As for the competition, Saturday was “Beanieman” Carl Renda’s chance to shine, as he picked up his first win in a PDGA-sanctioned event.  Renda and 2nd place finisher Daniel Lichtman tied with totals of 79 after 36 holes, but Carl was able to cinch the victory in a one-hole sudden death playoff. Patrick Paramore won a CTP contest to break a three-way tie, one stroke back for 3rd place with A.J. Risley and Paul Morgavo.  Angel Garcia was the remaining member of a rather idiosyncratic lead card, finishing one more stroke back at 81.

In the Intermediate division, Matt Howard took first place with a two-round total of 84.  Kevin Christie found that the low-ceiling Olive Glen layout suited his style of play, as he took second place with an 88.  Josh Hesser (who also did quite well in the raffle) won a playoff with Glen Kluge for 3rd place (89) and Phil Jordan carded a 90 for 5th place.  Shonda Garcia fired a very respectable 106 to win the Ladies’ division.

Some disc golfers tend to look down their noses at mulligan-aided Ice Bowl victories, but for many in attendance at this and other events, a win is a win.  Patrick Paramore had this to say about Renda’s win: ”Considering that we all used mulligans and were limited to 3 per hole, Carl did rightfully win this XC-tier event. He made some crucial putts that gave him the edge.”  Witnesses to Saturday’s rounds further pointed out that the tournament winner was probably not the top mulligan-user of the day.  But he was definitely the one who used the necessary amount at the right times.  And you would be hard-pressed to find critics at the San Diego Food Bank.  Food bank officials have stated in the past that each dollar donated can feed three hungry people, which means that there are 5,000 people who will get to eat a meal because of Saturday’s mulligan-hounds.  Take that nay-sayers.

The Sycuan Ice Bowl and the earlier San Marcos Ice Bowl were two stops on the 7-event 2012 Golden Sombrero Series of Ice Bowl tournaments.  This is the fourth year of the series, and this year’s collection of events will set records for charitable donations.  So far, the Golden Sombrero events have raised $6,570 (Redlands – $927, San marcos – $1,000, Chavez Ridge/L.A. – $2,538, Beaumont – $355, Sycuan – $1,750).  Remaining events include Wrightwood on Sat., Feb 25th and San Diego/Mission Bay Golf Course on Sunday, Feb 26th.

Full results can be found here.  Full Golden Sombrero Series standings can be found here.

Saturday’s participants

Seventy-five disc golfers met at Kit Carson Park this last Saturday with one goal in mind: to leave the course that day with one of the coveted San Diego Aces black bag tags.  The black color is reserved for tags 1 through 10 each year and competition is fierce for these tags.  This year, our bag tag supplier (Little Flyer) had run out of the black mini discs used to make the tags when we ordered 2012 bag tags back in November, which meant that when the first 2012 tags were distributed back in December, the top ten tags were not included.

Which brings us to Saturday.  With the ten black tags in hand, a bag tag melee was organized where players would surrender their current tags before going out to play one round, with the tags to be redistributed based on the results of that round.  Interest was so high that thirty-five players signed up to be 2012 S.D. Aces just before the round.  Many players showed up early to take part in a quick work party aimed at cleaning up trash from around the course.  Twelve of those players received prizes from a work-party-only raffle, including Innova discs, hats, towels and shirts.

 

The prizes...

Saturday morning was especially windy for Kit Carson, and the scores reflected it.  Even though some players are known to brag about shooting “double-digits-down” on a regular basis at KCP, the best score of the day was a 46 (8-under) carded by Pro Master player Mike Westerman.  Mike took home the #1 tag by shooting one stroke better than Luke Christiansen and Stephen Heaps, whose 47′s got them tags #2 and #3.  Justin Kirk and Chris Vilmorin earned tags #4 and #5 by shooting 48′s, and four players (Tom Vincent, Christian Cullen, Nick Newton and Pete Rudart) took tags #6 through #9 by tying at 49.  Tag #10 went to Chris Armacost, who tied with four other players at 50, but had started the day with a lower tag and hence got to leave with the lowest tag in the group.  Full results can be found here.

The winners!

