Paul Ulibarri at the Veteran's Park Open

What do yall think about what happened this weekend?

 

(copied from innova's site http://www.innovadiscs.com/home/393-ulibarri-true-sportsmanship.html)

 

Reposted account by VPO tournament director Chris Browning: "GG (Garrett Gurthie) won in the playoff over (Paul) Ulibarri on the third hole. Paul exhibited one of the greatest moments of sportsmanship I have ever witnessed in disc golf. On the first playoff hole, both players' second shots were close. Garrett was out and on ...a 15' putt, he hit dead center chain and the disc dropped in the basket. However, what happened next I have never seen before the disc hit the bottom of the cage and bounced out."

Not wanting to win on the flukiest of shots, Paul threw his putt into the dirt and both players finished out with a 4.

"On the next hole Paul got into trouble on the drive and had to pitch out into the fairway. GG's drive was laying nicely, and he threw his approach to about 20' away. Paul's upshot was parked, but GG missed the putt to win, forcing a third hole."

"The guys played Hole 1, which is a 594' hole that has a dogleg right into a small opening in the trees about 80' from the basket. Paul threw a great drive that landed about 20' short of the opening. GG uncorked an anhyzer that glided perfectly through the opening and left him putting for 2 from about 35' out. Paul's upshot landed about 10' behind GG's drive, and Paul attempted a long jump putt that fell short, leaving him laying three by the basket. GG missed the long putt, but had a drop-in 3 to secure the win."

Stay Classy, Paul Ulibarri...

 

 

 

 

[Senior]

"The whole point of competing is to try and win"

Jim said that Paul was not demonstrating sportsmanship. I say that competition and sportsmanship are two different things. It is irrelevant that it is a competition when it comes to exhibiting sportsmanship. Demonstrating good or bad sportsmanship to your opponent is possible in all types of situations and extends to everyone around you including the spectators. It is true that Good and bad sportsmanship are key ingredients to a strong and healthy competition, but IMO saying that Paul did not demonstrate sportsmanship is like saying he did not play disc golf that day. He was there, he played, and he made the call. For all we know he could have went out that day with the goal of playing for fun and didn't care if won the event or not. So saying that the point of a competition is to win is to forget that people compete for all kinds of reasons and self justify the results regardless of the official outcome. It is all relative. Not absolute.

[Jim Coonradt]

Maybe comparing this situation to Dustin Johnson was a poor analogy but I was just trying to make the point that professional players in any sport (the ones who are at the top of their game) don't make decisions based on their opponents strengths or mistakes. They base their game on what they know they are capable of. I think that there probably is more to this story than what is known. Maybe they did agree to split the cash. I am not doubting that Paul is a good sport. I am just doubting whether throwing the disc into the ground somehow makes him a better sport in any way. And I say no it does not. Especially if they agreed to split the cash ahead of time. So we will have to agree to disagree on that one.

And although I don't win all of the time I still play to win. Otherwise I'm just wasting my time and not trying my hardest. I had a chance to win singles last week (only a foursome showed up) but I let the back nine slip away. But it was unfortunately mine to lose. I was leading or tied for the lead after nine holes. And I did not concern myself with anyone else's game. Maybe next time I will come out ahead. I am just going to have to play a better game. Would have netted me an extra $15 and some respect. And since we were playing skins I probably would have won a few more of those as well. But close enough doesn't count.

[Justin NUDGA#15]

This just shows what a cool guy Paul is, although I already had that impression of him. Paul has been traveling the country kicking ASS all year. Going to a playoff for the trophy is a SICK experience. He just loves the intensity and wanted to battle it out!

[J.D.Guy]

When i read it, it wasn't that deep for me. I envisioned myself in a battle with my good friend and teammate over 4 rounds, having it come down to one hole and his putt being a great dead on putt wherein something truly "fluky" occurred. i wouldn't feel too great about that win. out of respect for him, i'd miss purposely, although maybe not as obvious, and push it to the next hole. pretty sure that's how paul felt. some of you are being pretty good jerks, .... . you'd probably find something wrong with Mother Theresa too I'm sure. check the mirror d-bags.

[Mark Cuban]

For those of you that wouldn't intentionally after that fluke occurred , what would you have done if it was the same situation and a car drove by and beeped right in the middle of his putt and that made him miss?

[Cameron Frymark]

or if something fluky had happened to his drive or upshot?

[Jim Coonradt]

This is nothing short of ridiculous. I remember once when I popped a putt straight into the basket and as I reached down for my bag it came right back out the front of the basket. Fluky? Not really. I missed and there was nobody there to cry for me. We all play by the same rules. Poor GG. Whatever. This is a sport and competition. That kind of thing happens all of the time.

I told this story to a friend of mine and he simply said "Well the guy didn't want to win".

[Mark Cuban]

Didn't want to win ? That is the dumbest statement I've ever heard. If a putt hits center chains then touches the bottom of the basket and pops out that's not a fluke? How could you say "well he missed the putt" that' s the 2nd dumbest statement ever! Everyone knows that the only real flaw in our sport is the inconsistencies of the basket plain and simple and to think that it was the putters fault when he pures it right into the middle and it pops out is stupid. Maybe your putter popped right out cause it was a DRIVER!

[Jim Coonradt]

I'm crying right now. Our baskets suck, etc. They were both using the exact same basket. I know that I won't convince you of my viewpoint but that's OK. I stand behind everything that I said. He missed that putt for whatever reason. A miss is a miss is a miss. Maybe in tournaments we should not just judge whether the putt went in or not but if the basket treated the putt in a fair manner. If we then call it a "fluke" do we get another go at it. Doesn't make sense does it?

I take responsibility for all of my misses and don't blame them on the basket, the wind, or anything else (including the disc).