2019 Course Championship Wrap-up

With a full field of 95 locals and a sprinkling of out of town players, the 2019 Course Championships was greeted with fantastic weather, following a big storm that left the course a little wet but in otherwise great condition for the 3-round, two-day tournament.

The first round saw a hot start by veteran Open player David Devine who topped the field with a 14 under and set the pace for the 25-person MPO field. The Master’s field got off to a competitive start with Mike Westerman and Oscar Garcia starting off with respective -7 on the first round. The two would continue to duel it out over the next two rounds, with Westerman ultimately winning the division by just two strokes. The MP50 division saw a very competitive field, with all 8 players within 4 strokes of one another after the first round. Reigning champion Rianne Hamilton saw some close competition, as she took a two-stroke lead with a -2 for the Round 1 of the tournament.

In the Am divisions, Shane Jonas set the pace with a -9 with Tadas Mizukis and Nicholas Soto just one and two strokes behind. Daniel Quezada had the hot start in Intermediate, shooting a -6 for the first round, while incredibly consistent John Maki was 3 strokes behind (and ultimately finishing 2nd).

The second round, the most difficult setup we have at Morley, was a challenging afternoon for many players. But defying the odds was reigning Men’s open champion Clint Calvin who set a new course record for the layout with an -8, while Carlos Caballero got himself back in the top group with a -6. Notable performances in this extremely challenging layout came from MP50 winner Mike Lamb who shot an impressive -2 (besting the field by 9 strokes that round) and Corey Ross, the ultimate winner in Advanced, with a -1.

The 3rd round, a short course, saw some great scores across the board, with Shane Jonas pulling away in Advanced with a -10 and Rianne solidifying her lead for a 5th Women’s Open title with a -5. In the Open division, Clint Calvin, was also solidifying his lead shooting a personal best -16 that gave him an 8 stroke lead going into the safari Final 9.

The safari Final 9 consisted of a new layout unknown to the top 4 players, led by Clint Calvin with Jet Tydingo and Nick Newton holding a one stroke lead for second over Carlos Caballero. The safari layout offered the top Pro’s an opportunity to showcase their skills and really open up on some of the 450+ foot long holes with Clint Calvin putting on an absolute clinic and gaining another 4 strokes on the field. The battle for 2nd place lasted until the final hole, with Carlos and Jet ultimately tying and Nick Newton just one stroke behind to finish 4th.

Congrats to all our division winners and everyone that participated for bringing such positive attitudes and a fun weekend for all involved! Til next year!

2019 Spring Fling Wrap Up

This year’s Spring Fling filled up quickly with a full field of 95 players split between 8 divisions, with the largest being the Intermediate field (34 players) followed by Advanced (26 players).  Thanks to generous donations by our disc sponsors (Innova, Discraft, Dynamic Discs, Legacy, MVP, & Gateway), all divisions had well over 100% payback.  

Faced with persistent heavy rains throughout the first round, competitors played through challenging conditions for what should have been the easier layout of the two rounds.  A few were able to play well through the rain, with Shane Dehner leading the field with an impressive -9.  The other hot hands belonged to Eric Shanahan and, in the MA2- intermediate division, Matthew Dregidga (shooting a personal best), both with -7.  

During the round, Eric “Shrimp Toast” Long won sponsor Mad Con’s Hole 8 closest to the pin competition, while Pam Vaughn won amongst the women, each taking home some new plastic for their accurate drives.  

The second round gave way to clearing skies and a longer, more challenging layout.  The MA60 division saw Fred Aguero maintain his lead over the field, finishing 11 strokes in front of 2nd place with a combined -5.  MA50 saw a very competitive field topped by Mark Hauser with a cumulative -4, besting 2nd place finisher Alex Mate by a stroke and 3rd place Mike Lamb by two strokes.  

The MA40 division also had a tight field after the first round but saw Quinton Henry pull away in the afternoon with a second round -5 to win the division by 6 strokes. The Women’s division saw Pam Vaughn pull away in the second round to win the division while Kai Barrios shot a consistent +3 both rounds to win the Juniors division. 

The MA3 recreational division saw a burgeoning field of new players closely competing, with David Weltsch winning by a stroke with a combined +6.  The large Intermediate field was a tight competition with only 5 strokes separating the top 10 finishers.  Ryan Covert maintained consistency in the 2nd round to come off the second card and win by a stroke with a combined -4.  

The Advanced division also had its share of drama in the 2nd round with hard charging Jon Yergler and Willie Grenis both shooting -7 down to make their way into 3rd & 4th place, respectively.  But neither could catch 1st place winner Shane Dehner who followed up his -9 first round with a -1 on the more difficult layout.  Giving him a run for his money was Don Burdette who was able to make up a stroke on the 2nd round but would finish just one stroke off the lead with a combined -9 for both rounds. 

