TOTH Spring 2014 Tags

#PLAYERS: 28 CTP: Mark Dawson, $23 on hole 3 ACE: $30. WELCOME: Brisk fall weather. I love you. THANKS: To Marty for turning TOPO into a one-time-only par 3 bonanza. The combination of ... show more ›

#PLAYERS: 28

CTP: Mark Dawson, $23 on hole 3

ACE: $30.

WELCOME: Brisk fall weather. I love you.

THANKS: To Marty for turning TOPO into a one-time-only par 3 bonanza. The combination of shortened course and leaner groupings (mostly 2 players) allowed us to squeeze one final weeknight round in before dark. A very fun change-of-pace.
Also thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my tourney survey – I appreciate it!

CONGRATS: To division winners Tucker Davis, Mark Dawson, Greg Clark / Ryan Lemieux (tie) and Katie Jenkins (AGAIN!?). Mark and Tucker actually tied with the hot round of 48 – nice shooting.

POTW: To Mark Dawson for jumping up from AM1 to tie the hot round on the day. His ever-supportive friend Mike Frisina congratulated him with: “Yeah you WOULD be good at mini-golf!”

HOLE STATISTICS: The tournament will give everybody one last chance at deucing hole 2 and claiming the TOPO tshirt bounty. After Monday I was curious how many people deuced the shortened hole layouts. Marty did a great job of making them reachable but challenging. Holes 3 and 7 yielded lots of birds but holes 4, 8, 16, 17 and 18 were stingy. Of 28 players, these were the only ones to card an impressive deuce:
4) Charlie Veysey
8) Matt Skoby and Chris Wolf
16) Connor Griffin
17) Ryan Lemieux
18) Tyler Colby

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Saturday is Tourney time. The format survey is now closed and most of you (13 of 18 votes) humored me and voiced support for the proposed format of 1) double-points singles followed by 2) high-low (draft) doubles with mens divisions mixed. Thanks again for all your feedback. Now all you need to know is: show up by 9am, bring a dish to share at the lunch break, and be prepared for an awesome day of disc golf. Entry fee is $10 (plus greens fees for non SP holders), ace is $2, CTP is $2.
In addition to the 2 rounds we’ll have a distance/accuracy contest in the hay field to give away some proshop schwag and probably a separate CTP contest to give out whats left of the ace pot (Currently $30, likely >$60 after the tourney). Folks who bought into the ace pot Saturday will get a free throw. Unlimited additional entries (from anyone) will be $1 each and will add to the pot.

See you Saturday!

Jim


Almost unlimited: you can only throw whats in your bag once - no retrieving discs and re-throwing.

You spoke and I'm listening. There was some pushback to my proposal for Saturday's tournament. You have until NOON WEDNESDAY to respond to this survey and voice your opinion / suggestions before we ... show more ›

You spoke and I'm listening. There was some pushback to my proposal for Saturday's tournament. You have until NOON WEDNESDAY to respond to this survey and voice your opinion / suggestions before we finalize the details.

Smooches,
Jim

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12Lp5U2wn_xNGEXCRhyj1yTX_wpHV5Cxu3NSHmDkFPMk/viewform?usp=send_form

Don't forget to come out for our final weeknight (5:30 tonight) and play the modified par-3 layout. Also, here's the scoop on the league finale this Saturday: TOTH League Tourney / End-of-season M ... show more ›

Don't forget to come out for our final weeknight (5:30 tonight) and play the modified par-3 layout. Also, here's the scoop on the league finale this Saturday:

TOTH League Tourney / End-of-season MAR-T-Q (like Bar-B-Q but better)
Saturday 9/20

$10 buy-in for payout (includes both rounds) plus standard greens fees for non pass-holders
$2 ace pot
$2 CTP

(After round 1, times approximate)
9am. Players Meeting

9:15am. ROUND 1: SINGLES (2x season series points). Standard format but points for the round count DOUBLE toward the season series (which keeps your best 7 scores out of 11 possible).

