury the rest of the group I played with shot eight strokes or better than I did. It made me sick. Second round was a blur as the weight of the first round still loomed over my head. Or perhaps it was more like a monkey throwing feces. Either way the lessons I learned in the first round didn’t help me much in the second and crap still seemed to fly from my hands.

Am I going to quit the sport of disc golf just because I came in last at a tournament….no way. What I am going to do is take a step back from playing in tournaments for a little while. Maybe a couple weeks or perhaps a couple months. I am not sure yet. What I do know is that I need to get back to working on the fundamentals. Don’t just go out to a course and play a round. I need to work on the individual aspects of my game to help the overall product. The main aspect I need to work on is the mental game.  I have lost that since last year and my head just isn’t in it to win it.

Cimarron was the first Western to win the Outstanding Production award (later to be renamed Best Picture) in the midst of the Great Depression. Like the films of its time it took a while to get the plot moving. The film is just over two hours and it really wasn’t until the last 20 minutes did the plot start progressing. It was great film even though it was slow in some areas and I think it captured a lot of the issues during that time. The portrayal of ethnic minorities in the film was probably one of the more interesting aspects of the film. Most of the ethnic minorities did seem to play into the stereotypes of the time and most of the major characters did reinforce that. All except the male lead who seemed to be more understanding and sympathetic toward those individuals. Overall a very enjoyable film.

Well I must say that An American In Paris was not what I was expecting. Now don’t get me wrong. I knew it was a musical and that it starred Gene Kelly so I knew there was gonna be some dancing. I just didn’t know how crazy the dancing would be. The 18 minute ballet sequence at the end was just plain nuts. Colorful costumes, elaborate sets, and tons of dancers made it just a technicolor trip fest. I couldn’t help to think that a least a few people out there probably dropped some acid and watched it. The plot of the movie was good but everything that happened in the movie only seemed to serve Gene Kelly’s character. A rich society woman discovers him in the market selling his paintings and eventually falls in love with him. Then he starts seeing another woman on the side who is engaged to his friend. In the end he gets the girl on the side with no consequences. Overall it was a good film but not as strong as other musicals I have seen.

Watched Rebecca last night and it was a great film. This was Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film. As with most of the early Oscar winners it was slow in spots but overall a fantastic film. The soundtrack of the film seemed to replace the lack of sound effects in places. If something was dramatic then the music was loud and slightly faster. If you saw someone walking the strings played pizzicato notes in close time with their pace. It had a great twist at the end that M. Night Shyamalan could learn a thing or two about.

The Sting was an excellent movie. Slow in a couple of spots but an overall great movie with a nice twist in the end too. Not like those M. Night Shyamalan films where the twist is sometimes just plain crazy. I wasn’t sure how old Robert Redford’s character was suppose to be as they seem to treat him like a kid throughout most of the film. At the time he made the film he was close to 37 years old. Robert Shaw was awesome and Paul Newman was equally good.

Watched My Fair Lady for the first time all the way through. Hakeber of course had already seen it and loved it enough to buy the DVD. I actually enjoyed it even with its long run time of 171 minutes. I found it very interesting that Audrey Hepburn wasn’t even nominated for an Academy Award nor a Golden Globe for her role. I will go ahead and call that a snub.