Alaska PDGA Winter Series #14

Joe Caissie   March 31 at 8:17pm

Week 10 Recap

What a league finale! Thanks to everyone who attended Saturday, and for the rest of the winter - we had 256 players across the 10 rounds - an average of over 25 per week!

The big names sent us out for the season with a bang - Jake Haskin set the rated round record at Davis Park with a 46, 1021 rated (but should be higher!). James Beckner was right on his heels with a 47, and also aced hole 8 for $171. Those two ALSO were the first to hit the Davis bounty, which is a 3 or better on holes 3, 5 ... more

What a league finale! Thanks to everyone who attended Saturday, and for the rest of the winter - we had 256 players across the 10 rounds - an average of over 25 per week!

The big names sent us out for the season with a bang - Jake Haskin set the rated round record at Davis Park with a 46, 1021 rated (but should be higher!). James Beckner was right on his heels with a 47, and also aced hole 8 for $171. Those two ALSO were the first to hit the Davis bounty, which is a 3 or better on holes 3, 5, 6, and 9 Blue. Seth Asing ALSO hit the bounty. They shared the $100 pot, with Jake taking down the extra penny because he managed to actually take only 11 strokes on those four holes, nabbing a 2 on hole 6.

Jake also picked up the A Pool win, overcoming his high rating to shoot the best handicap-adjusted round of the week in the pool. Scott Groves also shot hot, with a 50 raw score, to get second.

Tyler Pohler grabbed another B Pool win with a solid score. Joe Garoutte and Britton Barnett also annihilated their ratings (in a good way) to pick up podium finishes.

Stay tuned for the start of summer sanctioned singles - the current plan is that they're going to rotate between Alcantra, Peter's Creek, Davis Park, and Girdwood on Tuesday nights. My thought is to start them May 11 or 18. I'm trying to work out a system so that membership in either ADGA or MSDGA (the Matsu club) will get you the reduced rate. I'm inclined to do the handicap again - I'll be crunching the numbers from this league to update the ratings for both the course and the individuals.

But feel free to comment below if you would prefer to go back to pools. I like the handicap because it makes things lower-stakes - some people were arguing they should be in B pool if they were put into A, or C pool if they were put into B. Handicaps allow anyone to win in any given week.

Joe Caissie   March 29 at 7:16pm

Ace Pot update

Scores should go up tonight, and I'll try and do the payouts tonight as well. Just so people can make plans, there will be NO ace pot playoff this Saturday - congrats to James Beckner, who not only got the ace pot, but also hit the Davis bounty (with Seth Asing and Jake Haskin). Seth, Jake, and James will all split the $100 in the bounty pool three ways, and then James will pick up $171 for acing hole 8 Reds.

Joe Caissie   March 27 at 7:02am

Week 10 - Davis Park

Just a reminder, if you haven't gotten your money in or let me know you're coming, do that soon! I'm headed to bed now but I'll be finalizing the cards tomorrow morning.

Joe Caissie   March 26 at 12:30am

Week 10 - Davis Park

Well it's Thursday afternoon, and that means that there's a fresh coat of snow on the teepads that Jeremy is going to have to clean off (JK, not if I get to it first!), and I'm reminding everyone to get their cash in for leagues. Last one of the winter - let's try and clean out that ace pot and break attendance records!

Joe Caissie   March 23 at 7:21pm

Week 10 - Davis Park, Ace Pool

Payouts from Week 9 should be out - just a reminder of how I do this, if you got someone to buy in for you, and I don't have a way of paying you electronically, I pay the person who bought in for you, with a note.

Here are the updated handicaps for week 10 - I screwed up and updated them before hard-coding the week 9 handicaps, so if you look at the week 9 standings they might look a little different from what's posted here - the stuff posted here for week 9 is right and the stuff ... more

Payouts from Week 9 should be out - just a reminder of how I do this, if you got someone to buy in for you, and I don't have a way of paying you electronically, I pay the person who bought in for you, with a note.

Here are the updated handicaps for week 10 - I screwed up and updated them before hard-coding the week 9 handicaps, so if you look at the week 9 standings they might look a little different from what's posted here - the stuff posted here for week 9 is right and the stuff in the sheet is (partially) wrong. Check out column AD to look at your handicap, and as always feel free to ask questions if it's not clear how this works.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit?usp=sharing

A reminder, if no one hits an ace this week, we'll be playing for the ace pool on April 3 at Westchester. Anyone who played a round this league is eligible, but the more rounds you played, the more you'll win. I'll split the competition into A Pool and B Pool this time, with a 60-25-15 payout for the top 3 in each pool.