12pm. LUNCH BREAK: BRING A DISH (and cooler/ice if possible) for pot-luck bbq while scores are collected between rounds.

1pm. ROUND 2 (approximately 1pm): PARTNER DRAFT DOUBLES (1x season series points). For MPO, AM1, and AM2 divisions round 1 scores set a draft order for partner selection in round 2 (worst/highest score picks first). Essentially a high/low doubles format but with a bit of autonomy in choosing your partner and hopefully some heckling as teams are formed during the break. In case of odd number of players we’ll look for a volunteer to play “Cali” (playing solo with one mulligan per hole). In the Women’s division high/low doubles teams will be formed based on round 1 scores.

4:30pm. AWARDS AND GAMES: We’ll set up some reindeer games to entertain the masses while 2nd round and season scores are tabulated and culminate with tournament payouts and crowning season series champions (trophy discs).

NOTE ON PAYOUTS: All tourney payouts will be distributed based on OVERALL score (round1 + round2). In other words, each round counts independently for points but all the $ will be determined by total score for the day.

Winter is coming so come out and enjoy some friendly disc golf competition!
Cheers,
Jim

Monday-only we'll be playing a special par-3 layout at TOTH. All par 4's and 5's will be shortened to be "reachable" from the (temporary, flag-marked) tees. Hole 2 whiners will be temporarily appeas ... show more ›

Monday-only we'll be playing a special par-3 layout at TOTH. All par 4's and 5's will be shortened to be "reachable" from the (temporary, flag-marked) tees. Hole 2 whiners will be temporarily appeased with a return to the original short tee. This effort is largely daylight-imposed but I think it will make for a fun round of golf all the same. See you Monday for our final weeknight round!
Jim

#PLAYERS: 29 CTP: Pat Pope, $21 on hole 6 ACE: $15. WELCOME: Eddie Barrera made his first reappearance since week 1 – welcome back! THANKS: To Marty for some selective tree removal ... show more ›

#PLAYERS: 29

CTP: Pat Pope, $21 on hole 6

ACE: $15.

WELCOME: Eddie Barrera made his first reappearance since week 1 – welcome back!

THANKS: To Marty for some selective tree removal on holes 6, 8, and 9 and for setting up the hole 11 island this week. More on that later.

CONGRATS: To division winners Jim Bailey, Marty Vaughn, Pat Pope / Jon Grover (tie), and Katie Jenkins.

POTW: Goes to…. ME! I won MPO with the worst score that’s ever won MPO (57)! And for all the conspiracy theorists that think the “super-card” of eventual division-winners (Jim, Jon, Katie) was fixed: If I were going to cheat I think I’d give myself a lower score than 57, jerks! Also I deuced hole 3 from about 150ft out, so there’s that.

HOLE STATISTICS: Nobody has yet claimed the “bounty” on a hole 2 deuce. Your choice of TOPO t-shirt awaits if you can be the first to do it during league. In the meantime here’s how everyone shot on hole 2 this week, split out by division. Please forgive lousy plain text table formatting.

Hole 2 league scoring by division, 9/8/14

ALL-MPO-AM1-AM2-WOM
<=2: 0 0 0 0 0
3: 15 6 7 2 0
4: 12 1 2 5 4
>=5: 2 0 1 1 0

And if you took a circle 4 on hole 11, you were in good company. There were only 4 deuces and 2 3’s across all 29 players on the tougher temp layout…

Hole 11 league scoring by division, 9/8/14
ALL-MPO-AM1-AM2-WOM
<=2: 4 1 2 1 0
3: 2 1 0 0 1
4: 17 5 7 4 1
>=5: 6 0 1 3 2

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Next Monday will be the last league weeknight with the tournament finale scheduled for Saturday Sept 20. I’ll make an announcement on the format very soon – it’ll be a blast. Next week we’ll likely play in pairs rather than 3’s and 4’s. Please remember to show up early and play fast (“ready golf” rules in effect) so we can complete the round before dark. We’ll start at 530 sharp.