I’d be remiss to not thank all our staff and volunteers that were an integral part of setting up and having the event run smoothly.  Mitchell, Tyler, & Chris who kept the shop lines short; Clint and Oscar for helping groups out on the course; EJ, Eric, Mac, & Snapper for coordinating all the day-of logistics and payouts, Joanne and Amplified for setting up lunch, & Jesse Myers for the extensive work behind the scenes for player registration.   

We want to congratulate all the winners and thank all the competitors for braving the tough morning conditions and making another successful Spring Fling here at Morley!

Challenge Board

With the recent re-introduction of the Morley field a challenge board there has been a huge increase in the competitive play at Morley Field. Having both an A and a B board it accommodates to all skill levels while offering a competitive environment to help hone your skills. At $6 a spot and $5 for a match, every time you step onto the course presents an opportunity to have a tournament setting round.

After two months of matches, the top 8 players; 1. Clint Calvin 2. Grant Fisher 3. Drake Avila 4. Mike Ballestas 5. Matt Jankowski 6. Mike Westerman 7. Donny Burdette 8. Billy Donovan, duked it out this weekend in a double elimination match play series on Saturday leaving 4 players left for a 19 hole round on Sunday to determine the winner. Executing shot after shot and pinpoint accuracy on the green; 2. Grant Fisher beat 7. Donny Burdette and 4. Mike Ballestas to secure his spot in the final. 3. Drake Avila also went 2-0, beating 6. Mike Westerman and 1. Clint Calvin to take his spot in Sunday’s final.

In the end of Saturday’s double elimination 1. Clint Calvin would best 5. Matt Jankowski while 6. Mike Westerman took down 4. Mike Ballestas to give us our final 4 competitors .On a cold, very salty Sunday morning, our 4 competitors started the final round. Starting off hot, Morley’s own, Grant Fisher birdied the first 5 holes in row, laying down an XL over the top roller on 3 and absolutely parking hole 5 with his Leopard to develop an early lead. Grant shot a blazing -7 on the front 9 to lead by 3. With everybody close behind him, Grant continued his stellar play, going 100% inside the circle on the putting green to win by 4 strokes, finishing -13!

The final standings were; 1st Grant Fisher -13 2nd Clint Calvin -9 3rd Mike Westerman -6 4th Drake Avila -2.

With the conclusion of the first successful challenge board event, we will be increasing the stakes to $6 a match with a dollar going into the total pot so that at the end of the next two month cycle there will be more money in the pot. The next final will be the first weekend of February. As well, players now must document their matches at the pro shop, simply to keep track of who’s playing who and who’s winning.

Tags are now available for both the A and B boards so make sure to stop by the pro shop if you would like to join.

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2018 Course Championship

This year we had 90 players in our extended category course championships. We added two age protected categories. A senior category for men over 50 in both the Open and Amateur categories. We had perfect light winds and a warm day that led to some great scores in all five categories. Clint Calvin who is our new course champion shot what is now a new course record for our modern course championship format. About 10 years back we changed our format to include an incredibly difficult second round that only the players in this event will ever play due to its’ difficulty and crossing fairways, Clint bested the 21 person Open field shooting a -11 on the medium difficult course, a -5 on the long course, a -15 on the short course and a -8 in the final 9. His -39 is the best score yet with this format and earned him $400 for his efforts. Rounding out the top four Nick Newton wowed the crowd with a near ace on hole 8 for his bid at the first ever -10 in a nine hole final. He eventually missed his putt on hole 9 as well to finish -8 for the final nine as did Clint. Max Nichols finished third again this year. Being a lefty Max is always fighting an uphill battle on this course. Coming in fourth was one of our longest playing champion players Carlo Pelg. Carlo has won the Course championship once but he’s finished second 13 times. Of note in the third round hard charging Carlos Caballero also a former course champion had two aces in his round. He nabbed hole 11a and hole 16b for the ace pool monies. That was one very high energy group to follow. Mike Westerman won the senior open division with a fine -12 in the third round outlasting near daily local Fred Aguero.

In the Am category Alex Gerlock aced hole 12 long for the first time ever in tourney play earning him a dollar from each of the other competitors in the event. He then went on to win this 55 player category shooting a -11 for his three rounds, For his efforts he won a new sharpshooter basket from Legacy Discs plus an additional $200 in merchandise and shop credit. There were 18 players in the amateur division that cashed. In the Am Seniors Hans Degner led from start to finish carding an eventual -8 for the tourney . The seven man senior division had 3 who cashed. John Maki took second and Seamus Garland took third.

