Travelling Thursday Throwdown

Mike Harrington   September 6, 2013 at 9:04am

TTT was just a teaser for the Travelling Glow League!!!

Well we wrapped up this quick 8 week travelling league tonight. We went 8 weeks on 4 different courses and did not see a single ace . . . so tonight we paid out just under half of the ace pool money by division based on total league attendance.

$5 went to the Women's/Junior division which was won by Shayla Finley . . . who only edged out her brother Jimmy by 3' when we threw to #16 (with the only stipulation being that anything on the pavement or over the snow fencing setup for the ... more

Well we wrapped up this quick 8 week travelling league tonight. We went 8 weeks on 4 different courses and did not see a single ace . . . so tonight we paid out just under half of the ace pool money by division based on total league attendance.

$5 went to the Women's/Junior division which was won by Shayla Finley . . . who only edged out her brother Jimmy by 3' when we threw to #16 (with the only stipulation being that anything on the pavement or over the snow fencing setup for the Soap Box Derby was considered OB.

We also had only one Open player tonight (and 9 total rounds played by the Open players) so Mike Finley took down the $5. He also offered up the idea if an ace was hit to throw in $10 which I agreed to do . . . so he had nothing to lose by running for the ace since he was considered the CTP regardless. He ended up overthrowing it slightly, skipping off the pavement, and onto the grass left of the pavement. Either way he was walking home with some ace pool cash tonight for being present the last night of league . . . the rest of the Open players could have guaranteed cash if they had come back this week.

We had 4 Recreational players tonight which was the next best attended division with 23 total rounds played. I offered up $10 to the closest in this division and Shaun Kirchner edged out Dan Bertzyk who had thrown a pretty shot up the hill and landing in the mulch . . . Shaun literally beat him by only 2-3' and they were both drop in putts.

Finally in Intermediate (the most attended division with 34 total rounds played) we had 3 players tonight and I also put up $10 for this division. I was saved by the last bit of grass/weeds/mulch because if I landed 2" further left . . . I was OB so I feel fortunate to have beaten Patrick Brah (who was only 15'-20' away).

The rest of the ace pool money will be donated to the course funds . . . I can't give them all to VV since we only played 2 weeks here so I will split up those funds across all 4 of the courses we played . . . Valley View, Root River, Estabrook, and Dretzka.

Thank you to everyone for attending this season . . . I wish attendance was better because I truly think playing each other at different courses can really help everyone learn where some of their strengths and weaknesses are. I will always run at least 1 travelling league because of this reason . . . plus I get a little tired of playing the same course every week.

In Open the highest point winner was Scott Slauson who attended 2 weeks for 3 points . . . no trophy this time Scott but thank you for coming to the league when you could. PS You only beat Mike Finley by 1 point because he also attended 2 weeks of this league!

In Intermediate . . . I had actually miscalculated earlier today because I thought all I needed to do was play . . . when in actuality I needed to win with 3 people in the division(if Greg Klein didn't attend) . . . and I happened to do just that. I wish Greg could have made it the last few weeks . . . but he most likely would have overtaken me in the division. Either way I enjoyed the battles we had each week along with Chad and Pat and the other people who came a couple of times.I finished with 20 points, Greg K. finished at 19.5 (missing the last 2 weeks) and Chad Niezgoda just squeezed ahead of Pat Brah to finish in third.

In Recreational we had a closer fight . . . because there were scenarios where Dan Bertzyk (current leader), Shaun Kirchner (currently 2nd), and Troy Windorff (currently third) could have won the league tonight. Shaun did everything he could by winning the night with a (-3) and he was actually helped by the tie between Dan B. and Troy W. at (-2) but he would have needed Dan B. to finish last of the 4 players tonight. SO in the end Dan Bertzyk finished on top with 16.5 points, Shaun Kirchner ended up with 14 just .5 points ahead of Troy Windorff at 13.5 points. Nice battle gentlemen . . . it was back and forth the whole season.

