Spring Fling is just around the corner
The PDGA B-Tier, Steady Ed Tour Event at Morley Field (Ams) and Kit Carson Park (Pros) is coming up soon. Final course preparations are being completed along with the preparation of all the players packs (all entrants will receive players packs).
The Spring Fling is one stop on the Steady Ed Tour
The AM side is packed with players for another year of fun at Morley Field on Saturday, April 16th. Snapper will be giving away lots of schwag to top finishers of all divisions. The lowest combined score for the day will receive a free bid into the Pro event on the next day, Sunday, April 17th (sponsored by the San Diego Aces). Additional details for the AM side of the event can be found at www.morleyfield.com or on the events page on the San Diego Aces website.
The Pro divisions are new to the Spring Fling and registration is still open. AM players that did not get a spot at Morley Field are encouraged to participate in the trophy-only option or enter at the full tournament price for a chance to win a payout in merchandise. The course will be extended in length to provide a challenging tournament par 56 (with the only par fours being Hole 11 and Hole 15). Tournament tee locations will be installed by Saturday afternoon following doubles league on April 9. Doubles league will not occur on April 16. More details for the Pro side of the event can be found on the right side of the screen (the “more information here” link).
SP Hurricane Fundraiser Discs are still available and can be purchased on both days of the event. The cost is $20 each and all funds go toward the
tournament payout and expenses. Discs are white/clear or yellow/clear colored and 173g or 174g weights.
There will also be many other activities available at Kit Carson Park on April 17. Three Mach Lite baskets will be given away in a Hole-in-One contest, one Mach Lite basket in a Ring of Fire, and a Coated Mach III in the raffle along with other amazing prizes donated by Disc Golf Association (DGA) and others. Vendors will also be available all day selling disc golf merchandise. Spread the word, you do not have to participate in the tournament to participate in these activities!
Thank you to all the sponsors, participants, and volunteers for helping us get ready for this tournament. See you at the Spring Fling!
Goat Hill Monthly brings out great golfers…and wind
Center City Golf Course in Oceanside hosted its first disc golf tournament this past Sunday (April 3, 2011), a 2-round battle/party for 61 players from San Diego County and parts north. Philo Brathwaite of Tujunga came down I-5 and walked away with 1st place in the Open division, topping 24 other players in that division with scores of 55 and 54, for a total of 109. Philo’s opening 55 gave him a three shot lead over Chris Brophy and Dan Duron, and his second-round (and tournament course record) 54 gave him a 5-shot victory over Steve Rico and Duron. Kevin Cocks of San Diego won the 22-player Men’s Advanced Amateur division with a 2-round total of 119, a 2-shot advantage over first round leader Mark Verrochi (57), Daniel Lichtman and Kyle LaMontagne. Austen Stringfield of San Marcos carded a total of 135 to win the 9-player Men’s Intermediate Amateur division and Natalie Cook of La Mesa won the 5-player Womn’s division with an impressive 2-round total of 133 (played from the Goat Hill front tees).
The schedule for the event was very optimistic – starting at 12:30 pm and playing 2 rounds of 18 holes. While the lead Open and Women’s groups finished in the dark, most players were able to finish before the sun had gone completely down, and all (OK, most) were happy to have been able to get in 2 rounds of disc golf on the long, hilly Goat Hill layout. Center City Golf staff had a BBQ grill running to sell burgers, hot dogs and brats to players, and 32 San Diego Aces participated in a bag tag melee to add some extra spice. Josh Damron, who tied for 4th in Open walked away with tag #9, partly because of his ace of the 447ft. 18th hole in round 2.
The event was a lot of fun, with many players calling for a re-run next month and in future months. We’ll see if we can make that happen! Full scoreboard of the monthly is available at DiscGolfU.com.
Spring is in the air, and so are discs!
The calendar says it’s Spring. The weather does most days. And the number of discs flying through the air and hitting metal chains definitely confirms it. So if you’re like us, and itching to get out and play some disc golf now that the days are longer, the air is warmer, the grass smells sweeter…what are you to do? Well, here are some ideas:
Go out and play a casual round – Whether you have a set group of friends ready to play or you’re a single, there are more places than ever in San Diego County to play disc golf. 2010 saw the biggest increase in holes to play ever in this area, with the addition of 18-hole courses at Kit Carson Park in Escondido and Cal State San Marcos, along with a 6-hole, kid- and beginner-friendly course at Sunset Park in San Marcos and a 9-hole “urban-style” course circling a new barracks at Camp Pendleton. So far in 2011 we’ve seen the addition of disc golf baskets to the 18-hole Center City Golf Course (aka Goat Hill) in Oceanside, and the San Diego Aces continue to work on developing more places to play disc golf.