In the women’s category Rianne Hamilton dominated again this year winning by 26 strokes in the four person field. Rianne shot a magnificent -8 in the third round. Second place finisher Pam Vaughn also shot an under par round carding a 56 in the third round.

Lunch was pizza, salad and drinks donated by Amplified Ale Works again this year. The San Diego Beer Council sponsored as did the Morley Field Disc Golf Pro Shop. Players earned back 100% of all entry fees paid into the event. Big thanks to Zac Burnside and Chris Dilloway for art and computer work, my wife Joanne who ran around town and picked up all our lunch food and served it to the players. My staff Jesse, EJ and of course my long suffering side kick Mac. Mitchell was invaluable with tourney prep in the shop. Also a special shout out to Christian and Britany for spotting in the 5 ½ hour second round. Till next time…

Z ya

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2018 Spring Fling

This year’s Spring Fling went off as well as any Spring Fling we’ve ever run here. We had 8 different PDGA Amateur categories this year. There was one ace in the tournament. Junior player Kai Barrios skip aced hole 17 for his first ever ace. Fortunately, his mother caught the once in a lifetime magical moment on video. Kai was one happy young man walking around after the tourney with a fist full of dollars from the other players and staff keeping up the age-old tradition of giving an ace recipient a dollar for their efforts.

This year had several first-time winners. Ozzie Fausto won Advanced. He shot a two round cumulative score of -15 to edge out first round leader Charlie Grenis. David Neria survived a three way play off in Intermediate for his first win. Matt Tregidga is so happy to now officially be kicked out of Novice division as he outlasted the 21 player Novice field by a stroke. Quinny Kravitz having shot the best first round of the tournament at -8 earned his first PDGA Masters victory. Eric Ducharme having suffered thru multiple 2nd place finishes topped last year’s winner Hans Degner for his first Grand Masters victory here at Morley. We added a Senior Grandmaster division this year and John Maki the wily local veteran bested first round leader Pete Hembrow who played Morley the first day the course was ever put in way way back in 1977. In the Women’s division Rianne Hamiliton not surprisingly won for her third straight year. And finally, 12 year old Disc Golf phenom Xaelen Nash crushed his field shooting a -5 with 8 birdies in his second round to once again win the Junior Division. Xaelen has set several Junior world distance records as he’s grown up. He birdied both long 5 and hole 6 back to back in the afternoon winds this tourney. His final score was actually one stroke better than the 22 person Intermediate field. Somebody should warn Ricky and Paul. Xaelen’s coming!

This year’s included lunch was provided by my son’s restaurant Amplified Ale Works. It was a real treat for the players who were upgraded from the usual Costco pizza. Our sponsors this year were Innova Disc Golf, Discraft, Dynamic Distribution, Gateway, Legacy and MVP discs. All of whom donated hats and clothing for the free drawing and discs for the player prize packages.

I owe a big thank you to my staff which included my son Alex who will be running this event going forward, my wife Joanne, EJ, Eric (who flew in just to help out with this event), Oscar, Jesse (PDGA data and morleyfield.com updates), and all my regular staff in the shop. A special thank you goes out to Zac Burnside who as a volunteer handles both computer  graphics, art coordination and gets our screenprinting  done as well. Also a special thanks to Chris Dilloway for artwork and general handiman skills in making this event run as smooth as silk for the players. This was my last official PDGA tournament till I retire at the end of this year. I owe a big thanks to all the tournament participants this year who made running this tourney amazingly fun for me as well. I had a blast this year. We have some special juniors coming up. The future looks bright for Disc Golf.

Thanks for the ride…

Z ya

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2017 Southwestern Disc Golf Invitational

This tournament always begins on the Friday afternoon preceding the start of Saturday’s match play at the putting contest. $300 is up for grabs with $100 going to the winner. The rest is split up between the top 5 in the finals. Over the year’s the wily veterans have learned to hold back from entering the prelims until just before the cut off time of 4 p.m. when the finals are set to begin. They accomplish two things by doing this. One the wind usually calms down later in the day and two it becomes obvious how far you’ll need to go on the prelim stations to get into the top five who make the finals. Greg Barsby waited till the last minute then entered knowing no one had hit the putt from all nine stations. He then preceded to run the table and claim the $100 first prize without even having to putt in the finals. San Diego’s own AJ Risley took second, Nate Sexton third, Randy Saab our perennial fourth place finisher took his usual spot and Steve Rico finished 5th having left before the final shoot out.

