Braeden at the WORLDS

Welcome (and welcome back to many of you from last year) to the Braeden Blog tracking his participation in this years World Disc Golf Championships.

Most of you will remember that Braeden came in 2nd in the WORLD last year in the junior division. So...rather than competing in the junior division again this year (and quite likely winning it)....Braeden has chosen to move up 2 divisions to Men's Advanced (the highest level he can play without turning Pro)! He feels he's got a very good chance and is not interested in the glory. Go figure:-). He has been playing in and placing very well in smaller Canadian local tournaments in the Pro division

He has practiced dramatically more for this tournament than he did last year, so it should be great. I will try and get something up each day for you to be able to follow Braeden's progress throughout the competition.

Enjoy...... Greg Simmonds

Warm-up Week

Day 1 Monday (rounds 1 & 2)

Read Last Years Blog

We wheeled into Kalamazoo Michigan on Friday night. Braeden was determined to golf each of the 5 courses he will play this week. So on Saturday and Sunday Braeden did just that...playing 5 rounds to ensure that he had the lay of the land. This seemed like a reasonable idea....Braeden's neck and shoulder didn't quite agree!

Sunday night featured the Players Meeting, with around 700 people piling into a local theater to get a last minute instructions for the start of the competition Monday morning. A 9pm visit to Pam, the masseuse and Braeden had all his parts ready for the morning

Well....
Braeden is up on the porch with the BIG DOGS!!

Yes... My wee little 16 year old, hailing from Mouats Park on Salt Spring Island is stepping up two divisions to play 579 of the best amateur disc golfers in the world in the ADVANCED division. The only way up is to turn PRO!

OUTSTANDING START!!!!

It was an absolutely beautiful morning today. We had a 5:15 wakeup call and Brady was up and flying right at the bell. We had a great hometown breakfast at the greatest Ma & Pa restaurant in Three Rivers, at 6:15 am. Braeden was warming up at 7 am for his 8am start time. There were 144 of the Advanced Men playing the two fields in Three Rivers, while the remaining 435 played elsewhere.

With the sun beaming and without a breath of wind, Braeden was the first in his group of four to tee off. He was so focused, so confident that he took off, birdying the first 3 holes and establishing a lead that he would not relinquish. It was virtually flawless disc golf! Braeden was dazzling all three of the guys in his foursome with his putting and especially his HUGE drives.

When the first 18 holes were finished, Braeden had POUNDED the rest of the the guys in his foursome and beat all of the other 144 guys on the course! Braeden posted a truly impressive 47 .....11 under par!!

Probably the best part of the morning (for me) was walking around in between the morning and afternoon rounds. I must have walked by at least 10 different groups of guys over the hour and a half and it was all the same....

"Yah... Some guy from Canada shot a 47!!"
"Holy Sh*t...did you see the 47 round?"
"the 47 was a 16 year old kid!"
"its a 16 year old Canadian that got the 47"
"SICK....did you see....someone shot a 47!"

When the horn sounded to tee off at 1pm, Braeden was the top guy on the top card, with the three other top golfers from the morning. There were probably 30 people who watched him tee off on hole #1!. Round 2 saw much of the same with Braeden really playing solid golf. The caliber of the guys in his group had risen dramatically and there was some great disc golf to watch. Braeden and Jimmy Bates were golfing equally well. They were tied going into the final hole, when Braeden ran into some serious TREE TROUBLE and spent most of his journey down 18 with leaves in his face! Jimmy took a Par 3, while Braeden carded a double bogey 5. Jimmy took the round by 2 strokes, leaving Braeden the overall leader of the day by 2 strokes! Braeden tees off at 2pm tomorrow in the lead at 17 under par.

Check out some of this weeks events by clicking to View Video

Day 2 Tuesday (round 3) Tee time 2pm

Tactical Triumph!

Not that sitting around a disc golf park in Southwestern Michigan isn't my idea of a great way to spend the day... It's just that its always MUCH more enjoyable when there's actually disc golf going on! We arrived at 1pm in order that Braeden could warm up. Braeden's group was set to tee off today at 2 pm, however the two earlier groups (8am & 11am) were way behind. As such, we were forced to "hang around" waiting for a later start time. Braeden took 737 putts, threw 4213 upshots and generally joined the collective navel gazing until 4:30 when their group finally teed off.

Braeden's group (pool N) were playing Kimball Pines, a nasty bit of business known affectionately as "Pinball Pines" because it is 18 holes of nothing but TREES. If your head's not screwed on straight and you don't bring your 'A' game, you're going to feel like you are living in a Pachinko game!

This is not Braeden's favorite type of course. He much prefers the wide open fairways of the previous day, where his thunderous drives give him an advantage over the field. However, he made a decison going in that this course was not going to beat him.