Pick up some new plastic to throw – There are more and more options available for places to buy golf discs and equipment. The Morley Field Pro Shop still has arguably the best assortment of discs, bags and apparel, but there are new kids on the block, too. The SDSF Skate Shop near Kit Carson Park has been stocking lots of discs, and the Pro Shop at Goat Hill carries a selection of Innova discs and golf bags. Golf discs have also been spotted for sale at local sporting goods stores, including Sports Authority, Sports Chalet, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Big 5, Play it Again and REI. And some of our local disc golf pros and S.D. Aces Course Reps have been known to have extra discs on hand (new and used) when they show up at our local courses – ask ‘em!
Play in a tournament – If you’re the competitive type there are lots of opportunities to test your skills against other golfers. Here’s a list of some of the upcoming events:
- Goat Hill Monthly: Sunday, April 3rd at noon. 2 rounds of disc golf, including cart to grab bragging rights at this new long layout. The Aces will also hold a bagtag challenge in conjunction with the monthly. Sign up and get more info at: http://www.discgolfunited.com/disc-golf-tournaments/tournament-dashboard.cfm/tourn_id/173
- San Diego Spring Fling: This is actually two separate tournaments on back-to-back days. Saturday April 16th is the amateur event, held at Morley Field. Pre-registration is a must – get more info at MorleyField.com. Sunday, April 17th is the pro event, being held at Kit Carson Park. Pre-registration is available on-line at PDGASignup.com. Amateurs can also play the pro event in a “trophy-only” format. New information on Pro (Kit Carson) event available here.
- Cal State San Marcos Intramural Championships: Are you a student, faculty member or staffer at CSUSM? If you are, you should be playing in this event! Friday afternoon, April 15th is the 1-round student tournament. Faculty and staff play Saturday morning, April 16th, and Saturday afternoon students and faculty/staffers team up for the doubles championship. Entry is a mere $10, and includes a custom-stamped disc. More info available on the Campus Recreation website.
Play in a doubles league – Several of our local courses play host to weekly organized doubles play. The San Diego Aces sponsor doubles at Montiel Park on Mondays at 5pm and at Kit Carson Park on Saturdays at 9am. It costs $5 to play, partners are chosen randomly and there’s a 100% payout. Doubles is also played at Morley Field on Wednesday and Friday afternoons around 5pm. Check out the Morley Doubles Rules before showing up.
Join the Aces – Joining the San Diego Aces is a great way to support disc golf in San Diego County and to get to know more of your disc-golfing neighbors. Your $20 annual membership fee includes a club-stamped disc and a numbered bag tag (which can be used for competitive tag challenges). The Aces are one of the fastest-growing local clubs in the nation, and have been working very hard to develop more places to play disc golf locally and develop a positive culture for disc golf in our area. You can sign up online, or find one of our course representatives at your local course.
So that’s just a few ideas about how you can jump-start your disc golf season. Our sport is a great way for players – younger, older, female, male, beginners, seasoned pros, serious or casual – to enjoy the great outdoors while getting a little exercise. Find a way to get out and play today (and bring someone with you!).
Arctic Blast Hits Mission Bay Ice Bowl
On Feb 27th 73 disc golfers descended on Mission Bay Golf Course to play a round of disc golf under the lights, and for a very good cause, to raise money and food for the San Diego Food Bank. Temperatures recorded at 50 degrees, and at times felt more like 49, which made the event feel like a Southern California ice bowl. After a three-hour round with mulligans and a raffle, the final calculations are as follows: $1040.00 in cash and 250lbs of canned goods for the Food Bank.
Taking first place in the Open field with a hot round of 48 ( no mulligans ), and lighting up the course, Micah Dorius. In the Advanced field, hungry for a win, Kevin Cocks shot an impressive 50. Mark Hawking froze the Intermediate field with a 56, largest division in the event. In the shadows of the competitive Recreational division, Rastin Luna shot a 60 to emerge victorious. First place winners received an ice bowl trophy donated by Big George Spracklen. To view complete results go to pdga.com under tour results.
Ballast Point Brewery donated many raffle items including a starter home brewing kit that was won by Shawn Ludlow. Karl Heuring took home the Innova Traveler Disc Catcher. Again, many thanks to the sponsors of this year’s event; Morley Field, Innova Disc Golf, San Diego Aces Disc Golf Club, PDGA, Escondido Rotary Club Disc Golf Course @ Kit Carson Park, Jeff at the golf course concessions, and Ballast Point Brewery.
Thanks to all those who brought baskets and helped set up the course; Van”Gator”, J. Nichols, Quickdisc, Patrick P, KG, John B, Kool Hand Karl, and Big Ian. Thanks to Kent for taking photos of the event which can be viewed at Morley Facebook site.
Many are wondering if Mission Bay will become a disc golf course? The success of this event, selling out three days in advance, with many more wanting to play, helps in convincing the city that disc golf is a viable sport in our community.