Cheers,
Jim

I just posted the scores and have one correction to make as far as payouts: When I received the final scorecard after the awards had already started I looked them over, noted that none of the scores ... show more ›

I just posted the scores and have one correction to make as far as payouts: When I received the final scorecard after the awards had already started I looked them over, noted that none of the scores "cashed" in their division, and moved on. I failed to take into account the added $ each of those players put into the payout pool. Based on this added $, a player in each of those divisions is owed an extra $5. The updated payouts are (before->after):
Katie Jenkins (Women) $15->$20
Billy Welcome (AM2) $0->$5
Charlie Veysey (AM1) $0->$5

I'll forward the corrected figures to Marty - congrats to those 3 on winning next week's entry fee!

Jim

PS Scorecards, like votes, should be submitted early and often.

I do. Tonight promises to be the best weather we've had all year so come out and throw some plastic at trees - er... baskets. START TIME IS 530pm SO PLEASE BE PROMPT! Tonight we're featuring mixed ... show more ›

I do. Tonight promises to be the best weather we've had all year so come out and throw some plastic at trees - er... baskets.
START TIME IS 530pm SO PLEASE BE PROMPT!
Tonight we're featuring mixed cards and a hole 11 island green. See you all there,
Jim

PS. After tonight there's only 1 more Monday league before the finale tournament SATURDAY Sept 20. Mark your calendars!

This is a long one but please take note of several important announcements at the end! #PLAYERS: 28 CTP: Tucker Whittemore-Davis, $16 on hole 9. Tucker insists this is a RHBH hole and maybe he ... show more ›

This is a long one but please take note of several important announcements at the end!

#PLAYERS: 28

CTP: Tucker Whittemore-Davis, $16 on hole 9. Tucker insists this is a RHBH hole and maybe he’s right.

ACE: $0. It was up to $107 briefly before Matt Skoby fired a skip-ace in on hole 1 to break the piggy bank en route to a stellar round. Awesome.

WELCOME: Logan Roberts joined us in the Open division. Due to other conflicts it may have been a one-and-done deal for Logan but he shot a good round and we hope to see him again.

THANKS: To all 12 TOPO players that came up to the GMDGC (my home away from home) tourney this weekend and helped make the Wrightsville Beach Open a blast. More on that later.

CONGRATS: To division winners Matt Skoby, Meadow Hartwell / Marty Vaughn (tie), Snake Cleveland, and Liz Viar. They were first time division wins for Snake, Marty, and Meadow (where will she peak!?) Congratulations also to all the TOPO players that finished in the cash at Wrightsville this weekend: in a huge am2 field Connor Griffin finished 4th (2 strokes back) and Ryan Metivier 7th (3 strokes back). Marty and Betsy each took 2nd in their respective divisions as well.

POTW: When you log a 50 you get the Play of the Week. When you hit a league ace and snag a $107 pot you get the Play of the Week. When you do both you’re Matt Skoby and you had a pretty damn good Monday. Matt’s 50 is only one stroke off the course record of 49 and he did it on the longer hole 2 layout which plays a full stroke harder than the original tee. He somehow managed to do it taking 4 4’s during the round (wtf)! When I grab the card I’ll publish his hole-by-hole breakdown.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
SCHEDULE CHANGE!!! Unfortunately Snake’s sunny disposition isn’t going to be enough to keep us playing in daylight through the end of the scheduled season. Since many of us have 9-5 jobs its impractical to move the start time up any further, so something’s gotta give. In response we’ve decided to bump the final 2 weeknights of the season in favor of a 2-round tournament Saturday, Sept 20 (exact format TBD). I realize that this date will not work for everyone but I hope it will work for most. This will give us a lot more flexibility for the finale and will be followed by a kick@ss pot-luck bbq like last time (but in daylight). Try to clear your schedule and you will not be disappointed. Mo’s bringing fruit salad. So to summarize- NO LEAGUE ON LABOR DAY, then regularly scheduled Sep 8 / Sep 15 and Finale Saturday Sep 20. Schedule is now updated on the website.

