By Sam Kaye, 2023 Men's Overall Winner
The weekend began with many participants flocking to Fredericksburg on Thursday. Due to an environmental project, the back 8 holes of the disc golf course were closed and fleeting holes were designed and installed. Players played practice rounds of golf on the modern fleeting holes and set up DDC courses for some casual play. The first organized event of the weekend was Mini Disc Golf at Riveryby Books. If you haven't had the pleasure yet, this is an amazing, cluttered and imaginative course where players throw Wham-o-Minis through three levels of an vintage store. While there are many imaginative rules, one stands out: If you knock a book off the shelf, you get a penalty unless you buy the book.
Friday morning began with the first official event, the DDC. We had 19 teams with many of the usual faces. Al Bonopane and John Cohn teamed up again and there were some first-timers from the Virginia States, most notably from Sweden, the great DDC star Stefan Karlsson. There were also 4 women's teams playing an intense round-robin format. The weather was sizzling and muggy, reaching nearly 90 degrees during the day. After the first pool game and the split between teams in A and B pool, the tournament went smoothly as we all tried to stay hydrated. The team of Jason and Jim from Tallahassee were in first place in the semifinals and decided to play against Mike and Stefan. The remaining teams were me and Dave versus Conrad and Nate. The finale ended with Mike and Stefan facing off against Conrad and Nate, and although Conrad suffered from severe cramps, they were able to emerge victorious.
Saturday morning began with a players meeting where tournament director Eric Olsen announced after many years that this would be his last VA States as a TD. At the opening ceremony he passed the torch to me and Jay. This was a surprise to almost everyone and he was recognized for his incredible commitment to the event. Golf was suspended and field events began for the morning. There were a lot of junior players (mainly under 10) throwing MTA when we started. An MTA world record of 9+ seconds was in the hands of a U8 player after navigating the crowds, but a few of the points would have been enough to make the cut in the open division. The wind was quite robust during the morning field events, which was reflected in some distance results, including Jack's longest throw of the weekend at 193 yards. As we broke for lunch and the first round of golf began, a storm approached the area and dropped enormous amounts of rain on the event. Because of the lightning and thunder, we were all forced to just hang out with Laszlo, a gift in itself. The camp tent (now a trailer) was opened and while some people left the field to seek cheaper shelter, most stayed in Shelter H and reminisced as we watched the deluge. The delay lasted about two hours, and just as we were about to call it a day for the rest of the day, the skies cleared and we were able to continue playing. Because the fleeting route was a shorter loop than the normal route, we were able to take part in all events despite the rain delay. As the lithe faded for the day, the women's and men's distance finals took place, with 16-year-old Brayden winning in the final against some experienced distance throwers. The sizzling round of golf (and the course record) was 8 under and Ron Turner was 3 shots ahead of the field. We all scattered to find food and rest after a long day.
On Sunday morning the weather was nippy, clear and lovely. The storms from the previous day had caused temperatures to drop by 20-30 degrees and the sky was clear. The day of golf began and after the round heated up, Randy took the lead over Ron. Ron stormed back with 5 of the last 6 birdies to finish in a tie at 14 under par. Randy shot a (modern course record) 9 under par. There were a few more points that were cumulatively under 100, but the two leaders were well ahead front. The cooler temperatures brought inconsistent winds for the MTA semifinals and there were NO 10-second throws. On to the men's and women's MTA finals for the coveted (and amazing glass-blown) Mr. and Mrs. Bubble trophies. There were some familiar faces in the final, but also Drew Priess, who threw a 9-second DDC disc to make the cut. Jack threw the first 10-second throw of the finals, but was able to top it on my fourth throw with a 10.6, winning my fourth Mr. Bubble and second in a row.
Accuracy was worked on throughout the weekend when time permitted and Conrad emerged victorious again, with a 30 in the two rounds, only one better than Tom Cole. The only remaining event was freestyle. This year there was a very huge field with some great jammers. Each pool had 10 teams and when we started it was clear that the game was going to be incredible. I'm not the best at describing the competition other than to say it was great. On a personal note, Jay and I freestyled together and had a great time, even though our daughters brought us beers in the middle of the routine.
Despite my very penniless accuracy scores, I was still able to win the overall thanks to some other good results. Chris Horn came second and Stefan Karlson came third. In the women's category, Katy took part in all competitions and won the title. Maple Cymrot was the winner of the junior division. I'm sure I'm leaving out some vital details of the weekend since there's always a lot going on around the event at the same time.
