Finale at Twin Falls

The season finale of Twin Fall's Money Game series proved to be an epic battle. The weather was pretty amazing, considering it was mid-November. The talent and competition was second-to-none and the hospitality of the house was simply amazing.

Holmes sinks the tournament winner

Todd Holmes won the day, posting a first round score of 54 and a second round score of 55. He was the uncontested winner of the day's Overall Best Score prize, but had to go to a playoff for the Lowest Single Round of the Day prize. The playoff only took one hole, with Holmes besting Dave Frothingham when Frothy failed to convert the elusive Circle Three on hole 17.

The Host and the Doctor

The real story of the day, though, belongs to Amy and Matt Cohen. My words here can't describe the hospitality and generosity they show to the Vermont disc golf community. From course maintenance, to cooking, to cleaning up, and generally taking care of us all, they deserve amazing thanks and praise. They truly are the First Family of Vermont Disc Golf. Thank you.

Leftovers:

*CTP prizes made for an exciting and lucrative day for some local disc golfers. Seth McQuade parked hole 2 and Matt Idol grabbed the prize on hole 5 for some nice prizes. Sean Bleything stole a very impressive CTP on hole 13 for a slightly larger prize and Jon Moorer simply parked hole 18 to take down the big prize.  (If you take a look at the picture of Holmes' winning putt, you'll see how close Moorer's CTP was...it's marked with the American flag.)

*Speaking of Jon Moorer, he also took down a prize for the Most Birdies in One Round. He and Frothy both had 5 birdies in a round and had to playoff for the prize, the day's second playoff. Moorer's soon-to-be legendary approach from the crowd on the deck knocked out Frothy after one playoff hole, for the second time it happened to Frothy on the day.      

*Speaking of hole 18, did you see that chump who set the single hole score record on hole 18? For those of you scoring at home, that was a Seven Circle 18. If you're interested in starting your own website, I might recommend that for your name.

The beauty of Twin Falls and the cool hand of Dr. Holmes

*Chris Young didn't win, for once. Very surprising. The reason I bring it up is that I thought Young Bucks was the most blogged about disc golfer. I think the Dr. may be giving him a run for his money. Evidence here and here.

*Brock. I didn't know you were leaving town. Not that I can blame you, but you're now the second real deal player to blow in and out of our lives here in Vermont. Anyway, don't forget, aloha means hello and goodbye. So, aloha.

*The final word this time goes to the Cohens. Matt, Amy, Noah, thank you, thank you, thank you.   

These guys are thankful for yesterday's hospitality

Also, thanks to Christian Keidel for the first winning putt photo and Matt Cohen for the second.

    

Your Next Pro?

We've talked about it before. The year 2011 was a pretty epic one for the Vermont disc golf scene. Chris Young stole the show. However, the Am group may provide us with the most drama in the off-season. Who's going to move up? Who's going to stay in the Am category and bag it next year? Is anyone going to make the huge leap from Am 2 to Pro?

Well, keep asking the questions and I'll keep finding the answers. Circle Three is proud to announce our very first Am to Pro jump of 2011.

He looks unassuming, but don't be fooled.

Bachnein's own Rang Duce is going Pro for 2012. He'll officially become the first GMDGC Am to move to Pro this year. He'll be the first Twin Falls player to go Pro. And he'll become Bachnein's first ever sponsored Pro. Wow. Pretty heady stuff.

Bachnein partner Taylor Johnson and Rang Duce

Rang told me that he was worried about playing poorly in Pro next year and getting beat up by the veterans. But then he just decided he wouldn't. Not that he wouldn't play Pro. Just that he wouldn't play poorly and get beat up. I love it. That's the kind of confidence he'll need in next year's top division. Admit it, the man knows how to handle stress. He battled last year and he battled this year.

His career highlight tells a little about Rang Duce's overall mindset. This past year he ended up on the second card at Black Falls V. A stellar score of 51 on Gold to Gold in the final round not only catapulted him off the second card but actually gave him the win with an 8 stroke lead over the next closest finisher. He's not one to give up and can't ever be counted out of a tournament.

Rang Duce (center) and a few of his loyal supporters

Of course, in Pro, it won't be so easy. But I think Rang Duce is ready for the next challenge. He got his Am win and in a very noble fashion he's going to make the Pro jump. I'll miss him in the Am division, but its nice to see him move up. Good luck, Rang Duce.  

Chris Young Can't Stop Winning

When I was thinking about this blog post, the hardest thing to come up with was the title. Here are some options that didn't quite make the cut.