LAYOUT NOTE: The long tee box on hole 2 is the DEFAULT tee for all future league rounds and all divisions. The tee pad will be lengthened and is a work in progress but its very playable as it is. Women played the short tee the last 2 weeks but to avoid confusion I’d like them to either a) play the same layout as everyone else or b) make a clear list of tees they’d prefer to play hole-by-hole. I’d be happy to work with you on this and welcome your feedback.

Also, in 2 weeks of league play the longer hole 2 layout has not yielded a single deuce. We all know this more challenging layout can and will be birdied, so as a little extra motivation Marty’s offering up a BOUNTY ON HOLE 2. First to get a league deuce gets a TOPO shirt (or similar prize). Go get it!

ON THE ROAD: After a great showing in Vermont now’s your chance to join the TOPO contingent on the GMDGC tournament circuit. Some of us will be camping at the Storrs Pond Rec area for the Sept 6th Storrs Pond Classic. Register now before it fills up, but be forewarned: this is a mountain-goat course that nearly killed Dan, Snake, and Chana. The front 9 is still very rough as the course volunteers give it one last push before hosting their first tourney. That won’t stop intrepid souls like Ryan Metivier, Jim Bailey, Mark Dawson and Mike Frisina who are all pre-reg’ed.

http://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/Salt_Hill_Pub_Presents_the_Storrs_Pond_Classic_2014

RULES NOTE: Rules are for squares, man.

Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you're part of Team TOPO (damn Lego Movie),

Jim

#PLAYERS: 29 CTP: Chris Wolff, hole 8, $21. Great rip Chris (about 18 inches greater than my own!) ACE: Pot is up to $92. What are you waiting for!? WELCOME: Same old crew this week but da ... show more ›

#PLAYERS: 29

CTP: Chris Wolff, hole 8, $21. Great rip Chris (about 18 inches greater than my own!)

ACE: Pot is up to $92. What are you waiting for!?

WELCOME: Same old crew this week but damn is it a nice crew.

THANKS: To Marty, Jim, Josh, and Ralph for the hole 2 makeover. Its still a par 3 but a much tougher one. Were there any league deuces on 2 last week? No, Mo, practice rounds don’t count.

CONGRATS: To division winners Tucker Whittemore-Davis, Mark Dawson, Billy Welcome / Jon Grover, and Katie Jenkins / Betsy Vaughn. Mark shot a particularly hot 56, nearly undercutting the MPO division leader.

POTW: I have to give this to Billy and Jon getting their first win(s) in AM2. Billy was such a gentleman he was willing to take an unnecessary penalty stroke and finish 2nd rather than rock the boat. Thanks for your patience, Billy, and thanks to the other players that brought it to my attention and made sure he was scored correctly! (see rules note below). Great playing, guys.
Honorable Mentions: My card (Mo, Skoby, myself) had 3 shanked drives on hole 12. Mo was the first to approach and threw in from just past the telephone pole for a deuce, then did his best “Ricky just hit a big putt to stay alive in the playoff at Worlds” impression. If you heard somebody shouting “LETS GO!” during the round, that was Mo! Next to throw was Skoby who canned about a 40ft’er from the woodline for his 2 (queue hype-man Mo). I threw next and had a similar look to Skoby’s but failed to convert for the the best/worst star-frame ever (sorry guys).
Also gotta mention (again) Chris Wolff’s baller CTP on 8 and Mo’s splitting his $5 payout to buy me a whoopee pie. What sweet whoopee it was, Mo…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TOTH is sending a whopping 12 players to the Wrightsville Beach Open tomorrow (Middlesex, VT). Wish us luck! And if this sounds fun to you, check out the soon-to-register Storrs Pond Classic (Sept 6). It’s a short drive to Hanover, NH. Cool new course with camping, swimming, and post-tournament party on-site! If you can’t win the tournament, win the party. Team TOPO represent!
http://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/Salt_Hill_Pub_Presents_the_Storrs_Pond_Classic_2014