Joe Caissie   March 21 at 6:23pm

Week 9 Recap

Great turnout this week! 29 people braved the weirdly chilly weather to play on some snowy teepads on Saturday. Still no aces, and no bounty! Seth Asing got 5/6, but no cigar. Bounty will cap at $100, and additional money will go to the ace pot next week - if someone hits an ace and no one gets the bounty next week, they will get both pots; over $250! But if there's leftover $$ in the pot after next week, we'll do another special handicap league on April 3. If you've played a leag ... more

Great turnout this week! 29 people braved the weirdly chilly weather to play on some snowy teepads on Saturday. Still no aces, and no bounty! Seth Asing got 5/6, but no cigar. Bounty will cap at $100, and additional money will go to the ace pot next week - if someone hits an ace and no one gets the bounty next week, they will get both pots; over $250! But if there's leftover $$ in the pot after next week, we'll do another special handicap league on April 3. If you've played a league round, you'll be eligible (but more rounds will mean you can win more money).

Joe Caissie (awesome dude with a cool car) managed to take down A Pool for the first time this winter with a PR 44. Will Graham made an explosive league debut with a 45 that was both second overall and handicap-adjusted.

Mike Chung grabbed B Pool with a 52 raw score, and the best handicap-adjusted score of the week, shooting almost 7 better than his rating. Jeremy Lukas and Dave Bich also shot sub-50 handicap scores to pick up second and third place, respectively.

Thanks for coming out, and let's finish out the winter league strong next week! FYI, I'm planning to do a sanctioned singles this summer on Tuesday nights, starting once all the mud is gone. The tentative plan is to rotate between Davis Park, Alcantra, Peter's Creek, and Girdwood.

Joe Caissie   March 20 at 2:11am

Week 9 at the 'goon

Just the Friday night reminder to get your money in - we have a good number of people already playing, and if the forecast is right, it's going to be 15 whole degrees for most of the round. Get out those short sleeves!

Seriously though, another reminder that the teepads won't be shoveled - we're leaving the snow on them so they're just a regular snowpack, in case that makes a difference in your footwear choices. Probably less slippery that way.

Joe Caissie   March 19 at 4:45am

Week 8 Recap

Headline this week has to be: Boyd shovels inhuman amount of snow, leaves Davis teepads clean and dry. I did just six of the teepads and I was sore for two days (yes, THAT'S why I played like **** last week).

Second headline: Somehow Scott Groves and Seth Asing have the same exact rating, and keep finishing with the same scores. They tied for first in A Pool last week, both in raw score and in handicap - great shooting, guys. No one in A Pool shot particularly hot - winning handicap sco ... more

Headline this week has to be: Boyd shovels inhuman amount of snow, leaves Davis teepads clean and dry. I did just six of the teepads and I was sore for two days (yes, THAT'S why I played like **** last week).

Second headline: Somehow Scott Groves and Seth Asing have the same exact rating, and keep finishing with the same scores. They tied for first in A Pool last week, both in raw score and in handicap - great shooting, guys. No one in A Pool shot particularly hot - winning handicap score was above a 54...

...which would be expected given the snow, but plenty of people shot hot in B Pool. Chad Solberg took it down with a handicap-adjusted 51.08 (that means he shot about 5 strokes better than his rating would have indicated). Cyle Ziegler debuted with a smoking hot round - I played on his card, folks, he's legit. Expect to see him taking down an MA1 field this year.

This week is at Westchester - I went out there today and took care of the teepad on 1, and then realized that the packed down snow is probably better traction than a teepad, so the rest are packed powder, FYI. Much less snow than on the east side of Anchorage so shouldn't be too many lost discs. Ace pot/bounty is up to $150/$65, plus however many people play on Saturday. Check your Week 9 handicap in column AA here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0.

Joe Caissie   March 19 at 12:08am

Week 9 - Westchester Lagoon

I'll have payouts and results (and a recap) up for week 8 later tonight.

Get your $$ in for Week 9! Huge ace pot - if no one hits again, we'll do a playoff after week 10.

Joe Caissie   March 13 at 4:44am

Week 8 - Final Reminder

If you're playing this week, make sure to get your money in! It'll be a fun adventure - Boydo has cleared the teepads, and then we get to play in a foot and a half of fresh pow. Use spotters!

Joe Caissie   March 12 at 6:24pm

Handicaps updated

Check column X for your week 8 handicap: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

Remember, this is the number that, when added to your score, will in theory get you towards par - in this case 56. The way the payouts work, if you have something like a 56 or lower after handicap, you'll probably be in the money. If you're thinking of playing this league for the first time, just let me know and we'll work out a handicap.

Joe Caissie   March 11 at 10:35pm

Davis Park Teepads update/request for volunteers

Went out at lunch today and cleared teepads Blue 1-3. Those pads still could use a sweep, but it looks like they're pretty dry. So if anyone can get out there with either a broom (for 1-3) or a shovel (for any of the other 15), that will be really helpful. If I'm feeling ok after my shot in a few hours, I'll head back out there to try and get a few more.