This year’s Team tourney was a bitter sweet event. Bitter because Team San Diego just missed the finals. The locals started          

off well beating the number one and two seeds in the first two matches. They finished day one tied for the lead with a four and one record. Day two saw Team SD lose their first match of the day to their co leaders Redwood Empire then beat Huntington Beach to go 5-2 for the tourney. Team Oregon won both their matches on Sunday to go 5-2 . Also finishing 5-2 was Redwood Empire. Head to head each co-leader team beat one of the other two teams making it go to the second tie breaker of points differential. Oregon had more points in the three matches between the co-leaders giving them first place. Second place is then determined by head to head play whereby Team RE got second having beaten SD in the prelims. Team Oregon went on to win in the finals for the second year in a row. They also won the Spirit of the Event award for the second year in a row by a unanimous decision of the staff. These guys did everything together (although I never checked on their sleeping arrangements:). They all entered the putting contest together. They practiced before the tourney as a team they even came to the tourney party as a team. Their unwavering support for each other was their ultimate source of strength and a big reason why they win. Of course having Nate Sexton, Nate Doss and Valerie Jenkins on your team is a pretty good start as well.

The sweet part was all the great memories over the 36 years this event’s been held here. Jim Tobish did the math. We’ve played over 300,000 competitive holes here and thrown close to a million throws in this tournament. This is a one of a kind match play team event. It’s like having 7 little tournaments in one. Each 12 hole match is against another player at your same position on a different team. Many of the players who attend this event have been coming back year after year. At least two players from out of town have been here at least 32 times. Nearly 50% of this year’s players have been here at least 15 times. This has been a major west coast Frisbee family reunion since it’s 1982 beginning.

Weather for the tourney this year was absolutely perfect both days. After predictions the week before that it would be raining all weekend this was a very pleasant surprise. Lunch was provided again this year by Amplified Ale Works and was delicious as always. Some of this year’s sponsors went way over board with their free drawing donations knowing this was the last one. Sam Ferrans from Innova gave us Discatcher baskets, Super hero bags, and zippered hoodies as well as the usual great plastic. MVP also gave us a Black Hole practice basket. We ran a couple of mondo’s to give away the baskets. Thankfully Matt Jankowski won a basket by hitting two 60 ft. putts in a row. This was a reasonable consolation for his spectacular match play performance. Matt finished with the top record 6-1 for San Diego. His only loss to the much more experienced Team HB captain Chris Brophy in their final match of the tourney. Also of note our woman, Rianne Hamilton went 5-2 losing only to 4 time World Champion Val Jenkins and Lesli Todd this year’s runner up in the Women’s Masters World Championships. Also an awesome performance. 

I’d like to thank all the great sponsors this year Innova Disc Golf, MVP, Discraft, Dynamic Distribution, Legacy and Gateway.  This year’s staff was the usual crew and they did their usual great job behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly   and on time: Mac, Eric, EJ, Jesse, Oscar and spotter Dougie Fresh. My shop staff put in untold hours on the course prep and finally my son and wife also were a big help in making this one of the very best Team Tourney’s ever. I’ll miss this event and all the wonderful people I’ve played with here over the year’s. Hopefully Jeff Spohr who’s committed to carrying on this tradition next year will have as much fun over the year’s to come. Hope to see you all on the Friz trail…

Z ya…

Snapper

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2017 Course Championship

This Course Championship was unexpectedly the largest in our 41 year history. With 30 players entering in the last couple days there were 91 total entrants this year. Out enjoying the perfect weather on a closed course were 37 Open players, 6 women and 48 amateurs. As we’ve done the last couple of years we offered the players three totally different layouts in this event. First round was a normal, medium difficultly layout. Second round is always talked about all year as everything is long. We even play long pads on 8,9 and 17. Several pin placements are only used for this specific event as they are too dangerous for the general public to play on. The third round is all short. Easiest course we can put up. To give you an example of the difference many players shot 15 or more strokes better in the third round than the second. One old seasoned veteran Dan Shorkey improved 23 strokes in his third round over his second round. 

Our open winner was no surprise. Seppo Paju staying here in San Diego while visiting his girlfriends parents had just finished his pro tour for this year. He is a 1027 rated player from Finland and finished 6th in the USDGC this year to end his season on very high note. Our locals gave him a good run for his money with perennial second place finisher (14 times) Carlo Pelg only one stroke behind before going into the final nine. Seppo wowed the crowd of approximately 100 spectators when he chose to throw a 100 foot high “staker” over the tops of the trees on hole two and tombstoned into the ground just a few feet short of the pin to the roar of the crowd. Last year’s course champion Carlos Caballero finished a very solid third with this year’s shop representative Clint Calvin rounding out the top four in the final nine. Clint also gave the crowd a thrill by drilling a 100 foot jump putt downhill on hole three for a birdie. Also notable was Carlo Pelg’s deuce on long 6 on the hillside next to Jacaranda Dr. (don’t look for this pin position on the tee sign) and Seppo’s drop in deuce on long 16 (talk about a horken hyser).  

