A Tale of Individuals

This is just a short (biased) story about the recent Australian Flying Disc Championships held in Sydney. No attempts to cover up real names were made and results are as accurate as I could remember.

The Australian Flying Disc Championships (individuals) were recently held in Sydney (27-30th April), at the Macquarie University Sports Fields. This other side of disc sports is one I'd never been privy to. I thought that after playing ultimate for over 10 years that I really should get off my high horse and go see what all the commotion was about. Besides, they were being held at uni by my Frisbee Club and it was a great excuse to get out of work. For those of you who are unaware of what individuals is all about, here is a quick summary. It's a combination of events including double disc court (DDC), distance, self caught flight (SCF, made up of Maximum Time Aloft and Throw Run Catch), accuracy, discathon and the famed disc golf. You can find out more about the finer details of all events.

Here I am, someone who's really only ever thrown an Ultrastar, rocking up to the first event. I walk over to the other competitors to introduce myself and the first thing I see is a guy holding 2 bags full of different discs (I later find out that this guy Kurt holds 3 world records). Maybe the trackie pants, no shoes and holding just an ultrastar wasn’t the best choice of attire. I think they included the USO division (ultrastar only) to appease players like myself. Anyway, the first event was DDC. Luckily I had played this before so only about half the rules needed to be explained to me and throwing the DDC disc was very similar to throwing an ultrastar. After a couple of hours of play and a full rotation of partners I had managed to score my first medal, woohoo and the crowd goes wild. Winner Me

In the afternoon we all participated in the distance event. After my morning's efforts I thought I needed extra inspiration for this distance thing. So as one does in a time of need, one calls upon the Kolonel's Finest Chicken recipe for lunch. However at the end of the event I was clearly a few drumsticks short of making a mark. I was humbled by my throw of 89m with an ultrastar, by Kurt who pulled off a throw something near the 165m mark (he was actually almost disappointed with this – ouch) and basically every other competitor who clearly passed my mark. I think Lee Coady came in 2nd with a throw of 130m, nice work. Got to get me some of those golf discs. Winner Kurt Karlsson

The 2nd day consisted of 4 events. The windy morning was perfect for maximum-time-aloft and throw-run-catch. I managed to pull out a throw that floated for a full 11.40 seconds. I was leading the pack and feeling quite confident….until Kurt's second last throw… which soared into air and came straight back to him in 11.53 seconds – doh, just missed out on that one. The throw run catch was a similar story, but it was my bad. I had a great throw but caught the disc with 2 hands (only allowed to catch with one hand). Maybe I should have been listening when they explained those rules to me. Winner Kurt Karlsson

The afternoon included the accuracy and discathon. The accuracy was great, I just wished the target had arms and hands to catch the disc. The amount of times I was wide, short or high by a foot was frustrating. I got slaughtered in this event so I will move on. Speaking of a foot, Kurt decided to attempt the world record for accuracy with a foot throw (Jonno Holmes control yourself – yes you would be a shoe-in for this). Kurt just missed out on the world record for distance foot throw on the previous day by a mere metre, but managed to surpass this world record. Nice work Kurt. Most of us were highly amused at this light entertainment, I can only imagine what the onlookers thought when I attempted it next – right in the middle of campus. Mental note: use this for next year's O-week.

The discathon was next, just think of it as an extremely long disc golf hole (say over a kilometre), but you just have to do it as fast as you can, not worrying about how many throws you make. I was feeling confident when we were walking the course before the start. I was thinking, finally some running. Good to the see the heckling had started though, as word was passed around that a current competitor had made it to the finals 4 years running at the world individual championships – doh, my confidence gets a shot in the leg. Puffing and panting, I arrive still running at the last check point, all I have to do is throw around a tree and have the disc cross a line that is ten metres wide (the crowd was watching, so of course no pressure). I throw….. doh…. missed it, how could I. It was only 15 metres away... 20 seconds later, after I undid my mistake, I had completed the course. There were smiles though. I managed to score myself another medal. Winner Lee Coady.

The last 2 days teed off the disc golf competition around the campus of Macquarie Uni, and yes, there were proper baskets for all holes. The golf consisted of 3 rounds of 18 holes and then a final 9 for the top 4. The number of competitors had doubled for this event. Word of a new course designed for the occasion had clearly spread across town. Thanks Owen for throwing with an ultrastar, this actually made our USO division legitimate, as there was now more than one competitor. The baskets were obviously a foreign concept for the USO division in the first round. I think I found myself only 18 strokes off the lead (Owen had a similar score). No probs Owen, we'll catch up next round. I was humbled by many a throw from my fellow golfing competitors. At least I provided them with a few laughs, even if it was to my dismay... Let's just say I experienced the chilling temperature of the lake on campus on more than one occasion. However much improvement was made in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, I was only 8 and 9 shots off the top score for each of those rounds. The damage had been done though and I finished mid pack. Winner Kurt Karlsson

Clearly I was out-classed on many occasions by my fellow competitors. It was great to see the many disc golfers who made the trip to Mac Uni. Just wait till next year... For winning the USO division I received a nice new golf disc. I won't hold back for you guys next time (hehehe).

See the full results, or check out australiandiscgolf.com for disc golf action.