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Course Rep Positions Open

January 5, 2012

The San Diego Aces are in need of a few good disc golfers, to serve as Course Representatives for 2012. The retirement from the board of our previous Sun Valley and Goat Hill representatives has opened up the Course Rep spots for those courses. Also with Mark Verrochi (Kit Carson Park) becoming Membership Director and Allen Risley (Montiel Park, CSUSM and Sunset Park) becoming Secretary, those spots are open as well.

The roles of Course Reps vary a bit from course to course, depending on whether they are free-to-play parks or pay-to-play courses. Common responsibilities include meeting with park or course staff to discuss course issues, minor maintenance, keeping kiosks updated, running leagues or tournaments.

The Aces board will be meeting next Monday evening, January 9th at 6:00pm. The location for the meeting is at the offices of Schirmer Engineering in Rancho Bernardo:

11770 Bernardo Plaza Court
Suite 116
San Diego, CA 92128

There is a sign over the door that says “Schirmer Engineering”. You’re in the right place if you see cars with disc golf stickers on them parked outside. If you are interested in attending, please contact one of the current board members – our e-mail addresses are on the “Contact Us” page.

5th Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl Coming January 14th!

December 29, 2011

Have you ever played in an Ice Bowl Disc Golf Tournament?  Tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of people have participated in Ice Bowl® events (www.icebowlhq.com) in the twenty-five years that they have been held across the U.S., raising millions of dollars for charity.  The latest installment of our local Ice Bowl history will be held  Saturday, January 14th at Montiel Park in San Marcos, the 5th Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl.  This 2-round disc golf tournament is being held to raise funds and collect canned food for the North County Food Bank.  For their $20 entry fee, players get a tournament-stamped disc (Innova Champion Darts, Rhynos or Glitter Gators), an Ice Bowl mini disc, 3 mulligans and a donation to the North County Food Bank.

This is the sixth Ice Bowl run by Tournament Director Allen Risley (5 in San Marcos, 1 in San Diego) and the fourth time the San Marcos event will be part of the Southern California Golden Sombrero Series of Ice Bowl tournaments.  In the Golden Sombrero Series, players earn points at each event based on the number of players that they beat.  Their top three point totals in the six Golden Sombrero events count towards the series championship – first prize is a portable Innova basket and a commemorative golden sombrero!  San Diego County will hold two more Golden Sombrero events: Saturday, February 4th at Olive Glen Disc Golf Course @ Sycuan Golf Resort in El Cajon (T.D. – Mark Verrochi) and Sunday, Feb 26th at Mission Bay Golf Course (T.D. – Randy Wylot).  Other Golden Sombrero events will be held in Redlands (Jan. 7), Los Angeles (Jan 21) and Beaumont (Feb 5).

Ice Bowl tournaments are fun for serious and non-serious disc golfers alike.  It’s your chance to get that best-ever score, because mulligans are allowed!  Each of the San Diego Ice Bowls will allow players to purchase mulligans (do-overs) for $1 each, with all proceeds going to the event charities.  At the San Marcos and Sycuan Ice Bowls mulligans will also serve as raffle tickets.  These events typically have a great raffle haul and interesting 1st place trophies.  At San Marcos, players will also compete for a portable basket for a hole-in-one and there will be a long-putting contest during the between-rounds break.  A catered lunch from Tina’s Deli will be available for $5 extra.

Online registration is available at DiscGolfU: http://www.discgolfunited.com/disc-golf-tournaments/tournament-dashboard.cfm/tourn_id/287

Or download the tournament flyer here.  For more information contact Allen Risley at rizbee@teamrizbee.com or 760-798-2080.

