The Vibram Open at Maple Hill

Vibram Open at Maple Hill

So we arrived into Boston after returning from Sweden where we spent the last two weeks on the EuroTour. The Swedish tournaments were amazing and had some consistent finishes in both the Stockholm Open (5th) and the Scandinavian Open (4th). Our good friend Tim Walsh picked us up and provided us with a place to stay with his family throughout the weekend.

On Thursday (July 24) I celebrated the big 3-0 and spent the day playing doubles designed for the top four players in National Tour points in attendance at the tournament. Dave and I were the obvious doubles team along with Schultz and McCabe being the other team. The tournament then organized a doubles qualifier where Sprague, Olson and Pete Johnson became the final team as a triple team. They all threw tee shots and then were allowed to choose the best shot and that player was then not allowed the following shot. It preceded on from that point until the hole was finished. We played a stableford doubles points format where the teams were awarded 10 pts foran eagle, 3 pts for a birdie, 0 pts for a par, -1 pts for a bogey and -2 for a double bogey or worse. Long story short, Dave and I played decent but due to that type of format and limited chances at eagle placed 3rd. We still walked away with some appearance fees and enjoyed our time getting another practice round in before the start of the tournament.

The Vibram Open tournament consisted of 3 rounds of 18 holes on the Maple Hill course at the location of the MSDGC (Marshall Street Disc Golf Championships) on three consecutive days. The course consisted of a huge tee shot on Hole #1 600+ over the famous Maple Hill pond. It had lots of technical par 4’s in the woods and it opened up on the back nine with some longer field shots that set up for lots of great birdie attempts. It ended on an epic Hole #18 550+ uphill with an island green that either forces the player to go for the eagle or lay up for the par, lots of risk-reward opportunities on every hole.

On Friday I had an early start and prayed that it would not rain much like the previous days of torrential down pour showers. I played a consistent opening round with 5 birdies and one bad hole that tested my patience in the middle of the round with a 5 on a par 3. I finished the round with a solid 56 to soon be surpassed by a new course record score of 54 shot by Feldberg. Val had a tough opening round shooting a 71 putting her 5 strokes off the lead to start.

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On Saturday I was fortunate enough too a late tee time and take some time to catch up on some well deserved sleep. I got to the course early enough to watch as Val, Dave and Tournament Director Steve Dodge got interviewed by a local news crew for a sports piece on disc golf. I continued to warm up and was ready to play a much cleaner round then the previous day, there were strokes that I left out there in the first round that I wanted back and I was determined to get them. I started the round shooting 4 down after 6 holes and 7 down after 10 holes. I was on record setting pace and tried not to think about it at any time. I missed putts on #11 and #12, recording pars on each. I then shredded the remainder of the course with birdies on 5 of the last 6 holes with a missed putt par on #17. I crushed the tee shot on the uphill #18 to set up for an easy layup shot for birdie to finish the round. I ended up shooting the new course record of 51 rated 1085 with the 3 missed putts which would have put me well above an 1100 rated round. It was nearly a perfect round and by far the best round that I have shot in a while. It felt amazing making all of those shots and playing like I know how to play, solid and consistent throughout the entire round.

Maple Hill Open

That round put me in the lead by 3 strokes over 2nd place and 9 strokes over 3rd place, it was setting up to be an amazing final round on Sunday. After the round we headed over to a golf driving range down the road for a long drive contest that displayed not only distance but accuracy as well. They set up three throwing stations and a 700’+ rope down the middle of the fairway to measure the accuracy of the shots. The throws were recorded for their distance and subtracted half of the distance from the line for the total distance. I by far threw the farthest shot of the competition but it was far from being close to the line. Henry Childress from Innova won the event with Robbie Bratten placing a close 2nd. The tournament also hosted a putting contest where the qualifying players were judged but the creativity and presentation of their showcase putting skills. Our gracious host, Tim Walsh won the putting contest with a back-flip off the table putt to take the title. It was a great event to watch with lots of high-flying putts and a putting demonstration I have never seen before. I can not wait until I see the video, it was awesome.

On Sunday I came out feeling refreshed and ready to play that challenging course. It was Feldberg, Adam Olsen, Paul Ulibarri and myself on the lead card for the final round. It was really close at the 3rd and 4th spots where there would be a battle for at least 5 people throughout the round, as for the top spot it was only a battle between Dave and I for the win. We started at a great pace and quickly separated ourselves within the first 6 holes making it a race to the finish throughout the front nine. I played solid throughout making very little mistakes and keeping a great birdie pace. I had gained few stokes after the water hole on #8, leading by 6 stokes at that point with 10 holes to play. I never looked back as I tried to hold composure and finish the task that I set out to do. I had heard halfway through the round that Val had made up the 3 stroke deficit going into the round and was leading by 3 strokes going into the last hole. For all of those that know, it is usually either one or the other that win during the weekend, it has been a rarity that both of us win on the same weekend. On all of my victories this year Val has taken losses for some odd reason, its a karma thing where we tap into each others energy and there is only so much for the both of us. But is was going to happen.

I missed a few opportunities down the stretch to birdie and finished really solid leading by 9 strokes going into the last hole. Feldberg secured 2nd by 6 stokes earlier in the round and was just having fun with it as he whistled along after every tee shot and putt. I threw a great tee shot up to the middle of the fairway and tried an aggressive sidearm approach to the island green but unfortunately threw OB and missed the putt. I waited until everyone finished out the hole and tapped out to take the much anticipated victory winning by 7 strokes over 2nd and 13 strokes over 3rd place. It was my second National Tour event victory of the year with another win at Tulsa, OK earlier in the spring.

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It was a Jenkins National Tour Sweep. We have won B-tiers and supertours together before, but this was our first NT victory together. We kept the Marshall Street tradition alive by taking a victory dive into the Maple Hill pond. Throughout the years I have seen other players play amazing rounds on there birthday, I have only ever got an NT ace on my birthday a few years back in Minnesota. It was an amazing birthday weekend that I will never forget and a present to myself that I felt I really deserved. I can not wait until the Vibram Open DVD comes out sometime this fall, I will keep everyone posted on its release. Thanks to Steve Dodge for hosting one of the best tournaments that I have played all season, he is setting the bar and raising the level of National Tour events. Thanks again to the Walsh family for opening their home to us throughout the week and providing us with some relaxing accommodations. And a special thanks to Tracy Bratten who came all the way from NYC to caddie for me all weekend long, I have been victorious at every tournament that she has been in attendance.

I will play my best at this upcoming World Championships, looking for another Jenkins Sweep.

Next Tournament: The PDGA World Championships – Kalamazoo, MI

8/6/08

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