San Diego Aces Disc Golf Club

The Aces Rotating Monthly traveled back down south for the month of June, with 39 players descending on Colina Park Golf Course for a two round event on Sunday, June 17th.  Aubrey Daniels took the title in Open, beating a field of 10 players with a two round total of 90 throws (42/48).  Aubrey’s total was one throw better than Don Burdette, who had the second round highlight of getting an ace on Hole 18 and taking home the Colina Park Ace Pot.  Pat Franklin took third with a total of 95.  There was no Advanced division this month, as all of those players decided to bump up to Open to challenge for a greater pot.

Fourteen players competed in Intermediate, but none of them were prepared for the second round score of 40 carded by Rene Ramirez on his way to a two round total of 87 and the win.  Rene’s 14-under round included 2 OB’s and an ace on Hole 4 (his final hole of the tournament).  Alex Walczak was second with a total of 91 (47/44), followed by Mike Lamb in third (47+45=92).  Robert Santos won the Recreational division with a two round total of 97 (47/50), followed by Chris Troie in second (51+50=101) and Billy Donovan in third (51+51=102).  Jennifer Burdette was the brave, lone woman in the field and fired a two round total of 120.

Aces’ June Monthly at Colina Park – Top Finishers

After 4 monthly events, the leaders in each division are as follows:  Aubrey Daniels in Open, Clint Calvin in Advanced, William Lynch in Intermediate, Mike Bloomfield in Recreational and a tie in the Ladies’ division between Kim Cottrell and Jennifer Burdette.

The Aces Rotating Monthly heads back north in July, going to Brengle Terrace Park on Sunday, July 22nd and will serve as a combination San Diego Aces and Brengle Bombers monthly, so both sets of bag tags will be in play.  Watch for pre-registration soon on DGU.

It’s summertime, and while that means there are more hours of sunlight in the day to play disc golf, it also means there are more people wanting to use our local parks for things other than disc golf.  Brengle Terrace Park in Vista has a great disc golf course, but it is also the jewel of the City of Vista’s collection of parks, so it has many different uses and fills many roles.  What that means for us is that there are times during every summer when the course at Brengle is either partially or totally unavailable for disc golf play.

Here’s an email that the Aces recently received from Rob Johnson, Recreation Manager with the City of Vista that outlines course closures this summer.  Please refrain from playing the course (or specific holes) during these closures:

Greetings, the Moonlight season is upon us as well as some of our special events and wanted to give you a heads up as it will effect some of the course as well as some total course closures.

· Scottish Highland Games – Course closed June 22, 23, and 24

· 4th of July – Course Closed

· Movies in the Park – July 14 and August 11 – Holes closed after 5pm (near and at grass parking lot and above the softball fields – Holes 4, 5 and 5A)

Moonlight Season

June 12 – June 30 (no shows on June 18, 25) Holes closed after 5pm (near and at grass parking lot and above the softball fields – Holes 4, 5 and 5A)

July 17 – August 4 (no shows on July 23, 24, 30, 31) Holes closed after 5pm (near and at grass parking lot and above the softball fields – Holes 4, 5 and 5A)

August 14 – September 1 (no shows on August 20, 21, 27, 28) Holes closed after 5pm (near and at grass parking lot and above the softball fields – Holes 4, 5 and 5A)

September 11 – September 29 (no shows on September 17, 18, 24, 25) Holes closed after 5pm (near and at grass parking lot and above the softball fields – Hole 4, 5 and 5A)

For the hole closures due to Moonlight, we can be flexible until parking arrives.

If there are any other events that occur I will let you know.

Thanks

Rob Anderson

Recreation Manager

City of Vista

It is important for the disc golf community to respect these hole closures, if we want to maintain a positive relationship with the City of Vista.  Please find other places to play on those days when the course is closed entirely (June 22-24, July 4).  When the Moonlight shows are going on we need to bypass holes 4, 5 and 5A – and possibly hole 2 if the south side gate is being used by the ticket office.  And on other holes, as always, if you see other park users in the fairway or near a basket DON’T JUST YELL “FORE!”  Someone walking their dog in the park or trudging up the hill to see Phantom of the Opera won’t understand why you’re yelling “fore”.  Wait a few minutes to throw until they have moved along, or walk closer to them and talk (not yell) to them to explain what you’re doing with your discs.