Just a note: if the pad can be swept off well enough so that it is clean and dry, please do NOT put ice melt on it. But i ... more

Went out at lunch today and cleared teepads Blue 1-3. Those pads still could use a sweep, but it looks like they're pretty dry. So if anyone can get out there with either a broom (for 1-3) or a shovel (for any of the other 15), that will be really helpful. If I'm feeling ok after my shot in a few hours, I'll head back out there to try and get a few more.

Just a note: if the pad can be swept off well enough so that it is clean and dry, please do NOT put ice melt on it. But if there's caked-on ice, feel free to lay some down if you have it. From what I can tell, Blue 1-3 shouldn't need any ice melt. Also, if you're doing shoveling, it's best practice to clear at least a shovel's width around the teepad, so that as the snow melts or falls, it doesn't fall directly onto the pad.

If you end up doing any of the pads, whether it's a shovel, a sweep, or an ice melt application, comment here so everyone knows you're awesome and so that we can coordinate efforts and keep track of what needs to be done.

Joe Caissie   March 11 at 5:52pm

Week 8 - Davis Park

Hi, folks - just a reminder to get your cash in for Saturday. I'll try to get out there either today or tomorrow to clear off the teepads. Let's remember to use spotters on Saturday so we don't lose any discs!

Not sure if this happened while I was gone, but it seems like we probably have enough daylight now for dubs after the round.

Joe Caissie   March 10 at 4:44am

Payouts done

Hi, folks - I just did the week 6 and 7 payouts - check for your name on the leaderboards, and make sure you got the money if it says you were supposed to. If you had someone pay on behalf of you, I paid that person with a note who it was for.

Joe Caissie   March 10 at 1:37am

Tournament news

Hi, folks - if you're planning to play tournaments this year, just an FYI that registration for the Meier Lake Classic and Battle Under The Midnight Sun opens tomorrow at 9am Alaska time. The MLC filled up last year, and I can tell you that at least two people I played with down in Vegas/Arizona said they were hoping to make it up for it - so you might want to get signed up early.

Joe Caissie   March 9 at 6:06am

Leaderboards updated

Leaderboards are updated - I'll be doing Week 6 and Week 7 payouts in the next couple of days. I'll also be updating handicaps - tonight is the PDGA ratings update, so any official ratings changes will change your handicap, and I'll also be taking weeks 5-7 of the league into account for folks with fewer rated rounds.

We have a few newer players in the league this week, so again if you have any questions about how the handicap system works, don't hesitate to ask in the ... more

Leaderboards are updated - I'll be doing Week 6 and Week 7 payouts in the next couple of days. I'll also be updating handicaps - tonight is the PDGA ratings update, so any official ratings changes will change your handicap, and I'll also be taking weeks 5-7 of the league into account for folks with fewer rated rounds.

We have a few newer players in the league this week, so again if you have any questions about how the handicap system works, don't hesitate to ask in the comments here or in a DM. Here's the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

Joe Caissie   March 6 at 1:20am

Week 7 reminder - last warning

Hi, folks - let me know if you're coming tomorrow! I think I don't tee off until about noon Alaska time, so I should be able to get you in until about 10am if you let me know you're coming.

Joe Caissie   March 5 at 4:29am

Week 7 - Westchester Lagoon

Let's get our money in - I've got only 7 people so far. Remember, cutoff is Friday night - I'll probably be able to get you in after that, but no guarantees.

As a bonus, this week because Andrew Rodgers doesn't have Venmo or Paypal and is such a baller that he doesn't care about money, his failure to collect any of his winnings is bumping the ace pot by $50. The Davis/Westchester bounty will continue increasing until someone hits the main ace pot, but now the ace pot ... more

Let's get our money in - I've got only 7 people so far. Remember, cutoff is Friday night - I'll probably be able to get you in after that, but no guarantees.

As a bonus, this week because Andrew Rodgers doesn't have Venmo or Paypal and is such a baller that he doesn't care about money, his failure to collect any of his winnings is bumping the ace pot by $50. The Davis/Westchester bounty will continue increasing until someone hits the main ace pot, but now the ace pot is maxing out at $150.

Again, because of technology limitations, handicaps for weeks 6 and 7 will stay the same as in week 5, and I'll be doing payouts for both weeks 6 and 7 some time next week.

Joe Caissie   March 2 at 12:41am

League Update

Hi, folks - I learned that my work laptop doesn't let me use Google Sheets, so I won't be updating the handicaps for this week - that'll happen for Week 8 - for now, everyone just keeps their existing handicap.

