Good Weekend for Shorkey

This is the second year that Morley Course Pro Snapper Pierson and DGA-sponsored Mark Verrochi have teamed up to provide a weekend-long San Diego disc golf event in the Spring, and with very great success.  Saturday, April 14th saw another edition of the popular Morley Field Spring Fling for Ams, while Sunday the 15th was the second Pro Spring Fling at Kit Carson Park.  Both events were part of the Steady Ed Series, sponsored by DGA, and DGA provided a great collection of baskets as prizes.

Saturday – Ams at Morley

Crazy weather was part of the story on Saturday, as a blustery morning round at Morley saw a 5-way tie at 57 in the Advanced division between Michael Homan, Shane “VooDoo” Dehner, Mike Tyberg, Tracey Crowder and Justin Martinez. But on this Saturday, it was all about the second round. Morley uber-local Josh Damron and SLO youngster Peter McBride smoked the course with a pair of 1020-rated 53’s on the way to a 1-2 finish. Big Josh was the only player under par at Morley on Saturday (1-under) and took the MA1 win and a shiny new basket. Peter took second at 1-over, while Homan slipped to 3rd at 2-over. LA Steve Valencia, A.J. Risley, Shane Dehner and Mike Tyberg tied for fourth. Kim Cottrell took the win in Advanced Women on the wings of a 912-rated 66 in the first round, holding off a late-charging Shonda Garcia.

Did we mention yet that Dan Shorkey had a good weekend? It started on Saturday with a seven-throw win over second-place Steve Fawcett in Advanced Masters. Dan put together 992 and 984-rated rounds and had the second-best score of the day for all divisions at even par. Dan also took home a nice new basket courtesy of Snapper Pierson. Local thespian Paul Morgavo finished in 3rd at 11-over, Anthony Bassett and Tom Millard tied for 4th at 13-over and Roger Snider finished 6th (14-over), ending his string of SoCal MM1 victories at four. Mark Hauser had the best score both rounds amongst the Grandmasters to finish in 1st at 9-over, followed by Christian Cullen in 2nd at 13-over.

Ben Neely also had the best scores both rounds in his division (61/957 and 59/965) , which therefore led to his win in Intermediate at 6-over par. Daniel Vega was two shots back to take second place. Chris Armacost, Taylor Mate, Paul DesMarais and Brian Vallance tied for 3rd. Chad “Tomahawk” Nichter played way above his rating (883) in winning the Rec division, with consistent rounds of 62 (948-rated) and 61 (947). He beat Chris Goodrich (13-over) by 4 and the 3rd-place pair of William Cooper and James Barnes by nine. Shannon Wylot braved the elements to take Saturday’s Junior division title.

Sunday – Pros at Kit Carson

For some strange reason, pro disc golf events have a hard time filling up in San Diego. Maybe it’s because Micah Dorius lives down here? No matter – TD Mark Verrochi had a plan for filling the field: add a trophy-only option! The result was an Open field of 59 players and a tidy payout of $600 to winner (who else?) Micah Dorius. Micah had identical rounds of 49 (and was the only player to shoot under 50 both rounds) on the way to a 12-under total of 98, one shot better than up-and-comer Max Nichols in 2nd place. Steve Rico came down south from Sylmar to capture 3rd (9-under) and Mike Lust had an impressive showing with two 1000+-rated rounds on his way to 4th (8-under). There was some grumbling out on the course from pros who were frustrated with the heavy pedestrian traffic and the inexperience shown by some trophy-only players, but it provided a great payout for the winners and a great experience for these newer players.

Kim Cottrell made it two wins in two days by taking the Open Women title over Cristina Scantlin, and Allison Wylot walked away with the Masters Women title.

And don’t forget about Dan! Dan Shorkey also made it two-for-two for the weekend, running away with the Masters division title by eight strokes (7-under) over Paul Morgavo (1-over). These two guys were playing trophy-only, so the cash payout fell to 3rd-place Todd Mitchell (4-over) and 4th-place Mike Westerman (also 4-over). Shorkey also had the best score for the day amongst all trophy-only players, which earned him another little golden basket trophy (and I think a new full-size basket?). The Grandmasters division was hotly-contested, with Marcus Cisneros and Greg Olsen tying for first at 2-over. Greg conceded the win to Marcus, who got both the trophy and $195. Tied for third two strokes back were Randy Wylot, Steve Killian and Allen Risley. Perennial San Diego Pro Glenn Triemstra jumped out to a big lead in the first round and held on to win the Senior Grandmasters division with a 2-over total, besting upside-down guru Tom Clickner (9-over). Phil Ganshert, who had the lowest PDGA# of the day (777) took last cash in an oldest dude division that was larger (8 players) than the older dude division (7 Grandmasters) and old dude division (7 Masters). Let’s hear it for the Senior Grands!

The next big tournament to be held in the San Diego Area will be The Challenge @ Goat Hill on Saturday, June 30th.  This 2-round PDGA-sanctioned, SoCal Series event will feature tee times for all players and some challenging new pin positions on the Goat Hill layout.  You may have a chance to check out these new pins at the May Goat Hill monthly on May 20th.  And to keep your game in tune, the alliterative May Morley Monthly, Monday Montiel Doubles, Tuesday Kit Carson Doubles, 9@9 at Cal State on Wednesdays and Wednesday and Friday Morley Doubles should do the trick.

But of course – please come out to the work parties at Brengle Terrace Park in Vista – Saturdays and Sundays from 7am to 3pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!