Thanks for your help!!!

With the addition of Mission Bay Golf Course, we now have three local “ball golf” courses that have baskets and allow disc golf play:  Mission Bay, Colina Park, and Goat Hill Park.  If you expand your view out to all of SoCal, there are even more choices: Colton Golf Club, Lake Forest Golf Park, David L. Baker Golf Course (Fountain Valley), DeBell Golf Course (Burbank), Desert Winds (29 Palms), Mission Hills (North Hills), Van Buren Golf Center (Riverside), and Weddington Golf and Tennis (Studio City).  That’s a lot of courses where disc golf baskets are side-by-side with golf greens (and sometimes foot golf holes).  In fact, the greatest proportion of our local disc golf expansion has occurred on ball golf courses, not in public parks or on private property.

Local Pro Mike Slonim, navigating the tricky fence that guards basket number 4 at Mission Bay

Many of us who play disc golf have little or no experience on ball golf courses, whether it’s because of the cost or the fact that we have felt that traditional golf just doesn’t fit our attitudes and lifestyle.  But adding baskets to existing golf facilities has become one of the most viable ways to create more places for us to play disc golf, so you can expect to see more of these “hybrid” facilities in the future.  Unfortunately, the transition of disc golf from public parks and remote wooded areas doesn’t always gone smoothly, and that has become evident from the types of comments (and sometimes complaints) that the managers of these golf courses have made to those of us who design/install courses and run events.

If you’ve been playing disc golf for a while you might have had a chance to play disc golf at Emerald Isle Golf Course in Oceanside.  EI is a middle of the road executive-length ball golf course, a bit rough around the edges, but it was a superb disc golf course, with ample distance shots, tight pin placements to OB greens and bunkers and seven (yes, 7!) holes that played over or along water hazards.  Never got a chance to play EI?  Well, you can give thanks to knucklehead disc golfers that caused the baskets to get pulled because they drove the golf carts like dune buggies, drove carts across greens, rummaged in the backyards of neighboring homeowners for lost discs (sometimes climbing on roofs!) and did other things we won’t mention that homeowners would rather not have happen in their backyards.  Bad disc golfer behavior caused the homeowners association to vote the baskets off the course.

Now, times have changed and those of us that lost miss Emerald Isle have done a lot of education to newer players to try to keep these same things from happening at our newer hybrid courses.  Consider this article to be another round of education.  Here are some hints and tips that you should follow if you want to maintain (and even increase) our disc golfer access to ball golf courses:

1. Respect the facility – treat it with care.  Ever wonder why golf courses charge higher rates for us to play that our disc golf only pay-to-play courses?  It’s because they spend a lot of money to maintain the facilities!  Whether it’s the TLC (and armies of workers) that go towards maintaining the greens, constant mowing and watering, or extra amenities like benches, water coolers, bathrooms, practice ranges…these things cost money.  And golf course managers don’t need to have those costs increase because of damage.  Also, these courses are typically pretty litter-free, and want to keep it that way.
2. Stay off of the greens!  For a golf course, the putting greens are the most expensive and most valuable asset that they have.  Many ball golfers will refuse to play a course if it has sub-standard greens.  Disc golf typically treats these greens as OB areas, in order to minimize damage.  Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
   1. If your disc lands on a green, don’t play your next shot from the green.  When you plant your foot to throw, putt or jump-putt you are likely to cause damage by depressing the soft ground or grinding the grass.  Play your next shot from off the green, where you crossed OB.
   2. Walk around, not over the greens.  Once again, heavy footsteps, especially if you’re carrying a heavy bag or pulling a cart can cause damage.  Just take a few extra steps to go around the greens.  Maintenance staff that see you walk around the greens will appreciate (and remember) it.
   3. Carts should NEVER drive near a green, much less on one.  This is a sure-fire way to get thrown off of a course.  Keep carts at least 20-30 feet away from greens, or on a cart path.
3. If the course you play offers carts, remember they are NOT go carts or dune buggies!  Forget the videos you have seen on YouTube – carts are not playthings.  They are for transporting you and your gear from hole to hole.  If cart paths are available, try to keep your cart on the path.  Keep carts off of greens, tee boxes and steep hills.  Just because you have a cart doesn’t mean you have lost the ability to walk – you don’t need to drive your cart right next to tee pads or baskets.  Minimize the chance you’ll run into baskets, signs, tee markers by keeping a safe distance from them.
4. Stay on pace with the ball golfers – don’t try to race through other groups.  Disc golf is generally a faster sport than traditional golf, so you may find that you “get stuck” behind ball golfers on a regular basis.  But one of the common complaints we hear from ball golfers is that disc golfers push to play through, sometimes without asking.  Ball golfers hate this – not only are we infringing on their space, we’re being annoying about it – and we’re paying less too!!  Cool your heels.  Try to see it from their point of view.
5. If the course sells beer and you want to drink beer, buy theirs, don’t bring your own.  Some of these courses stay afloat financially through their beverage sales.  Help them stay in business.  Yes, their beer prices are a bit higher than what you paid at Von’s, but you are a guest on their property.  Follow their rules if you want to continue to be a guest.

