So,
Valley Regional in Taylorsville is not my home course but it's close, not in proximity but in the number of times I've played it. It's about a mile from my office so I play it a couple of times each week. Knowing which disc you're going to throw, which line you're going to choose, and having thrown it about 100 times over the last year (twice a week for a year) adds an extra level of confidence when you walk up to the tee. They did add a twist by throwing in some out of bounds (OB) rules that I had never played. It changed how I played a couple of the holes and cost me a stroke or two but nothing too major.
This was another slow and steady tournament for me. I did have a few good putts, hitting one from about 60 feet to snag a birdie after messing up a drive on a hole that I almost always birdie. Other than that, there weren't a lot of highlights but there also weren't many mistakes.
One mistake I made, taking an extra stroke, was for failing to mentally adapt to a new situation. Playing the course a lot is definitely helpful but you still have to be able to adapt to situations of the day. These can be things like new OB rules, wind, rain and slippery run up areas, among other things. Other things like walking up to a hole that has 3 lines through the trees to the basket and finding:
- the OB rules of the day makes the far left line difficult because the disc might not make it far enough to the right to get back in bounds
- the bungie tight-rope that a couple set up in the left line, while unlikely that your disc will hit it, looks like police barrier tape that isn't supposed to be crossed
- the couple that set up the tight-rope aren't actually using it but are making out on a blanket in the middle of the right line
I tried to play it safe, trying not hit anybody or anything, and ended up playing it too safe and not making it to the inbounds area of the hole.
This year, I'll practice specifically for that possibility so that I'm not taken by surprise again. I need to find a couple of volunteers to come set up a tight-rope line and make out while I play.
Again, minimizing mistakes (other than the tight-rope fiasco of 2017) was good enough to allow me to take first place in Advanced Masters.