LPOver

The LPO kicks off.

Disc golf season really is a wonderful time of year. Our weekends are filled with exciting competition, epic travel around the Green Mountain State, and good times with good people. There's a lot to enjoy and even more to be thankful for. But, at least for me, I breathe a sigh of relief when the Lincoln Peak Open is over.

The Lincoln Peak Open, or LPO, takes place yearly in Warren, Vermont at the Sugarbush Resort. It is a two round tournament, with one round played on the Peak Course and one round played on the Base Course. This year, for the July 21 tournament, the weather was beautiful and the sun was shining all day. However, this doesn't change the grueling nature of two rounds of tournament disc golf at a place like the Bush. Add to that the mental game needed for a 10 hour day of disc golf, and you can see why I'm happy when this weekend is over. The real kicker this time was the condition of the courses at Sugarbush, but we'll get to that later.

The story of the LPO was Jeff Spring, an actual Vermonter, winning a Vermont disc golf tournament. Not only was he able to beat all the rich and famous Vermont pro disc golfers, but he was also able to hold off the phenomenal out-of-staters Tim Walsh and Daniel Marcus. Spring was able to do it with a 4-under par 59 on the Peak Course White Tees and a 3-under par 57 on the Base Course Blue Tees. His score up top was 3 strokes better than anyone else. His score down low wasn't as stellar, but it was enough to seal up his first win of the 2012 season.

Spring sprang sprung.

In true Year of the Spring fashion, the 100 points Jeff got for his win was enough to catapult him into 1^st place in the Pro Open Division. For recent front runner Chris Young, this marks the first time since Pinnacle, the first event of the year, that he hasn't been ranked in first place. Right now the top three reads Jeff Spring, Chris Young, and Mike Habets. Spring has just about a 14 point edge on Young and Young has a whopping 87 points on Habets. The Top 5 players in the division- with Jon Moorer and Dave Frothingham rounding out the five- have all played in five tournaments. None of these players are holding onto a zero. That means it's game on. And to me, that means we're really talking about a two person race for the crown. Spring versus Young. It should be an exciting couple of weeks in August between Calais and Wrightsville and beyond that the end of the season could be epic.

The other division that Circle Three covers heavily, AM 1, also saw some big mix ups after the LPO. Edwin Bedell carded an ace and an eagle on the Peak Course on his way to his second AM 1 victory of the season. He obviously took offense to my saying that Brad Harris was going to have an uncontested division win this year. Right now Bedell's double 100's put him in a good spot. Only Harris really looks to be close, despite the fact that both Seth McQuade and Justin Kaulius appear ahead of Harris in the standings. Bedell has three solid scores (100, 89.66, 100) and Harris has three as well (96.55, 92.59, 95.83). You know full well that 100's win, when it comes down to it, so Harris better start winning before its too late.

Rounding out that division, McQuade has two solid scores (92.59, 87.5), Kaulius has two decent scores (87.5, 89.66), Justin DeVico has one (89.47) and Andy Powell has one (93.75). All of these players can help themselves, and Harris, for that matter, by winning one of the two August tournaments. If that doesn't happen, this division too may be a two-person race, with Bedell and Harris battling it out near the end. Maybe I should mention now that both of these players are from New Hampshire. Or maybe that's not relevant.

Other Things:

*Year of the Spring. Don't forget.

*Anne Lewis won Pro Masters at the LPO, giving her a 58 point lead in her three person division. John Sudarsky won the LPO in Pro Grand Masters, his third win of the season, and he seems to have that division all but locked up.

*I played the first round of the LPO with Dan Walsh. I told him that if he shot well enough, he might get the headline. But, he didn't, and he didn't. Still, its worth talking about. Walsh continues to lead AM 2. He's currently got about 12 points on Robbie Bean and 67 points on Todd Bouchard. I'd bet that he can hold on, but I don't really know anything about AM 2 this year, so my opinion on that might not mean too much. As usual.

