Monday, May 28, 2012

Black Falls VI


Marcus takes the win with Mayone and Betts,
among others, looking on.

The Green Mountain Points Series is somehow off to a three straight tournaments with nice weather streak, after a beautiful, and tumultuous, day in Montgomery, Vermont. Once again GMDGC disc golf saw an out of towner come north to win a tournament. This time it was the very solid, and now legendary Montgomery visitor, Daniel Marcus. He was able to pull off a huge deuce on hole 18 at Black Falls to beat Jeff Spring, who along with Jason Powers led the tournament for most of the day. But, just like NASCAR, the most laps led doesn't always equal winning, and Spring and Powers found that out this weekend.

The day began at the huge, scary Cherry Hill course, which features an open, rolling, long front nine and a steep, wooded, tricky back nine. Only two players got in the 50's on the Cherry Hill round. Powers was 57 and Spring was 59. On a course where scores got into the 80's, with even some Pro's shooting in the 70's, being in the 50's is fantastic.

Players moved down the road to Black Falls for lunch and began gearing up for another tough round, this time on Black Falls Gold to Gold (for many players). Spring tried his best, but could only manage a 58 on the Golds. Daniel Marcus, as he often does in Montgomery, marched his way back, probably only throwing Aviars and Rocs, shooting a 53 on Golds to win another Vermont tournament.

Winner, winner

For the People:

*The point series is getting interesting, with us 30% of the way into the season. Young Bucks still has a hold on Pro Open, with Jeff Spring in second, and newcomer Jon Moorer in third. This Guy is winning AM1, at least for the current time, with Andy Powell and Edwin Bedell in second and third. Enough about that, though, we'll cover the points series later this week.

*George Boone's crew is taking disc golf by storm right now. Who knew that Mr. Boone was raising a whole new crop of outstanding disc golfers right there in the shadow of Burke Mountain? Boone himself won Pro Grandmasters, Travis Keller won last week's AM1 division at the Sap Bucket and this week Nick Soave took AM1 to school with his scores. The Boone Crew is not only rolling deep, but they're also cashing in on their performances. 

*Which leads me to Nick Soave not cashing in at Black Falls VI. Nick shot a very respectable 63 at Cherry Hill and then followed it up with a lights out 53 on the Golds. His 53 tied Daniel Marcus and Jon Moorer for the best round scores of the day on that layout. So, Nick, don't you think its time to move up? And I'm not just saying that because you play in my division right now or because I'm adding the usual Vermont “move up” peer pressure. I'm asking for the best reason of all. You could be winning money in Pro right now. Isn't that a worthwhile reason to move?

*Prediction Follow-up. Predictions suck, I don't know why I make them. In Pro Open, I predicted Spring/Betts/Moorer but hinted at an out of towner taking it. And take it Daniel Marcus did. Spring was second, so that's worth something. Betts and Moorer tied for fifth. In AM1 I said Harris/DeVico/Kaulius. Instead it was Soave/John Mucciarone/Harris. So, I had one close. Overall, my predictions weren't stellar, but better than any others I heard on my drive to Montgomery on Saturday morning.

*Rivalry Watch. Going in to this one, I held a 6-1. We had 5 rivals playing this time around: DeVico, Divoll, McQuade, Powell, and Conroy. McQuade and Powell finished third and fifth on the day, with both of them beating me. I did manage to take down Divoll, DeVico, and Conroy. So far Andy's beaten me twice and McQuade once. On the season, I'm now 9-3 against the rivals. That's a .750 winning percentage, which would put me in the lead in any division in baseball, if you're keeping score at home.

*The final word goes to those amazing people in Montgomery. They really know how to do disc golf and how to put on a good event. So, thanks to all of those wonderful folks up north who continue to put up with our shenanigans.     


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Black Falls (and Cherry Hill)


Black Falls is waiting.  Who's ready?