RULES NOTE: It was a simple misunderstanding, but here’s the story: One of Billy’s shots stuck high up in a tree. Since there is NO 2-METER RULE AT TOTH the proper play is to mark your lie directly under the disc and play on (no penalty). If the 2-meter rule were in play (this is not typical but varies tournament-to-tournament) you would mark your lie the same way but WITH a penalty stroke. Note that on ANY shot you always have the option to take a penalty stroke and rethrow from the original lie. Alternately you could choose to play a provisional. This means that if you’re unclear about the proper way to proceed (ie from under the stuck disc or a re-tee) you can play the hole BOTH ways, record BOTH scores, then ask the TD which way was correct at the end of the round.

Birdies,
Jim

#PLAYERS: 29 CTP: I already forget, but congratulations! ACE: Pot is up to $71. WELCOME: (back) Alan MacLean for session 2. Alan’s got a long drive up from Massachusetts so thanks fo ... show more ›

#PLAYERS: 29

CTP: I already forget, but congratulations!

ACE: Pot is up to $71.

WELCOME: (back) Alan MacLean for session 2. Alan’s got a long drive up from Massachusetts so thanks for joining us.

THANKS: For the great weather. For once I wasn’t glued to the radar map all afternoon.

CONGRATS: To division winners Aaron Monier, Mike Frisina, Meadow Hartwell, and Katie Jenkins. Mo has returned to form in a big way with a 3-week average of 53.7! How he can do that with only 2 or 3 pre-league practice rounds is a mystery to me ;)

POTW: Mixed cards was a good opportunity for me to load my group with Jon “Lucky Charm” Grover and Pete Elliot, who I’ve never played with before. While Jon failed to bring the mojo I was hoping for (I cruised to DFL in open – Jon’s fault, clearly not mine) we had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching some epic P-Terd (Teebird) hucks. My favorite was Pete’s (Roc?) backhand drive on hole 6. He took the lefty hyzer line and floated it clean through the “back door” before it dropped down and SLAMMED the cage, missing a $71 ace by the narrowest of margins. So this week the POTW is Pete’s almost-ace. Next week lets make it a real one!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
!!TIME CHANGE!! – Next week and beyond we’re moving the start time up to 5:30pm. Please arrive early and register as soon as possible. Having the full list of players early lets us better optimize card sizes and starting positions and still get started on time.
Once again I appreciate everyone’s patience waiting on the final groups to come in and the tags/payouts to be handed out. Moving forward I think we’ll have to eliminate 4-somes altogether in favor of the occasional 2-card. 3’s are the smallest acceptable card size in sanctioned events (so that violations can be seconded) but I think we have no choice given daylight constraints.
While I’m thinking of it you should never let another group play through in tags or tournaments. That includes other tag groups and especially non-tag players (ewwww.) I allowed our card to play though the ladies card last night and I shouldn’t have. It adds delays to the already-slower group and means more waiting for everyone in the end.

Also don’t get stung by bees – that apparently takes a long time also.

I hope you all liked the mixed cards, as I did. We’ll do that every few weeks to mix it up and get to know some folks you might see all the time but never play with.

Birdies,

Jim

#PLAYERS: 31 (new league record!?) CTP: Pete, hole 10. He was loud and proud about doing it with a gstar teebird flick. Nice shot, Pete! ACE: Pot is up to $53. WELCOME: Newest league membe ... show more ›

#PLAYERS: 31 (new league record!?)

CTP: Pete, hole 10. He was loud and proud about doing it with a gstar teebird flick. Nice shot, Pete!

ACE: Pot is up to $53.

WELCOME: Newest league member Jivan Agoubi. I'm pretty sure this was a name he made up just to give me fits typing/reading but either way we're happy to have him. Bring your friends!

