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...

 

 

 

 

[Mike McFarlin]

He deserved to loose!! Not playing to win within in the rules is not being a good sportsman, it's just being stupid.

[Senior]

I don't agree that what Paul did was not demonstrating sportsmanship. They very idea of sportsmanship is based on a individuals beliefs of fair play, ethical behavior, etiquette, mutual respect etc... Someone who is considered a good sportsman is playing the game for it's own sake, or as we say "for love of the game"

We can say it was stupid, we can say it was the most class act ever. But as for whether or not it was demonstrating sportsmanship is up to the individual directly involved to make that call when the situation arises. In my opinion, Paul did something that he thought was fair and gave Garrett a fair chance to win. But that call was entirely up to Paul. Garrett could have missed the very next shot too and returned the gesture to Paul. Would that have been good or poor sportsmanship? I don't think we can truly answer this without being Paul and Garrett. I was their game.

[Mike McFarlin]

Sure it was poor sportsmanship. Sportmanship is being a good looser or a good winner, by giving it your all until the event is over. By not doing his best to win, Paul is as much a quiter as if he had concided the match. Also, by letting up he tainted Garrett's win, becouse now the concensous is that Garrett won only becouse Paul let him win, instead of putting him away. By throwing his disc in the dirt Paul stopped competing and that is not sportmanship!!

[Greg D'OHogne]

I am sure both of those guys would love to dispute these claims. Unfortunately (and I know this is going to sadden some of you), top pros don't look at this website as often as you think. It's probably not in their favorites bar, they don't make posts everyday, they don't have 8-zillion posts (hmmm...who could I be talking about?), and they don't give a stinking pile what everyone thinks about their on-course actions. "Sportsmanship" does not have an absolute definition...let it go at that.

[Senior]

Which was it? Sportsmanship or not sportsmanship?

You just said it was poor sportsmanship, then said it was not sportsmanship at all.

I will say it again, Paul demonstrated sportsmanship based on a situation he was involved in. Good, Bad or ugly it was his call. We can't expect to judge this sitting behind a computer.

[The FORCE]

no way man, no way. sportsmanship can be way more than shaking a guys hand. read "senior's" comment or mine earlier and try to understand while whether we agree with Uli or not, what he did was max level sportsmanship. he played the game fair BY HIS OWN DETERMINATIONS, not by the super-robbed putt.

i think most guys here that are knockin uli aren't looking at the story close enough. he wanted to win fairly, or not at all. in his mind that robbed putt must not have been fair. strong minded individual and got a lot of character here.

[The FORCE]

oh btw this is blazo logged in as the force on accident hah

[The FORCE]

FKN Blazo... If any one of us would have been there to see the putt we would have seen GG getting completely robbed and for no good reason. Like when someone putts, and its obviously going in, they bend over and pick up their mini to look up and see that their putt has jumped straight back at them by some happen chance of the way the basket and chains catch or do not catch. It sucks.
Also, have you guys ever played for hundreds of dollars in a professional sanctioned event? It's the time of your life.

[The FORCE]

Stop posting under my name Sean.

[Blazo]

lol. my laptop logs you in automatically though! and i realize it too late.
hey at least i made it clear that time haha

[Jim Coonradt]

Did anyone watch the PGA Championship this year? Dustin Johnson had a chance to tie and get into a playoff in order to win. He violated a rule (inadvertently) by grounding his club in a sand trap. The other players didn't throw their games because of Dustin's mistake. They were there to win plain and simple. I simply don't base my game on other people's games either good or bad. I base my game on me. I am no less of a sportsman for trying to win. It is a competition.

As Senior said, "Paul did something that he thought was fair and gave Garrett a fair chance to win". Why did he give his opponent a chance to win? Was he afraid of winning? To me it makes no sense. The whole point of competing is to try and win. And if you do that while being respectful of others and following the rules you are by very definition being a sportsman. At the end of the day you shake your opponents hand and say "Thanks for a good fight". And then you celebrate your hard earned victory.

BTW we all have said that we were robbed on a putt, but we all also know that we screwed up if even by the tiniest of amounts.

[Greg D'OHogne]

Trying to compare this to Dustin Johnson grounding his club at the PGA Championship is ludicrous! Grounding your club in the PGA is a known and written rules violation of the game. By grounding your club in the sand, you may very well enhance your lie. That is why it is a penalty. A disc popping off the bottom of the cage and high-jumping out of the basket is just plain bad luck. Paul didn't want to walk away with a victory that he knew would feel hollow for quite some time (if not forever). His decision is not the same one that everyone would make, for certain. It was a decision he made to ensure that he wouldn't have to foot-note his own personal memories.

BTW, I do believe that these guys had probably agreed to split the cash beforehand. In order to fully understand this scenario, I think you need to keep this in mind.