There
was an international tour with stars like Ricky Bartle and the Velasquez
brothers. They
went to Copenhagen and I was at the Copenhagen Frisbee Festival and was
impressed not only with the performance by the players but also the workshops
they held. Imagine that a young boy like me could watch the World's best
players and ten minutes later they would learn me how to throw a sidearm.
It was a great concept and I hope the frisbee festivals will return one
day. I got hooked and played my first disc golf tournament in September
1980.
2.
How often do you practice? What does your program look like now? Did it
change over the years?
I have a family and a job that keeps me real busy so I have very
little time to practice now. I used to practice 30-40 hours per week and
I had one year where I played 21 tournaments during the summer and it
was probably my best summer ever. It is better than average if I practice
twice a week. It makes it very hard to stay competitive but I do my best.
3. What´s your advice for beginners to develop their game?
Don't throw too many discs. Buy the basic equipment; learn how
your discs fly, then move on to more advanced discs. Start with basic
discs like the Aviar or Magnet, then the Roc, XL and others. Don't just
go out an play a round of golf, but mix with "real" practice where you
learn how to throw right curves, left curves, straight shots and all the
trick shots. You don't improve from playing rounds.
5. Which discs do you have in your bag and why?
My season is always so that I use the spring to test equipment
and after that I decide what to use during the summer. My bag is a complete
mix-up right now, but it seems like I'll use the Aviar-X and Putt'r on
the short range, Roc for midrange (two models that don't fly the same),
and then a bunch of different long-range discs. The main long-range discs
will probably be the Banshee and the Firebird. My requirement to any disc
I use is that it is predictable. For that reason I do not use discs like
the Valkyrie or Beast, even I may use the Valkyrie for some rollers. The
local courses are rather windy and the way to get good distance is not
to pick an extremely flat and unpredictable disc that may fly very far
in a random direction, but to pick a fast flyer like the Firebird and
learn how to throw it right.
6. Are your discs lasting for long?
Yup. One of my Rocs is from 1987 and I still use it in tournaments.
7.
A good round mostly depends on successfull putting, which depends
on a good set of nerves. Can you describe your putting routine?
Not much to say, actually. I focus on the stance and I visualize the
disc going through the air. Speed is important too. My key to putting
well is to drive better - when my driver is hot, my putts are dropping
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7. In last yearâs Berlin Open weâve seen you playing outstanding roller
shots on nearly all 9 final holes and finally overtaking Robert
Delisle. Can you tell us a little bit about the secret of successful
rolling?
Pick the right disc and learn how it rolls. A good choice is always
understable discs like the Valkyrie or Stingray. You need a huge field
to test your roller discs, because some discs will stay on a straight
line all the way and others will turn during the roll. You may prefer
to use two different discs for rollers for that reason.
To get distance you need to keep your shot low. If you hit the disc up
in the air it will loose speed when it bumps into the ground. The rest
is a matter of practice.
8. Before taking a shot, youâre famous for using a lot of time on
concentrating; we even heard that this ceremony is sometimes
distracting other playerâs rhythm. Whatâs going on in your mind while
doing that?
Oh, being a slow player is a bad reputation but I think I'm within
the time limit on almost every shot. However, I know that I am close to
the time limit on many occasions. I don't consider myself as a slow player
because I, unlike many other players, move fast down the fairway, prepare
for my shot in the background and know when I am up. Anyway, I spend the
time estimating the height of my shot, I read the wind directions on the
fairway and I focus on how to land the disc. Where will it stop, skip
or roll? This is often forgot by less experienced players who hit the
green but see their disc skipping away or the disc will stop with a downhill
putt into the wind as the next challenge.
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9.
Youâve been Danish Champion for many times - and so has S¿ren
Larsen. Is there a special rivalry between you two?
No. We really like both to practice and play with each
other. Last year in Berlin, where S¿ren was fighting for fourth
position and I was close to the lead, he was my "caddie" during
the final round even he played himself. It was a great help to
discuss the drives with him and nobody knows my game better. I
do the same for him whenever I have the chance to. |
10. Do you see yourself overtaken by new coming players soon?
Every year I predict "this will be the year where all the new
players will beat me". I'm sure it will happen this year.
11.
What was/is the best moment in Disc Golf?
I really like a good comeback, and even it required that Michel
Bigneron, Klaus Kattwinkel and Derek Robbins all screwed up at the same
time, my win in Rotterdam two years ago was a great experience. Michel
and Derek were tied for the lead with four holes to go and I was trailing
by five shots. I think I gained four strokes on Klaus, five on Derek and
six on Michel on the last four holes and went on to win over Derek on
the first play-off hole. It was "sudden victory" and will never happen
again.
Another great day I was playing the course in Aalborg and aced hole 2
and hole 3 in succession. That is also very unlikely to happen again.
12. What makes a good/perfect designed course?
Variation. This is one reason I prefer long courses - it is simply difficult
to design a course with variation if it is short. Par 4 and par 5 holes
can be designed so you need to focus a lot more on strategy. The courses
I design are made as long as possible given the area we can use for the
course, and we create three tee pads (short-middle-long) for every basket
to make the course fun for every level of play. This design principle
is known from real golf and it is time for us to adopt it in disc golf.
13. Whatâs the best course youâve ever played?
We played a long version of the course in Geneva at the European
Masters in 1992. That was a perfect course. The "modern" course in
Beaminster is also a fantastic course. Within range, I prefer the
course in Aalborg (www.bundgaardsparken.dk) that we use for Danish
Open. We will redesign the course prior to this year's tournament to
make some of the holes longer, but the par-4 holes (#12, #14 and #17)
match some of the best holes in Geneva and Beaminster.
14. Have you ever played at the Worldâs? If yes, what impressed you
most?
I played the World's in Helsingborg (1985) and Charlotte (1986).
Unfortunately, I did not have the money to go the following years.
Today I have the money, but not the time.
As a young player, the most impressive part of the event is the option
to learn from other players. If you really want to improve your game,
it is worth going to such an event and get severely beaten by the other
players. There is so much to work on when you get home, and it pays off
in the end.
15. The PDGA wants to enforce its activities over here in Europe. What
do you think/expect from that?
Nice idea, but it won't change anything. The problem in Europe is lack
of resources (people, money, sponsors, courses) and communication. As I
read the PDGA proposal, they will not bring any of this. They bring
concepts. I am always positive and we can definitely learn from the
PDGA, but we have to do the work by ourselves. We may loose a little
focus if we communicate too much with the PDGA and not enough
internally. Let's see what happens.
16. This year youâre planning a Reunion Tournament. Can you tell us a
little bit about the background of that?
Sorry, but we cancelled the reunion for this year. I wrote to a large
number of players that has participated in Danish events since the
start in 1980 but got very little feedback. For this reason, we do not
dare to organize the event in 2004, but next year will be the 25th
anniversary. The idea is to organise a social event where players from
Denmark, Germany, Sweden and many other countries who has participated
in Danish events since 1980 can meet, play disc golf and have a great
party. There are so many I want to meet again.
17.
What´s your profession/job?
I design software in a company I started with two friends some seven
years ago. That is also why there's not enough time for disc golf
anymore.
18.
Do you want to play for the Hyzernauts?
It would be an honour!
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