With the quickest possible turnaround between Green Mountain Points Series events, we're quickly rapidly approaching Black Falls VI. Sunday's Sap Bucket X is still fresh in our minds, but players only have six days to rest, recuperate, and practice putting. So, what's going to happen in Montgomery, Vermont this Saturday? Circle Three takes a guess, and with the Point Series so young and things so up in the air right now, it's probably barely more than a guess.

*Pro Open: It's hard to deny that Johnny Betts is in a prime position to cash in this weekend. He's hot off his first Sap Bucket win, which happened to come in his first tournament of the season. Getting another first, a win at his own event would really throw the rest of the division into a tailspin. Earlier this year I questioned if Mr. Betts would play enough tournaments to really be in contention in the division. Two wins in three tournaments would really mean something. Those scores might keep him coming back to play tournaments later in the season, as well.

But, it certainly won't be an easy day for Johnny. Not only does he have a grueling round at Cherry Hill and a round at the now more-difficult Black Falls to contend with, there are a bunch of other players who could make his shot at back-to-back wins much more challenging. I'd expect Matt Idol to play better than he did at the Sap Bucket and he's got a real chance to crush the Golds at Black Falls. Chris Young will certainly be working hard to keep himself atop the division. Jon Moorer is also right in the mix and can go under par at BF. Not to mention, he's capable of stunning scores at Cherry Hill. So, what's it going to be? Will someone slip in from out of town at the last moment to steal it? Or will a Vermonter hold in down in state?

*Pro Open Predictions: Making a call like this makes me question why I ever got into the prediction game. I should just stick to the commentary. But, we're here now, so here's what I think. I'm going with Jeff Spring to win. I still think he's going to emerge as the real contender this season, so maybe Montgomery is the place to start. Plus, Jon Moorer gets his first Pro podium. So, here you go: Spring/Betts/Moorer.

*Am1 is a mess. Edwin Bedell is on top of the division, but he won't be in Montgomery. Justin Kaulius is second, but who knows if he can hang on. Brad Harris wants to capitalize on his solid Sap Bucket finish. Christian Keidel still wants a win. Travis Keller's win at the Sap Bucket was huge, but he's not registered for this one yet. Spencer Weatherholt, Andy Powell, Aaron Moore and Justin DeVico are all up top in the division.

*Am1 Predictions: I hate to admit it, but I'm worried about Brad Harris again. Look for him to be ultra consistent all day long. I'm going with Harris/DeVico/Kaulius. But, I just don't know if any of these guys will really hang on over two very tough rounds. I think Aaron Moore might build off his Sap Bucket finish and spoil the podium for at least one of these three. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

*If you've got some predictions on the divisions I've snubbed, let's hear it. Put your money where your mouth is. Or at least put your words where my website is.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Sap Bucket X


Sap Bucket X kick-off

On Sunday, May 20, 2012 the Center Chains Disc Golf Course in Waterbury, Vermont hosted the Sap Bucket X. Here are the stats you need to know about. 88 players, 80 degrees, a Green Mountain Points Series record 24 Pro Open players, 18 CTP's, 1 ace, and a keg. Pretty impressive, that's for sure.

Going into the second GMPS event of the year, I thought for sure that the story would be Matt Idol. He was the two-time defending champ and a very late addition to the field. He plays pretty stellar disc golf and features a devastating flick shot. Combine his huge distances and lazer putting and I thought a third straight win was a done deal.

However, Johnny Betts would simply have none of that. I thought Matt Idol had answered the bat signal, but really Johnny Betts took my other piece of advice. 40's win. And he did it. His first round score of 48 put him on a top card of players who all shot in the 40's. Pat Hout's 48 and three scores of 49 by Todd Holmes, Chris Young, and Jeff Spring completed the lead card.
Center Chains, Waterbury, VT

But only Betts could hang in the 40's for round 2. He shot a second stellar score of 49 to finish the day at 97. On the 2nd round, Pro Chris Young shot a 50, as did AM1 winner Travis Keller, but only Betts managed to shoot in the 40's. Betts held strong both rounds for his first ever Sap Bucket win. And to answer my previous question, it was Mr. Betts who drank from the shot glass.

