There are tournaments you circle on the calendar weeks in advance. You practice, study the course, think about your lines, and show up feeling prepared.
This was not one of those tournaments.
There haven’t been many tournaments close to Jacksonville lately, so when the Flagler OARS & STADGC Second Chance Open popped up nearby, Trey and I basically decided at the last minute, Why not? Let’s go throw some discs.
No week of practice. No tournament prep. No obsessing over every hole beforehand. Just a disc golf bag, my husband, and me—24 weeks pregnant with a baby boy and apparently still convinced I can compete like nothing has changed.
Spoiler alert: things have changed.
But I’m still throwing.
Just Me, Baby Boy and 26 Holes
There’s a funny thing that happens when you’re an athlete and become pregnant. Your mind still remembers exactly what your body used to do.
I step onto the tee and see the line. I know the disc I want. I know the angle. I’ve made this throw before.
Then my body gently reminds me, Girl, there’s a whole baby in here.
The walk is a little heavier. My balance has shifted. My timing isn’t quite as natural. My aim occasionally decides we’re going on an adventure I did not approve.
I’m not saying pregnancy destroyed my game. Far from it. I’m still out there competing. But pretending nothing has changed wouldn’t be true either.
And honestly, learning to adjust has become part of the fun.
So there I was, working my way through 26 holes, belly leading the charge, trying to make good decisions and score.
And I actually did some scoring.
Seven birdies.
Seven!
I will absolutely be taking those.
Unfortunately, disc golf has this annoying little habit of counting all the other holes too. 😂
I finished -4, but the round came in at an 820 rating, putting me third from last in MA3. As someone working toward raising my player rating, seeing 820 isn’t exactly the number that makes me want to throw confetti.
My first thought was pretty predictable:
Well, that’s going to hurt.
Then I had to remind myself what I had actually just done.
I played 26 tournament holes at 24 weeks pregnant. I finished under par. I made seven birdies. And I was still out there competing against the guys.
Maybe the rating wasn’t the whole story.
Apparently Everyone Was Competing With Me
My best friend was at the tournament too, but we weren’t playing together. She was competing in FA40, while I was over in MA3.
Of course, that didn’t stop me from checking scores.
What kind of best-friend rivalry would that be?
If I had been playing with the women, I would have finished second again.
Behind her. Again.
Listen. I love her dearly.
But the day I finally get that win on her, something deep inside my competitive little soul is going to heal. 😂
All fun and games, of course. Having someone you care about who can push you makes competing even better.
Then there was Trey.
My husband played the tournament too, which created another competition that was not sanctioned, recorded or recognized by the PDGA:
The Pike household birdie battle.
I had seven.
Trey had eight.
He got me by one birdie.
I’m not making excuses, but I would simply like the record to show that one competitor was carrying an additional human being.
Do with that information what you will.
Then My Round Became About Something Completely Different
Somewhere between the scores, birdies and trying to convince my pregnant body to cooperate, this tournament gave me something I wasn’t expecting.
The event supported Flagler Open Arms Recovery Services (OARS), an organization that helps individuals and families affected by substance use disorder through recovery support, education, resources and community services.
One of the men on my card told me that he had been helped by the organization.
That stopped me.
Because if he hadn’t shared his story, I never would have known.
Here was this guy playing disc golf with us, smiling, laughing and carrying such a joyful energy. We were just a group of people walking through the course, throwing plastic at metal baskets and trying to score.
Then he told me where he’d been.
Suddenly, Second Chance Open wasn’t just the name printed on a tournament page.
I was playing alongside someone’s second chance.
I don’t need to share the details of his story for it to have an impact. What stuck with me was the person standing in front of me now. Happy. Present. Enjoying himself. Playing disc golf.
There’s something powerful about seeing the other side of someone’s struggle.
You can meet somebody in the middle of their good chapter and have absolutely no idea how hard they fought to get there.
That conversation changed the feel of the day for me.
I Somehow Landed on a Pretty Good Card
Our card wasn’t short on talent either.
The other guy playing with us just kept collecting birdies. You know that player who steps up and you’re basically expecting something good to happen?
Yeah.
That guy.
Birdie. Another birdie. Keep moving.
By the end of the tournament, he won the event, and the gentleman who shared his recovery story finished third.
And then there was me.
Pregnant.
Seven birdies.
An 820-rated round.
Just happy to be invited. 😂
But that’s what I love about disc golf. For 26 holes, people with completely different lives get thrown together on one card.
You compete. You joke. You encourage good shots. You watch somebody absolutely crush a hole. You learn pieces of people’s stories.
Then everybody goes home.
Sometimes you remember the score.
Sometimes you remember the people.
Of course, Par On Disc Golf was out there too—playing, selling discs and supporting the event. Being part of Team Par On, I love seeing our crew show up and be involved in the local disc golf community. A little love to Par On for being out there doing what we love while supporting a tournament with a much bigger purpose. 💛🥏
My Game Is Changing Because My Body Is Changing
I’ve thought a lot about this part.
I don’t want pregnancy to become an excuse every time I don’t play well.
If I throw a bad shot, sometimes I just threw a bad shot.
But I also don’t want to pretend that being 24 weeks pregnant hasn’t changed how I play.
It has.
There’s more weight in front of me. My center of gravity is different. Walking a long tournament feels different. My balance changes. Even setting up a throw can feel slightly unfamiliar because the body I’ve spent years learning isn’t quite the same body standing on the tee today.
And that’s okay.
The athlete in me wants consistency.
Pregnancy is basically saying, That’s cute.
Every few weeks, the body changes again.
So maybe this season isn’t about proving that I can play exactly like I did before pregnancy.
Maybe it’s about learning how to play right now.
Adjust.
Throw.
Laugh at the ugly ones.
Celebrate the birdies.
Keep moving.
Baby on Board. Disc in Hand.
When I look back at this tournament, I could focus on the 820.
Trust me, the competitive part of me noticed it.
But that’s not really the story.
The story is that at 24 weeks pregnant, I walked onto another tournament course with my husband, competed against the guys, played 26 holes, threw seven birdies and finished under par.
My best friend was somewhere on the course continuing our unofficial rivalry.
Trey stole the household birdie championship by one.
I met two great guys on my card, watched one win the tournament and heard a recovery story from another that gave the name Second Chance Open an entirely different meaning.
And through all of it, my baby boy was along for the ride.
Someday I’ll get back to chasing ratings without a belly changing my balance every few weeks. I’ll work on my form. I’ll rebuild pieces of my game. I’ll chase that 900 rating and keep seeing how far I can take this sport.
But I’m not wishing this part away just to get there.
Because this version of me is an athlete too.
She’s a little slower.
Her aim might occasionally be questionable.
She might need a few more breaks.
But she’s still competitive. She’s still making birdies. She’s still loving sports.
And she’s still showing up.
Baby on board. Disc in hand.
That’s a pretty good round in my book.
And Trey?
Enjoy that one-birdie lead.
I’m counting it. 😉
Still reading? Then you’re officially part of the adventure. 💛 Drop some love on the post, share it with somebody who would enjoy the story, and come back for the next one. Around here it’s disc golf, travel, family, adventures and whatever life throws at us next.
Uniquely Mixed — Connection is the current.
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