*Young and McQuade Come Up Huge

*Andy Powell Has Something to Prove

*Global Warming? Sure Seems Like It

*Andy Powell Thinks My Writing is Shallow and Pedantic

*Its Always Sunny at Trapp Lodge

*42 Holes of Disc Golf Up and Down Hill is A Lot

*Fall Platter Helps Trapp Take the Next Step Towards Disc Golf Greatness

*Discs Lost in Killer Pond!

*Three Pros and a Powell

November seems like a time to prepare for winter. Living in Vermont, there's no question that the long, dark season is around the corner. Usually this time of year we're thinking snow tires, wood chopping, and packing on the winter pounds.  Instead, this past Sunday was 50 degrees, sunny, and amazing. That's my idea of disc golf in Vermont in November and it made for a great, if unseasonable, Fall Platter.

Our usual tournament events are pretty tense, with lots of people vying for a chance to move up in divisions and win big prize money. The Fall Platter brings a welcome change of pace. Without the pressure of the Green Mountain Points Series, disc golfers seemed to be laid back and more able to enjoy a great day. The field was small, but we made up for it with copious amounts of disc golf. And Chris Young can't stop winning. Seriously. He can't. He finished yesterday with a 5 stroke lead over the next closest Red Division finisher. He continues to be lights out.

The Red Division, though, was as hot as the blaring sun in the extreme elevation of Trapp Family Lodge. Lots of AM 1 and AM 2 players stepped up to play in the Big Boy Division. Props to them. But even with a large group, the Pros still managed to separate themselves from the field. The three Pros in the group finished 1-2-3. Mr. Andy Powell had the top AM finish, ending up 4^th in Red.

Al Rosa, who's also done his fair share of winning this year, took down the Orange Division. He edged out Justin Foster by just 3 strokes. Matt Zabawa, making a great comeback after recent difficulties, was 3^rd.

In the Yellow Division, Andrew Rowan took the win, finishing with a 3 stroke lead over John Sudarsky and a 6 stroke lead over Dave Rooke. The Green Division was won by Jayce Slesar in the day's tighest battle. He beat out Gretchen Kruesi by just one stroke.

Remainders:

Upgrades like this go a long way.

*The Trapp Family Lodge really is doing a great job with their course. Sure Seth and Chris gave them some help this week, but the Lodge is working steadily to improve their course. They have an amazing piece of property and its great to see disc golf being taken seriously by them.

*Yesterday's temporary Hole 3 was amazing. I hope Trapp realizes its greatness and incorporates it into their current layout. It might not be easy to add it in and it would probably mean that temporary Hole 4 gets added in with it, but that hole is pretty spectacular.

*Andy doesn't think my writing is shallow and pedantic. Well, he might, actually, but he hasn't told me so. He does think its a little on the negative side. That's probably hard to argue with. If anyone has suggestions for story ideas or spins on topics that aren't negative, feel free to use the comments section.

*How many discs got lost in the pond hole yesterday? I saw quite a few go in and there were more that I heard about. Maybe we should do a Maple Hill-like dive for discs sometime soon. Any volunteers?

*Ace Pot Throw-off from the deck?  Brilliant.  Hopefully that will become a tradition at Trapp.  

*Seth McQuade and Chris Young get the final word this time. They stepped up and organized the Fall Platter, which included the usual tournament work plus setting up new holes at Trapp. Thanks, guys.

   

2011 Biggest Story

Years from now, when you look back over your long, storied disc golf career and tell your grandchildren tales of your dominance (which you’ve mostly made up and exaggerated over the decades), the year 2011 will stand out as one of the best, most exciting, compelling, entertaining, and monumental years in the history of the GMDGC.  Money Game Emmett dropped stellar performance after stellar performance, winning 4 out of 9 weeks and racking up quite a prize purse.  Young Bucks proved me wrong, right in my face, and won the Pro Open Division.  Rang Duce became a legend by winning an AM 1 Title and making some big contributions.  Bachnein started on a path to greatness.

My friends, I’m proud to announce our final 2011 Award, the Biggest Story.  This Year’s Biggest Story, by overwhelming numbers (56% of the votes) is THE RISE OF BACHNEIN. 

Congratulations, Bachnein.  Here's to many more years of greatness.  Yeah, discgolf!   

2012 Pro Favorite

Making bold predictions and looking to the future is what gave Circle Three its start.  Here we are again, trying to figure out what's going to happen next year. I'm sticking with my original, first blog prediction that 2012 will be the Year of the Spring.  Will the viewing audience take my side?  Unlikely.  But read on to find out for sure.  