Warm Regards,
Who Fixes It?
Sooner or later, something breaks. It might be a tee sign, chain, or recently, the basket cage on Hole #5 at Montiel Park. So who fixes it? Who makes sure that the course you want to play is in good shape, ready for you to have fun? The answer is different depending on which course we’re talking about.
At Morley Field, Snapper Pierson is the man. Snapper takes responsibility for all of the baskets, tees, tee signs, benches, trash cans, etc. He and his minions are constantly scanning the course, looking for something that needs repairing…or is missing. And it gets fixed – fast. Sun Valley? Mary Jane in the Pro Shop directs her maintenance crew to fix most problems, but sometimes it’s Aces Course Rep. Aaron van Matre who makes sure things are in top shape at Sun Valley.
Up north at Kit Carson Park, maintenance of the course is the responsibility of the Aces, and Aces President Ryan Meyer and Course Rep. Mark Verrochi are constantly keeping their eyes peeled for problems. Many Aces members have also pitched in at KCP to help install new teepads and basket anchors – something appreciated by all of us who play. And Wolfpack signs has been very generous in repairing damaged signs at KCP. Goat Hill hasn’t seen any damage yet, but the crew from Bellows Golf Management and the City of Oceanside have been busy lately installing new baskets on the property and will soon be installing 28 tee pads.
In San Marcos, the load is shared. At Cal State San Marcos, Campus Recreation Director Hugo Lecomte and Aces Course Rep Allen Risley get help from the hard-working (and disc golfing) staff from Facilities Services. The City of San Marcos has done all of the maintenance so far at Sunset Park, like moving basket #5 away from the snake’s head.
And what about the upside-down basket at Montiel? Aces member Josh Lyman was the first person to report the damage to basket #5 – someone had been leaning on the basket (and possibly jumping on it), which led to the cage breaking off of the pole. Course Rep Allen Risley arranged for a replacement cage from Innova, and the repair work was done by Aces members Mike Pearson and George Allee.
So you see, it’s a team effort. Be part of the team – help us keep the courses clean of trash and remind the knuckleheads who do grafitti and damage that the course belongs to all of us, and we want it in great shape for the next person who tees off!
Ice Bowls Wrap Up in February
There’s just a little over a week left before Ice Bowl season comes to San Diego…and leaves. Next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27 will see two of the charity fundraising tournaments held locally, one on each day – Saturday’s San Marcos Ice Bowl and Sunday night’s Mission Bay Ice Bowl.
Saturday’s event will be the 4th Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl, held at Montiel Park in San Marcos, raising funds and collecting canned food for the North County Food Bank. The San Marcos Ice Bowl will be the last stop on the 5-tournament Golden Sombrero Series of Ice Bowls, so a gold-painted, broad-brimmed hat will be passed out to someone at the end of the day. This event is PDGA-sanctioned as an XC-tier event, so PDGA points are on the line.
Your $25 entry fee includes a Golden Sombrero-stamped disc (Gummy Champion Rhino, Glow Champion Leopard or Star Cobra), two mulligan/raffle tickets and entry into the Disc Golf Bingo game. Additional muligans/raffle tickets will be on sale for $1 each. As in previous years there will be a long-put competition in between rounds with the prize being an Ice Bowl hoodie. There is a hole-in-one prize for one player – a Discatcher Sport target. If there is no hole-in-one, that prize goes into the raffle. Oh yeah…the raffle…which always includes lots of golf discs and apparel, Ice Bowl Merchandise, and goodies from Stone Brewing! And don’t leave the park at lunchtime – we have lunch from Tina’s Deli available for $5, if you pre-register.
And for newer players wh0 aren’t ready for a 36-hole tournament, there will be a 9-hole “fun round” held at noon, in between rounds of the 36-hole tournament. Players paying $12 to enter this round will receive a 2010 Ice Bowl Roc disc and two mulligans. Bring the newbies!!
Spots are still available in the 54-player field, but are going fast – this event always sells out before day-of. On-line registration is available through Disc Golf United at http://www.discgolfunited.com/disc-golf-tournaments/index.cfm. The entry form is also available to download, print and mail in: https://sandiegoaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2011_ice_bowl_flyer1.pdf.
Ready for disc golf under the lights? Sunday night’s Mission Bay Ice Bowl, raising funds for the San Diego Food Bank, will be contested from 6-10pm on a temporary trial course set up at the Mission Bay Golf Course. Players meeting starts at 5:15pm. Entry fee is $25 and includes an evening of disc golf and a Golden Sombrero disc (Champion Wraiths and Katanas, which look hot!). Bring 10 canned food items and you will earn a free mulligan (more for sale for $1). This event is also a PDGA-sanctioned XC-tier event.
