San Marcos + Ice Bowl = Fun!

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.