That’s enough ranting for now.  I hope you get the picture.  The standards for behavior and etiquette at ball golf courses is a bit different than the typical disc golf course.  Dress codes are sometimes stricter and are enforced.  There’s not as much yelling and loud swearing at the ball golf course – note that I didn’t say there was none – but there’s generally a bit less.  It’s kind of like visiting your grandmother’s house, or at least, MY grandmother’s house.  But we’re playing disc golf, so there’s more fun involved.

I organize and run a lot of tournaments and have run quite a few at these golf courses: Goat Hill Park, Colina Park, Sun Valley and Emerald Isle.  I feel like the best events I have run have been on these courses because they’re always in great shape, have ample facilities that make tournaments easier (pro shops, seating areas, restrooms, greenskeepers, etc.) and have staff on hand to help make things happen smoothly.  And it looks like the ball golf course trend has hit the big disc golf tournaments, too:  the Las Vegas Challenge, Glass Blown Open, Masters Cup at DeLa and San Francisco Open have all moved at least part of their play to traditional golf courses.  Let’s face it – our form of golf is growing and theirs is shrinking, and they have the land.  It’s going to happen more and more.  Let’s do our best to make it work.

And one last tip:  don’t call it “ball golf” around a golfer unless you want to make them angry.  Especially, if they manage or work at the course you want to keep playing.

Enjoy!

-Rizbee

The 2018 season of San Diego Aces “rotating monthly” disc golf tournaments has begun, with the first two events being held at Kit Carson Park (March) and Mast Park (April).  Future events for 2018 look like this (so far):

• May – Goat Hill Park – Sunday, May 27 at 1pm (online registration on DGU)
• June – Colina Park Golf Course – Sunday, June 17 at 10am (online registration on DGU)
• July – Brengle Terrace Park – Sunday, July 22 at 9am
• August – Sycuan Golf Resort (Olive Glen) – Sunday, August 19 at 10am
• September – TBA (maybe Mission Bay?)
• October – TBA
• November – TBA

Our intent so far is to rotate the monthlies between different courses, alternating between North and South county locations.  This gives players a chance to sample a variety of courses across the county.

The Competition – This year we are tracking points for how players finish at the monthlies.  There will be prizes (we’re working on them) for the top finishers in each division.  Competition is within individual divisions, so if you want to compete for the title you are better off picking a division and staying there.  We will, however, be on the lookout for clear sand-bagging and will move players up if needed.  Points are handled much like the Golden Sombrero Series – you earn one point for every player you beat in your division at an event.  We will count the top 4 point totals for each player.  Going into the May monthly this weekend at Goat Hill, here are the standings, based on the march and April scores:

Carlos Cabellero leads the Open division by one point over George Spracklen.

Nin Chau leads in the Advanced division by one point over Clint Calvin, three points over Randy Wylot and Tracy Crowder.  It’s still anybody’s game – only one Advanced player played at both monthlies so far.

Competition is tight in intermediate – Alex Walczak leads by one point over Dino Arellano by benefit of playing in both events.  John Maki, William Lynch and Mike Lamb are closely chasing.

Mike Bloomfield leads by one over James Buzzard in the Recreational division.  No one in this division played both events held so far.  The overall season champion in Rec may be the guy who decides to travel a little.

Kim Cottrell leads the Ladies so far (no ladies showed up to play at Mast Park?!?).  Once again – she who travels may take home the hardware…

Your Aces’ Board Members are making a renewed effort to build up the rotating monthly series.  We hope to see you out at a future rotating monthly event!

