The 2022 Hornets Nest Buzz Off was the third tournament I played, and the first with Matt. I had seen the coverage of Nathan Queen winning the DGPT Championship and wanted the challenge of playing a championship-level course. I missed the island #2 and shot +26, but loved the challenge and playing hole #16 only increased my admiration for Nathan Queen.
This is the 4th time Matt and I have now played this tournament. Every year I’ve managed to improve some (though I’ve never beaten Matt!). In 2025, the 4th Annual, we managed to convince DiscDyeAddict to join us.
I had three goals:
- Make the island on #2 (something I’ve yet to do)
- Shoot bogey golf (+18) or better
- Work on my mental game; not get discouraged. Be resilient.
I’m happy to report I did 1.5 of the three. I shot +18 exactly, which was 852 rated. Matt got me by only two strokes. I missed the island on #2 because I failed to commit and didn’t follow through on the swing, resulting in the drive being nose up and then stalling about 2 feet from the island. I then proceed to botch my upshot from the drop-zone to get me an early double bogey.
At that point I was frustrated. I essentially resigned myself to not doing well and decided to focus on the mental game. That helped and allowed me to focus and make some good shots.
See the PDGA Event Results