13MAY Second Saturday Singles – Stop 1 of the KDGT

Introduction

13MAY23, marked the first stop of the first annual Keweenaw Disc Golf Tour! The stop was at Constellation Farmstead, which meant it was also a Second Saturday Singles event, the first of 2023. Everyone had a great time! The event began right on schedule with the player’s meeting at 11AM.

We got lucky on two of the three weather variables. Temps were comfortable and there was no rain. But the wind kicked everyone’s butt, including AJ’s as TD (It was as if a million rolls of tape all cried out at once and then were suddenly silenced!)

Two rounds of stroke play took place to decide the winners, both on the par 57 “South as Back 9” layout at Constellation Farmstead.

Round One Recap

Round one truely was a battle. Jerry L. and Luke M. shot the hot round to open the day at +3 (60). Noah B. was right on their heels at +4 (61), with Drew P. only two strokes off the pace at +5 (62). These four carded a rare competitive-round star frame on H6 of round one, the only star frame of the day. Ethan W. was still in the mix for at least a podium, if not the win, with a +11 (68).

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Luke’s tee shot on H9 in round one easily took “lie of the day”, being wedged INTO THE GRILL of the 1980 orange and white Dodge pickup off to the left of the fairway. After a bit of discussion with the card and TD, the group decided on a proper lie from which he chipped a forehand onto the green for birdie.

Round Two Recap

Round two saw the scores and competition heat up as the players got warmed up, with most competitors improving their scores from round one to round two.

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The wind was more gusty but less sustained, allowing for brief windows where shots could be thrown in the calm.

AJ followed and recorded the lead card for round two, capturing all the ups and downs. Drew looked to fall off the pace early in the round, finding lots of trouble in the first few holes but did gained some strokes back on the leaders with the only birdies on holes 6S and 6. His shot on 6S was particularly impressive, parking a RHFH inside the bullseye. Though he had clawed his way back a bit, his trouble early in round two along with bogeys on holes 7 and 8 saw him come in at +4 (61) for the round, securing 4th overall. Jerry scored on hole 4, one of the harder birdies to get on the front 9.  He found a bit of trouble scattered across the round but kept it mostly clean, also coming in with a +4 (61) in round two, landing him in a solid 3rd place overall.

The battle at the top was truely fought at a fevered pitch. Through the first five holes, Noah was -1, while Luke was even par. This saw them standing on the tee of 1S, the iconic, picturesque 722′ wide open bomber par 4 with views of Mt. Arvon locked in a tie for the win.  Noah nuked his tee shot, getting farther in one shot than many players get in two. With some work still remaining, he whipped his upshot, getting the disc to hit on edge just shy of the basket, nearly nailing the skip-eagle, missing the elusive shot type by a mere foot. The skip took most of the energy out of his disc and he was left with a fairly routine birdie putt.

Meanwhile, Luke got battered by the wind as he progressed down the fairway and smoked his third shot long of the basket, giving him an awkward lie from the bunker of trees and rocks to try to save par. He missed the kneeling-stance circle’s edge putt as well as the come backer, tapping in for a double bogey. This three stroke swing put Noah up by a solid margin of three strokes.

There was still a lot of golf to play, however, and nothing was set in stone.

Noah gave one back two holes later on 4S, taking a bogey on the 242′ uphill gulley shot par 3, cutting his lead to just two strokes with half a round to go.

Luke M. took another one back on hole 7S. He threw a Calvin Heimburg signature Star Destroyer on a moderate nose up hyzer line into a ripping headwind. The disc had no choice but to flip up, turn a bit, then use its airspace to fade and tombstone into bullseye. A truely beautiful golf shot which had jaws on the ground.

This one-two punch left Luke just one stroke back with six holes to go. However, the ‘ol one-two combo hits both ways, and with a birdie for Noah on 8S and a bogey from Luke on 9S, there was once again 3 strokes separating them, this time with only four to go.

Coming down the stretch, only the most massive of leads is safe on this layout. Two stroke swings are RIGHT THERE on 6, 7, 8, and 9. The two at the top went tit-for-tat however, going par, par, birdie on 6, 7, and 8 to keep them three strokes apart.