Pat Hout made his trip south from Canada worthwhile, tying for 2nd in Pro Open with Reigning Champ Chris Young. Hout shot a 48/51/99 and Young was 49/50/99. It's no surprise Young shot well. I slighted him a little in the Sap Bucket Prediction article, so he had to show me up. Speaking of which, all I heard before the first round was about how I didn't have any love for Todd Holmes and about how great he plays at Waterbury. And, sure enough, he played well right in front of my stupid face and set me straight. Holmes finished the day at 49/53/102, good enough for a 4th place tie with Mike Davies. This is starting to sound a little like 6 degrees of separation, but Mike Davies also hated the fact that I suggested he might not finish both rounds, and he also played well just to spite me.

Now that we lay it all out like that, I wonder if Johhny Betts was motivated to prove me wrong too. Maybe so, maybe not.

Either way, congratulations to those guys. Six total rounds in the 40's is pretty solid.

 Also, the next time I go to Montgomery, I hope Mr. Betts pours me a nice bourbon on the rocks in that fancy ass glass trophy I helped him get.

And Then:

*There's so much still to talk about. We haven't even touched on the Points Series, AM1, the ladies and those other...cough...cough... Pro divisions. Plus, the Rivalries. And Black Falls is only a few days away. So, where do you want to start?

*Points Series. Chris Young is a little sneaky. He (kind of quietly) tied for 2nd at Pinnacle and tied for 2nd at the Sap Bucket. Right now he's in 1st place in the Points Series. That's right folks, he's officially at it again. He got off to a quick start last year and he's off to another one this year. I'm happy to see James Beaulieau currently in 2nd, but right now he's about 41 points behind Young. Mike Habets, Jon Moorer and Jeff Spring round out the top 5.

*You have to wonder if Johnny Betts is ready to capitalize on the quick turnaround between the Sap Bucket and his own tournament, Black Falls VI. He's already working with a 100 and maybe winning Black Falls (which would be another first for him) would make for the perfect story.

*Pro Prediction Follow-Up: I picked Idol/Betts/Spring. Betts exceeded my expectations and Idol and Spring both failed me. Circle Three really did start with predictions, but its a hard business. I should just stick to the commentary.

*Am1 had some excitement. The top card after the 1st round featured Edwin Bedell (52), Matt Cohen (53), Brad Harris (53), Justin Kaulius (53), and Vinnie Samolis (54). I saw Harris shoot a 2nd roud 52 and figured he had the win in the bag. Instead, one of George Boone's posse, Travis Keller shot an impressive 2nd round 50 to tie things up. After a two-round play-off, Keller prevailed to keep the trophy in Vermont.

*Am1 Prediction Follow-Up: I picked Tundji/Harris/Powell. Harris hung tough but couldn't quite make it work, so I nailed the prediction on his 2nd place finish. I think it was too early to predict Tundji, but it happens. Andy... maybe next time?

*I was psyched to see that Chris Sherwin won Pro Masters. If not for any other reason, he got to keep one of his own trophies. That's got to make it extra sweet. John Sudarsky's starting to run away with Pro Grandmasters. Do any of you guys think you're going to give him some competition anytime soon?

*Rivalry Watch: During the Sap Bucket, Jim Conroy approached me and asked me to include him in a rivalry. In my mind, he took out a glove and slapped me in the face when he said it, but in real life it probably wasn't that dramatic. None the less, you know I accepted the challenge. Plus, Seth McQuade wasn't there so I figured that'd keep us at six rivals for this one.

So, how'd it go?, you're probably wondering. It seems that we should only keep track of rivalries during GMPS Events. So, that means I was 6-1 going into the Sap Bucket. I was 53/57/110 on the day. Dave Carter was 55/56/111, so I got him by a stroke. Newcomer Jim Conroy was 59/54/113, so I got him by 3. DeVico was 57/55/112, so I also got him by 3 and Spencer Weatherholt was 60/52/112, so I got him by 2. Andy Powell, the only rival to beat me at Pinnacle, was 61/59/120, so I got a little redemption there. That makes me 12-1 against the rivals, and its safe to say none of you would have predicted that.