THANKS: Big props to Tyler and Mo for the hole 4 layout change this week. Full disclosure - when they described it to me I thought it sounded a little boring but when I stepped up to the tee the combination of length and modified approach angle really changed the tee shot and added a nice challenge. Thanks guys and keep 'em coming! Also thanks to Marty for hooking us up with the scoreboard - its already made starting quickly a lot easier!

CONGRATS: To division winners Aaron Monier, Dan Albert, Meadow Hartwell, and Betsy Vaughn. Also big congrats to Tyler Colby for winning a deep AM1 division at Maple Hill X last weekend. Way to represent Team Topo!

POTW: Our card enjoyed watching Summer can a long putt on hole 12 followed by the drama of: "I got that on video! Oh no wait, the card was full!" But I'm giving the POTW to Dan Albert this week. Dan shot 6 down to hold off solid scores from Mark Dawson and Mike Frisina. Well done, Dan!

See you all next week.
Birdies,
Jim

We'll have some minor procedural changes for week 3. On the fun-side, "game masters" Tyler and Aaron Mo will be debuting the first of several temporary layout changes to bring some additional variety ... show more ›

We'll have some minor procedural changes for week 3. On the fun-side, "game masters" Tyler and Aaron Mo will be debuting the first of several temporary layout changes to bring some additional variety and challenge to league rounds. Similar to the hole 18 OB we played at last session's finale they'll use some combination of alternate tee/basket locations or OB/mandos to break you from your staid routine! If you have any ideas for things you'd like to try in future weeks, run it by them.

In the interest of streamlining our starts the new sign-in procedure will be as follows:
1) When you arrive at the pro-shop write your name and division (Open, AM1, AM2, Women) on the top of a blank index card. There will be a stack of them at the desk.
2) Hand your card and your payment (greens fees + $5 for payout) to attendant (Marty, Betsy, or Jim). We'll slot you into a hole on the newly-acquired scoreboard (thanks Marty!). With individual cards we can more easily shuffle hole assignments and get everybody started quicker.
3) At start time find your name on the board, take the scorecard, and head to your assigned hole.

In the interest of quicker starts, I would urge you to sign in and pay as early as you can on league night. One of us will be there to register you by 5:30 and we'll look to start at 545 sharp!

Birdies,
Jim

Thanks to everyone who came out last night. Amazingly we had 29 players on one of the worst (or at least most ominous) weather nights of the summer! You guys kick butt - keep coming out and bring yo ... show more ›

Thanks to everyone who came out last night. Amazingly we had 29 players on one of the worst (or at least most ominous) weather nights of the summer! You guys kick butt - keep coming out and bring your friends so we can continue to grow this thing.

Plenty of Play Of The Week (POTW) candidates this time around. Honorable mentions include:
+Tucker backing up last week's scorching 50 with a 51.
+Skoby announcing his return to the Top O' the Leaderboard with a 52.
+Meadow landing her first AM2 win after moving up this session!

...but the POTW for me was the ladies card coming back with a 3-way tie at the top between Katie, Chana and Liz. Not to mention first-timer Summer was only 1 stroke back! That set up a winner-take-all CTP (the gallery loves CTPs) that Katie Jenkins took for the 1-tag and $20 pot. Congratulations and keep pushing each other!

Jim



There's very little penalty for late signups since top 7 scores count (out of 10) toward the season series, which is now trophy only (all $ is payed out week-to-week this session).

We registered 10 new people last night and had 33 players across 4 divisions!! Every division looks to be balanced and competitive (4-way tie for first in AM1!) so we're off to a great start. Keep c ... show more ›

We registered 10 new people last night and had 33 players across 4 divisions!! Every division looks to be balanced and competitive (4-way tie for first in AM1!) so we're off to a great start. Keep coming out and tell your friends- its only going to get better from here. We've got a lot of irons in the fire to add variety, competition, and camaraderie as the season moves on. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Help me extend a big welcome to all our new players and a hearty congratulations to last night's division winners: Liz, Pat, Ryan/Skylar/MikeF/Charlie. Also Tucker played alright.
Cheers,
Jim

...