The finishing hole is a 453′ par 4 which has had eagle looks but still lacks the elusive 2. Luke needed to eagle with a bogey from Noah B. to force a playoff. Going birdie/double bogey would have also forced overtime. Barring a basically impossible ace by Luke, Noah needed to avoid bogey. There is no safe way to easily play hole 9 for a guaranteed par – there is just too much danger all along the fairway, including inside the circle on two sides of the basket. The pressure was on Noah to get off the tee cleanly.

Noah had the box. He put his drive up the fairway into a safe spot, but nothing on 9 is guaranteed until the 10′ bullseye.

It was officially a match play vibe at that moment. Luke needed to get himself into position for eagle and put the pressure back on Noah. And boy did he ever! Luke juiced his tee shot, I mean laced the sucker straight up the right side line to give himself the second best look at eagle AJ has ever seen anyone have on this hole – about 100′ down the right side straight over the bridge.

The pressure was back on Noah to execute. He was off to the left, able to work a shot around and over some of the younger trees that guard that side to put himself into position for an easy up and down.

Luke did not drain his valiant eagle bid but was able to lock in a +2 (59) round two, solid enough to land him in second on the leaderboard overall.

Noah tapped in his par on hole 9 for a -3 (54) second round, sealing the top spot of the event with an overall of +1 (115).

It was a battle to the very end. Neither first place, nor even the podium, were decided until the final hole. As it should be.

Post Event and TD Notes

All players returned within a few minutes of each other both rounds: no big lag waiting for a pokey group. The event wrapped up right on schedule.

We had a huge prize pool, large enough that everyone walked away with at least a little something. Top players took home not “life changing” money but what could be called “weekend changing” cash, on top of other prizes like discs, accessories, apparel and gift cards.

We did three Ring of Fire rounds, with those going to Drew P., Jerry L. and Luke M.

Gabe S. and Noah B. won the all player CTPs from round 1 and 2 respectively.

Bella H. took home her card CTP in round 2, the pre-registration random draw gift card AND the Udisc Pro account for most birdies (or pars in this case) out of cash.

Luke M. put his drive closest to the pin (though not necessarily closest to the ground) for his card CTP in round 2.

Gabe S. won the all player totally random drawing prize of a $5 gift card to Lindell’s.

And the Darkhorse prize of a $25 gift card to Down Wind Sports, handed out for reasons that will remain a secrect and change every event so good luck figuring it out, went to Josh E.

Players all the way down to 8th on the leaderboard walked away with some amount of Infinite Discs gift cards.

No player reported a single issue with any tee pads across either round. A few tees had a touch of give, but nothing anyone described as “slippery” or “unsafe.”

No one got hurt, everyone was kind and respectful of their fellow competitors, the property and the spirit of disc golf; great vibes all around. There were no lost discs and nothing was broken. All players were quiet and attentive during players meetings, asking great follow up questions to ensure there was no confusion. Everyone stayed hydrated and fed. All players walked away with smiles.

Everyone was very appreciative of the walkways/causeways that were recently added to holes where fairways cross low areas like 1, 5, 6, 8, etc. Everyone seemed to respect the pink flags and not continue to rip up more ground outside of areas where the concrete tees will be going.

Players appreciated the challenge of the mandos on 4 and 5, noting them as fair and adding just that slight element of added toughness to create more scoring separation.

In short, it was an excellent tournament, from both a TD and player perspective.

Thank you again to everyone who came out! You helped make the first Keweenaw Disc Golf Tour stop a smashing success.

A massive thank you to our course and event sponsors, both local and national. Without them, this would not be possible.

MVP

Station Street

Whale Sacs

SQUATCH

Udisc

Jillian

The Hartz Family

Lindells

Downwind Sports

Round-by-round and total scores as well as leader board placements and tour points earned in this event are all available on the disgolfscene page for this event. (https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournament/Constellation_Farmstead_Second_Saturday_Singles_May_2023/results)

Use our “Tour-Points” page for tracking tour points throughout the season. This will be updated on the Constellation Farmstead website after each event. https://constellationfarmstead.com/tour-points/

See you all at the next stop on the Keweenaw Disc Golf Tour – Michigan Tech DG Course on 27MAY! ( Online registration is open! https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournament/Michigan_Tech_Keweenaw_Disc_Golf_Tour_2023)