Andy's Response

You might remember that I wrote a short note to Andy Powell, you might not.  I joked around about doing some book reports or that sort of thing for Andy, but he obviously doesn't need help with his writing.  He's written a response to my letter and in the interest of being fair and balanced, I'm going to post it.  I certainly don't agree with every thing he's written, and I'll probably get to that in the near future, but I'm happy to open up the dialogue.  So, here you go, words from Andy himself.

Oh, I just don't know where to start. First of all, my request for wider coverage was not the first.

chris young wrote:Love the scouting report Justin!! You should do one for Adv and AM2 also!

But perhaps the focus should have been limited to the accurate and insightful story of the pro division because:


AM1: Where the action isn't
From my perspective, the advanced division has been a disappointing mess thus far. I was really hoping this would be the year of JRapp, but I'll have to hope that a good finish on home course can ignite his game in the second half of the season. The early leader, Mr. Sweat gained that position through a mediocre start at Pinnacle. 5th place with scores that would have only gotten him a share of the AM2 lead has got to be upsetting for the big man. If Habets hadn't started the year in pro, it would have been even worse. Since then you guys have been passing around the disc golf mojo like a hot potato. Ask anyone what the difference between AM1 and AM2 is, and they'll say consistency. Who is going to figure out how to finish top 20% with respectable scores on a regular basis? Who is going to step up and show they want it? I like Wedel's chances right now with Christian in a close second. Don't count out McQuade though. He smelled blood in the water early and made the jump. Why be top of AM2 when you can be at the top of AM1 with the same game? He probably likes his chances better there because:


AM2: Where the action is
Seth’s departure added some intrigue to the tights points race we have this year. His hold on the division through the first two events didn’t keep the other contenders very far back. After he left to conquer the flailing advanced division, I managed to take the points lead at Black Falls despite a third place finish behind a playoff victory for Murray. Mr. Junod then used a second consecutive win to take a 2.68 point lead in the standings. As Justin would say, this was a “tight grip” on the lead and Murray must have felt he had the title wrapped up. Then Killington came and went and we have a race again. This is the type of story we’ve been looking for from the AM1’s for the past two years, but the world of VT amateur disc is a little backwards. Here is the division where there are three or four serious contenders consistently battling it out every round with a group of very talented golfers just behind looking to play spoiler. The insider scoop will tell you that I’m missing North Calais for another little tournament in Rochester, so falling short again on the home course could end my chances. These are the type of stories that should be told, but we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet because there is still:


The story of the year
While the attention may be on the perennial contenders for GMPS titles, my request was for coverage of all divisions, not just the points series. The best thing about Killington for me, other than the ridiculously large and awesome tree stump trophy, was that my first round group was much better looking than usual. I am of course talking about the increasing number of local women golfers. This is a great thing for our tournament scene. We all know that girlfriends and wives are far less likely to complain about the time the guys spend on the course if they are out there too. I hope we can look forward to eventually getting some more women in the club, but for now just seeing these newer players coming out in groups from BTown and the BCO areas is a great step forward. Katie Stansfield can’t always count on her monthly trophy anymore, but I believe this has to be a good thing for everyone involved.


On a personal note
As far as my moving up is concerned, if Justin were to look at the NEFA standings for the advanced division (http://nefa.com/PointsSeries/divisionPo ... visionID=5) he would find my name there 9 places above his despite my 2 events to his 3.  I will be in the advanced division for a third time in just under two weeks as I join Travis and Patrick in representing Vermont at the Am Worlds. I still can’t believe we won’t be seeing Bachnein at the flymart.  I can’t wait to try out the new courses, and if I play well enough maybe my mom can even read about me in the Borelli Blog.

Since my little jab at Josh somehow turned into a challenge with Christian, let’s just take the time to look at the head-to-head results.
Pinnacle – Andy by 2, Sap Bucket – Andy by 1, Gnomes – Christain by 2, Killington – Christian by 4
It’s all tied up at 2-2 with Christian holding a 3 stroke lead over 8 tournament rounds. My call is it’s too close to call.