*Heather House decided to give Jen Frantz some competition. I've seen Heather play some disc golf pretty recently. She's very solid, loves disc golf, and seems really committed to getting better. (It won't be long before she's crushing Tyler Teed, after all.) Now, the solid disc golfing, the love of the game, and the commitment to getting better are all true statements about Jen Frantz too. But, the story here is some new competition in another small division. Maybe things will get interesting here before the year ends.

*What about Sugarbush? Let's start with some full disclosure here. I love snowboarding at Sugarbush. I've had a season pass there for seven years and unless they ban me because of this article, I'll have another one there this year. It's a special place to me. In addition to that, some folks in our club have put in time, energy, and effort to try to make disc golf work there. I'm certainly not knocking any of that or any one associated with our club. However, I'm going to get right down to it. I don't think Sugarbush cares one iota about disc golf.

I remember first thinking about it last summer, when I heard a radio commercial for Sugarbush's summer activities. They went to great lengths to mention so many things you can do at Sugarbush in the summer- from mountain biking to getting married to zip lining. However, they didn't even mention disc golf. They'll mention a 50 foot zip line, but not two “championship” level courses? Oh, and on your way into Sugarbush, did you see the Sugarbush Cow? It's painted up with all that Sugarbush has to offer. Except, I looked hard, and didn't see a disc golfer or a disc golf basket anywhere on there.  Did you?

And then I went and played the courses this year. I have to say, the Peak Course is kind of a joke right now. First of all, there are disc golf baskets that are right on the mountain bike trails. Right on the path. Seems like it could be dangerous. What's so hard about moving a few baskets a few feet off to the side? More than once my group had to yell “Bikes!” and go running out of the way to avoid being run over by cyclists.

Second of all, the tee boxes were a terrible. Yes, they were recently weeded, but other than that, they're an absolute disgrace. Matt Marro summed it up the best when he said, “Oh, I get it, the harder the shot, the worse the tee box.” Loose gravel, uneven mounds of “tee box material”, and broken wood are the ways I'd describe the Sugarbush tee boxes. My group had to have numerous discussions about where some tee boxes began or where they ended.

So, if they don't care about disc golf, why should we keep caring about Sugarbush? We went and paid our $10 fee to play a tournament there, we paid our $12 for raw and/or undercooked chicken sandwiches, and we drank their $5.50 beers. (Yes, that shitty lunch of a sandwich, fries, and one beer cost me $18.53.)  I thought the least they could do was present us with a disc golf course worthy of a real tournament.  

But, they really didn't. Sugarbush, you should take notice. Smuggler's Notch is going all in on disc golf, with their exceptional new Brewster Ridge course being just the first huge step. They know disc golf and they care about disc golfers. If you're not careful, Smuggs is going to pass you right by. Actually, it'll be all those disc golfers passing you by as they drive elsewhere to play.

*Uh, yeah, those undercooked chicken sandwiches. Really? The person sitting next to me was served a chicken cutlet that was raw. Mine looked alright but caused havoc on me during the second round. From what I hear, I was far from the only person feeling terrible after lunch. Bummer.

*Oh, and remember when the LPO used to mean something? When it used to sell out? When players really made a push to make it up north for it? It didn't happen this year. I. Just. Can't. Imagine. Why.

*Damn. Paying $60 to play in a Pro Division sucks. Winning that division and only winning $190 sucks even worse!  Spring had to beat 10 other Pro Open players to win that money.  Jeff, just wait a few years, then you can win a 3 person pro old division and get $120 out of it.  Those odds are way better.  

*The final word this time goes to Chris Young. He's the reigning Pro Open Champ. He's been in first place for most of this season. He's been doing quite well despite the target on his back. Now Jeff Spring is making a run. But don't expect Young to quit. He got in touch with me to give me some choice quotes. The one that really sticks out: “Spring takes the lead, but not for long.” He went on to say, “I've been holding out on smack talk. I need some motivation right now and Spring got a big win. I need to answer at Calais. Last year some July smack talk helped light some fires.” So there you have it kids, the Champ says the season ain't over yet. Thankfully though, the LPO is over.  

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