The women’s division also had a very close contest with reigning course champion Rianne Hamilton pulling away with a -3 in the third round to win for the second year in a row. Second this year was Allie Robles (I hear she’s due in March) with third going to Kimmy Cottrell.

The Am division was also highly contested with Travis Thomas playing a very steady game to pull out a three stroke victory over the ever smiling Willie Grenis. Willie shot an Am division best -10 in the third round to jump over Quinn Henry and Hunter Mannix who finished third and fourth respectively.

The top finishing Master aged individual was Carlo Pelg and the top finishing Grandmaster aged player was Ed Speakman. Both players received automatic invitations to the upcoming Team Tourney for their excellent play in their age division.

This tourney was sponsored this year by Sean Powell and flydisc.com. Sean gave all the winners a one of a kind custom disc with the tourney artwork He also gave out 8 coupons for designing your own custom disc to the winner of each category, plus the top three open players, the grandmaster winner and the Master winner. This is a very cool website where you upload your own custom artwork and create a one of a kind disc for yourself.

Other sponsors were George Spraklen’s custom wood trophies and Amplified Aleworks provided the players with salad to go with their pizza for lunch.

The full results and payouts are found elsewhere here on the website. CLICK HERE

As usual a big thanks goes out to all my staff for all their hard work as well to my wife, Mac (for the last 30+years), Charlie Grenis, Woody and Greg Olsen. 
Till next year,
Z ya…

2017 Southwestern Disc Golf Invitational (Team Tournament) Info

Host Hotel:

Best Western Seven Seas in Mission Valley (1-800-328-1618) at $74 a night per room for two doubles or one queen. We have 25 rooms on hold for tournament players until November 27th so make sure to book your room before then. Let them know your are with the "Team Tournament".

Teams:

The team makeup will remain the same as last year with 5 open, 4 masters, 2 grands and one woman.

  1. Oregon
  2. Santa Cruz
  3. Arizona
  4. Sylmar
  5. Huntington Beach
  6. Redwood Empire
  7. Oak Grove
  8. San Diego

Changes from previous years:

Changed the playing formula so all the teams play their traveling partner in the 5th round (3 p.m. on Saturday) so that play just continues on no need to come in and reorganize and go back out.

Click here for event page which will be updated with results.

Morley Field Baskets for Sale! Own Disc Golf History

Morley Field Disc Golf Course in San Diego just installed new baskets and we want the baskets that were replaced to find a new home where they will be used and appreciated. Auctions start July 19th @ 7PM PST. Four baskets will be auctioned off each week until they all have new homes!

These baskets are part of disc golf history!

  • 2 - WFDF World Championships
  • WFDF California State Championship
  • 31 Years of Team Tournament Play (Southwestern Team Disc Golf Invitational) that brings out some of the best players on the West Coast.
  • Originally installed in 1985
  • Some players that have banged these chains: Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Doss, Valerie Jenkins, Catrina Allen, Juliana Korver, Philo Brathwaite, Ken Jarvis, Micah Dorius, Carlo Pelg, Snapper Pierson and so many more!

Important notes about sale:

  • Baskets are local pickup only
  • Each auction is for one basket
  • The basket number listed in the auction title represents its hole location at the time it was replaced
  • The Morley Field Disc Golf basket flag that indicates the hole number IS included with the sale
  • The picture(s) used may not represent the current condition of the basket and it is your responsibility to inspect it in person at Morley Field Disc Golf Course before placing your bid.
  • The picture(s) used may be of a DIFFERENT basket number than the one for sale in the auction. Please refer to the auction title for clarity on which basket that you are bidding on.
  • Baskets are designed for permanent installation and do not have a self supporting base. Sleeve included. Please contact for questions on installation.

First Four Baskets Available Now

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2017 Spring Fling

This tourney is a PDGA “B” tier event held once a year offering 7 different age or skill level Amateur categories. The tourney is played on a closed course and included lunch, free drawing and a “mondo” contest where all the players get a single putt for a free portable basket. Trophy plaques, framed certificates and prizes are earned by the top 40% of each category. 

This year’s Spring Fling was run a little later in the year than usual which allowed us to play under the fully blooming Jacaranda’s. The morning dawned with June gloom dampening the course before play began but fortunately it was dry by mid morning. The afternoon round actually saw some sun and a little wind came up as well.