We only had 5 total rounds in the Women's Division this season . . . I wish this was higher but I am happy that the women did have their own league to attend this season. If there are any other ladies out there looking for some good fun competition the DOLLS will for sure be doing another all womens league next year I am sure. If you don't want to play there. . . you are always welcome at my leagues. I lowered the prices so that it was more affordable too.

Thanks again for everyone who attended . . . look for a bigger and better lineup next year . . .I plan to do this league but make it last a lot longer and attend more courses!!!!!

Mike Harrington   September 5, 2013 at 9:14pm

Wrapping up TTT at the VV

We will be wrapping up Travelling Thursday Throwdown tonight at Valley View. This league was my last minute decision to put together a travelling league and I am glad I did it. I thoroughly enjoy competing against people on different courses. It really shows you where your strong suits and weak points are and a lot can be learned from seeing how you play comparatively to other players at each course. The Ace Pool is at $58 going into the night so come try to get a piece of that cash. If noone hi ... more

We will be wrapping up Travelling Thursday Throwdown tonight at Valley View. This league was my last minute decision to put together a travelling league and I am glad I did it. I thoroughly enjoy competing against people on different courses. It really shows you where your strong suits and weak points are and a lot can be learned from seeing how you play comparatively to other players at each course. The Ace Pool is at $58 going into the night so come try to get a piece of that cash. If noone hits an ace we will find another way to divide up that money. Thanks for all who attended and for those who might win trophies . . . please be patient because they will not be ready immediately. They will be personalized so I needed to know who the winner was in order to produce the trophy. I hope they are well received because I think the idea was pretty clever. NEXT WEEK WE MOVE RIGHT INTO GLOW LEAGUES. MONDAYS ARE AT VALLEY VIEW AND THURSDAYS ARE TRAVELLING AGAIN AND WE START AT BROWN DEER SO COME ON OUT FOR A BEATDOWN AT BROWN DEER NEXT THURSDAY!

Mike Harrington   August 30, 2013 at 9:37am

The Lucky 7

We had 7 people in attendance and we all looked at each other wondering where everyone else was. Not only was this the smallest group for this league, but I have not seen this few people at Valley View since winter. I believe the high temperatures during the day, school being back in session in some areas, high school tryouts and sports taking precedence over "frolf", Harley Davidson's 110th Anniversary, as well as the fact that Labor Day weekend is upon us all had factors in the ... more

We had 7 people in attendance and we all looked at each other wondering where everyone else was. Not only was this the smallest group for this league, but I have not seen this few people at Valley View since winter. I believe the high temperatures during the day, school being back in session in some areas, high school tryouts and sports taking precedence over "frolf", Harley Davidson's 110th Anniversary, as well as the fact that Labor Day weekend is upon us all had factors in the light turnout for league as well as the overall light crowd at Valley View tonight.

We missed the regulars tonight and hope you will consider coming back for week 8 . . . each division is up for grabs and the final week can decide them all.

We ended up going out in 2 groups tonight which seemed to move things along pretty well. There was a group of three from Intermediate including Myself, Dustin Skorupinski and Jared Jacobson. Dustin had an excellent round tonight (-13) which he apparently also shot in yesterdays league. Jared (-4) and I (-5)struggled a bit tonight with some ups and downs. In the other group were two Intermediate and two Recreational players. In Intermediate we saw Chad Niezgoda shoot the second best score on the night (-8). Then Kevin Connell ended up tying myself at (-5) to split the last of the funny money. Also in this group were two Recreational Division players: Troy Windorff (-4) who beat out the front runner in the division Dan Bertzyk (-2) to close the gap in the point totals for the division. The final week if Dan, Troy and Shaun all play . . . the division is anyone's game at this point.

As it stands . . . In Intermediate . . .Greg Klein, Myself, and Chad Niezgoda have a chance at the Intermediate crowd if we see normal Valley View attendance #'s. In Recreational . . . it is anyones game . . . Dan Bertzyk currently is in the lead, Shaun Kirchner is too far behind . .. and Troy Windorff looks to ride the momentum with another win next week to try to get into the top spot overall. It all depends on how they play and also how many other people show up to play.