New Course Coming to Brengle Terrace Park

December 19, 2011

An end of the year holiday gift was given to the disc golfing community recently as the Vista City Council approved a proposal to add a disc golf course to Brengle Terrace Park.  The effort, spearheaded by Aces members Ryan Meyer, T.J. Cruz and Courtney McSherry was approved by the council on a 4-1 vote.  Brengle Terrace Park is in north-central Vista, and is conveniently accessible to many Vista residents because of it’s location in the middle of town.  Disc golf will become highly visible to Vista residents, as the course will be an added to a park that contains the city’s acclaimed Moonlight Amphitheater, the Vista Senior Center, Alta Vista Gardens and hosts the annual Scottish Highland Games and 4th of July fireworks.  The park has a combination of open green space and dense jungles and much elevation (read: great for disc golf).

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.

Board Election Results

December 12, 2011

Votes were cast online over the past week and voting was conducted in person this past weekend in conjunction with the North County/South County Challenge.  The top five vote earners will meet after tonight’s Board meeting to select the Executive Board.  Vote totals are as follows:

Jeff Nichols – 62 votes

Allen Risley – 62 votes

Donny Olow – 52 votes

Mark Verrochi – 45 votes

Randy Wylot – 44 votes

Dan Lichtman – 27 votes

John Heaton – 21 votes

T.J. Cruz – 20 votes

Brian Akerson – 11 votes

Courtney McSherry – 6 votes

Chad Nichter – 3 votes

 

Another Year, Another North vs. South Challenge

December 8, 2011

This weekend will see the fourth installment of the San Diego Aces’ North County vs. South County Challenge.  The details of this event are kept secret each year from the disc golfing public, with the team captains (Dan Lichtman/South, A.J. Risley/North) holding all of the information until the last possible moment.  Why?  Not sure.  Perhaps it’s because it’s extremely difficult to put together teams of San Diego disc golfers who will commit to being someplace for two whole days, without the threat of losing their entry fee and where there’s no prize money on the line.  Perhaps it’s because it’s so difficult to get the OK to play the courses on a given weekend at a given time.  Perhaps it’s because the team captains can’t figure out how to type an e-mail to announce the details.  Perhaps it’s because there are fugitives from the law on the teams and the captains are trying to make it difficult for the police, sheriff or Dog the Bounty Hunter to find them.  Well…whatever the reason, we think we finally have enough info available to announce what is happening this weekend.  Here goes:

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

Board Election is Available Online

December 5, 2011

Invitations to vote in the 2012 board election for the San Diego Aces went out over the weekend.  Members with a valid e-mail address in the membership database were sent e-mails containing a link to the online ballot.  The e-mails were sent out from “San Diego Aces Disc Golf Association”  and had the subject line: “2012 Board Election“.  If you are a current member and did not receive an election e-mail, please send an e-mail to rizbee@teamrizbee.com to get this taken care of.

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.

Nominations Open for 2012 S.D. Aces Board Election

November 15, 2011

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2012 San Diego Aces Board.  You may nominate another person, or yourself.  Please send an e-mail with the person’s name to rizbee@teamrizbee.com.  If possible, include a brief (<100) word bio describing the candidate’s qualifications for the board.  Nominations will be accepted until Sunday, Nov. 27th at 11pm.  Nominations are not for specific positions on the board (President, Treasurer, Course Represenative, etc.) but are for the board in general.  Positions are assigned at the first meeting of the new board.

The election will be held in two parts:  an online ballot will be available from Dec. 1st to Dec. 9th and in-person voting will be available Dec 10/11 in conjunction with the North/South Challenge.  Anyone with a valid e-mail address in the S.D. Aces database will receive an e-mail invite with a secure link to the online ballot.  Those who do not vote online will be allowed to vote in person at the courses where the North/South Challenge is held.  More details on the exact locations and times will be available on this website before Dec. 1st.