I just did the payouts for week 5 - I'll need access to sheets to calculate the week 6 payouts, and then I'll be back in time for week 7. Let me know if you're coming for week 7 and I'll get you signed up.

Please nobody hit an ace this week because I bet the ace pot on the Nets before I knew they were resting Kyrie.

Joe Caissie   February 27 at 2:51pm

Week 6 - Davis Park

Hi, folks - up to 18 people in this week, and I'll be around for the next couple of hours probably. Just a reminder that now that we're at $100 in the ace pot, there's a secondary "ace pot" for the Davis Park bounty - get a 3 (or better) on all four of Davis 3, 5, 6, and 9 Blue, and you win. There will be at least $18 in it this week - Robinson Culver took down the spillover pot last week for $8 (which, along with everyone else's last week payments, I haven't g ... more

Hi, folks - up to 18 people in this week, and I'll be around for the next couple of hours probably. Just a reminder that now that we're at $100 in the ace pot, there's a secondary "ace pot" for the Davis Park bounty - get a 3 (or better) on all four of Davis 3, 5, 6, and 9 Blue, and you win. There will be at least $18 in it this week - Robinson Culver took down the spillover pot last week for $8 (which, along with everyone else's last week payments, I haven't gotten out yet) by getting birdies on 6-7-8 both times at Westchester. I listed it as an ace on hole 1 since DiscGolfScene wouldn't let me do a bounty.

Joe Caissie   February 27 at 5:09am

Week 6 - Davis Park (final reminder)

Hi, not sure if my other message went out - we have 14 currently registered for tomorrow. Please let me know tonight if you're playing. I'll probably be able to get you in first thing tomorrow morning, but I'm going to be out on the course starting at 8:30am Alaska time tomorrow, so no guarantees after that.

Joe Caissie   February 26 at 5:59am

Week 6 - Davis Park

Hi, folks - if you've paid me (that's only one person so far), I haven't posted hole assignments yet. Let me know if you're coming soon - tomorrow night is the cutoff. I've just posted the handicap results - payouts coming soon, probably tomorrow afternoon. If you let me know you're in and I haven't paid you yet (just text me at 907 360 2923), I can just deduct the payout from your entry fee.

Again, not sure how last week went, but obviously I won' ... more

Hi, folks - if you've paid me (that's only one person so far), I haven't posted hole assignments yet. Let me know if you're coming soon - tomorrow night is the cutoff. I've just posted the handicap results - payouts coming soon, probably tomorrow afternoon. If you let me know you're in and I haven't paid you yet (just text me at 907 360 2923), I can just deduct the payout from your entry fee.

Again, not sure how last week went, but obviously I won't be out there to clear the Davis teepads, so I encourage some good disc golf citizens to get out there and work on clearing them. If they're dry and can be swept, please do that rather than putting salt on them.

I'll do a week 5 recap if I get some free time tomorrow - in theory my round ends at roughly 2pm.

Joe Caissie   February 23 at 4:32pm

Week 5 Results/Payout Delayed

Hi, folks - I just learned the work laptop down here in Vegas doesn't allow me to access Google Sheets, so I'm going to have to find another way to update scores and do payout. That will be this week, but get your $ in for Week 6 in the meantime.

But for now, congratulations to Robinson Culver for being the first person to hit a bounty! And you'll get paid! (Not much: $8) Until someone hits an ace, the ace pot is capped (temporarily) at $100 - if the bounty pool gets to $10 ... more

Hi, folks - I just learned the work laptop down here in Vegas doesn't allow me to access Google Sheets, so I'm going to have to find another way to update scores and do payout. That will be this week, but get your $ in for Week 6 in the meantime.

But for now, congratulations to Robinson Culver for being the first person to hit a bounty! And you'll get paid! (Not much: $8) Until someone hits an ace, the ace pot is capped (temporarily) at $100 - if the bounty pool gets to $100, we'll split ace pot monies between those two. But in 9 weeks last league and 4 weeks of this league, no one had gotten all 3s or better on Davis 3, 5, 6, and 9, and no one had gotten birdies on Westchester 6-7-8 both times. Way to go Robinson! Shout to Andrew Rodgers, who for two rounds in a row got the first five, but missed on 8 the second time around.

Joe Caissie   February 20 at 5:46am

Week 5 - Westchester Lagoon

Last reminder - I'll probably check my phone at 5am tomorrow, and that'll be it. Let me know if you're playing tomorrow!

Joe Caissie   February 19 at 9:52pm

Week 5 - Westchester Lagoon

Another reminder - I only have 10 folks in so far. If you know you're coming, PLEASE let me know by tonight so I can get the cards made up. I'll be on a plane starting at 8:35am tomorrow, so I won't be able to get you in after that.

