Vibram Arch One Disc Round Challenge

Earlier this year, Vibram Disc Golf sent prototype discs to Team Vibram, and other select Vibram testers. In order to read the Vibram Arch and Notch prototype disc review that I wrote, feel free to check out the link. The 2015 Maple Hill Open is concluding today, and the Notch, Arch, and Valley are now being released for regular distribution. In honor of Vibram’s latest release, a few members of the Disc Golf Underground got together in order to have a one disc challenge. The disc we selected for our challenge was the Arch.DGU members Nathan H. and Amber H. joined me on a road trip to Dallas, Texas for the weekend from Houston, and while we were there we played Jimmy Porter Park DGC in Carrolton. Due to the recent Texas rain, never playing the course before, and being on a semi-limited time frame, we played with the following modified rules:

1. No Out of Bounds
2. Play it where it lays (when possible)
3. Don’t slip and fall (all of the tee pads were wet, and most were muddy. There was mud everywhere!)
4. The Arch is the only disc used for all slots.

Both Nathan and I have bagged our prototype Arches since we received them. When the PDGA officially approved the Arch, Notch, and Valley on April, 20, 2015, the Arch became more integral part of my bag, and I normally carry two of them (one I use a lot, and one in case I lose the other one).  Even though I do not throw the Arch as my official workhorse, in the back of my mind, I want it to be. It is a great fairway driver that is pretty close to “point and shoot” when I throw it off the box. I mostly use it in stable (straight) to slightly overstable (hyzer) lines. There is some bite at the end of the flight path when I need it to be there, and generally I use it in the 320′-360′ range. It is not a super overstable disc like the Notch, but at this time I have a hard time using it as a turn over/anhyzer disc. Oddly enough, even though i do not attempt a lot of forehand shots in regular rounds, I will dabble with them in “one disc rounds” and I find that I can use the Arch comfortably in the 240-260′ RHFH range. (Note: on hole 9 of the video I slipped and grip-locked a RHFH shot that was pretty epic, in a bad way, but that is not the normal way I mess up in RHBH.) I am still moving the Arch into more and more of my regular shots, and need to play more “one disc rounds” in order to feel more confident with the Arch in more situations.