PS Play of the Week: Tucker "Teebird" Davis' beautiful, bizarre 50:
123456789
223322332 (22Front)

012345678
333333433 (28Back, 50Total)

Even when he 'fell asleep' on the back 9 he played consistent and bogey-free. He stayed almost completely out of trouble thanks to consistent drives (including the best i've yet seen on 18) and spot-on approaches. He finished just 1 stroke away from the current course record of 49. Could we see it broken during league? I hope so!

Normal start time is 545pm but please show up as early as possible so we can breeze through the registrations. We're adding another men's division to improve competitiveness for everyone. New divisi ... show more ›

Normal start time is 545pm but please show up as early as possible so we can breeze through the registrations. We're adding another men's division to improve competitiveness for everyone. New division descriptions below:
Open: round average <58, $30 entry, pays out cash
AM1: round average 58-63, $20 entry, pays out Marty$
AM2: round average >63, $20 entry, pays out Marty$
WOMEN: self-explanatory, $0.00 entry, pays out Marty$

RETURNING PLAYERS GET 50% DISCOUNT ON ENTRY FEE!!
Week-to-week cost stays the same: $5 greens (for non SP holders) and $5 payout.

Note that the division scoring guidelines will be fluid as the season progresses and bump-ups will be at the discretion of the TD. Given the smaller divisions we are NOT holding over $ for the season series, which will now be 'trophy only.' Thus all $5 weekly entry pays out that day!

Finally we'll be adding a $1 ace pot in addition to the $1 weekly ctp.

See you tonight!
Jim

First lets have a big round of applause for all the volunteers that made the finale a success. Go ahead, I'll wait... I can't hear you! Ok thats better. Jeez, settle down: you look like a crazy pe ... show more ›

First lets have a big round of applause for all the volunteers that made the finale a success. Go ahead, I'll wait... I can't hear you! Ok thats better. Jeez, settle down: you look like a crazy person clapping in your cubicle (or truck, operating room, grocery aisle, pro shop, etc) by yourself.
Thanks to everyone who brought food, to Ryan for manning the grill, and Tucker for setting up the hole 18 OB gauntlet! Thanks, of course, to Marty for his continued efforts to improve the course and his flexibility and support on league operation.

CONGRATULATIONS to Keane for shooting a hot round under pressure and taking down what was the most competitive division. Congrats, of course, to Tyler and Meadow who locked down their divisions long ago with solid play all season! The final standings and payouts are linked here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0FtEofqIqg5VlhyTlJqZXdiWEU/edit?usp=sharing
We will prepare and distribute payouts at the start of league next week.

A couple interesting things shook out once all the scores were entered: despite missing the first 3 weeks Mo's double-points win bumped him up to tie me at 3rd place for the season. We'll have a $5 CTP to settle it next week (unless you want to skip the first 3 weeks again, Mo!)

With a strong finish in the finale Dan Albert actually jumped from the 'chase card' into 3rd in his division. Nice shooting, Dan.

Finally, thank you all for your patience as we sort out league procedures, scoring, etc. I'm trying every week to streamline things and get scores/standings/payouts processed faster and I will continue to do so. I also appreciate all the kind words you've all offered in recognition of my time! It has been a lot of work but it has been fun. It would be MORE fun if I could beat Tyler, but one thing at a time!

We'll start up again next week (Monday July 21). The format won't change much but stay tuned for more details. Comments and suggestions always welcome.

Cheers,
Jim

Moving forward I'll try to highlight something special that came out of each league round. The clear choice this week was Mike Frisina's hot round of 55. In a division when par golf wins the week 9 ... show more ›

Moving forward I'll try to highlight something special that came out of each league round. The clear choice this week was Mike Frisina's hot round of 55. In a division when par golf wins the week 9 times out of 10, Mike shot 7 under, only 1 away from undercutting the leaders in the Advanced division! Mike's hole-by-hole score is shown below, including a sweet "Turkey" on 11/12/13. Nice shooting Mike!