Mike Harrington   August 29, 2013 at 7:53pm

TTT Takes on the VV

We head back to the course I like to wrap up all of my travelling leagues . . . 1 reason is there are restaurants around that can handle our small groups. The other reason is I am always hopeful to clear out the ace pool and Valley View is the best chance to do so. We have hit $51 for this league with no aces in 6 weeks. I expect one in the next 2 weeks at least.

Thanks to all who attended this league . .. it was a last minute decision to squeeze in a quick 8 week league before the glow seaso ... more

We head back to the course I like to wrap up all of my travelling leagues . . . 1 reason is there are restaurants around that can handle our small groups. The other reason is I am always hopeful to clear out the ace pool and Valley View is the best chance to do so. We have hit $51 for this league with no aces in 6 weeks. I expect one in the next 2 weeks at least.

Thanks to all who attended this league . .. it was a last minute decision to squeeze in a quick 8 week league before the glow season was upon us. I thoroughly enjoy Travelling leagues because they test everyones abilities on different courses. Some might be better at short technical courses like Valley View. Other people might be better suited the the challenges at Dretzka and Brown Deer. I like to see who is the best golfer across all of these courses.

Because attendance has been light . . . we might only be giving away a trophy in the Intermediate and Recreational divisions. I would love to build the attendance for this league to where we are again awarding 3 trophies, but I will continue to run this league regardless of if we add more people or not. I simply enjoy playing different courses too much.

See you before 6 PM at Valley View. I should be out there by about 2:00-2:30 today.

Mike Harrington   August 23, 2013 at 8:21am

Another Record Attendance and $1000 mark for TDGE

We had 11 people tonight to beat the previous high attendance of 10. This also happened to be the night where I have raised over $1000 for the GLDGC and other affiliated courses (like Valley view and Miniwaukan). That means people have attended my leagues since I started The Disc Golf Experience with a fall glow league. I am proud to have had that sort of impact in the local scene. Some of those funds have been spent . . . some have not . . . so keep your eyes open on the local courses for impro ... more

We had 11 people tonight to beat the previous high attendance of 10. This also happened to be the night where I have raised over $1000 for the GLDGC and other affiliated courses (like Valley view and Miniwaukan). That means people have attended my leagues since I started The Disc Golf Experience with a fall glow league. I am proud to have had that sort of impact in the local scene. Some of those funds have been spent . . . some have not . . . so keep your eyes open on the local courses for improvements that my league attendees have helped contribute to . . . while I execute some projects with their contributions.

In Open we had two players tonight with Scott Slauson throwing the lowest Singles Round I have heard of (-8). Scott vaults into the Open lead with his 3 points . . .there may not even be a trophy if we don't hit 20 rounds played . . . but the person who comes the most weeks will walk away with something for their attendance.

In Intermediate we had another week of 5 players. Dustin Skorupinski came over after the Abendschein league ended last week to shoot the hot round (-4). Greg Klein ended up in second on the night with another solid round of (-2). Chad Niezgoda and I tied with (-1) to split the last of the funny money. I would expect that 2 trophies will be awarded for Intermediate . . . but it depends on how many people show up for the next two weeks at Valley View.

In Recreational we saw Dan Bertzyk (+4) extend his lead in the lead in the division. Shaun Kirchner had a (+6) to also advance his lead over 3rd place. Depending on how many people come the next two weeks at Valley View. . . there may be 2 trophies awarded for this division. It will be a tight race between Troy and Shaun at this point.

Unfortunately . . . Cassandra Brah hurt herself tonight so she was unable to finish her round due to falling in a hole at the end of #13 tee. Heal up quickly Cassandra!!!

I have already contacted Robin . . . the course contact . . .and mentioned the issue to him. He said he plans to fill in the hole in front of #13 (as well as the hole near #18 tee where the tee-sign was originally) with soil so noone else tweaks an ankle or their back.