Joe Caissie   February 18 at 5:49pm

Week 5 - Westchester Lagoon

Just a reminder for folks to sign up early this week - Friday evening is going to be the latest time you can guarantee yourself to get in. Check the event here to see if you got a hole assignment: https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/48970.

Also, I won't be out there to clear teepads these next few weeks, so anyone who can put some work in will be appreciated by the rest of your peers.

Joe Caissie   February 16 at 5:13pm

Week 4 Recap

Top of this post, and I'll reiterate all week: cutoff for registration for weeks 5-7 is going to be Friday night - I'll be running the league remotely, so get your stuff in early. I *may* be able to get you in after the deadline but no guarantees. If you need to pay with cash, find someone at the league who has my Venmo and give them the cash so they can pay me. If you know someone in this league who doesn't read these updates, please spread this around!

Smaller turnout this w ... more

Top of this post, and I'll reiterate all week: cutoff for registration for weeks 5-7 is going to be Friday night - I'll be running the league remotely, so get your stuff in early. I *may* be able to get you in after the deadline but no guarantees. If you need to pay with cash, find someone at the league who has my Venmo and give them the cash so they can pay me. If you know someone in this league who doesn't read these updates, please spread this around!

Smaller turnout this week, but still solid! No aces, and because I like to keep track even when there wouldn't be a payout, no one hit the Bounty.

Robinson Culver picked up first place in A Pool this week with a 53 - he had his share of 4s but also grabbed a ton of birdies to keep it under ironman par. Shout to Jake Haskin for his league debut, and shooting only the second round in the 40s at Davis for either this league or the last one. (Joe Schact and myself both shot rounds in the 40s in the Ace Pool week but that was unrated.)

Tyler Pohler grabbed B pool with the lowest handicapped score of the whole league, continuing his rapid improvement as a disc golfer.

This week the proper "points per stroke" to keep everything fair would have been 14.2, which is huge - this means that lower-rated players had an advantage this week, because we used 12 points per stroke. However, because of the split between A Pool and B Pool, only a couple of place-finishes were impacted. We might move to 13 points per stroke at Davis, but based on 8 rounds worth of data now, it's still right around 12.5 overall...this week was a bit of a fluke, likely.

I'll be updating handicaps this week shortly - I think in future leagues, we might use ratings at first, but then after like 4 leagues played we might use just the league data. The reason I'm thinking this is that, for example, my rating is based on a variety of courses, but on shorter technical courses like Davis and Westchester, I have a bit of an advantage, so it might make sense to lower my handicap. We'll still go based off of PDGA ratings for this league, but just a thought for the future.

Joe Caissie   February 12 at 8:39pm

Week 4 - Davis Park

Hi, folks - remember to get your $$ in or at least let me know if you're coming tomorrow. If you let me know what you want ahead of time, I'll do my best to get you in your preferred groups...but no guarantees. Next week is going to be fully random groups.

A note on teepad maintenance - I swept the red tees the other day - the snow was light and fluffy, and came off pretty easily, leaving a nice dry teepad. When the snow isn't absolutely smashed on, please don't put any s ... more

Hi, folks - remember to get your $$ in or at least let me know if you're coming tomorrow. If you let me know what you want ahead of time, I'll do my best to get you in your preferred groups...but no guarantees. Next week is going to be fully random groups.

A note on teepad maintenance - I swept the red tees the other day - the snow was light and fluffy, and came off pretty easily, leaving a nice dry teepad. When the snow isn't absolutely smashed on, please don't put any salt down - we have nice dry teepads right now, so salt will just melt the snow and then inevitably create ice. Also, if you're the first one playing after a snow, do your best to bring a broom or a shovel so you don't smash the snow into the teepad. It'll also help you not twist your ankle when you throw!

Handicaps are updated for Week 4 on the spreadsheet that's linked all over the other posts.

Also a note: Weeks 5-7, I'll be out of state (playing LVC and Memorial!)- but I will still be handling the money and payouts and hole assignments. But it's good to get into the habit of getting me your money/letting me know you're coming EARLY to guarantee I get you in. I might be playing a tournament round or in an airplane on Saturday mornings, so Friday night is the last chance you'll have to guarantee that you get registered for the league. I'll do my best if I'm available Saturday mornings but you'll want to get a confirmation from me before you assume you're in.

Joe Caissie   February 11 at 4:30am

Week 3 Recap

I think we had an all-time record for attendance this week - definitely for this league. 32 folks filled 8 of the 9 holes at Westchester, braving temps somewhere between 5 and 15 degrees, depending on whose car thermometer you believe. We overcame some moose issues on hole 9 to get a full round in for all involved - eat your heart out, NFL.

