Readings Sweep up in Green Mountain Open DGC
BY TD CHRIS MAYONE: With puffy clouds in a sunny sky the 2008 Green Mountain Open Disc Golf Championships got underway Friday morning the 1st of August in north central Vermont. The A-tier was opening at the home of VT’s legendary private course; the 18 nail-biting holes that comprise the North Calais Disc Golf club’s 7421-ft championship course. There was a $500 bounty being offered for any sub-50 round posted during the tournament from the Gold tees and there were some big names after the booty. Sponsor banners lined the fencing …… Magic Hat, MVP Healthcare, Coca Cola. Jenkins, Reading, Brinster, Olsen and Bennett were all after a share of VT’s biggest-paying tournament to date. While no sub-50’s were carded there were some amazing scores and shots from Friday’s opening rounds. Avery Jenkins finished the first round w/a field-best 56 on the par-62 course w/ Reading, Bennett, and Olsen right behind at 58. In the second round only youngster Nate Krahn was able to match Jenkins 56 and the field tightened in behind Avery, 1 shot off the pace of 105 at the close of play Friday. Yeti capped his 4-under 58 with a 90-ft deuce on the treacherous #6. In the masters div Cali’s Floyd Henke Aced the 246ft #8 w/his Buzz. Des Reading led the women’s field w/ an extremely solid 65/66 at North Calais golds. On to Sugarbush!
At Sugarbush the weather was threatening but never got much bluster behind it. Playing Sugarbush’ behemoth Peak Course (9235) from the blue tees the pros were put to the ultimate test on Saturday. Course designer Steve Brinster led the field w/a smoking 54 and just missed the course record (set by him 1 year prior) by a stroke. Both Paul Ulibarri and Cale Leiviska Aced the 300-ft uphill #1 on consecutive cards! Markus Källstrom also sliced and diced his way to a 55 on the mtn course to finish a respectable 4 shots behind 3rd round leader Adam Olsen. AO led Yeti (55) and Avery(56) by just 1 stroke and the field was tightening behind him w/ Brinster, Ulibarri, and both Sjur and Bard Soleng within striking distance. Des continued her customary stranglehold on first place in the FPO and Juano Flores began to show why he has become a dominant factor in MPMasters of late w/a very un-troublesome 3-under 60 on the Peak to lead the MPM by 3 shots.
Play ended Saturday just as the rain clouds gave way and began the deluge that had held off the whole day. Rain fell in waves and forced the downhill throwing competition to head inside and become miniaturized. World putting champion Jay “Yeti” Reading showed why he should not be allowed to compete against regular human beings in a putting contest, sweeping BOTH contests (inside and outside) and winning a couple of baskets for his troubles.
The final day of tournament play brought some very ominous skies to the Mtns of Sugarbush. Rain began to fall in earnest at the 2-minute horn. By the start it was openly pouring in large vertical sheets. Players braved the most severe of conditions to make their way against the Championship layout of Sugarbush’s Base Course with it’s 3 uphill devastators of 600ft or better. Sjur Soleng played THE round of the weekend and carded a tournament-best 53 on the Base. It was just 2 off the record set in the best of conditions last year by Markus Kallstrom, who managed another Base Ace to his credit; this one on the 246-ft hole 3. A ridiculous -9 put Sjur into 4th place for the start of the final 9. FPO and MPM divisions soggily finished and dried themselves at lunchtime in the pub. They were happily finished for the weekend. Des and Juano held their top spots. In an ironic twist of events the weather turned from horrid to OK pretty quickly at lunchtime on Sunday and the decision was made to play the final nine as scheduled on the Peak Safari9 Layout. The Safari9 began on hole # 6 and then played from #7 tee to #8 basket. The rest of the course was played down to #14 and then 15 was skipped and 16, the 810-ft Annhyzer Beast became the finishing hole.
Once the players loaded the chairlift it was a fait d’accompli that the round was played barring electrical interference from above. No such interference was forthcoming so the round continued despite the downturn in conditions. Jay “Yeti” Reading entered the finals with a 3-stroke lead over Avery and a 2-stroke lead over AO. The lead card lost a couple of discs on Safari 7/8 and that hole alone took them 33 minutes to get through. The afternoon slogged on and down poured the rain. The conditions worsened as the day grew older …..darkness became a possibility. At long last the groups began to emerge from the course. Brinster led the final groups with a final 9 of 34 but it was not enough to catch Jay for the win. Steve finished in a tie for 4th w/the surging Sjur at -14 , Geoff Bennett in 3rd at -16, Avery holding on to 2nd with a -19 and Jay Reading capped his amazing VT weekend winning streak (2 putting contests in a row) by topping the pedestal with a hard-earned, well-deserved -22 over the 41/2 rounds.
Congratulations to Jay and Des Reading and Juano Flores …….
The 2008 Green Mountain Open Disc Golf Champions!
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- Chris Mayone, 2008 GMO TD
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***We would like to thank Tournament Director Chris Mayone for this wonderfully written article and the photo of Hole #5 on Sugarbush’s Peak Course