I had a chance to play a round of disc golf with Innova’s new line of “Blizzard” discs this morning. Blizzard technology reduces the weight of disc because the plastic is full of micro-bubbles. The weight reduction moved discs that I cannot normally throw into my range. I tried a 135 gram Wraith and a 139 gram Krait this morning expecting a pickup of 30’ or so. I hit 30’ and then some.
The real measure of performance is your score. My typical score at my home course, El Dorado DGC in Long Beach, is within two strokes of par over 18 holes. I am a par player who gets an occasional birdie and one or two bogies per game. I am so consistent that my results are normally predictable. My best game is a –4 for a 50. A typical game is +2 for 56. My best score on the front nine is –3; for the back nine it is –1.
I played nine holes this morning. I scored a –4 for a 23, which is a personal best. I birdied holes one, three, six and eight. I can discount hole three as lucky because I made a 45’ putt for birdie, which is a 1 in 20 putt for me. The other birdies were normal putts (under 20’). I putted 27’ for birdie on hole four and missed. I putted 47’ for birdie on hole five and bounced off (after a 315’ drive). Hole seven was a disaster. I hit a tree with my drive and needed a 220’ upshot to save par. I landed within 10’ and nailed my putt. I did the same on hole nine. Hole two was a good drive which landed behind a tree. I made a good position shot and then putted for par from 15’. It was a very good round.
I used the Wraith as the driver on each hole. I threw a second drive with the Krait for comparison. My distance pickup averaged 60 feet. The reason I hit four birdies and putted for two others is simple; I was pin high on each hole. The lighter plastic worked. I could throw the Wraith; the Krait, not so much. It was a tree magnet.
The distance was nice, but control issues caused me to miss target to the left by a large margin. I was usually pin high and 40’ to the left.
My average open-field drive is normally between 210 and 240’. In an open field test this morning, I threw the Krait an average of 275’ and the Wraith a stunning (for me) average of 315’. My longest drive was 325’, but I was helped by a huge jump off a concrete sidewalk. I do not yet have the control I need with either disc. I’m sure control will come with practice.
I’m heading over to Discover the World to buy the entire inventory of Blizzard plastic so my disc golf friends cannot get their hands on this stuff. That’s fair. Right?