Remember, if we get above $100 in the ace pool, it spills over into the "Davis Bounty" which is getting at least 3 on all four of 3, 5, 6, a ... more

I think we had an all-time record for attendance this week - definitely for this league. 32 folks filled 8 of the 9 holes at Westchester, braving temps somewhere between 5 and 15 degrees, depending on whose car thermometer you believe. We overcame some moose issues on hole 9 to get a full round in for all involved - eat your heart out, NFL.

Remember, if we get above $100 in the ace pool, it spills over into the "Davis Bounty" which is getting at least 3 on all four of 3, 5, 6, and 9 blue on Davis. At Westchester, the bounty is hitting birdies on 6, 7, and 8 both times. No one's hit either in 13 weeks of league play!

In Week 3, Andrew Rodgers continued his hot play at Westchester (and in general) by tearing up the front 9 for 7 birdies, and then going 3 under on the back 9 for a 45, which was not only the best raw score, but good enough to get him first place with his handicap. Andrew and I both managed to get 5 out of 6 of the Westchester Bounty. Not sure how Andrew's went, but I got the first 5, and had about a 45-footer for the sixth, but clanged it off the cage. Chris Lowe made the most of his promotion to A Pool to take down second with a 48. No one in either pool played bogey-free!

Chase Powers also continued his amazing play, taking down B Pool with a raw-score 49, and a best-overall handicap score of 46.23. Mike Chung shot his first under par round in league play with a 52 to take second, and Julia Musser grabbed a podium finish for the second week in a row with a 59.

The "right" handicap for this week would have been 12.95 ratings points per stroke, so using 13 was perfect - I'll leave it there for week 5. Ratings and handicaps have been updated for week 4 - check them out here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

If you have any questions about your handicap or how this works, feel free to ask below or DM me. I think this is working pretty well so far - it doesn't seem like anyone is winning too much or doesn't have a chance in any given week.

Joe Caissie   February 6 at 4:37pm

Westchester - "Rain" tee, Hole 6

Hopefully people see this; spread the word so we're all playing the same course: Hole 6 should have a stick in the ground, marking the left-most extent of the teepad. You can still use the original teepad if you like; it just extends out further than normal. This is to prevent injury.

Joe Caissie   February 4 at 5:51pm

Handicaps updated

Updated the handicaps; you can see what yours will/would be for Week 3 here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

Two notes: I'm using 13 points per stroke for Westchester, and for new people, I averaged your opening handicap based on what you told me you usually shoot with how you shot in your first league round. I'll probably go with pure league performance for the handicap once you have two league rounds played.

Joe Caissie   February 3 at 10:27pm

Week 3 - Westchester

Hi folks - just a quick update - I'm going to do payouts in the next couple hours; I accidentally put someone in the wrong pool last week, so the B Pool payouts have gone up a bit and A Pool has gone down a bit. I've decided I'm going to change the A Pool/B Pool cutoff, starting this week, so that an equal number of players are in both, since we've had more B Pool players so far. It'll go high rating to low rating.

Another reminder - renew your ADGA memberships or ... more

Hi folks - just a quick update - I'm going to do payouts in the next couple hours; I accidentally put someone in the wrong pool last week, so the B Pool payouts have gone up a bit and A Pool has gone down a bit. I've decided I'm going to change the A Pool/B Pool cutoff, starting this week, so that an equal number of players are in both, since we've had more B Pool players so far. It'll go high rating to low rating.

Another reminder - renew your ADGA memberships or it'll be $11 this week! If you aren't on the list of 26 or so people here, then you'll have to start paying the extra $3! You can get me $30 (renewal) or $40 (first time member) if you want to renew with me.

See you out there Saturday! I'll make sure the teepads are looking good for the round - might even get my ice pick and try to level out the pit of death on 6's teepad.

Joe Caissie   February 2 at 1:11am

Week 2 Recap

Thanks to the 27 folks who came out last week despite some extremely chilly temps to start the round! We had a lot of new folks, so it's exciting to get some new blood in the competitive disc golf community! Ratings were reversed from last week - the higher rated players had a slight edge with the 12 ratings point per stroke handicap. Overall between this week and last league, though, 12 is the correct number.

Jeremy Boyd took down A Pool with a 56, managing to shoot 28 on both the fron ... more

Thanks to the 27 folks who came out last week despite some extremely chilly temps to start the round! We had a lot of new folks, so it's exciting to get some new blood in the competitive disc golf community! Ratings were reversed from last week - the higher rated players had a slight edge with the 12 ratings point per stroke handicap. Overall between this week and last league, though, 12 is the correct number.