Again, Braeden was the top golfer on the top card, with three other guys that had shot there way to the top as well. Chilly, Jimmy (from yesterdays round) and Ben teed off at 4:30. It didn't take very long for the course to start taking its toll. There was ALOT of time spent hunting for discs in the woods. Very tight fairways and trees everywhere. Braeden ended up in the woods quite a bit, as did they all, but he was able to save par over and over and over, with amazing upshots that put him in putting distance. The other fellows weren't quite so lucky as their scores starting rising mercilessly. See Advanced Pool N on the PDGA website

Jimmy Bates, who had come out of the day yesterday only 2 behind Braeden, was imploding. There was bark flying all over the place!!!! He was a teensy weensy bit less than happy. Braeden just kept his bombs in his bag and methodically laid up for par over and over again. At one point Braeden stepped back from a putt, rethought it and stepped back up and NAILED IT!! He came over to me after and said "I just that about Glen O . He never misses those and he has shown me how important every putt is"

It was a a very tactical, patient demonstration by Braeden. When it was all over, Braeden had the 2nd best score of the 150 guys that teed off today, scoring a Very Respectable 54 (4 under par). Jimmy lost 12 strokes to Braeden!

Braeden heads into Wednesday 6 strokes ahead of the second place golfer!! After today, all 579 golfers will have played the exact same courses and they will leave their current pools and be sorted for the remainder of the tournament according to their scores.

Note....The videos are a wee bit jerky and "keystone Cops-ish". I am trying to figure out why??

Stay tuned. Have a look at the video...

Day 3 Wednesday (round 4) Tee time 2pm

Leaving Money on the Table!!!!!

I don't quite know how to describe this afternoon's round???. The kid comes away with one of the top 4 scores carded in our 2 pools.... But he played poorly!!! It was crazy. All the confidence he created in the first three rounds by nailing almost everything had vaporized.

Still... He got a GREAT score! But he left a TON of money on the table!

·	Long, thundering drives went off into the weeds
·	Drives down wide open fairways clipped the trees and crashed
·	20 foot putts that have been "golden" all week, missed the mark
·	He fell off of two tee pads

Still... He got a GREAT score! But he left a TON of money on the table!

He was SO unhappy with his score during the match and especially afterwards. People were congratulating him and he couldn't get away fast enough. Ken Climo, the world champion forever, scored a 61 on this course yesterday. Braeden shot a 62 And he was pissed!!! And he's right. He made so many uncharacteristicly poor shots that, had they been even marginally better, would have seen him score a 55. But have I mentioned...

Still... He got a GREAT score! But he left a TON of money on the table!

What it did show was his ability to stay focused, keep his cool and save pars on just about all of the holes. He shot a 7 under par 62 when all was said and done. But he left a TON of money on the table!

Crazy eh? (that's Canadian)

Today's 18 hole course wandered its way up and down and then up and then down a ski hill in beautiful countryside. Some VERY tough holes, often stretching over 700 feet straight downhill or straight uphill. When he did pull his BOMBER drives out of his bag he really got a hold of them, firing a 570 foot drive on the 18th hole (a laser beam and on level ground)!

So.....as he lies out cold in the bed beside me, Braeden is in first place In the total Advanced field of 288 men (not 579 as I had said before). He beat the 143 guys in the two pools that have been together by a minimum of 8 strokes (2nd place guy). The 4 pools have now been sorted by scores and he tops the lead group (pool K), ahead of the second place golfer by 2 strokes.
See:

5:15 wake up call tomorrow morning, with an 8 am tee time. He will CRUSH the lads tomorrow!

I'll bet you a dollar and a doughnut Braeden leaves NOTHING on the table tomorrow!
(Or a toony and a.... for some)

Here is a short segment from a 2 part interview that PDGA TV did with Braeden (the longer, first part will be on a DVD they will be distributing)...

TV Star!

Day 4 Thursday (round 5) Tee time 8am

It's really there for someone to lose"

With the caliber at this level and with the difficulty of these courses, you don't see as many opportunities for any one competitor to blow away the group. Everyone is so consistent that it becomes an excercise in ensuring you land your par at all costs. Its not so much someone's to WIN as it is someone's to LOSE.

Braeden was solid, focused and ready as were the other three. It was a demonstration of great disc golf by all four guys. Impressive golf led to very solid under par scores of

52, 53,54 and 59 with Braeden carding the 53. The fellow with the 52 was as smooth as golden and will again battle with Braeden on the top card tomorrow. Braeden enters tomorrow with a nice, but by no way secure, 3 point lead.