This was quite an interesting category to watch as the votes rolled in.  It was a write in category, so the votes were varied and the answers pretty interesting.  First, let me show you the graph explaining the breakdown of votes.  For now I’m going to show it to you without the legend so you can see what a big variance there is.  Ten total players got votes in this category.

Now that you see the spread, I’ll share with you some more details.  Jon Moorer, Dave Frothingham, Jeff Spring, and Chris Young all received multiple votes.  Charles Chamberlin, Ian Thurston, Todd Holmes, Emmett Cosgrove, Jeremy Becker, and Brock Pitzer all received one vote each.  Some of those guys, like Ian Thurston, didn’t even vote for themselves.    

Some of the entries were quite entertaining as well.  One of Frothy’s votes had some explanation with it, “No injuries, no kids.”  One of Spring’s votes was entered as “The Messiah- Jeff Spring.”  A few of Young’s votes were listed as “Young Bucks,” one said, “Young Bucks is the man to beat,” and another was listed as, “Young Bucks if Idol doesn’t join again.” 

You probably want to know who won, though, right?  He did it this year and the Green Mountain community thinks he can do it again next year.  Without further ado, your 2012 Pro Open Favorite is CHRIS YOUNG.

2011 Most Improved Award

There were lots of improved disc golfers this season.  Ira Divoll established himself as a legitimate player in the Green Mountain Disc Golf Club.  Seth McQuade made the scary mid-season jump from AM 2 to AM 1 and would up 4^th in the big boy division.  Matty O. bulked up and packed on 30 extra feet to his drives, which earned him a 3^rd place finish.  Jon Moorer used a dominating flick to finish in 2^nd and made a serious last minute run at 1^st place.  

But, there can be only one winner.  This one actually wasn't very close at all when the results came in.  

This year’s Most Improved Golfer Award goes to JON MOORER.

I think Jon sees this award as a backhanded compliment.  Which, I guess, is ironic, because he is a flicker.  But I think the Most Improved Birdie is quite a compliment.  If those folks brave enough to make the move to AM 1 this year all had mediocre seasons, no one would have been surprised.  Moving divisions is tough and sometimes it takes time to get settled in.  But Jon Moorer didn't let that get in the way for a minute.  He won tournaments and flicked that Nuke in ways that either pissed you off or made you jealous.  When it came down to it, he was the only one with a chance to beat James Sweat.  

Being Most Improved is nothing to scoff at.  

2011 Biggest Disappointment Award

Disappointment often reigns supreme in the GMDGC.  Some baggers stay put in their divisions too long, which is disappointing.  Other golfers choke under pressure, also disappointing.  These four golfers were truly disappointing in 2011, though.  Justin Kaulius went from 1^st place in AM 2 last year to often worst place in AM 1 this year.  Emmett Cosgrove upped and left town before he could finish the season.  Mike Habets has made some recent amends but has been disappointing this year.  Andy Powell won his division but some feel it was disappointing due to his divisional choices. 

This vote wasn’t that close though.  This year’s Biggest Disappointment was MIKE HABETS.

Sorry, man.  I'm sure you'll make a recovery from this year, but its going to take some time.  

2011 Biggest Bagger Award

Bagger… the most often spoke word in the GMDGC, that is if you don’t count obscenities.  Or the word “shady.”  But, honestly, “bagger” is a popular term in these parts.  Sometimes it comes from love, other times from hate, and sometimes from jealousy.  I think Emmett really helped push it’s use this year but he certainly wasn’t the only one shouting it out at awards ceremonies.  

Be honest, loyal readers, this is the award you've really been waiting to read about.  It was nice to give Dave Frothy some more positive feedback yesterday, but this is the award that really gets you thinking.  So here we go.  

Murray bagged most of the year away but ultimately couldn’t bag a win.  It sounds like he really took a step up on the tough guy chart after his performance at Pinnacle this weekend.  Andy missed the memo on the AM 2 mass exodus but obviously knows he's in the running for this one because he talked up his non-bagging skills on the message board recently.  James Sweat has been called a bagger after more than one tournament this year.  Mike Habets bounced back and forth between divisions when it seemed like he couldn't win the pro division.

But, the crowd has spoken and the answers are in.  This year’s Biggest Bagger, with 56% of the vote is ANDY POWELL.

Sorry, Andy, but we're all ready for you to move up.  It might have been one year too long in AM 2.  But, thanks for being a good sport and for having such a great back and forth on Circle Three.  You are due your speech, so type it up and get back to me.