Play was closely contested in each category. Smiling Willie Grenis’s steady putting style won the day in the Advanced division. Willie shot a -7 in the first round which gave him a tourney best 1009 player rating. Willie followed that up with -6 on the shorter and easier second round course to win by 2 strokes over his daily playing mate Drake Avila. 

The intermediate division saw local Hugo Lopez stepping back a division to dominate by two strokes over Darren Ziegler and a field of 21 players. 

The Recreational division was our largest at 23 players and our most hotly contested division ending in a sudden death  play off lasting over 30 minutes and eventually being won by Eric Eller over stalwart Numer Licardo.

The Am Masters for men over 40 was won by long time competitor Mike Lamb over first round leader Tommy Tom Millard. 

The Am Grandmaster division played by men over 50 was won by Hans Degner. This was Hans’s first “B” tier PDGA victory. Hans won over the most tenured player in the event Allen Risley. This was Allen’s third heart breaking 2nd place finish in this event. 

The Juniors category also ended in a tie with Xaelen Nash prevailing over his good buddy and neighbor in the playoff  Kai  Barrios. 

Finally, in the Womens category pre tourney favorite local Allie Robles won over newcomer Charlotte Towle by a comfortable 4 strokes. Allie also won the Women’s CTP in the first round on hole 8 sponsored by Madden Construction. 

Of special note Jay Welchans had the only ace in the tourney. He bagged hole 3 in the second round. Bobby Martin and Mike Ballestas had the best second round scores in the tourney at -8 which was rated with a 975 player rating. Ever happy Don Burdette won the Men’s division CTP.

The entire event ran relatively smoothly and on time. This year’s sponsors Innova Champion Discs, Dynamic Distribution, Discraft Discs, Gateway Discs, Legacy Discs, and MVP Discs donated discs and clothing items for the free drawing and some of the player prize packages. Hole sponsor’s Mark Madden from Madden Construction Co, Timothy Simons of Nitro Monkey Coffee, and Alex Pierson from Amplified Ale Works were hole sponsors.
All are to be thanked for their generous donations for this event.

As always I have to thank my staff: All the guys (and gal) in the shop as well as Mac, Eric, EJ, Jesse, Clint, Charlie, Oscar, Joanne and Chris Parker for their help setting up and running this event. This makes 39 years running that Mac has been assisting me here with events…yikes.

Everyone in the shop was really happy for Willy’s victory as he truly represents “the most fun wins” attitude.

Till next year,
Z ya

2016 Southwestern Team Disc Golf Invitational - Wrap Up

Well it finally happened. San Diego after 36 years of hosting the annual Team Tourney could not rely on local knowledge to give them an edge. The absence of two mainstays Micah and D2 was too much to overcome and San Diego ignominiously fell to last place having never earned more than 5 points in any 12 point match. They were flushed in round 7 by perennially last place Oak Grove team in what was euphemistically referred to as the Toilet Bowl. But teams came into the match at 0-6. Oak Grove prevailed 7-5.

The real story this year was the amazing performance of Team Oregon. Having been absent from this event for the past 6 years they came with Team Nate (Nate Sexton and Nate Doss) on the top end and current PDGA Women’s World Champion Valerie Jenkins anchoring the very talented team on the back end. Their whole team showed up for the putting contest on Friday and #1 Grandmaster Mike Ward took down first place ($100) in an extended and thrilling contest. Then they unanimously won the “Spirit of the Event” award (6 discs each plus a Dryfit from Dude Apparel). Then Jim Tobish one of their Masters won the individual “Spirit” award (Black Hole practice from MVP) and finally they also won the event ($250 plus 5 discs each) over Santa Cruz ($120 plus 4 discs each) 6.5-5.5. It came down to the last hole of the last players still playing where Val deuced and Sarah Hokom scored par.
Amazing…had they tied that match Santa Cruz was ahead on points that round and would have taken the title. 
No team has ever won everything the tourney has to offer before. Kudo’s to team captain Magilla for putting together such a talented and fun loving group.

Overall the tourney ran smooth. The change of allowing the players to stay out on the course after the 4th round and continuing on with their 5th match made a huge difference and allowed virtually all teams to finish before dark. The “all you can eat” lunch provided again this year by my son’s restaurant Amplified Ale Works in PB was much approved by the ravenous players. 

Next year San Diego has several motivated individuals moving up an age category. That with a little extra recruitment from the North County talent pool could hopefully help us become competitive again.