The Mission Bay Ice Bowl is a trial event for disc golf at the Mission Bay Golf Course. The golf course is having trouble financially, and is looking at disc golf as an option to increase revenues and keep the golf course open. Tournament TD and Aces Vice President Randy Wylot worked with a team of players to construct a fun and challenging 18-hole layout to be played under the lights. A strong showing of support from the disc golf community will go a long way towards convincing the city to bring disc golf to Mission Bay permanently.
The flyer for the Mission Bay Ice Bowl is available for download here: https://sandiegoaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/missionbayicebowl2011.pdf, and on-line registration is available through the PDGA at: http://www.pdgasignup.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1296249223.
Support the Ice Bowl movement in it’s 25th year – help feed the hungry!!!
Spring Fling Update
The 2011 Spring Fling is just around the corner. To help add to the pro purse, 100 first run custom stamp SP Hurricanes are being produced as fundraiser discs for the tournament. Email mtv@alum.wpi.edu to reserve one today. Discs will be available in about two weeks. Limited quantity available. Disc are clear or yellow in color with the custom stamp shown
here. Price per disc is $20.00. Thanks in advance for your support of the upcoming tournament.
Be on the lookout for more details about the tournament. We will be giving away 3 Mach III Portable baskets in a hole in one contest and a custom coated Mach III Portable basket in a raffle (players and spectators may participate).
Goat Hill Disc Golf Opens Tuesday, Feb 15th!
Oceanside could only keep baskets away for 11 months.
Center City Golf Course in Oceanside will unveil the 18-hole Goat Hill Disc Golf Course on Tuesday, Feb. 15th. This is another disc golf/ball golf hybrid course, and will fill a void left last year when Emerald Isle ceased disc golf operations.
The management is very excited about the addition of disc golf to Goat Hill. The ball golf operation has has a tough time economically and they hope disc golf will help their bottom line. Weekday greens fees are $4, $10 with a cart. Weekends are $6, $12 with a cart. There is a pro shop with beverages for sale and a bevvy cart is on the way. Please don’t bring your own beer – it’s against course rules and violates the liquor license of the course.
The course is long – 9,612 feet from the back tees – but it’s not just long for long’s sake. The holes require you to shape your shots and have precise approaches. And there are LOTS of hills, so a golf cart will be handy to have.
Goat Hill is the oldest golf course in San Diego County, so please keep in mind that there are golfers who have played here forever and disc golf is very new to them. Please follow the cart paths in between holes and don’t play through the ball golfers – that’s a major annoyance to them. If we all respect the other course users and respect the property, we will be playing here for a long time.
Plans are in the works for a weekly doubles league and a PDGA/SoCal event (save April 2/3 on your calendar). Come out and see if you can tame The Goat!!
Club BBQ is an Ace
The San Diego Aces would like to thank all of the people that came out to the barbeque on Saturday. Thank you to all our returning members and to all the people that joined the club for the first time this year. We really appreciate your support and hope we can serve you well in 2011. We are approaching 200 members already! More bag tags have been ordered and are on the way.
For those that were not able to make it out to Morley Field, the day was full of activities ranging from CTP contests, a barbecue, and a bag tag challenge. Eighteen members participated in the bag tag challenge. Taking the top number of the day was Brad A. shooting an impressive 48 (-9). Rounding out the top five were Miker (-8), Dan L. (-5), Dan S. (-4), and John K. (-4).
This Saturday doubles will resume at Kit Carson Park. Doubles will begin at 9AM. Following doubles, those willing to help, please stick around to help us do some work around the course. We will be installing new pin positions on holes 13 and 15, as well as doing some tee pad improvements for holes 7, 10, 11, and 15. Pizza will be provided at the end of the day for those that help us.
The Spring Fling is Going Pro at Kit Carson Park!
Registration for the Pro portion of the Spring Fling at Kit Carson Park on Sunday, April 17, 2011 is now open! The link to the registration page is:
http://www.pdgasignup.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1295052028.
The tournament will be two rounds of 18 (or more) holes and all Pro divisions are available. Ams wanting to play on the 17th can either enter and win merchandise equal to the payout value or can play for trophy only.
In addition to the tournament, throughout the day we will be giving away three Mach III baskets in hole-in-one contests (players and spectators may participate). We will also be giving away a Coated Mach III along with other cool prizes in the raffle at the end of the day (you must be present to win).
Please direct any questions about the Pro Event to Mark Verrochi (mtv@alum.wpi.edu).
Registration for the Am portion of the Spring Fling at Morley Field on Saturday, April 16, 2011 will open on March 15 and will be via mail in registration only. Check out www.morleyfield.com for more details.
These events are part of the DGA Steady Ed Tour. Thank you to DGA for sponsoring these events.
San Diego Aces Disc Golf Club 