Cory and I flew to Phoenix so that Cory could participate in The Memorial Disc Golf Tournament in Scottsdale and Fountain Hills, Arizona. Cory, a right-handed person, has been playing left-handed for the last couple of years. His plan is to develop his left-handed disc golf game to be as close in ability as his right-handed disc golf game; as close as he can get it.
When he and I go out and play a casual round of disc golf, he plays two games at a time: one right-handed, to keep his right-handed skills up, and one left-handed, to improve his left-handed skills. But when he plays in PDGA-sanctioned events, like The Memorial, he only plays left-handed. Before he started the process of developing his left-handed game, he played in the Open Division, but as a left-handed player, he’s playing in the Advanced Amateur Division. It has been really fun watching him learn and develop his left-handed game; it hasn’t been easy for him, but he’s very dedicated to it. I’m proud of him. When he feels that his left-handed game is good enough, he’ll go back to playing in an Open Division using both hands.
Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona- Cory putting
- Saguaro cactus at Fountain Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona
- Cory in front of a Saguaro cactus at Fountain Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona
- Driving on hole 1 at Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- At Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- At Vista Del Camino park, Scottsdale, Arizona
- Disc golf at Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- Paul and Cory playing a practice round
- At Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- Disc golf at Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- At Fountain Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona
- Vista Del Camino park in Scottsdale, Arizona
- Cory putting
- Vista Del Camino park in Scottsdale, Arizona
- Emerald Park, Mesa, Arizona
- A disc golf basket in front of the fountain in Fountain Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The water from the fountain goes about 300 feet into the air.
One of the best things about going to the memorial was being able to visit family and friends. We stayed with my Sister in Gilbert where we were able to visit with her and a lot of our family. We were also able to spend some time with friends we have known for a long time, and we had the chance to make some new friends.
While we were at Vista Del Camino park in Scottsdale, Arizona, we met Marc, Tim and Michael and we played a practice round with them. Cool! Thanks, guys, for letting us tag along! Michael is a sculptor; check out his stuff at mdambrosi.company.site
The Amateur Divisions finished the tournament on Saturday, but the Open Divisions played their final round on Sunday, so we got a chance to do some spectating. And while we were playing some practice rounds, we had the chance to catch up with Paul Ulibarri, a good friend of ours. Paul finished fourth in the Open Division. And speaking of Paul, I thought I’d mention that Cory is a disc golf coach for the Ulibarri Leadership Institute. Cory’s experiences with learning to play left-handed have positively informed his understanding of how to help others learn to improve their game.
There were 99 competitors in the Advanced Amateur (MA1) Division and Cory placed 73rd. Not bad for his first A-Tier PDGA event as a left-hander! He has played in smaller tournaments as a left-hander, but this was his first big event. Here is a link to the results for all divisions.
Note: The image at the very top of this post is a composite of nine different shots of Cory with an AI-generated background.