Jeremy Boyd took down A Pool with a 56, managing to shoot 28 on both the front and the back 9! I'll have to do the math on the average scores but off the top of my head, I'm about 5 strokes worse on the back than on the front. Shout out to James Beckner who got the overall lowest score with a 50, and also managed to pick up a deuce on hole 5 Blue. Still no one has hit the "Davis Bounty" (which is empty currently) but Beckner has now come the closest by getting a total of 12 strokes on 3, 5, 6, and 9 Blue.

Julia Musser took down a 17-person B Pool with a 66 raw score and a best-of-the-week 51. She shot a really solid 28 on the front 9, and kept the back 9 under control. Check the spreadsheet here for the math, and feel free to ask questions in the comments about how any of it works: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

A few notes: Let's continue to enforce PDGA rules in these rounds - if you're new to competitive disc golf, I encourage you to read the PDGA rules, especially focusing on how to mark a lie, and what a foot fault is: https://www.pdga.com/rules/official-rules-disc-golf/80205. I don't want anyone to be a dick, but do give gentle correction if you see someone doing something the wrong way.

I'll be updating some of the handicaps this week - even if you're a propagator, if you don't have a ton of rated rounds, I may just give you the average of your League #13 rounds and the first two rounds of this league if they are significantly different.

I'll also be possibly updating the Davis Park handicap this week - it may stay at 12 ratings points per stroke, but Week 1 suggested maybe 13 is appropriate. If you want to see some of the math behind the handicaps, check the Google Sheet I posted above - and I'm happy to take you through any of the math. Basically I change the handicap until the trendline drawn through all of the scores has a slope as close to zero as possible. When it's flat, that means that nobody has an advantage over anyone else. We're all happy little Harrison Bergerons.

Joe Caissie   January 29 at 4:05pm

Week 2 - Davis Park

Hi, folks, don't forget to get me your money and let me know you're coming this week!

The health mandate for Anchorage has been loosened, so I'm going to have a long-overdue (but brief) player's meeting around 10:45 - we should still stay distant from each other in the parking lot and give each other room in our groups once we're out playing.

Also, this week I'm going to truly randomize the groups - I know people want to play with their friends, I know, but ... more

Hi, folks, don't forget to get me your money and let me know you're coming this week!

The health mandate for Anchorage has been loosened, so I'm going to have a long-overdue (but brief) player's meeting around 10:45 - we should still stay distant from each other in the parking lot and give each other room in our groups once we're out playing.

Also, this week I'm going to truly randomize the groups - I know people want to play with their friends, I know, but I think part of disc golf is playing with a bunch of different people, and I think it'll be good for the newer players to get on a card with some of the more experienced folks. This won't be permanent but I might do it every third week or so.

Joe Caissie   January 25 at 5:35am

Week 1 Recap

Well that was a crazy week! Mixed precipitation falling and mixed scores - a whole bunch of people shot amazing rounds, and then a bunch of people also shot way worse than they normally do. Joe Caissie (me) managed to get an ace two weeks late, and got paid a whopping $28. I hit hole 2 on a force-over shot with my Shryke that faded in from the right side and flared up into the basket.

A Pool saw James Beckner just absolutely light the course on fire with a 13-under 41...but relative to hi ... more

Well that was a crazy week! Mixed precipitation falling and mixed scores - a whole bunch of people shot amazing rounds, and then a bunch of people also shot way worse than they normally do. Joe Caissie (me) managed to get an ace two weeks late, and got paid a whopping $28. I hit hole 2 on a force-over shot with my Shryke that faded in from the right side and flared up into the basket.

A Pool saw James Beckner just absolutely light the course on fire with a 13-under 41...but relative to his rating, that was only the 6th most impressive round in A Pool. The top honor goes to Cody Humphrey, who shot an 8 down, 55 points above his rating! Andrew Rodgers continued his improbable and impressive streak of second place finishes. A note here - ratings this week were about 25 points lower than last league. Normally the PDGA smooths things out, so your round ratings will probably go up.

B Pool saw the best handicapped round shot by anyone this weekend, with Tyler Pohler's 45.67 adjusted score. Chase Powers and Chad McCaffrey also shot rounds that would have won A pool, but had to settle for second and third, respectively.

I'll get payouts to folks later this week.

A couple of notes: the "fair" handicap at Westchester this week would have been 13 points...I'm going to mix the scores from this week in with the scores from the previous league to determine if we need to go to 13 rather than 12. I did a test and only one order of finish would have changed this week if we did 13 rather than 12, so it's not that important. Here's the spreadsheet if you want to look at it. I've updated the player handicaps for next week already. If your player rating is in red or yellow, that means it's subject to change. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=0

Also, let's remember to follow PDGA rules since this is a sanctioned event. That means that if you leave mid-round for a non-medical reason, you will be getting an 888...that hurts your player rating a fair amount. Another important thing is to mark your lies and tap out all of your putts. That means that even if the disc is sitting under the basket, you can't pick it up unless you've marked it. These are little things, but it's important to all play by the same rules so that we're all on a level playing field.