4th Annual San Marcos Ace Race a Big Success

November 6, 2011

The recent Ace Race was a huge success on several fronts: most players ever for a San Diego Ace Race (130), most acs t a local Ace Race (16) and most money raised ($800).  Nick Newton was the overall winner in the Ace Race, hitting one ace but then breaking the 16-way tie by having six metal hits.  Yes…16-way tie!  This was the closest-contested Ace Race so far at Montiel, with 16 different players hitting aces during their 36 holes of competition, then trying their best to get that elusive second ace.  Nick’s six metal hits were two better than three other players (Jacob Kalmer, Jason Fitzgerald and Steve Wheeler) and earned him the first prize: a new golf bag from Discraft holding eight of their current release discs. Nick also walked away with $9 from the Ace Pot, but not as much as TD Mark Verocchi, who had plunked down $10 into the pot and walked away with $30 from his single ace. Other players with aces were Kyle Harrop, Scott Miller, Andrew Mills, Glen Sanson Jr., Phillip Jordan, Patrick Paramore, Chris Armacost, Steve Breuker, Keegan Sheets, John Bailey and Shawn Sheffield.

The Ace Race is always a fun event, but we found out this year that it’s even more fun with more players.  It was a great sight to see over 100 players at one time trudging up and down the dusty hills of Montiel Park in San Marcos, firing away at the chains with little regard for the length of their follow-up putt (there are no putts in Ace Races).  Montiel Park’s front nine is a rather short layout, but eight of the nine holes were shortened even more to make it easier for all players to have a shot at hitting an ace.  Discraft’s yet-unamed Ace Race prototype was a wide-diameter putter, which was a new throwing experience for most players.  Many players commented that this floaty disc would earn a trial spot in their golf bag, as they liked the way the disc allowed them to float a shot close to the basket.  Oh, and speaking of bags, Discraft included a small “weekender” bag in the player’s packs to accompany the two putters and full-color mini that players receivd for their $25 entry fee.

Another big winner on this day were EDGE (Educational Disc Golf Experience) and the Escondido School District.  The event raised $800 that has been donated to EDGE, a group that supports the integration of disc golf into school P.E. classes.  Verrochi, a DGA-sponsored player and Team Innova member Allen Risley partnered together to raise funds for this cause, with another $300 raised at Goat Hill tournaments increasing the total EDGE donation to $1,100.  Risley had worked with EDGE before, having raised $800 for the group through disc sales from the “Tour de Rizbee 2007”, money that was used to provide the City of San Marcos with portable baskets and discs that are used at city recreation centers.

Other side events added action to the day.  Glen Swanson was the winner of the “Mini Ace Race”, with players playing nine hole of golf on mini baskets using the tournament-provided mini.  Swanson’ 2 aces and one mini hit gave him the win over Colin Bailey and Chris Armacost, who had one ace each.  Gabe Canales drove down from Orange County to win the long putt contest, with a 55-foot putt that won him a free pair of Keen “Milo McIver” disc golf shoes (provided by EDGE).  San Diego Aces Vice President Randy Wylot was on hand to man the BBQ grill, cooking burgers and hot dogs for the hungry crowd.

While the total of 130 players is impressive, there’s a lot of work to do over the next year to get caught up to this year’s largest Ace Race – 303 players in Odwassa, WA!

Ace Race Player Packs are In!

November 4, 2011

If you played in the Ace Race and did not receive a player pack that day, your player pack is in.  Mark Verocchi has the player packs and will have them available at Kit Carson Park before and after Saturday Doubles (8:30am or 11:00am).  Mark will contact you by e-mail if you can’t make it Saturday.

Aces Board Seeks Treasurer

November 4, 2011

The San Diego Aces Board is accepting applications to fill the position of Treasurer through the end of 2011.  Sadly, we have to report that our current Treasurer, Michelle Chambless, has tendered her resignation from the board.  What’s bad for us is good for her, though, as she is transferring to L.A. to accept an internal promotion at her work.  Michelle has done an amazing job as Treasurer for the Aces, and was integral in the club’s receiving non-profit status from the IRS.  If you see Michelle out on the golf course, please make it a point to thank her for all her hard work over the past three years.

If you are interested in applying for the Treasurer position, please contact club President Ryan Meyer at ramskemeyer@gmail.com.  The board is hoping to interview candidates at the November Board meeting, Monday, November 14th.