I have also discussed a donation of a few hand tools to help him in his maintenance of the new course. I also will plan to go out there in the coming weeks to install some traffic bond underneath the middle of the teepads so that the water and eroded soil end up in the middle of the teepads. They were all slick and dangerous tonight . . . I honestly would have rather thrown from a stand-still on the bare soil than on those slick tee-pads. They were only meant to be temporary . . . until concrete is used to finish the teepads . . . but if they can be better, I would like to make them better.

Mike Harrington   August 19, 2013 at 10:00pm

Can I get a Root Root? Yes I just said that.

I have been watching the scores at Root River Parkway of the Doubles league that plays here on Wednesdays as well as the Singles league that plays here on Mondays. The best Doubles round has been done by multiple partners. Brad Weber and Scott Slauson, Brad Weber and Zac Cobus, Joel Kamoske and ????, Myself and Todd Farnham . . . have all shot (-13). I am sure everyone of these people could agree . . . there was one hole they missed they felt like they should have gotten.

In Singles I have se ... more

I have been watching the scores at Root River Parkway of the Doubles league that plays here on Wednesdays as well as the Singles league that plays here on Mondays. The best Doubles round has been done by multiple partners. Brad Weber and Scott Slauson, Brad Weber and Zac Cobus, Joel Kamoske and ????, Myself and Todd Farnham . . . have all shot (-13). I am sure everyone of these people could agree . . . there was one hole they missed they felt like they should have gotten.

In Singles I have seen a few (-7) shot by Terry Miller and Todd Farnham but I am unsure if mulligans are used in that league. Have you heard of a better score than that at Root River?

Well this week we saw two newcomers Brent Krueger and Kevin Connell (who also plays in the Singles league from time to time) show up and play Open. Brent shot a (-1) to take the cash.

In Intermediate we had the usual crowd. Greg Klein had a really solid round (-4) to win the division on the night. I had an up and down night and ended up with a (-1). Pat Brah shot (Even) and ended up with the last of the funny money.

In Recreational we had only one player and Shaun Kirchner shot a (+4) to take down the funny money.

In the Womens division Cassandra Brah shot a (+19) and I hope we can find some competition for her on a regular basis.

One more week of Root River then on to the finale at Valley View for 2 weeks. Daylight will be of concern this coming week so we will have to stick to a very strict start time of 6:00 PM. If you are late . . . you will have to join a group in progress and finish the holes in the dark.

Mike Harrington   August 8, 2013 at 6:49am

Meet by #1 of the Alternate 9 ( across the road from #14 Original)

This week we will be meeting across the street from Hole #14 original at #1 of the Alternate 9. This will allow us to spread out more easily since the normal course will be played Holes #6-11 Original . .. cross the street for holes 5-9 Alternate then 1-4 Alternate finishing with 12-14 original. Any questions give me a call.

Mike Harrington   August 2, 2013 at 9:08am

Dretzka Original

Well . . . this was our only crack at the original 18 at Dretzka since next week has been voted on (by tonight's players) and we will be playing Hole 6-14 and the alternate 9.

In Open we had one player Todd Farnham (+6). . . who was out to have fun tonight and was trying all sorts of different shots. He played great this weekend at The Silver Cup so we know tonight was not his normal play. I also know first hand that he looks at league differently than he ever has . . . as a way to enjoy ... more

Well . . . this was our only crack at the original 18 at Dretzka since next week has been voted on (by tonight's players) and we will be playing Hole 6-14 and the alternate 9.

In Open we had one player Todd Farnham (+6). . . who was out to have fun tonight and was trying all sorts of different shots. He played great this weekend at The Silver Cup so we know tonight was not his normal play. I also know first hand that he looks at league differently than he ever has . . . as a way to enjoy himself while trying new shots and discs. It didn't hurt that he was basically playing for his own money tonight so we could try all sorts of different shots he would not normally attempt with nothing else on the line.