Joe Caissie   January 23 at 11:55pm

Week 1 Scores

I'll do a full-fledged recap and post scores when I'm bored at work next week but for now, you can see the order of finish in this spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=802432503

The first tab shows the order, split by the two divisions. Congrats to Cody and Tyler! The second tab shows my analysis of this week - turns out that to make things totally fair this week, the handicap should have been 13.05 points per ... more

I'll do a full-fledged recap and post scores when I'm bored at work next week but for now, you can see the order of finish in this spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15pb-zq2YRzagnoxVrDYeEzhwZrB9-8gaBBGxxq8GyIE/edit#gid=802432503

The first tab shows the order, split by the two divisions. Congrats to Cody and Tyler! The second tab shows my analysis of this week - turns out that to make things totally fair this week, the handicap should have been 13.05 points per stroke. This means that lower-rated players were advantaged slightly this week. I'll be melding it with the data from Winter Series 13 to determine if we need to change the Westchester handicap for weeks 3 and beyond.

Joe Caissie   January 21 at 7:01pm

Week 1 Westchester Lagoon

Don't forget to get me your $$ and let me know you're coming! Check out the event page here: https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/48970 to see if I have you down for week 1 - if you don't have a hole assignment, you aren't in yet. $8 for 2020 or 2021 ADGA members (if you 2020 members haven't renewed yet, the first two weeks are a grace period), $11 for non-members. Remember, ADGA membership gets you $3 off not only this league, but also the summer doubles league and any possi ... more

Don't forget to get me your $$ and let me know you're coming! Check out the event page here: https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/48970 to see if I have you down for week 1 - if you don't have a hole assignment, you aren't in yet. $8 for 2020 or 2021 ADGA members (if you 2020 members haven't renewed yet, the first two weeks are a grace period), $11 for non-members. Remember, ADGA membership gets you $3 off not only this league, but also the summer doubles league and any possible weeknight sanctioned singles leagues that might happen.

Reminder: we're doing a 12-ratings-point per stroke handicap for both courses. I'll do it off of the typical par rating for the course, which I think makes things easier to think about (but doesn't really matter - I did it off of 1000-rated for the Ace Pot last week). Westchester is 862, so that means that if you're 898-rated, you have a +3 handicap. There are two pools, with the cutoff at 880, which will mitigate the impact if the handicap turns out to be massively unfair to either high or low-rated players.

If you have any questions about how this works, feel free to ask below.

Joe Caissie   January 19 at 5:21am

Westchester Handicap update

Hi - I went through our last league, and turns out that a 12-ratings point per stroke handicap is the fairest for Westchester. I'll continue to work with the new data as it comes in, but we're doing a 12-stroke for this week.

Joe Caissie   January 17 at 3:42am

Week 1 Westchester Lagoon - rules

Hi, folks - after a test round using handicaps for the Series #13 ace pot, I've decided we're going to use a hybrid handicap system for this league. The way it works is, Westchester and Davis will have a different ratings point per stroke. But it seems like given the randomness of winter play, that advantages lower-rated players. So we're going to have two pools - A Pool and B Pool. A Pool is 880 and up, and B Pool is below 880. I picked this cutoff so that there would be approxim ... more

Hi, folks - after a test round using handicaps for the Series #13 ace pot, I've decided we're going to use a hybrid handicap system for this league. The way it works is, Westchester and Davis will have a different ratings point per stroke. But it seems like given the randomness of winter play, that advantages lower-rated players. So we're going to have two pools - A Pool and B Pool. A Pool is 880 and up, and B Pool is below 880. I picked this cutoff so that there would be approximately the same number of players in each pool. But because of the handicap, there's not a lot riding on which pool you're playing in.

The way it works is, to start out at Westchester, you get a stroke for each 14 points of rating. At Davis, you get a stroke for each 12 points of rating. You're only competing against your own pool, though. These ratios and your own handicap will be tweaked as the league goes on: the points per stroke will change if it seems like either higher-rated players or lower-rated players are having an advantage. Your handicap will change if you are not a "propagator," or if you have very few rated rounds. For example, my rating is based on roughly 60-70 rated rounds...so there's some good evidence for my skill level. But if you only have 10 rated rounds, your skill level may not be reflected in your PDGA rating. If you don't have a PDGA rating, I'll use the rating you would have had after Winter League #13, updated after each round of this new league. You'll know your handicap going into each round, unless it's the very first round you've ever played.

Let me know if you have any questions! I have a whole spreadsheet with charts where I figured this out, so I can show you the voodoo behind the scenes if you're interested.