123456789
223533543 -> Front = 30

012345678
322232443 -> Back = 25
Total = 55


Your suggestions for future "POTW" candidates welcome - message or email me at [email redacted].

Including tonight we have 3 rounds left in the spring tag league session. EVERY division is tight at the top and we should have a great battle to the finish. With 3 sessions left to accrue the seaso ... show more ›

Including tonight we have 3 rounds left in the spring tag league session. EVERY division is tight at the top and we should have a great battle to the finish. With 3 sessions left to accrue the season pots now stand at $75 Intermediate, $25 Advanced, and $10 Women.

Never known to rest on our laurels, TOTH Tags management has been busy scheming some new additions and wrinkles for the upcoming league finale (July 14). Proposed changes include:

League finale will be DOUBLE POINTS (pending approval of division leaders). Each player's top 7 points finishes will still determine their season standings but a win in the final week can push out 2 worse scores instead of one.
Staggered lead card starts on hole 1. Top 4 points leaders in each div start sequentially on 1 (probably Women followed by ADV and INT) to set up a finish on 18 finish in front of massive, raucous gallery.
One-time only, hole 18 becomes island green!! Rope-defined OB will necessitate a key risk-reward decision on your approach and could even swing the division!
Custom Suklab trophy discs for each division (TOTH donated plastic, JB custom dye. Like Huklab, but worse!)
*Pot-luck bbq following the round. Look for signups next week.

As this excellent season comes to a close, don't forget to recruit your friends for the next one starting July 21!

Cheers,
Jim

Please forgive the extracurricular post but here's an FYI for the ladies in the league (or friends / significant others of male players). The GMDGC is a great organization that runs a tournament seri ... show more ›

Please forgive the extracurricular post but here's an FYI for the ladies in the league (or friends / significant others of male players). The GMDGC is a great organization that runs a tournament series all summer at some of the finest courses in VT and NH. They have a monthly ladies league you may be interested in: http://www.gmdgc.org/news/ladies-league-center-chains/

Cheers,
Jim

Week 5 scores are up (sorry for the delay). Despite commanding performances from Tyler and Meadow its still a tight points race in all divisions as we cross the halfway point of the season. Pete sta ... show more ›

Week 5 scores are up (sorry for the delay). Despite commanding performances from Tyler and Meadow its still a tight points race in all divisions as we cross the halfway point of the season. Pete stands as the INT division leader with Mike and Keane nipping at his heels in pursuit of what will be a RICH year-end pot!
Congrats also to Marty for his CTP win and Mark for making a successful leap to Advanced.

Wishing you Dads out there many birdies this weekend-
Jim

Greetings Hill-Top-Taggers. Just a quick reminder that there is no league round this coming monday (Memorial day). That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the course on your own time or even challenge oth ... show more ›

Greetings Hill-Top-Taggers. Just a quick reminder that there is no league round this coming monday (Memorial day). That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the course on your own time or even challenge other tag-holders to a round (winner keeps lowest tag).

I've been really pleased with the growing turnout at league. We welcomed 4 new faces this week to bolster our Women's (Carrie, Melissa) and Advanced (Aaron, Alan) divisions in addition to our booming Intermediate div. Keep bringing your friends and we'll make it even bigger and better. Note that new players that start June 2 (next league round) will have all 7 remaining rounds count toward the season series. Even if they have to miss a week or two (and hurt their chances for the season series) the week-by-week competition is fun enough to make the whole thing worthwhile.

Big thanks to Mark "the Shark" Dawson (or is it Shark3?) for running CTP this week and, of course, engineering it so that I'd win (not really). We'll rotate CTP holes week-to-week and make it a permanent league feature. Congrats to Mark also on getting a leg up in the tightly-contested INT division. With big fields, big payouts, and a tight race at the top this is going to be a fun competition to watch all season.

Finally, thanks to Marty for making Top O' The Hill better every day and to Betsy for the brownies!

Wishing you a birdie-filled holiday,
Jim