These players’ names have been added to the top ten tag holder list on the Aces website and will remain there until new tag holders are reported.  You can report top ten tag triumphs by sending an e-mail to rizbee@teamrizbee.com (he updates the website).  It is quite possible that some of these tags have already changed hands, because several of these players immediately defended their tags at Sunday’s Goat Hill Monthly (Westerman, Vincent, Rudart and Armacost).  That’s the spirit!

photo courtesy of Lee Beecher

Sixty players filled the course on Saturday for the 5th Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl, and by all accounts the event was a great success.  Most importantly, over $1,100 and 200 lbs of canned food were collected for the chosen charity, the North County Food Bank.  It was a great field of players, consisting of experienced tournament PDGA pros, first-time players, loosey-goosey amateurs, recreating Marines, two father and two-son trios, a mother-daughter pair, a father-daughter pair and a husband-wife pair.  Ample mulligan purchases and use led to some great scores, with Daniel Lichtman taking 1st place in the Men’s Open/Advanced division with a score of 75 for 36 holes, holding off challenges from Carl Renda (78), A.J. Risley (80), Travis Cutler (82) and Dennis Keane (83).  Allison Wylot continued her domination of the Women’s Open/Advanced division, winning again with a 2-round total of 101.

Kevin Christie took home the icy trophy in Men’s Intermediate/Recreational, tying Corona’s Darrell Degner with a score of 80 for two rounds and then winning the darkness-infused CTP playoff.  Steve Brueker (83), Kyle Becker (84), Brendon Tayag (84) and Chad Nichter (85) also posted great scores.  In the Ladies’ Int./Rec. division, first-time tournament player Laura Elliott (124) outlasted Maxine Cook, and newcomer Dakota Sessler (132) won the Junior’s division.

There were side games, too.  Carl Renda won a CTP playoff with Kevin Beath to take home the Hole-in-One basket.  Carl had aced Hole #7 (sidearm) and Kevin aced Hole #8 (lefty backhand skip) in the first round.  Andrew Mills won the long putt contest and its first place Ice Bowl hoodie, while Shannon Wylot won the Juniors long putt contest.  Laura Elliott was the winner of Disc Golf Bingo and received a full-color Ice Bowl stamp Roc.

Because of the great numbers of mulligans used during play and the mysterious missing scorecard from round 1 that delayed the start of round 2, playoffs and awards were conducted in the dark.  It was quite a sight to see – dozens of people huddled on the basketball court using flashlights and cell phones to read raffle ticket numbers, and everyone in good cheer.  Over 30 raffle prizes were handed out, including Ice Bowl-stamped discs and t-shirts, several discs and shirts from SoCal Disc Golf Association, a variety of prizes (hats, t-shirts, towels) from Innova Disc Golf and two gift certificates from Goat Hill Golf Course.

With this win, Daniel takes a 1-point lead in the overall Golden Sombrero points race, one point ahead of Carl and two ahead of A.J.  Many thanks to all of the players and to our sponsors and contributors: Innova Disc Golf, SoCal Disc Golf, San Diego Aces, City of San Marcos, Goat Hill Golf Course, Tina’s Deli.  Full results available here.

The San Diego Aces have agreed to install disc golf baskets and tee pads at Brengle Terrace that are property of the club – the Aces purchased these items when Emerald Isle Golf Course removed its disc golf course.  The club will be soliciting donations and sponsorships to help defray some of the installation costs, and is looking to its members to supply the labor to put the baskets, tee signs and pads in place.  The Aces Board of Directors is currently ironing out details of the agreement with the city of Vista.  Once that process is completed work will begin on the course.  Stay tuned for our call for volunteers!

See more about this in the story reported in the North County Times.

The competition consists of four rounds of match play disc golf, played over two days, two courses per day.  According to sources close to one of the team captains (OK, it came from a team captain, so that’s pretty close), Saturdays rounds will be at Kit Carson Park (8 am start) and Goat Hill (1pm start).  Sundays rounds will be at Sun Valley (8am start) and Morley Field (1pm start).  Players are responsible for paying their own greens fees at Goat Hill, Sun Valley and Morley Field.  There is no truth to the rumor that any of the courses will let the South team trade in their spiffy team shirts for greens fees.  Singles matches will be played at Kit Carson on Saturday and Morley on Sunday, with doubles matches played at Goat Hill on Saturday and Sun Valley on Sunday.

Scoring?  No details have been released on how the matches will be scored.  Standard match play rules call for players to compete for the best score on each hole, with the winning player/team receiving one point.  We’ve heard some people muttering about keeping score by totaling the number of holes won by each player…we’re not sure.