Many thanks to this year’s sponsors Innova, Dynamic Distribution, Discraft, MVP, Legacy, Millennium, Gateway, San Diego Hydroponics, Hamilton’s bar, and NP Trophy. The staff in the shop Mitch, Tyler and Tommy put together much of the paper prep. The much enlarged “day of” tourney staff Mac, Eric, EJ, Chris, Jesse, Charlie, Willie, Oscar, Mikey B., Jeff N., Chef Aaron and Joanne made for a far less stressful event when challenges arose. It is with deep appreciation I give my heartfelt thanks to all who made this year’s Team Tourney one of the best in recent memory.

Till next year…
Z ya

Click here to view results

2016 Course Championship Results and Wrap Up

We had perfect conditions for this year’s event. Light winds and warm days made for some hot scores. Eventual Open winner Carlos Caballero shot a personal best -14 in the first round. He followed that with a solid -2 on the long and treacherous 2nd round course and finished with a -12 on the third round short layout. Going into the finals he had a five stroke lead and all but ended the drama on the first hole by being the only member of the final four to birdie. Not content to sit on his laurels he continued to birdie the first 5 holes in a row finishing with a -7 in the final nine and a very respectable -35 for the tourney. He received $500 and a custom George Spracklen trophy for his wire to wire leading performance. Micah Dorius, many time course champion took fourth overall but was the highest finishing master player and won the $100 bonus. Mike Slonim finishing one stroke behind Micah won the grandmaster bonus of $100. Jet and Max Nichols had a great battle for second place culminating on the very last hole when Max bogeyed and Jet deuced to gain second place.

This year’s Course Championships payouts were the highest in history thanks to an additional $500 sponsorship for this tourney by San Diego Hydro. 

The amateur division had a lot of drama and a different leader after each round. Tadas Mikuzis had a hot -9 in the first round to lead. Carlo Portacio had the smoking -2 on the long course to take over the lead after the second round. But Ozzie Fausto shot a -10 in the third round to secure the win this year. He won $250 worth of prizes including a Dynamic Distribution Ranger Bag filled with discs and a custom wooden trophy. Ozzie also earned the right to play in the grinder on Saturday November 12 at 9:00 for the last Open spot on the San Diego Team.  

The women’s division saw another wire to wire winner with Rianne Hamilton finishing with a women’s tournament best -2 in the third round for an 8 stroke victory over second place finisher Pam Vaughn. Michelle Chambless took third. All the women were amateurs and as such received prizes for their winning efforts. Rianne also received a custom wooden trophy for her first ever Women’s victory.

This event is always played out on a closed course which allows for us to put up the incredibly difficult second round course that includes the three long pads and several extended pin positions not scene in any other tourney throughout the year. In addition this year’s 67 players all received a commemorative T-shirt and Pizza and salad lunch as part of the tourney experience.

-Snapper

2016 San Diego Team Tournament Info

Host Hotel

Clarion Hotel in National City (7 minutes drive time) is our official hotel for this year our 35th annual. We've reserved 20 rooms (17 double double 3 King) at $81 per night but that includes hot breakfast Saturday and Sunday. I've asked them to open breakfast early at 6:30 since we have a 8:00 a.m. tee off both days.

Team Info

1-Huntington Beach-HB
2-Sylmar-SM
3-Arizona-AZ
4-Santa Cruz-SC
5-Oak Grove-OG
6-Redwood Empire-RE
7-San Diego-SD
8-Oregon-OR

The team makeup is the same as last year: 5 open, 4 masters, 2 grands and one woman.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TEAM ROSTERS

Scorecard/Schedule

The schedule otherwise will remain the same as in the past. We will have our $300 putting contest on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Finals at 4 p.m.

Huntington Beach and Arizona will be responsible for scorecards in the first 4 rounds. Then Huntington Beach and Oak Grove will be responsible for scorecards for the rest of the tourney.

After lunch on Saturday we will send out cards with Huntington Beach, Arizona and Oak Grove. There will be no break after round 4 at 3 p.m. We will go directly into round 5. 4 teams will go back and play the same 12 holes they just finished Oak Grove, Santa Cruz, Arizona and Redwood Empire. The other 4 teams continue on their same progression thru the course. The reason for no break is the course this year plays a little tougher than in the past due to lots of tree and bush growth tightening up routes along with several new pin positions. Play will likely be slower than in the past. I will give each captain 12 hole assignment sheets. One for each of your 1 thru 12 players so there will be no reason to get lost or wonder what hole you start on just follow the instructions. Just make sure the right numbered sheet gets to the corresponding player. Sheet 1 to player 1 and sheet 12 to player 12 (this addition is probably long over due).