2011 Biggest Contributor Award

Well, I’ve got this whole blog space to fill and you probably know who’s going to win this award, so I’ll take the time to rant a little.  I’d like the GMDGC Volunteer of the Year Award to be renamed the Circle Three Volunteer of the Year Award.  It has a nice ring to it, you have to admit.  I mean, I did come up with the idea long before Chris Young stole my thunder.  So think about it.  You don’t have to give me your answer right away.

We do, though, have some folks who really put a lot into this club.  I kind of feel bad only being able to nominate 4 finalists.  Many of you were probably thinking about loved ones who contribute a lot to our courses and such that I didn’t get to mention in the nominations.  Sorry about that.  Running a blog is hard work and I have to make the difficult decisions.  That’s how it is being me. 

Volunteers make our club what it is.  These four are great examples of that.  Frothy does it all, a real Jack of All Trades for the GMDGC.  Rang Duce loves his doubles and half of his tee pads.  Matty O. has given his blood, sweat, tears (ask him about the time I did major renovations on the course when he was out of town), time, and land to an amazing gem of a course.  Al Rosa builds benches, makes Wrightsville what it is, and has probably helped with 50 other things I’m not aware of.

Before I unveil the winner, let's also clear up some of the incidentals and housekeeping for the Circle Three Birdie Awards.  First of all, there's a schedule of events all week, so keep your eyes peeled for your favorite award categories.  Second, I've fixed the comments, so feel free to comment on any and all award categories as they're announced.  Third, in the interest of fair journalism, I'll be happy to post an acceptance speech from each and every winner.  

Without further ado, I'm happy to announce this year’s Biggest Contributor is in fact, the Man, the Myth, the Legend DAVID FROTHINGHAM.

Congratulations!

Trapp Family Lodge Review: A Mini-Maple Hill

With special thanks to Christian Keidel for his contributions to this article

Trapp Family Lodge is like a mini version of Maple Hill right here in Stowe, Vermont.  If you’ve been to Maple Hill, in Leichester, Massachusetts you’ll know that it’s a place that mixes elevation, water, woods, and openness in the perfect blend of disc golf amazingness.  Although very young and very new, Trapp Family Lodge offers a small sample of Maple Hill-style disc golf in the northern state of Vermont.  The full potential of this course and this property is still far from being realized.

I had the chance to play Trapp Lodge’s disc golf course with some of Vermont’s Most Accomplished Disc Golfers- Dave Carter, Christian Keidel, Justin Devico, and the soon-to-be Mr. Josh Wedel.  For most of the group it was a second or third visit, but for Mr. Carter and I, it was our first time on the property. 

I’d say it’s quite beautiful. There’s a great use of up and down changes in elevation, a perfect amount of water, especially on hole 1, some wooded holes, some long, wide open holes, and no out of bounds on the entire course.  The scenery and backdrops are amazing and today we had the entire course to ourselves.  Like Christian said, “This place is a real gem.”  If you haven’t been there, I’d suggest you make a visit before the Fall Platter. 

Pros:

*Trapp Lodge is a new course, so there’s a certain level of excitement that goes along with playing a new course for the first or second time.

*There’s a great mix of field holes, woods holes, water, and elevation, and that’s only over the current 9 hole set-up they’ve got going on.

*They’ve mowed down the areas of the course where I heard it was very overgrown before.

*The property and scenery are really quite beautiful.

*This course would be a perfect complement to Center Chains on a day of multiple disc golf courses.

*The Trapp Lodge could be the fourth course in the Four Courses in One Day Challenge of Johnson, Smuggs, Trapp, and Waterbury, which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been accomplished.

*There is a brewery on-site. That’s hard to beat. 

Cons:

*Trapp Lodge is a new course, so despite the excitement that goes with a new course, it also has the drawbacks that come with a new course like rough boxes and too many trees. 

*There are a lot of holes, such as holes 5 and 8, that could use some trimming to become legit holes.

*The tee boxes could use some work.  Many of them fall into the rustic tee boxes in Vermont theme, but some really need some work.  One of the boxes we played today was way too slippery to be fun and another was about three feet too short.

*There are only 9 holes.

Overall, Trapp has really killed it on their first go-through of disc golf.  The holes have great variety and even greater potential.  The property is very striking and quite beautiful.  But, the common drawbacks that come with new courses, like too many trees and rough tee boxes are still present at Trapp.  When 18 holes come together and some Twin Falls-style work is done to this course, it will become a premier Vermont disc golf course.  I believe it won’t be long and the efforts that have already been put into Trapp really deserve a round of applause.  Keep your eyes peeled for a premier GMDGC Event at Trapp in the next year or two.