-Rizbee

Here’s a link to a map of the Golden Sombrero Ice Bowl locations:  http://csusm-gis-lab.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Directions/index.html?appid=e6de591dcd7847508211063ddb95ca49

Every January and February disc golf courses around the country host a type of tournament called an Ice Bowl.  Ice Bowls are intended to be fun, low-key competition with a greater purpose: helping to feed our hungry neighbors.  Ice Bowl tournaments are required to raise funds for local charities that feed the hungry – in San Diego that usually means the San Diego Food Bank.

The Ice Bowl held at Colina Park Golf Course last weekend (1/8/2017) had 62 players and raised $1,010 for the food bank.  They will be able to pay for a whopping 4,040 meals from those funds!  One of the ways that funds are raised is by selling mulligans, basically a “do over”.  This means that a player can theoretically “buy a win”, but we need to remember the broader goal of the event (feeding the hungry).

2017 Colina Park Ice Bowl Participants – photo credit: Katie Risley

For the past ten years our Ice Bowls have been part of what is called the “Golden Sombrero Series” of Ice Bowls.  Golden Sombrero TDs band together to get discs with a Golden Sombrero custom stamp and players compete for an overall Golden Sombrero Series title.

San Diego is big on Ice Bowls so there are several more yet to come this season.  Here’s what’s coming up:

Sycuan Ice Bowl – Sunday, Jan. 15th

Brengle Terrace Ice Bowl – Saturday, Jan. 21st

Montiel Park – Sunday, Feb. 5th

Mast Park [tentative] – Sunday, Feb. 19th

Mission Bay Golf Course – Sunday (night), Feb. 26th

For more info on the Golden Sombrero Series and its individual events, check out the GS website.

For more info on Ice Bowls in general take a look at the Ice Bowl website.

Saturday, May 14th, 2016 will be the day that women’s disc golf in San Diego will set a record – we will have the largest field of women ever assembled in San Diego for a disc golf event!  The San Diego Aces are sponsoring a 2-round, ladies-only tournament at Colina Park Golf Course as part of the PDGA’s “Women’s Global Event“.  This worldwide disc golf mega tournament will be played at over 60 locations around the globe, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Estonia and Texas, with over 1,500 women participating.  The PDGA will be using ratings-based performance scoring to calculate “global scores” for all players, which will allow for world-wide competition within divisions.  This allows you to compete against friends in far-away places on this one day.  But more important than the competition will be the energy created by a disc golf course full of fun-seeking ladies.

Our San Diego event is being organized by Co-TDs: Pam “I am” Vaughn and Allen Risley.  Here’s what Pam has to say about the WGE:

This year’s WGE is going to be record breaking in disc golf history! We have 33 (and counting) women of all ages on one beautiful course, but we are a part of 1,500 strong and growing worldwide!!! I’m proud to be hosting and playing in this great event.

Online registration for the tournament is still open at DiscGolfU.com.  Entry fees have been kept low to encourage participation, and divisions are available for first-time players and younger girls.  All participants will receive a player pack that includes an Innova “Throw Pink” disc and mini, towel from California Krush and a bunch of other goodies that TD Pam has pulled together.  And Rita’s Italian Ice will be on hand to provide refreshments between rounds.

Haven’t played Colina Park before?  You’re in for a treat!  It is a beautifully-maintained ball golf course with disc golf baskets.  Don’t worry about the length – most holes are between 200-250ft.  Well-watered grass, rolling hills and nice, grippy astroturf tee pads with an inspirational message carved into a big rock at each tee.  It’s a great setting for this epic event!

I received an email this morning from Robert Anderson, Recreation Manager for the City of Vista, asking disc golfers to stop playing disc golf at Brengle Terrace Park at night. His message:

“Recently staff have been having issues at night with disc golfers staying and using glowing discs. Please help us inform the patrons that the course closes at dusk, for some reason when staff spoke to the users they were under the impression the course was open until midnight.”

As disc golfers, we all have the responsibility to use the facilities to which we have been granted access with care. Nearly all (if not all) of the city parks in San Diego County with disc golf baskets close at sundown, for the safety of park users and to provide peace and quiet for park neighbors. While “glow golf” is fun to play, it might not be a legal activity in some of these places. Please protect our daytime use of these parks by refraining from playing glow golf at night, when the parks are closed.