In Intermediate . . . I had the hot round on the night (Even) despite bogeying my first hole (#16) and both of my card mates (Matt Atherton and Todd Farnham) scolding me for worrying about the score at that point. I understood their opinions but I knew it when I tried to throw a roller on #16 that the odds of me getting a 2 with a roller versus the chance of me getting a 4 because of one bad shot were more in favor of the bogey as opposed to the birdie. I should have just taken the straight out hyzer shot and simple layup for the 3 but I instead went for the perfect shot to try and deuce the hole. Then again . . . what is league for but to try new things that you can take to tournament play or to work on strategy and course management? Either way I still planned to have fun and enjoy the night . . . and I am sure we all did despite our scores.
Greg Klein who was also tied for the lead in the division shot the next best round of (+2) and he seemed equally indifferent to his score. We both thought we had not played well yet we both had the two best scores on the night. This shows me that we both care enough about our games to know when it wasn't a perfect round but neither of us are so worried about league scores that we have to pout when we don't think "EVERY" thing went our way. I am happy to say I get to play with people who take the good with the bad because it happens to all of us. Taking third on the night was the man who came into the night not knowing what division he was playing. I figured the most appropriate placement for Chad Niezgoda (+5) was Intermediate since he still placed for some funny money . . . but the other guys who he plays regularly with expected him to come in with a sub par round. I would rather you be middle of the pack if I am assigning you a division than have you place first in a division at the outset. I honestly thought Chad was better suited to Intermediate than Recreational . . . but the fact remains to be seen if tonight was indicative of his normal play or a really good or bad round. Either way . . . Chad you are going into Intermediate for the future rounds. If I am wrong . . . I will gladly hand over some funny money to account for the wrong divisional placement.

In Recreational we saw Shaun Kirchner have a solid round (4th overall on the night) of (+6) to take the top spot for the night. Troy Windorff followed only a few throws back with his (+10) to take the last of the funny money.

Overall I am a little bit surprised that nobody finished under par tonight . . . so perhaps the course was setup harder than I thought it was. Next week will definitely see lower scores since 9 of our holes will be on the Alternate 9 while we also play 6-14 of the original course. Normally when I play the Alternate 9 I shoot right around par . . . a few birdie opportunities but also a few easy bogies. I expect to see a few of the other players out-perform me since that alternate 9 seems to be harder on me than other players. I simply have not determined the reason behind it.

Either way . . . I was happy to have 9 show up tonight . . . and I look forward to seeing more than 9 next week. We did return 2 discs to their rightful owners tonight . . .so maybe we won a couple of people over for next week.

Mike Harrington   July 26, 2013 at 7:54am

From Estabrook to Dretzka

Week #2 was Estabrook one more time.

Thanks go out to Greg Klein for moving some baskets to change things up, but it seemed to have a negative impact on the scoring for the night.Hard to believe considering last week it was 85 and muggy and this week was maybe 75 with lower humidity.

The Recap:
In Open we had our second 1 player field with Scott Slauson showing up this week. Casey Connors and Scott are in a heated battle for the overall title right now with 1 point a piece. Maybe we will ... more

Week #2 was Estabrook one more time.

Thanks go out to Greg Klein for moving some baskets to change things up, but it seemed to have a negative impact on the scoring for the night.Hard to believe considering last week it was 85 and muggy and this week was maybe 75 with lower humidity.

The Recap:
In Open we had our second 1 player field with Scott Slauson showing up this week. Casey Connors and Scott are in a heated battle for the overall title right now with 1 point a piece. Maybe we will see them out there at future nights to settle the score against each other. Scott did have the hot round on the night (-6) to take the win.

In Intermediate we had 5 players tonight thanks to 2 new players Christopher Jante (-5) and Matt Atherton (-4). . . who happened to finish 1st and 2nd respectively. Both have played in other TDGE leagues and they are both good players so it does not surprise me that they came in and took down the top two spots tonight. I hope to see you guys at some of the future weeks too. Greg Klein (Estabrook Course Superintendent) had a second consecutive (-2) to show he knows the course and take the last of the funny money. I had a rough night but after 2 weeks that puts Me, Greg Klein, and Christopher into a 3 way tie in Intermediate overall. I love competition so I hope to continue to see everyone come out . . . and I hope we can increase the attendance by 1-2 people per division so that we have a slightly bigger field.

