And another one bites the dust?

Its late in the afternoon on the second day of an all disc golf weekend. The Mikes are home, licking their wounds from the previous days exertions. Only two gladiators remain: The Champ and Young Saito. Over the previous 3 singles rounds, spanning 2 courses and 65 holes, the closest Saito has finished to the Champ is down 7 strokes. Yet here he is, tied with Ben going into the 25th hole at Tyler, brimming with confidence and the glow of possibility. The scores are not particularly pretty (+11, +11, although Saito is on his way to a PB, on a very hard layout) and mostly reveal a story of steady play by Saito, of particular importance the absolutely dead on putting in the 20-30 foot range contrasted with a range of costly errors by Ben. Highlights include having a seemingly decent approach for a par lay-up dissappear over the cliff? under a bush? into the water? and turn into a tripler. 4 or 5 missed putts from the 15 foot and under range and a few approach shots which were so godawful retirement should be seriously considered. There were a few bright spots to the Champ's game, mostly in the form of miraculous saves from further damage, including a huge par on a 40 foot steeply uphill desperation putt.

But now however, its hole 25 and Saito has the tee. He lets out a fairly safe drive that leaves him with an unobstructed 100 foot approach. Ben unleashes a monster which sails beyond the 322 foot pole and fairly far right dissappearing out of view. Despite Saito's secret hopes for OB, Ben is actually just fine and faces a routine 50 foot anhyzer approach around some lettuce. Brain fart #12 occurs and he dumps the approach in dirt less than half the distance to the basket and in keeping with the theme of the round, misses the putt. Young children in the vicinity are permanently scarred by the string of profanities which ensue. Saito calmly sticks his 20 footer (for about the 15th straight time) to take a 1 stroke lead with two holes to play.

They step up to hole 26. Ben is trying hard not to think about what it would be like to suffer the fate of other fallen pillars of the sport (those shallow husks of men, the Mikes and the Shankars) and to just focus on the shot ahead. But first Saito. Again unremarkable but safe. If Ben doesn't make some sort of move here it is all but over. He reaches in his bag and pulls out an old friend, his trusty red orc which while it may not be the disc of the moment has served the Champ well in past moments of peril. A hush falls over the gallery as he steps to the tee. Goldman silently recites a brief calming litany and swiftly unleashes his shot. Level, smooth, long and straight as an arrow - the red orc nestles five feet left of the 311 foot pin for a birdie putt even Goldman cannot shank. Easily the best drive this reporter has ever seen on hole 26. Saito is momentarily incredulous but quickly regains his composure. He knows that even on an off day the Champ wont go down without a fight. Back to tied.

They step up to the final hole which is for the first time in the very long position. Goldman throws his best drive ever on this long uphill hole, which would have netted a legitimate birdie look at the former position. Saito's shot is somewhat errant and looking like a sure 4 as he throws 2 approaches to within 10 feet. Goldman has a great look from his booming drive and spies another fairly straight forward approach for an easy 3 and the win. Brain fart +13 occurs. He leaves it well short, left and uphill of the hole. Still though he can end the nightmare now with a makeable 25-30 foot downhill putt. Not to be, it falls short, teeters and rolls 15 feet beyond the basket and down the hill. Far enough that the comebacker poses a challenge, especially given the debilitating putter's block which has been afflicting the champ. As Ben steps up Saito quite perspicaciously points out to the Champ how important the shot is. Ignoring this bit of trash talk, Goldman smoothly hits the chains, sending the match to a 3 hole play off.

Hole 1: two pars on two missed birdie attempts. Hole 2: saito finds trouble in the woods and ends up with a 20 footer in order to save bogey 4. Goldman has his best drive of the day on this hole but still must complete a 50 foot approach down a narrow path to make a par. He chumps it and has to take a bogey. Saito steps up for his bogey putt and what has become ridiculously routine distance and somehow misses it, giving Ben a stroke lead. Saito is completely deflated, although the match is far from certian. The next hole is a challenge, also in the very long position and has given the Champ problems in the past in the form of early wood. Both drives end up decent and both competitors have the same difficult approach through the woods to an uphill elevated basket. Goldman goes first. He needs a perfect shot here to maintain the tenuous 1 stroke lead. He digs deep and somehow weaves the most miraculous shot through the woods with a risky backhand driver approach which nestles snugly at the base of the basket, ending the dramatic potential upset. The mostly pro-Saito crowd let out a cry of dismay and was obviously dissappointed at not having witnessed what would have been one of the most incredible moments in the history of modern disc golf. The Champ however was obviously relieved. As for Saito, haunted by his missed putt (although which in the end probably wouldn't of mattered) and teased by victory so palpably close the excitement of scoring personal best faded by the wayside. But make no mistake, I'm sure we'll be hearing again from this youngster. He's gotten accustomed to the taste of blood and soon he will be closing in for the kill.

Results:

Nockamixon State Park
Doubles: Mike and Saito +3, Ben and Mike W +9
Singles Rnd 1: Ben +9? Mike M +14? Saito +20, Mike W +30
Singles Rnd 2: Ben +10, Saito +17, Mike M +20, Mike W +28

Tyler State Park
Round 1: Ben +9, Saito +18
Round 2: Ben +12*, Saito +12 (*Ben wins playoff)

Saito Ascendant

Ali versus Frasier. Nickalus versus Palmer. Classic matchups, the greatness of which have reverberated down through generations. Well, add another Brawl for the Ages to the list as a new rivalry has been born. Saito versus Shankar. The Young Whippersnapper versus the Hairy (or is it Harried?) Veteran. New versus Old. Professor against Professor. This is more than a clash of ideologies though, while that is certainly part of it. This is more. Years of smacktalking, competition, bets won and lost, paid and *cough* unpaid are all coming to a fore. In short, a new power is rising, one that may break Shankar on its climb to the top.

This past weekend, Saito strode into Connecticut and smacked Ravi around on his home turf, taking 3 of 4 rounds from Shankmeister at Norwalk, leaving him gasping and shocked, very much like this poor lady with the bad hair. Ravi awoke the next day as if from a bad dream and managed to save a bit of pride, taking third to Saito's fourth at mighty Wickham. Let there be no doubt however, the battle is now truly joined between these two competitors. Will Ravi recover and put this ornery upstart back in his place? Or will Saito continue to ascend, perhaps pausing momentarily to stomp Ravi by the wayside as he progresses towards more enticing game. Mills? check. Shankar? check. Ben and Dave....

Results:

Norwalk
Round 1 Saito +8, Ravi +9
Round 2 Ravi +11, Saito +12
Round 3 The Champ +7(?), Saito +11, Ravi +14
Round 4 The Champ +8, Saito +12(?), Ravi +15(?)

Wickham
Doubles: Ben and Ravi +1, Saito and Mike +4
Singles Rnd 1: Ben +8, Mike +10, Ravi +15, Saito +20
Singles Rnd 2: Ben +7, Mike +11, Saito +16