Be My Valentine Doubles At Ox Bow

I spent several hours at the course today with Myron H., Shane S., Chad M., Dan O., and Adam W. I want to publicly thank them for giving their personal time to help ensure we have a playable layout on ... show more ›

I spent several hours at the course today with Myron H., Shane S., Chad M., Dan O., and Adam W. I want to publicly thank them for giving their personal time to help ensure we have a playable layout on Saturday. Shout out to J. Shear for swinging by later in the afternoon to make one more pass on the tees and Bryan C. for chipping away at the sheets of ice with me on Wednesday. Without them, I'd probably still be out there right now.

The flooding is real. Spillway is closed. River water is up over the tray on Basket 9. Holes 10, 11, 12 and 13 are unplayable. So are holes 4 and 5. The basket area on 17 is soaked. On top of that, everything may freeze tonight.

FEAR NOT! The six-headed brain trust created an admirable 20-hole layout in the midst of this chaos. Three temporary holes have been added and we're going to play to Hole 17's old pin placement. Temporary tee pads have been installed on 17 and holes B & C. Hole A will have a concrete tee.

At check-in you will receive an updated document that displays the holes in order of play and the new out-of-bounds. Spoiler alert: The only OB will be the park boundaries and the top of structures. Roads and parking lots are in.

The electronic scorecard will have the distances of each hole and the new order of play. You may also pick up a paper scorecard at tournament central.

When considering your footwear, plan for snow, ice and water. You may encounter all three. We will go over all the modifications at the players' meeting at 8:15. As I type this, we have 40 teams (80 players) on 20 holes which is a good thing. No six-somes and no ghost holes. Let's hope it stays that way.

Get some rest. Many of you will have epic rounds tomorrow and I feel like we're going to see (and hear) the first ace in tournament competition at Ox Bow in a very long time.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

- Jason

We’ve had some wild weather over the past few days. Nevertheless, the tournament will be held as scheduled. COURSE LAYOUT, DISC MODIFICATIONS AND OB In an effort to maximize the player experien ... show more ›

We’ve had some wild weather over the past few days. Nevertheless, the tournament will be held as scheduled.

COURSE LAYOUT, DISC MODIFICATIONS AND OB
In an effort to maximize the player experience, compensate for winter conditions, and a large number of first-time tournament players, the course layout has been modified.

Holes 4, 12, 13 and 17 will have alternate tees. All players will throw from the purple all-weather mats on those holes. The distances will be marked on the electronic scorecards and also be posted on the original tee signs.

Due to the inclement weather and associated course conditions, you may choose the option to tee off from behind or to either side of the tee pads, but you may not tee off in front of the tee pad. The lone exception to this modification is on hole 17 where you will tee off in front of the platform on a temporarily marked tee area. You may tee off to either side or behind this tee pad, but not in front of it.

Prior to the most recent winter storm there were several inches of snow on the ground. With temperatures reaching 50 degrees earlier this week, followed by a period of heavy rain, there will be flooding on the course. Should any holes be underwater and deemed unplayable by the tournament director, those holes will be eliminated and a modified course layout will be implemented.

All water on holes that are in-play will be considered “casual areas” for both rounds of the tournament. Players may play from their original lie or choose relief from the casual area without penalty. Relief allows a player’s lie to be relocated to the nearest lie which is farther from the target and is on the line of play, at the nearest point that provides relief.

With several inches of snow on the ground throughout the course you may add ribbons, chalk or LEDs to aid in locating a thrown disc. If a disc is lost, all players in the group must aid in searching for the disc for three minutes after which time the disc will be declared lost and the player will incur a penalty stroke and must rethrow from their previous lie. Any player who does not actively aid in the search will be assessed a courtesy violation.

Generally speaking, the top of structures, all roads and parking lots are out of bounds. Park boundaries, the maintenance area, and the Elkhart River are also out of bounds. For a disc to be considered out-of-bounds, it must be completely surrounded by OB. The group will decide collectively if a questionable lie is out-of-bounds. A detailed list of OB for each hole will be available at tournament central.

SAFETY
Please be safe. Dress appropriately. Temperatures are forecasted to hover in the mid-teens for the entire day with winds steady at 16-18 miles per hour. There will be snow on the ground and patches of ice throughout the course. Stay off the river. Seriously. Players who venture onto the ice will be assessed a two-stroke penalty and may be disqualified from the event at the discretion of the tournament director.

PARK ACCESS
The park and course will be open by 7:30 a.m. Please enter through the auxiliary gate which is located about 1/4 mile north of the main entrance before the maintenance entrance and Ox Bow School. Look for a dirt road off of CR 45.

Once you enter the park, drive up the dirt road (parallel to hole 23) and turn left at the intersection. You can park by hole one or a little further up between holes 2, 19 and 20. Stable shelter is there. Bathrooms are also in that location.

CHECK-IN
Check-in will begin no later than 8 a.m. with the player's meeting at 8:15 a.m. and tee off at 8:30 a.m. All players must check in at tournament central which is located at the Stable shelter between holes 1 & 19. Ams will pick up their player package at check-in.

GROUP ASSIGNMENTS AND SCORING
Groupings and hole assignments will be posted on Friday evening (2/18) at the PDGA event page for Be My Valentine Doubles at Ox Bow. Follow this link: https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/56397

We will be using PDGA live scoring for this event.
Log in to https://www.pdga.com/apps/tournament/score/login.
Access code: bmv22
Physical scorecards will also be available at tournament central.

KNOW THE RULES
This is a PDGA sanctioned tournament. It is your responsibility to know and follow the Official Rules of Disc Golf. You may read them here: https://www.pdga.com/rules/official-rules-disc-golf.

LOGISTICS
Daylight is at a premium this time of year, especially with the overcast skies forecasted for Saturday. Please be mindful of the schedule. We will observe a strict one-hour break between the first and second rounds. There will be no players’ meeting between rounds. After lunch, you should go to your assigned hole and await the two-minute warning. You can find your assigned starting hole for the second round by accessing the live scoring page during the lunch break.

Strongly consider packing your lunch. If you leave the park between rounds please re-enter through the auxiliary gate and leave yourself time to get back to the course in case there’s a train on the tracks, which run parallel with CR 45 and perpendicular to the many restaurants across from the park.

Please contact me with any questions. Thank you.

Jason Samuel
Tournament Director
Be My Valentine Doubles at Ox Bow
574.849.3038

UPDATE: BE MY VALENTINE DOUBLES AT OX BOW I walked the course today with three members of the ECPD staff. Nine holes have been effected by the heavy snows earlier this month. There are many branch ... show more ›

UPDATE: BE MY VALENTINE DOUBLES AT OX BOW

I walked the course today with three members of the ECPD staff. Nine holes have been effected by the heavy snows earlier this month. There are many branches down and some significant limbs as well. The parks department will work diligently to clear the damage in time for the event. Most holes will be unchanged but a few could see some alterations.

In clearing the debris, the parks department will use their best judgement to maintain a balance between the integrity of the holes in question and the safety of park staff and disc golfers. In short, they will save what they can save and remove what's dangerous.

I will be setting temporary tee pads later this week after the forecasted rain has passed. We will be playing the Ice Bowl layout with short tees for all players on holes 4, 12, 13, and 17. The permanent tee pads will be cleared on Friday. If you're available to help on Friday, let me know.