Sorry folks...rushing out to the Players banquet tonight, so this has been short but sweet. Two rounds tomorrow. One at 8 and one at 2pm. Keep your fingers crossed!!! I think he's going to break out.

Oh boy!!! We're back... Great evening at the players banquet. We weren't there 5 minutes when the media descended on Braeden for an interview. Braeden was wheeled into the "Green Room" and sat in the lights and the questions were fired away. He handled it like a PRO! Great interview, have a look....

Here's some action from Braeden's round today.... Enjoy.

LATE
UPDATE

Another FANTASTIC Michigan day....no wind, moderate temperatures and a "buzz" in the air. All four of the advanced pools had been shuffled and Braeden sits atop all of them! An early morning sub sandwich at 6:30 and we're at the course with Braeden ready to take on all comers.

The four best guys (to date) are on the top card and Braeden leads them off on a new course that Braeden has yet to play, but in practice. Its a very serious bunch, but again....really great guys. This sport has surprised me since day one, with the friendly, supportive nature of virtually everyone involved. Really great folks.

Now that the "cream has risen to the top" so to speak, it is astounding what these guys can do with a disc golf disc! It is so controlled, and so pinpoint in its precision, that you really have to be amazed. These guys are navigating LONG winding tunnels packed full of trees, like they are out on a soccer field tossing the old Whamo! The more I watch, the more I am truly impressed with the ability of these guys.

Day 5 Friday (round 6 & 7) Tee time 8am/ 1pm

Technical blowout here! Just lost an hour of work. Too tired...too angry to blog.

Readers Digest Synopsis:

·	Round 1: Braeden was solid. Tied for first with a 54. Stays 3 strokes ahead
·	Round 2: Braeden was very steady. Shot a bogey free round to the final hole
·	Final Hole: Through his drive 753 feet into the woods.
·	Needed a Husquavarna chain saw, two lumberjacks and two days worth of freeze dried food to get himself out
·	Ended with a triple bogey 6 and lost 4 strokes to the 2nd place guy! Ended the round 1 back of the new leader.
·	Finishes the 7 round tourney one stroke back, in second place.
·	18 hole semi-finals for the top 67 guys at 8am tomorrow
·	Top 4 guys go to the finals in the afternoon
·	Braeden still has a "A" game in his bag. No doubt!
·	My laptop didn't bounce much when I fired it out the window

Day 6 Saturday (round semi-finals) Tee time 8am

GOING TO THE FINALS!!!!

Only the top 4 men in the ADVANCED divison make the final round and Braeden is going in the # 2 position!!!

This mornings round was not a particularly happy round, as Braeden started where he left off yesterday. He was already 3 strokes behind by the end of the second hole. Very disappointing for both Braeden and Dad. But here's where Braeden really shone, as he was kicked in the gut time after time, but he stayed cool, sportsmanlike and didn't fold up his tent and go home.

Nothing was clicking the way it had been in earlier rounds, but he stayed with it! Braeden ended up losing 5 strokes to Jeremy, the leader, over the 18 holes this morning. A tough, tough pill to swallow. However...he goes into the final round at 2pm in 2nd place! Having shot an 8 under 54

So we had a buffet lunch...a few miles of "quiet time" and have conquered the "would have"..."could have" "should haves" and he's keyed up and ready to attack in an hour and a half. He has just lost too many strokes to realistically challenge for 1st place (the finals are only 9 holes), however, the goal is to ward off the two remaining competitors and maintain 2nd place in the world.

These guys are truly AMAZING!

Keep your fingers crossed!!!! The pride continues to roll on!!

#2 in the
WORLD!!!!

Zip to the bottom of the page for a quick report

Day 6 Saturday FINALS

Congratulations Braeden!!!

Young Braeden Kyle Simmonds is the 3rd best amateur golfer in the world. He just proved it today! After defeating 286 of the worlds best amateur advanced men, Braeden received a fantastic trophy and the praise of all those who golfed with him and many, many who did not.

We have just arrived in Chicago after two rounds of golf, a long, entertaining awards presentation and social event, 3 1/2 hours of driving. Braeden is now buzzing a bit and realizing what he's accomplished.

However, the proud, beaming father is dead on his feet and the alarm goes off again at 5am tomorrow morning. As such, I will try to get some photos and video up for you tomorrow evening.

Stay tuned.

Thanks

The Wrap Up

Well, I had some big plans to get home and put together the wrap up video from the finals and semi-finals. It was a solid idea, however, we have been home approximately 32 hours and we've each slept about 26 of them!

I would invite you to have a look at this last video. A little disc golf, a few giggles and some photos from the week.

Thank you all for following this blog. Thanks for supporting Braeden, your encouragement and your emails. What a fantastic week! Braeden and I will be back at the Worlds next year.

Cheers,

Greg