So,
The 2017 MVP Circuit Challenge was not the usual type of tournament. It was one of those tournaments meant to introduce players to new discs and included challenges in addition to the disc golf tournament. It took place at Von Baer Park in Providence, which is quite a challenging 9 hole course (which I will explain in the next post). To make it 18 holes, we played the course twice, once from the short tees and once from the long tees. For non-recreational, adult males, there was only one division to play in. There were only 21 players in the division which worked out well because a 9 hole course would end up being pretty crowded with more players. As it was, with the way the course is laid out, you sometimes had to wait for players to tee off on the hole ahead of you before you could throw because the fairways were so close or served both holes.
Players were restricted to using only MVP Circuit discs for all of the events. The players pack included:
- Plasma Servo - the Servo is not a new model but it's now being released in Plasma plastic
- Electron Vector - the Vector is also not a new model but it's now being released in Electron plastic
- Neutron Particle - the Particle is a new model
There were additional discs available that players could purchase that they would be allowed to use in all the events. I picked up this watermelon because it would make a cool addition to my wall. It's an Axiom Insanity that I wasn't planning on using.
One bit of luck for me was that I already owned a Servo and a Vector. I use my Servo in just about every tournament I play. I don't use my Vector anymore but it throws very much like my Latitude 64 Gobi, which is currently my go-to mid-range. The Particle is very much like my current putter, the Latitude 64 Sarek. The Sarek has a bit more glide than the Particle but they are both overmold discs with matching flight ratings in everything but glide.
Each event gave the player an opportunity to score points. Playing the course gave each player 100 - their score in points. The additional events were:
- Putting Competition
- Ring of Fire
- Driving Distance
- Straight Driving
Putting competition - There were five different kinds baskets set up that each had 2 places where players had to putt from. Players got one try from each location and got a point for every putt they made. I put 6 in which I thought was pretty good.
Ring of Fire - All players form a circle about 30 feet from a basket in the center. When told to throw, everyone putts at the same time. If more than one person makes it in the basket, those players retrieve their discs and do it again. This procedure is followed until only 1 person makes it. If more than 1 person makes a putt and no one makes the follow up putt, everyone gets their disc and the whole thing starts over. Each winner received 5 points and 5 rounds were played. I didn't win any of the rounds but my doubles partner won twice. How cool is that?
Driving Distance - Just like it sounds. Throw a disc as far as you can up a hill. The person who threw it the farthest got 10 points. Second place got 9 points, and so on. I threw my watermelon for this event and got 4th place.
Straight Driving - A basket was set up about 300 feet down an access road that was about 15 feet across. Trees crowded both sides and arched over the road creating a tunnel. The person that got the closest to the basket got 10 points. Next got 9 points and so on. I threw my watermelon again and took 5th place. My doubles partner's son actually threw his disc past the basket but was still the closest, taking 1st place.
After all of the events, I ended up tied for 4th place. My doubles partner took 3rd.