On Sunday, "Spirit of the Event" award will proceed finals. Free drawing will follow finals before awards.

Updated Scorecard

2016 San Diego Team Qualifications

Prerequisites for making San Diego Team for 2016 Team Tourney. Any of the following qualifications will make a player eligible for team play:

Open Division (5 players)

  • Have a 1000+ player rating or above
  • Finish in the top three Open players in the 2016 Course Championship
  • Win two Open division Morley Monthlies in the current year having shot a two round cumulative round of -20 or better.
  • Win three Open division Morley Monthlies in the current year.
  • Win an Open position in the year end grinder competition. Winner of the Course Championship Amateur is qualified for grinder play. All other competitors must be San Diego County based open division players only.

Masters Division (4 players)

  • Have a player rating of 980+
  • Finish the top Masters age player in the course championship
  • Win a PDGA A tier event in the Pro Masters division the current year
  • Win 2 B tier PDGA events in the Masters division in the current year
  • Win a Masters position in the year end grinder competition

Grandmaster Division (2 players)

  • Have a player rating of 960+
  • Win an A tier PDGA event in the Pro GM in the current year
  • Win a GM position in the year end grinder.

Women’s Division (1 player)

  • Winner of the current years course championship if not a PDGA Women’s pro player will receive highest consideration and will be eligible to compete against selected PDGA Women’s Pro candidates. 
  • This division is the most problematic to pick a candidate since we have so few women competing. Any interested women should make their desires known to anyone in the pro shop and we will try to arrange a Women’s grinder if necessary.

Snapper's Wrap Up - 2016 Spring Fling

The Spring Fling is a “B” tier PDGA qualifier tourney for the Am Worlds to be held in Michigan this year. Players here competed in one of seven different divisions delineated by either age or player rating. The highest division contested was the Advanced Division.

This year's all amateur bash was won by three time Advanced champion Jonathon Maki. His dad John Maki made it a family affair by winning the Grandmaster (men over 50) division. Traveling veteran Pam Vaughn won the women’s division. Drake Avila shooting a tournament best -8 (player rating 990) in the first round held on to win the Intermediates. The ever steady Patrick Franklin won the Recreational division by a stroke. The Am Masters (men over 40) was won by local Mike Lamb. And the amazing nine year old Xalen Nash crushed the junior division by 22 strokes.

This event is one of only three tournaments each year here at Morley played on a closed course. This event which included lunch provided by Amplified Ale and Beer Gardens was a great improvement based on player comments over the anticipated Costco pizza usually served at this event.

The player package also included a tourney T-shirt (artwork by Chris Dilloway) and two mini’s as well as entry to the free drawing where over 60 items (hats, shirts, bags etc.) were given away to entrants who remained after the end of play and before awards.

The tourney was played on two entirely different layouts with all holes being changed between rounds while the players ate lunch. At least 40% of all divisions won prizes including two portable Discraft Chain Star baskets, two Latitude Luxury E3 Disc Golf bags and a Dynamic Disc Ranger Disc Golf Bag all as first place prizes in various divisions.

Prizes were donated by the Morley Field Disc Golf Pro Shop, Innova Disc Golf, Discraft, Dynamic Distribution, MVP discs, Gateway Discs, and Legacy Discs.

There were two aces in the tourney Clint Calvin aced hole 13 and Michael Sheridan hole 16 in the first round. 

This year we had a different entry arrangement. Capitulating to modern efficiencies we had online entries available for 60 potential entrants on DGU. These went fast. We held back 35 entries that had to be filled in by hand and turned into the shop. These lasted two weeks before filling. Allowing all those individuals who are local but not necessarily aware that SoCal tourneys with online registration usually fill within a few days a chance to still get into the tournament. I think the system worked fine we’ll do it again next year in a similar fashion.

I’d like to thank all the sponsors and staff: Mac, Eric, EJ, Joanne, Alex and Oscar. Also all the shop staff: Tyler, Mitch, Tom, Chris, Chris again, Garrett, Jesse, Chet, Wic and Mike.

Till next year… Z ya

View Full Results and Pictures of the Winners

Remembering Donny Olow

A memorial was held on Saturday, March 26th to honor and celebrate the memory of Donny Olow, a beloved member of the Morley Field family. There were nearly 50 people present for the memorial ceremonies which ranged from open mic Donny stories at the picnic area, to the planting of a memorial tree on hole three in his name, and the dedication of his bench next to men's bathroom where he always sat greeting people and selling aces bag tags.

Donny's brother and sister sitting on his memorial bench.

Donny's brother and sister sitting on his memorial bench.

See more pics on the Donny Olow Memorial Facebook page.

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