*The Final Word this time goes to your Favorite TD. It doesn't have to be Wedel or I, just your favorite TD. They deserve it.

(Thanks to Gretchen Kruesi for the fantastic pictures.)


Friday, May 18, 2012

Sap Bucket: Who drinks from the shot glass?

http://sherwinartglass.com/
We're just about 36 hours from the Sap Bucket X in Waterbury, Vermont. Players will be competing for the usual pride, some cash or prizes, and some super nice blown glass sap bucket shot glasses. So, the question is, who gets to throw one down from his trophy Sunday evening? (And yes, I know some ladies are playing, but we're talking Pros here.)

Two days ago, when I should have written this article, the story was totally different. Then, I was going to tell you that two-time defending champion Matt Idol wasn't playing the Sap Bucket. That, in turn, would have left the field wide open. Instead, I'm lazy, I didn't write that article two days ago, and now Matt Idol's playing. Remember that bat signal I sent him after Pinnacle? It worked. Score another one for Circle Three.

My mental rough draft had to be reworked with Idol in the mix. So, let's talk about the Sap Bucket IX and VIII for a minute. Last year Idol won Pro Open by a stroke on Johnny Betts. Idol was 54/49 for a 103 and Betts was 51/53 for 104. Frothy was 53/53 for 105, for the record. Those numbers may not seem stellar, but I'll remind you that last year's Sap Bucket was a sloppy, wet, disgusting mess of a day. It rained the entire time and things got ugly. Some dummy even fell down on hole 7 and was covered in mud for the whole second round.

At the Sap Bucket VIII, two years ago, Idol and Betts tied at a stunning 95 after two rounds. Idol was 44/51 and Betts was 49/46. On the first playoff hole Betts went OB and gave it to Idol.

And now he's back to defend his two-time win streak. The rest of the field should watch out. This guy taught us what a pitch and putt Center Chains can be. Look for some more stunning scores in the 40's from this guy. The rest of the Pro field should have that on their minds all day. Each of them can be a few under par, but few of them can get in the 40's. In this case, 40's win.


What to watch for:

*Idol's not the only Pro who has a chance, obviously. I expect Betts to play some great disc golf in his quest to finally beat Idol in Waterbury. Mike Habets should shoot low. Pete Hess crushes Center Chains. Chris Young hates the fact I've mentioned 5 Pros before I mentioned him, so expect him to play well. Frothy practically lives there. And, Year of the Spring, of course.

*This year I'm going to pick the Pros “Win/Place/Show” style. I'll give you my top 3. Idol, Betts, Spring. The outsider pick is Jon Moorer. He's goes under par both rounds, I suspect.

*Look for some great Pro/Pro match-ups for the round one cards. Idol gets top slot on the 1st card, as the reigning champ. He plays on the same card as Spring, because I think that's a great head-to-head. Betts gets the top slot on the 2nd card, because of two straight 2nd place finishes. Pete Hess plays with him, to pair up some of the Vermont God Fathers of Disc Golf. Young gets the top slot on the 3rd card as the reigning points series champ. He's paired with the newly shorn Mike Davies, who could either shoot great or walk off the course mid-round. Either way, it'd be fun to see those two play.

*Dang, there are some amateurs playing this tournament too. With 23 Pros, its hard to remember that people are silly enough not to play for cash. So, the Am 1 field. Last year Josh Wedel won it. He was 51/55 for 106. But, he's playing Pro this year. Two other current Pros Moorer and James Sweat were 2nd and 3rd. Jim Conroy was 4th.  He's the highest finisher still playing in the little boy's division.

