Ravi's Winter Tour

[text by Shankdog, lifted from comments]

A little recap of the East Coast swing:

It was with glee and anticipation that the Shankar entourage began to wend its way southward for the holidays, stopping initially in Swarthmore to chill with Saito and Tomoko and introduce little Samara around. It was with great eagerness that I saw Saito's disc mania in full bloom. The man has a portable putter set up in the bedroom, complete with masking tape marks for various putt lengths - 10, 15, 20, 25 and it's a good thing he's renting because the doorframe and hallway were pockmarked with traces of disc hits. I also got to see the hermetically sealed containers in which Saito has preserved his disc collection - a sweet sight indeed! Over fifty discs of all flavors (and like a true pro, a la Blake, Saito has two of each disc which is perfect in case something gets lost, like his old friend the Cheetah). We spent the evening chilling and watched Dave's xmas gift of the Scott Stokley video, it was useful to see the x-step in slow motion and hear some of his pro tips. The low-fi production value also was a nice source of humor and the utility of the instructional video helped partially redeem Mad Dog Santa in the eyes of the receiver. The next day, I opted to stay longer and take a bus from Philly so Saito and I could hit Tyler, which we did. The rounds have been recapped by Saito but I will just add that Saito started off on fire, keeping it close through the front nine and demonstrating that his putting practice is paying dividends by nailing twenty foot putts with consistency. Shankar was initially rather rusty and felt the charge of the newbie, until settling down to make some long drives with the Starfire and some pinpoint approaches with the very disc he had talked so much smack about, the Floater (we kept flushing but it wouldn't go down), now renamed
the Little Flyer. It earned its keep that afternoon and so I hereby retract the shit talk directed Mad Dog Santa's way (sorry M-Dog) (although we esteemed that its presence in the care package was just so the minimum expenditure could be met to the very penny). Going around the back nine holes, the score was Shankar +9, Saito +16, and though a tripler and doubler on Shankar's part at the end tightened things considerably, it was not as close as the score would indicate: +14 to +18. The next round, emboldened perhaps by the late Shankar swoon, a kind of signature of past seasons, Saito wanted to put ten bucks on it, to which Shankar agreed without a moment's hesitation. This round was very competitive with Saito jumping out to a stroke lead through six holes, and causing some panic on Shankar's part especially since the twosome had agreed to play 18 and not the full 27. Then Shankar found his true groove and for the first time in many a season was satisfied with the three components in his game - drive, approach, putt. Shankar ran off par after par and Saito demonstrated considerable moxie by shoring up his game and matching Shankar shot for shot. Still it looked like a cruise to victory at hole 16 with the score, on course record pace, of Shankar at +2 and Saito at +6, when we approached the hole with a mando tree that had to be hyzered around. Shankar drove first and his disc did not clear the mando, and in fact bounced back towards the left leaving him in the worst possible position - not far enough to accrue the penalty stroke that would have forced him to go to drop spot, but far enough that he had no angle to make it around the mando. Shankar attempted to curve it around and flubbed it, leaving Saito in prime position to gain some strokes, which he did, leaving the score with two to go, Shankar +4, Saito +6. Saito did not capitalize though, scoring boogey-boogey on the next hole, while Shankar scored par-birdie, and the round of 18 ended up with Shankar at +3 and Saito +8. Shankar was particularly impressed with the surge in Saito's play though, especially his consistent putting and foresees a strong season for the dynamic disc guru (though it should be mentioned that the likely candidate for rookie of the year and a real up and comer is Tomoko who has been practicing and could shake things up when all's said and done!)


A few days later, the Shankar entourage had arrived in DC and had plans to meet Monsieur Bruen, the lean mean Mr. Mom machine at Burke Lake Park. Bruen had been talking some considerable smack about putting the wood to one Brahmin's ass and actually, Shankar's brother-in-law Ben Brown also came along, having caught the disc bug himself. The day was glorious, sunny and in the high fifties and accordingly, Burke Lake was more crowded than ever before. Bruen had been practicing his drive in the wilds of C-ville and had confidence that for the first time ever, he'd be able to best the Shank Dog. The discs (plural!) he rec'd from his secret Santa had quickly become staples in his bag, particularly the Sidewinder and the D-Buzz and Bruen howed his mettle by stepping up and driving a beauty on hole one as hopeful harbinger for things to come. Shankar and Ben Brown matched and set the tempo, with Bruen more primed than ever to make that quantum leap into the winner's circle. The turning point in the round however was on hole six with Bruen and Shankar neck and neck and Ben Brown just a few strokes off the pace. Bruen threw a tight, accurate approach that nestled just inches from the pin and Shankar's threw (with the Little Flyer which did not quite produce the results that it did last time out) was errant, nearly forty feet away. Bruen let out an unabashed exclamation of delight at Shankar's misfortunate, pumping his fist as if he had stuck a game-winning putt. That negative rooting which was manifest on a few other occasions over the course of the afternoon clearly had some karmic ramifications as Shankar stepped up and calmly sank the forty-footer, deflating Bruen's spirit. On the next hole, marked by being opposite Hole One and next to where the carousel used to roost, Shankar unleashed a monster drive with the Starfire and Bruen, still flummoxed by not having gained a stroke on the last hole, chucked one of the ugliest ducks ever to take flight and the quacker pinballed off a few trees and landed right in the middle of the fenced-off carousel area, nearly behind the point he started from. Bruen had to climb the fence, retrieve his disc and attempt a par save, but instead met tree#2, then tree#3, then tree#4. Net result, birdie for Shankar, triple boogy for Bruen and the round was effectively over. There were plenty of other highlights including Bruen sticking a seventy-five foot putt with the D-Buzz for Eagle and having another one hundred and fifty footer narrowly miss by bouncing in the bucket then out. The score of the first round was Shankar at -3, Bruen at +6, Ben Brown at +10. It should be added that all of this was done from the pro tees, which contrary to popular belief, had rarely been played due to consensus opinion. The next round was very similar, ending up with Shankar at -2, Bruen at +3 and Ben Brown at +10. Undiminished by this turn of events, we engaged in a final round where fatigue and bowlios made an impact and where we were struck behind a group of six, stuck behind a group of four, stuck behind a group of eight and so meandering slow as dripping honey. Bruen having already hit the shot of the day with his long D-Buzz putt, did it one better, sinking a one hundred footer! Shankar had no such dramatics, just consistently driving straight down the fairway and putting anything from thirty feet in solidly into the basket. Perhaps most importaantly, no collapses of the double or triple boogey nature the entire afternoon! Bruen demonstrated over the course of play that his drive and approach was vastly improved and unleashed a monster forearm Sidewinder that consistently met shankar's backhand. His backhand however left much to be desired and Shankar, experimenting with his footwork, and making an X-step look like a drunken elf's jig, was wild on a few throws making the last round the closest of them all. Final round score: Shankar at PAR, Bruen at +3, and Ben Brown over +10.

All in all, great occasions for camaraderie and competition and proof positive that the new players are here to stay and to compete. Of course after all the shit talking bandied about, Shankar was happy to take the mallet whack-a-mole style to the heads of his competitors but took little solace because of the fact that he himself had been shut out of the winner's circle during the entire last season. Perhaps most interestingly, when all of us get together, it will be great to see Satio vs. Bruen vs. Weisberg vs. Chester. Saito and Bruen respectively thought they could take the other and of course the Pimp Daddy put fuel on the flames by telling this to the other party. I believe Bruen said he'd take Saito over his lap and spank him like his Slap Happy Pappy. I for one would be very interested in seeing what takes place when these forces collide.

Happy holidays y'all!