Steady Ed Tour Swoops into San Diego

Spring has sprung in San Diego and the 2011 Spring Fling brought out great weather and players.  A long standing event, this year’s Spring Fling had some great changes to it: the tournament was a part of the DGA Steady Ed series, had an Open division and was a two day event on two separate courses!  The tournament started Saturday morning at Morley Field as disc golfers lined up to claim their spots in the traditional Amateur Division Spring Fling event hosted by Snapper Pierson.  All 90 event participants received a players pack consisting of a Morley Field dri-fit T-Shirt, a FlashFlight mini disc, minis from DGA , Discovering the World Mini and Innova, a Paragon Disc Golf can coozie, and assorted stickers.

The first round of the tournament was completed on the standard 19 hole layout with baskets in nearly all long positions. Shooting an impressive Round 1 score of 50 (par 57), Max Nichols jumped out to the early lead in the Men’s Advanced Division. In a three way tie for second, only trailing by two strokes were Bobby Oliver, Mario Traba, and Alex Nichols. Max never looked back as he finished the second round shooting an even par (51) and a total of 108 (-7 for the day). Shooting an impressive 47, Glenn Swanson Jr. jumped from 7^th after the first round to 2^nd place overall. Bobby matched par on his second round to claim third place.

Leading the Advanced Women after the first round was Kimberly Cottrell, with a score of 64, followed by Amber Ivy (66) and Jennifer Unstead (69). Kim repeated her first round score, with another 64 to claim the win. Michelle Chambless shot a 62 in her second round to jump the other two ladies and finish second.  Dan Shorkey jumped into an early lead in the Advanced Masters Division and held on for a two stroke lead over 2^nd place Rhett Stroh (107) and 3^rd place Dave Butcher (108).  Christian Cullen took down the field in the Advanced Grandmaster Division shooting a 54 and 60 for a total of 114. Rounding out the top three were Glenn Swanson (115) and Spense Stevens (116).

 In the intermediate Division, Josh Hesser shot a 54 to take the early lead. However, he struggled during the second round and ended the tournament in a three way tie for 6^th place. Patrick Paramore and Carl Whittington tied at 57 at the end of the first round. Pat went on to beat Carl by one stroke to with the division with a total score of 107. Thomas Wheeler finished in third, three strokes behind Carl.  The Recreational and Novice Divisions ended in ties for first place with Kevin Christie besting Jesse Myers in a sudden-death playoff.  James Galloway and Michael Flores tied for first place in the Novice division, and may still be out there playing off the tie….

 Each division winner (for divisions greater than 10 people) took home a brand new disc golf basket. Payout to top 40 percent of the field in all divisions consisted of a mix of discs and other schwag. In addition to the tournament, two Ring of Fires took placefor a Mach Lite courtesy of DGAand a disc golf bag.  As a sponsor of the event, the San Diego Aces provided a free entry to Max Nichols into the pro event for having the lowest combined score. A complete list of all the AM scores can be found here: http://www.pdga.com/tournament_results/64496.

The Pro players battled it out in the second part of the Spring Fling on Sunday at the Escondido Rotary Club DGC at Kit Carson Park.  Thanks to the help of SD Aces Course Representative and TD, Mark Verrochi, the course layout was extra long and challenging for the competitors.  The wind and heat picked up in the second round, causing some players to struggle while others pushed through the elements.  Micah Dorius didn’t seem fazed by it one bit shooting an impressive -7 and -9, taking first place by 4 strokes!  Tied for second were Steve Wisecup and Steve Valencia at -12, followed by S.D. Aces member Mike Brown at -11. 

In the Open Women’s Division, Emina Weaver took down the field shooting a 62 and 68 for a total of 130. Coming in a close second was Kim Cottrell shooting a 131 total with Amber Ivy finishing just 3 strokes right behind her.  The Men’s Masters Division had great competition, with 9 out of the 12 participants within 4 strokes after the first round.  Chris Brophy opening 52 wasn’t enough to win, as Dan Duron, Lawrence Halili, Miker Ramos, and J.J. Johnson squeaking by him to claim the top four spots (in that order).  Also playing in MPM, Bill Maury-Holmes took home the tournament CTP prize on Hole 6 (provided by Parked) with his second round shot that landed nearly under the basket.

The Sunday spotlight goes to the epic battle to the finish in the Grandmasters Division. Randy Wylot had a one stroke lead going into the last hole (Hole 2) after coming back from being down one stroke to John Kirkland after the first round. Deano Porter sat in 3^rd, only 2 strokes from the lead. John stepped up to the tee box and threw a beautiful left-handed drive (he is right-handed), which, out of his hand, looked to be a perfect shot to reclaim a portion of the lead. However, the shot clipped a branch and landed in the middle of the fairway short of the basket. Randy threw a safe shot down the fairway and was able to take a three and get the win. Deano threw a great tee shot which landed inside the 10-meter circle and gave him a chance for a second place tie. Unfortunately his putt went off the rim of the basket and fell to the ground and his day ended in third place (with a great combined score of 109).  In the Senior Grandmasters it was all James McDowell. He shot two 63s to take the first place trophy and $165 prize over Bill Richards (132) and Derrick Stockhausen (137).

During lunch a Mach Lite portable disc golf basket was won by Mark Collicott in a ring of fire. Also during lunch, four-year-old xaeLen Nash tried to break the world distance record for his age by throwing for 150 feet. Unfortunately, he came up short but it was a great attempt and fun for all watching to see the little guy throw farther than some of the regulars out on the course.

Throughout the day, a hole-in-one contest was completed for a chance to win three Mach Lite portable disc golf baskets. The three baskets were all set up at about 10 feet apart at a distance of just over 150 feet from the tee box. Contestants bought throws for $1 each or 6 for $5 and had to throw DGA Aftershocks. The first basket was won by Joshua Kettlehake. The second by Aaron Greco. And finally, the last hole in one thrower of the day, Mike Chvojka, took home the third basket by slamming the disc into the center of the chains. joshua was a big winner on the day, also taking home a beautiful green-coated Mach III basket provided by DGA.

Awards and raffle ended the day with many discs and products provided by DGA, SDSF Pro Shop, Parked Disc Golf, Off Axis, and others.  Many thanks go out to those who volunteered to help prior to and during the tournament, including Ryan Meyer, Randy Wylot, A.J. Risley, Michael Chvojka, Eric Raszewski, Kevin Christie, Andrew Mills, Nick Newton, Kyle Becker, Allen Risley, Katie Risley Patrick Paramore, Sam Maury-Holmes, Joel Maury-Holmes, John Bailey, Richard Phillips, and Jeff Nichols.  A complete list of all the Pro scores can be found here: http://www.pdga.com/tournament_results/64497.