Rain can’t stop Ricky in National Tour victory

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By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains staff

Mother Nature had nothing on Ricky Wysocki.

Despite a weekend filled with rain, Wysocki stayed calm and played a little speed golf to earn his second PDGA National Tour championship of the year with a victory at the Hall of Fame Classic in Appling, Georgia, on Sunday.

Ricky Wysocki earned his second National Tour victory of the season this past weekend in Appling, Georgia. (photo courtesy PDGA Media)

Wysocki, who finished with a four-round 44-under-par 228 to earn a four-stroke victory over Nikko Locastro, won $2,700. Locastro earned $1,800.

“I came early and was here right after (the Masters Cup),” Wysocki said. “It’s been a tough schedule the past few weeks. Now it’s time to relax for a week and then get back to the normal tour.”

The Hall of Fame Classic was the second of back-to-back NT stops. The week before, the tour was in Santa Cruz, California, at the “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup.

The distance between the two tournaments is roughly 2,500 miles. And with several top pros heading to Europe for this week’s Copenhagen Open, it left the Classic with 65 players (39 in men’s open), the smallest field of this year’s four NT events.

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Poll 57: Growing the women’s game

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This upcoming Sunday (May 12) is Mother’s Day.

In conjunction with that, we’re going to be doing our second Women’s Week on Rattling Chains. We’ll have a more in-depth post this weekend about what to expect and such, but it’s our way of helping to try and promote and grow women’s golf.

weekly_pollThere won’t be a poll next week, so it seems to be a good idea to run a poll that deals with women’s golf and can run throughout next week.

But, we’ll catch up with that poll in a moment.

First, let’s go back to last week’s poll, check the results and see what some people had to say.

We wanted to know what type of disc golf was your favorite? This one wasn’t even close and, honestly, we wouldn’t have expected anything different.

A good mix won easily, garnering 89 (79 percent) of the 112 votes. It’s good to see golfers want that mix and challenge of having to deal with different obstacles, terrains and everything in between.

Wooded came in second, gathering 14 votes (13 percent), followed by doesn’t matter, as long as there are baskets! (7 votes/6 percent) and open courses (2 votes/2 percent).

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Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic low on turnout, but still big on competition

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By Steve Hill — Rattling Chains staff

Sandwiched between last weekend’s “Steady” Ed Masters Cup and next weekend’s Copenhagen Open, it seems that the Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic is getting lost in the tournament shuffle.

Case in point: Only 65 players were pre-registered as of Thursday evening for the National Tour event taking place Friday through Sunday at the International Disc Golf Center in Appling, Georgia. That number is just shy of half of the participants in the Texas State Championship (116) and a mere third of those who played last week in Santa Cruz (171).

Nikko Locastro will be seeking his first NT win of the season this weekend in Georgia. (photo courtesy PDGA Media)

And while plenty of big names will attend this weekend’s festivities at the home of the PDGA — Ken Climo, Will Schusterick, Nikko Locastro, , Ricky Wysocki, Dave Feldberg, Paige Pierce, and Sarah Hokom headline the bill — the list of pros not making the trek is almost as impressive as those playing.

Current National Tour leader and reigning world champion Paul McBeth? Absent. Masters Cup runner-up Philo Brathwaite? Playing a tournament in Oceanside, California. Former world champion Eric McCabe? An upstate New York tourney. Perennial tour standouts Nate Doss, Val Jenkins and Avery Jenkins? Hanging out elsewhere.

So, as some players use Georgia as a layover on their way to Europe and others simply skip out, the Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic may not feel like the big event that it is.

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No matter how you rank disc golf in your life, it helps the sport’s growth

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Last week’s poll question got me thinking a bit.

I have a lot of things going on in my life. Personal and professional things aside, there are many things I enjoy doing or being a part of. Whether it be out hiking and finding geocaches, to summer softball, to community events and hobbies such as photography, I keep myself busy.

harmer_sigAnd then there’s disc golf.

I discovered this sport in 2010 when a friend encouraged me to go play a round. Two of us joined him and another and played our first round at Joralemon Park in Coeymans, New York. It was an interesting course to first be introduced to the sport as the wooded holes are difficult.

Alas, we played the shorter version, so that day we only got a brief introduction to that course.

It took me several months to pick up a disc again. But once I did, I realized how much I liked the sport. So, I bought a few, started playing here and there and, before I knew it, I was living it a little too much. Tournaments and all that, getting mad when I didn’t do what I thought I should have done and, basically, becoming too competitive.

I knew where it was heading — being too competitive. Thankfully, I got it under control quickly and realized I wasn’t going to be the next big thing on the National Tour.

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McBeth edges Brathwaite for second consecutive Masters Cup title

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By Steve Hill – Rattling Chains staff

As far as the 2013 PDGA National Tour Series goes, the third time was a charm for Paul McBeth.

Paul McBeth putts during the final round of the “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup on Sunday. McBeth rallied for his first National Tour victory of the season. (photo courtesy PDGA Media)

After second place finishes at the season’s first two NTs, McBeth emerged victorious Sunday at the 28th Annual “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup in Santa Cruz, California, edging out fellow Southern Californian Philo Brathwaite with a three-day 18-under-par 198.

Brathwaite placed second with a 16-under 200 at the famed DeLaveaga Park. Nate Doss, Nikko Locastro, and Steve Rico each shot a 14-under 202 to tie for third place.

The win marked the second consecutive year McBeth won the tournament title, but he never led this year’s installment until almost halfway through the final round.

After Locastro shot a 1074-rated round to open play on Friday, Brathwaite responded with an 11-under round Saturday, which was unofficially rated at 1087. Heading into Sunday’s final round of 24, Brathwaite held a one shot lead, but he said he knew anyone — or anything, including the course — could be nipping at his heels.