In Recreational we had 2 people this week and the night was settled by just one throw. Dan Bertyzk (-1) topped Shaun Kirchner (E) by just one throw but it was an exciting battle to watch as the lead went back and forth 4 or 5 times during the round.

The Ace Pool is up to $16 as we head into Dretzka . . . depending on the setup we could see the ace pool rise over the next two weeks also making those first 5 holes at Root River very enticing for some ace runs!

I hope to see you all there at Dretzka next week. I am going to put up a poll on the event page about start time as we might be stretching it a little bit to start at 6:30 the next two weeks. I am ok with whatever people feel will work, so if you can make Dretzka by 6:00 with no problem I have no problem shifting the start time back to my standard 6:00.

Mike Harrington   July 25, 2013 at 7:41am

If the $8 Ace Pool doesn't bring you in I don't know what else to do!

I hope to see some more of you out there this week. We will be at Estabrook again tomorrow and I am hopeful that Greg Klein can get out there to move a few of the baskets. I will try to be there early enough to help him out but it depends upon what time he arrives as I need to be available to check people in.

Mike Harrington   July 19, 2013 at 7:34am

Week #1

We had 8 people show up to Estabrook this week in the 90+ degree temperatures.

I know Estabrook might be a bit of a drive for some people and I appreciate the effort to make it to a league that is far away. I am hopeful that we can get better attendance but if 8 is all we get the whole season I am ok with that. I just thoroughly enjoy playing against people on different courses. I enjoy playing Valley View every week trying to always beat my personal bests, but I really enjoy playing differe ... more

We had 8 people show up to Estabrook this week in the 90+ degree temperatures.

I know Estabrook might be a bit of a drive for some people and I appreciate the effort to make it to a league that is far away. I am hopeful that we can get better attendance but if 8 is all we get the whole season I am ok with that. I just thoroughly enjoy playing against people on different courses. I enjoy playing Valley View every week trying to always beat my personal bests, but I really enjoy playing different courses, throwing different shots, and learning from those who play other courses better than myself.

Here is the recap . . . we now have an $8 Ace Pool for week 2.

In Open Casey Connors shot the hot round on the night (-7) to win back some of his cash.

In Intermediate I had an up and down kindof night with my (-6). I was more impressed with Greg Klein's resolve to fight back after some early struggles to birdie the same amount of holes I did to take second place with his (-2) and the last of the funny money.

In Recreational Dan Bertzyk played very well and shot (-3) on the week while newcomer Troy Windorff shot (-2) for the last of the funny money.

Next week we will be back at Estabrook and will begin between 6:15-6:30. If the weather is decent and there are a lot of casual players and a lot of DOLLS players . . . we will need to send some groups out earlier to make sure everyone has a fair shot to finish in the light . . . so please try to be there by 6:00 so I can appropriately put people on cards and get some started in front and behind the DOLLS league. Part of my agreement with the DOLLS is to help provide them with a buffer without impeding their ability to run their league so bear with me as we figure out exactly how to handle that next week.

Mike Harrington   July 11, 2013 at 8:11pm

League Start is set for July 18th at 6:30 PM at Estabrook

Please checkin between 5:45 and 6:25. We will start promptly at 6:30 but I may ask 1 group to start immediately following the DOLLS league which usually starts teeing off at 6:15 and would have 3-5 groups of women. I may be there earlier but I most likely will not be selling discs. If you have funny money we can meet up another time or even after league for you to redeem it, but I do not have a permit to sell there and I do not want to offend MadHatter who does have the permit for Estabrook or T ... more

Please checkin between 5:45 and 6:25. We will start promptly at 6:30 but I may ask 1 group to start immediately following the DOLLS league which usually starts teeing off at 6:15 and would have 3-5 groups of women. I may be there earlier but I most likely will not be selling discs. If you have funny money we can meet up another time or even after league for you to redeem it, but I do not have a permit to sell there and I do not want to offend MadHatter who does have the permit for Estabrook or Terry who has the permit at Dretzka. If you know you want something from my inventory I am happy to set it aside for you. I am unsure if anyone has a permit for Root River and I am going to see about that.