3 Rivers Fall League 2009

Five inches of snow made traversing Clark Centennial Park quite a chore today as we made our rounds in Longmont, CO. Once the clouds exposed the sun, things really warmed up out there, except the score cards! Only one player finishing better than +6 meant that there was quite a dogpile at the bottom this time. Discs were hiding in the snow every chance they got, resulting in a few penalties. No aces today, but we got quite a scare from Chris as his drive bounced off the basket after what looked like a perfect skip up into the trees on hole 6. Luckily the creek was frozen solid or there would have been several discs deposited for the locals. While searching the trees on hole 10, Nate finds his discs as well as one other unmarked straggler clinging to the pine straw. Brad somehow edges out his brother once again as he steals the CTP this week, nice! Thanks again for bringing your shovel Sam, that helped a lot. Only two more left this year, Epple Park is where we meet next week.

What's an inch or two of snow amongst friends? Coupled with a fair breeze, apparently it is nothing. The regulars showed up today and gave it their all despite the conditions @ River Ranch Disc Golf Course. Shaking off the numbness at the first tee was too much for most however, as the field posted some rather lackluster scores. Chris @ minus 9, a tie at minus 3 and a dog pile at plus one. It had to be the wind that picked up, just as the players were getting used to the cold, that hindered scores today. My favorite quote of the day came from Todd as he said to me, " If you don't hit an ace today, I'll be shocked ". After all was said and done, a shake-up at the top resulted with two players obtaining their new lowest tag. Nice work Todd and Steve. One thing everyone, including Deione, wants to know is can they back it up?
Next week, over in Longmont, they will get their chance. Don't be late!

Epple park no longer yields scores in excess of minus 10, after undergoing a massive overhaul with its pin positions. A good mix of long and short pins, coupled with more locations utilizing the park's tree cover, make the course much more challenging for even the most seasoned local players. Hole 5's long placement is now around 450 feet in length with trees down one side and ob down the other. Hole 1 is now a four headed beast as well, with one placement tucked in way down to the right. Hole 2 has the biggest improvements with all three new placements tucked in across the creek from the original, look out at tournament time! Generally, players will find themselves shooting out of the trees more often as they recover shots from the field.
After our first league event @ the revamped course, the reviews are in, and we like what we're hearing... Good shooting Todd, Brad, Ryan and Chris! River Ranch calls our name once again, who will finally put an end to the ace drought??

With slushy snow everywhere, the players found it hard to maintain footing today @ Edora Park. Before the round started, Brad slams home his first ace on hole #9 during warmups!! Forget the ace pot, having the monkey off his back is worth far more. Nice job, Bro. The action started with what looked like an errant throw from Chris, but landed safely where he then converted the par on #1. Mark's throws were low and left all day, just like Brad's putts. The cold weather never helps. Sam struggled to translate great practice rounds into great league scores, while Eli set his sights high and fell short as well. Ronnie shoots solid and moves up to #3 while Brad, Chris, Sam, Josh, and Mark's positions remain the same. Sam and Eli almost ace hole 17 moments apart as they came down the back stretch. The pool grows... UNC next week.

We've been having some abnormal temperatures this week, bringing a lot of windy conditions with it. Today was no different as the temps increased, so did the wind. It didn't seem to bother Chris too much as he posts another round topping score of minus nine. Eli jumped right back after falling to number 24 a week ago, this time tying for first and snagging his record low tag of #2. Nate wins this weeks CTP on old(new?) hole 1 with a toss within ten feet that beat Eli and Deione. Traveling to Edora next week, don't miss out!!

Six familiar holes were followed up by 12 alternate tees, which limited scores, as the players trudged through the slush @ Epple Park. Ryan had to persevere after a rough start riddled with errant shots to maintain his #4 tag. Deione shot a solid round with just a couple hiccups that cost him the win. For Eli, it was "just one of those days". Nate and Chris pummeled the chains early, and then found themselves grasping for strokes the rest of the way. Ultimately it was Chris who held on for a narrow margin of victory. Just wait said Deione as he sneaks away with this weeks CTP prize, nice work D.

What a beautiful day for disc. Lots of activity on the UNC campus with construction projects, fundraisers and football games. None of that could distract Eli from recording nine birdies en route to a 2nd place tie with Nate who played solid throughout. Mark's new jump putting technique proved successful as he scored a 2 under round. Chris turned it on in the 2nd half going 7 under.
Our CTP this week was close. Anthony threw well enough to find him in the final against Chris who edged him out for the victory.

And so are Deione and Eric! About an inch and a half of fresh powder blanketed the still green grass @ Epple park today for the 6th edition of the Fall League. Our towels froze long before our fingers and toes. Would that stop us? Surely it could not. Eli talked a pretty big game before the action began, but only disappointed himself, turning in an even par score. That was good enough, however, to put him in a three way tie for third place. Speaking of ties, Eric, Chris, and Deione found themselves gridlocked at minus four after twelve holes. Chris had nearly skipped out of bounds on 6, if it were not for some great tree love. Keeping him in play and forcing him to squeeze one through the tree branches for a par. So no one was giving way to another, until much to Deione's disbelief, he found himself O.B. on #1. Just then, Eric canned an unlikely 60 footer for birdie, putting him solely in the lead. Chris gave him a run, but fell short this time, even while throwing a clean round. Deione's wheels fell off during the final pass as he saw #1 slip out of his grasp, for now. Eric and his pinpoint thumbers were too much to handle as he narrowly escaped with a nice, snow laden victory. Well done.

As Pioneer Park was inundated with soccer players and bystanders, league was moved to UNC for the 5th installment of the Fall League. It looked early on as though no one stood a chance as Ryan Foose nearly aced #1 in warmups and proceeded to blister the scorecard with minus 6 in the first nine. Chris and Eli were a couple strokes back, along with others scrambling for birdies. Mark was making his way back to par after some unsightly throws when he landed out on #6, darn! Nate left some plastic shards on the ninth basket when he nearly aced it. Ryan bounced one off a tree on 5 and fell O.B. Eli stood strong with a par on his second pass as Chris and Ryan both turned in deuces on #9. Chris thought he had the ace on 9, but it was a foot or two right in front. A good round for most. Once the tags were redistributed we found there were not a lot of shake-ups, and Foose, much to his dismay found himself looking up at who else, Senor Thomas @ 9 down!

Heavy fog burned off and gave way to beautiful blue skies @ UNC this morning. Alternate tees proved difficult once again for the players first crack at the fall league. Except for two players; Chris shoots 6 down in the first 9 and Eric finally cashes in on a league ace on #6. The field seemed puzzled and just as Nate was heating up, he had to part ways with the group. Something tellls me we'll hear from him again. A good time had by all and a great opening point total by Eric will surely keep things in the Fall League interesting...