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Poll 56: The courses on which you play

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One of the great things about disc golf is the variety in many things associated with the sport — discs, baskets, terrain, courses etc.

But courses — that’s a place where the variety kicks in.

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Woods, open fairways, random trees, crazy mandos, island greens — you name it, it’s probably out there.

With this poll, we’ll be discussing types of courses — but we’ll get back to that in a moment. First, let’s travel back to last week when we asked where disc golf ranked in your life.

Not surprisingly, it seems to rank highly with people. Not always as the No. 1 be-all thing, but high in an overall sense of where you see the game. As with many things in life, this poll showed a variety of answers and reasons why.

Of the 119 who took part in this poll, 61 percent (73 votes) said disc golf was their favorite outdoor activity. Second was obsessed  nothing ranks higher, which garnered 31 votes (26 percent). That answer was followed by a sport I enjoy playing (10 percent/12 votes), just getting into disc golf (2 percent/2 votes) and something I dig doing when I have the chance (1 percent/1 vote).

Let’s see what a few people had to say:

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Commentary: Get courses looking good to make them last

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Working on a fresh piece of land is like having a blank canvas, which makes disc golf course design an art.

jenny_cookAs a result, when designers and contributors take the time for the careful design and implementation of the course and any type of course modifications — big or small — players get an unforgettable experience.

In the current world of disc golf course design, there are several aspects of design that can greatly increase the reputation of a course. There are many courses around the world that have made adjustments to their aesthetics, which increase the playing experience. For example, a hanging basket at the edge of a riverbank or a well-placed rock formation along a walkway to the next hole can make memories. General upkeep and monthly maintenance quickly increases the novelty.

Standout courses

Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon, is home to one of the best courses I have ever had the opportunity to play. I speak of this course from my experience of having played the original layout as well as the tournament layout (two courses) for the Beaver State Fling. From wide fairways and fir trees
that dwarf the baskets and people who play among them to nicely grooved tee pads and the overall scenery, this course is a must for your bucket list. The result of such attention to detail and thought is a disc golf course to which very few in the country can even compare.

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Santa Cruz locals could give top dogs a run at 2013 Masters Cup

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By Jack Trageser — Rattling Chains staff

Every year in April, Santa Cruz, Calif., is not only the Epicenter of Disc Golf — the self-imposed label given in 1989 after the nearby Loma Prieta earthquake — but the center of the PDGA professional disc golf tour as well.

DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course has hosted a National Tour event every year since the tour was established, and the 28th annual “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup has drawn the sport’s best talent for about 20 years before that.

Paul McBeth, shown at the Texas State Championships, is leading the National Tour through two events. (photo courtesy PDGA Media)

This year’s event runs April 26-28 with one 24-hole round each day.

If you follow the tour, you’re familiar with many of this weekend’s competitors. Young guns such as Ricky Wysocki, Paul McBeth, Will Schusterick and Nikko Locastro will all be there, as will veteran champions Ken Climo, Dave Feldberg, Nate Doss and Avery Jenkins. And there are plenty of other names you’ll recognize as well, such as Philo Braithwaite, Paul Ulibarri, and Josh Anthon.

You know all about these guys already, and they’ve proven that any one of them can step up and win on any given week. Josh Anthon is a Northern California player who knows DeLaveaga well. Nate Doss grew up and honed his craft here, and Wysocki and Schusterick are always good bets.

This is the third stop in the eight-event National Tour. Schusterick and Wysocki each have wins in the first two events. Despite that, McBeth is leading the tour with second-place finishes in each. Wysocki is second, followed by Locastro, Schusterick and Feldberg.

On Saturday, after the first round is in the books, and even Sunday, when it’s down to the last 24 holes, there are bound to be some names you might not recognize on the top cards.

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Photo Focus: April 23

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(Photo focus will run every week or two or so on Rattling Chains. The idea is to focus on disc golf photographs submitted by staff members and readers. To see the guidelines for submitting a photograph for this feature, click here.)

Cap (photo by Kevin King)

John Barnes throws during a long-distance competition. (photo by Kevin King)

I played in a tournament last June, along with a bunch of friends. We took part in the festivities, which included a long-drive competition. I thought I’d try to take some shots of the guys as they unloaded.

I personally like taking shots from low angles because it makes the subject seem a little more imposing.

John Barnes went up for one of his drives and I captured the moment at the exact time when the disc eclipsed his face. I thought it was a cool effect. If you look close enough, you can see the spotters out in the field.

This shot was taken at Baker Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It’s the 17th tee and we were throwing into the field.

— Kevin King

Techie info:

  • Camera: Samsung ES73
  • Aperture: ƒ/3.5
  • Exposure: 1/750
  • Focal Length: 4.9 mm
  • ISO: 100

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

Poll 55: Ranking where disc golf is in your world

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As spring continues to grow in many parts of the disc golf universe (though we realize Mother Nature has decided to keep her snow season in parts of the United States and elsewhere), the sport becomes bigger in many people’s lives.

For those who skip playing in the winter or snow, this is probably the time of year where the itch to get out on the course is really big.

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So we’re going to find out where disc golf ranks in your life.

But, first, we want to go back to last week’s poll and check out the results and see what some readers had to say.

Last week, we wanted to know where you thought your game stood. Were you still improving and getting better? Maybe you’ve already peaked? Or, maybe your on the way down?

It was a poll we hoped would bring out some good thoughts, comments and explanations. But one thing is for sure — not many people think they are at the top of the mountain yet. And that’s a good thing.

Of the 116 people who voted in our poll, 93 percent (108 votes) said they were still getting better, followed by on my way down the hill, which gathered 4 percent of the vote (5 votes). Finally, 3 percent (3 votes) said they were at their peak.

We appreciate the honesty, that’s for sure.

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