What’s at stake?  Well, obviously bragging and trash-talking rights for the next year.  There’s also a rumor about a trophy, but very few people have ever seen it if there is one.  That’s because the South team has won every time so far and team captain Dan Lichtman keeps the trophy at home in his kitchen, using it to hold down the napkins he brings home from El Pollo Loco.

Along with the disc golf competition, two other events will be going on in conjunction with the Challenge.  The 2012 S.D. Aces Board Election will be held this weekend.  The online portion of the election has been going on since last Friday night.  Members who have not voted online (we have a list) will be allowed to vote in person at each of the courses this weekend, while the voting is going on.

Also, this weekend will be your first chance to join or renew your membership for 2012 and be able to receive a 2012 bagtag and 2012 membership disc.  Bagtags have arrived, and the first 50 members to sign up will be given a chance at the top 50 tags.  The new discs will be picked up from the Innova factory on Friday and will be available this weekend.

This weekend’s rosters:

Team rosters

If you do not have an e-mail address or prefer to vote in person, a ballot box will be available this weekend at the courses being used for the North/South Challenge.  On Saturday, matches will be held at Kit Carson Park in the morning (roughly 9am-11am) and Goat Hill in the afternoon (roughly 1pm-4pm).  On Sunday, matches will be held at Sun Valley in the morning ((roughly 9am-11am) and Morley Field in the afternoon (roughly 1pm-4pm).  Bios for most of the candidates are available here.

If you have further questions regarding the election, please contact Aces Vice President Randy Wylot, at wylot@sbcglobal.net.

One of the things that draws lots of players to the Ace Race is the sweet players pack that they put together each year.  this time, for your $25 entry fee you receive 2 brand-new-design proto-type discs, a full-color Discraft mini-UltraStar and a “weekender” golf bag.  Yeah, that’s right, a bag! This year’s disc is a putter, and it’s a bit of a change.  It’s a wider-diameter putter – 22.06 centimeters where most putters are 21 c.  This should give it a little more float or glide than most putters, but also allow it to be heavier – as much as 183 grams!  Here’s what the folks at Discraft have to say about this year’s Ace Race disc:

This year’s proto is unique and sweet, and we think you’re going to love it! It’s the widest diameter putt and approach model Discraft has ever offered, so it can legally weigh in at a hefty 183 grams (subject to PDGA approval)… that’s at least a full seven grams more than other putters! The disc is obedient to its master and goes where you throw it, delivering directional precision and soft, flat landings. The rim is beadless and feels great in your hand. Think of it as a shorter, slower Comet that is hungry for chains.

First prize goes to the player who hits the most aces, with the tiebreaker being the number of “metal hits” off the tee.  And it’s a good prize – a large Discraft golf bag filled with a mix of brand-new Discraft discs.  And there will be other side events as well:

• A cash ace pot where you can buy more than one share in the prize pot.
• A mini-Ace Race using mini baskets and the official Ace Race mini.
• A putting contest, with the prize being a pair of Keen disc golf shoes.
• Doubles, bag tag challenges and North Team tryouts as time allows.

The Ace Race is run each year as a fundraising event for the San Diego Aces.  Because of this, we ask players to sign up in advance so we have the money to purchase the right number of player packs.  On-line registration is available at DiscGolfU.com, or you can print out this flyer and send it in with you entry fee.  Don’t expect to show up on the 16th with cash – we may not have enough discs for late-comers! 

Our fundraising this year is going towards purchasing an EDGE disc and basket package for the Escondido School Disctrict.  Several current and former Escondido teachers have contacted the Aces asking for help getting disc golf into the local schools.  Help us grow the sport in this area and have fun at the same time – join in the race for aces!

Aces Membership Director Dan Lichtman ha captained the South team every year of the challenge, and has begun to qualify his team.  Last weekend’s Morley monthly was his first qualifier – if you’d like to be on the South team contact him @ lichtman@rock.com.  A.J. Risley has captained the North team for the past two years and is back again, hoping to finally beat the South.  His first qualifier is this weekend’s California State Flying Disc Championships at Kit Carson Park.  If you’re interested in playing for the north, contact him at aj@teamrizbee.com.

Sunday’s round of golf tees off at 9am, followed by a Double Disc Court demonstration, Freestyle contest, hole-in-one contest finals ($250 payout) and awards.  Players can register to play just golf, or for an additional fee also compete for the Overall Frisbee Champion title.  Players and spectators can also compete in any of the non-disc golf events for a small fee per event.  Come out and play, or support your favorite player!

A detailed schedule of the weekend’s events and fee schedule for the overall events can be found here.