*I have about a 10% chance of getting this prediction right. Anything could happen. Bedell and Powell could follow up their strong starts. Aaron Bunker and Justin Kaulius could improve on their 3rd place Pinnacle finishes. Matt Cohen could pull it together to play straight down the fairways all day. Maybe Oliver Redding will shoot another stellar round this year. An out-of-towner like Brad Harris, maybe? An unknown from Canada or Mass? Who knows? While I'm at it, I'll mention that Olatundji Akpo-Sani could be a player. He's Vermont's newest Colorado transplant and beat 21 other players on a round at Waterbury not too long ago.

*Am 1, win/place/show: Tundji, Harris, Powell. Why not? Let's go out on some limbs here. You know how the out-of-towners who sweep into Vermont tend to play. So, my predictions are trending towards the non-locals or new-locals. And Andy Powell, who plays more out of town than in town. Plus, I didn't want to pick myself.

*Rivalry Watch: I roll into the Sap Bucket with a nice 8-1 cushion. Something tells me this one's going to be tough. All the rivals are there. All can shoot amazing rounds at Center Chains. Weatherholt, Divoll, Powell, Carter, DeVico, McQuade. Those are some strong players to have to be taking on.

*I think we should come up with a nick name for the rival group.  Since the website's called Circle Three, I'm going to suggest the Square Six. What do you think? It might help me remember how many players I have to check on each time.  Any other suggestions?  

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Battle of Twin Falls


The trophy and the falls.

Saturday brought us some great weather and some even better disc golf. Four teams from some of Vermont's finest courses converged on Twin Falls for the second round of the Group Smack Talk Challenge. The original two teams, Twin Falls and BCO, were joined by Team Waterbury and Team North Calais. In the beginning, there was smack talk. In the end, Twin Falls retained the trophy.

This time around the challenge was for stroke play with the top 5 scores of each team counting in each of 2 rounds. The home team, Twin Falls, played with Jon Moorer, James Sweat, Christian Keidel, Sean Bleything, Justin Kaulius, and Matt Cohen. All can be solid players, but there was heated competition. North Calais was represented by Dan Desch, Dave Carter, Aaron Moore, Jeff Spring, Al Rosa, and Josh Rappeport. Waterbury had Dave Frothingham, Anne Lewis, Justin DeVico, Jim Conroy, Steve Viglas, and Pete Hess. BCO brought Tyler Teed, Big B, New Pete, Zach Podhorzer, Matt Marro, and Mike Miller.

After round 1 featuring some very hot scores, Twin Falls and Waterbury were tied. Both teams had 12 strokes on Calais and 15 on BCO. For round 2 the top scores on each team made up the top card, with the second best scores on each team making up the second card, and so on down the line. For the most part, scores on the second round were a little higher for most players. But, I saw Jeff Spring crush a string of birdies to make a 7 stroke improvement on his second go round- from a 61 to a 54.

When all the scores were painstakingly counted, it ended up in a perfect tie. Twin Falls and Waterbury both shot 603 on the day. Calais got really close with a 604 and BCO was a bit off with 620. Like a disc golf tag match, the GST Challenge requires the challenging team to beat the defending team. So, a tie goes to the current trophy holder.

So, instead of an easy day of some outsider team beating Twin Falls, the Saint George-based team stays as the only team to hold the trophy.

Other Things:

*The venerable Pete Hess had the best overall score of the day, with a combined 110 with scores of 54 and 56. Quite respectable for two rounds at the Falls. He was four strokes ahead of Jon Moorer's 114 (54/60). Spring came back to shoot a 115 (61/54) and Dave Frothingham (56/59) shot 115 as well. Justin Kaulius (56/60) shot 116.

*On the day, with 48 rounds of disc golf being shot in all, only 12, or 25% of the total rounds, were in the 50's. Pete Hess and Frothy did it in both rounds. Moorer, Kaulius, Zach, Matt Marro, BCO Pete, DeVico, and Carter each had one round in the 50's.

*Rivalry watch: It's probably too early to call it a trend, but things worked out well. I beat Carter and I beat DeVico. That puts me at 2-0 on the day. I know it's not a GMPS event, but still. That puts me to 8-1 on a very young disc golf season.