Hurricane
Review
with Hayling's very own Damn Massive
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Weather
Five-day
forecasts? Who needs them? They are quite clearly
set out to worry Tournament Directors and put off
players.
I
had been checking the prognosis all the way through
the week before and I could not find any that didn't
include rain for the Weekend. And when on Friday night
a storm prevailed for a few hours we had less reason
to be optimistic. But as all past players at Hayling
know, we have our own weather which in the end gave
us two playing days that were Warm and Windy with
several cases of sunburn apparent on the Sunday morning.
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Attendees
A record field of 35 players included 6 'new' players.
Thanks to all those who encouraged the new faces to attend,
and lets make sure they become regulars.
Format
A new format was tried for Hayling, with two rounds of
18 Holes on the Saturday, followed by two rounds of 12
Holes - with a 6 hole final on the Sunday. As usual a
Marquee was provided for the course HQ, catering and evening
social centre.
The
Contest
Si Luard had a blistering start with a record breaking
round of 53 on the Old Course. Whilst others equalled
his pace in the second and third rounds, a 6 under par
on the fourth round (12 holes) gave him a seven shot lead
going into the final six holes. This was never going to
be eroded by challengers Del and Charlie in the battle
for second place and the boy wonder retained the Hayling
Cow Horn Trophy for another year. The battle for second
was settled on the penultimate hole of the final when
Charlie Mead's risky drive on the Par4 'Hedge Hop' rewarded
him with an Eagle two and the runner-up trophy. Del got
the birdie and finished third. The fourth finalist, Oz,
decided to entertain the crowds on the tricky 'Impotence',
taking a treble OB 9.
In
the Amateur Division after day one Sue Underwood with
a very respectable level par 60 second round was leading
local boys Steve (scoutmaster) Parker and Dan Massey by
four shots. Steve had reversed this situation after the
third round and never looked back going on to win the
Am trophy. Sue held on to second place despite good second
day charges by Robin (flake) Ailes and John Massey. The
TD's early form was never going to last as the pressure
mounted he fell by the wayside.
It
was good to see a high number of 'new faces' with 6 players
competing in the 'Novice' category, and whilst it was
the best 18 and best 12 that would count, it was good
to see five of the players completing all four rounds.
In
the end the Wooden Disc prize went to Jon Stone, though
Gareth Edge picked up the 'Gold Disc' award for the best
improvement over the two days. The Prizes All of the prizes
came courtesy of Damn (I'm better at wood turning than
disc golf) Massive. Who, when asked by Trevor (woodman)
Bechtel "what wood is that, spruce or pine?" responded
"..er scaffolding plank". Billy has also reported some
of his floor boards are missing and Matt is concerned
about the Oak Trees on the course.
The
idea of cumulative CTP's was poached from a Bristol tournament,
the way it works is that a number of Holes are set as
CTP holes and each time you play the hole you get another
chance to claim a prize. This certainly worked for Mr
Bud, who's initial bid on 'Over the Hedge' was bettered
by three others before being snatched back by Bud. Prizes
on offer were all wooden mini-basket key rings (or light
pulls!). Elsewhere CTP's on 'Shite's Delight', 'Ocean
Drive' and 'The Pond' were taken by Frank Knutton, Sean
Young and Tom Soper respectively. There were a few good
bids for 'Furthest Out To Sea' which was finally clinched
by Steve (Oh ****) Rees, whilst Matt (blimey, did I really
get that many) Tovey won the prize for most OB's with
fifteen dropped shots.
Tubes
Vs. Baskets
The ever popular 'Tubes' now look set to be replaced by
Baskets - this year we used 11 baskets, 6 from us (and
we'll have 4 more by end of the summer) and thanks to
Del, Bongos and Robin for topping us up with an extra
5. At this rate we are looking forward to an all basket
course by next years tournament!. Special thanks to Toby
Green, who is sponsoring two of the new baskets. In honour
of his new additions two holes have been renamed as Max's
Bite and Felix Bites Back - two of the trickiest par fours
you'll ever meet, both of which inflicted painful OB's
on any wayward approach shot finding the wet stuff.
Food,
Lunch and Evening Socials
As always the evening social was the fully catered Bar-b-q,
where approximately 30 hungry bods munched their way through
60 chicken drumsticks, 30 lamb chops, 90 sausages, 90
assorted bread rolls, coleslaw, salad, endless ribs and
eight large chocolate fudge cakes. A special mention must
go to the Catering Crew - The Lovely ladies - Kate Massey,
Lorna Miles & Louise (i'm going to be a disc golf widow)
Stone. Thanks also to fellow Haylingers who endured the
smoke and heat to cook the food.
As people keel over, fall asleep or pass out, the dwindling
numbers migrate to the marquee to tell tales of missed
putts, freak winds and discs that jump out of wood and
water. Time was finally called when people realised that
the 9 am start was going to happen.
Parting
Comments
We had set out to deliver a tournament with clear organisation
that would run to time whilst still being the relaxed
social affairs that they should be. We think that we met
our goals, thought I'd be delighted to take any feedback
on offer. Whilst I was the shite mouthpiece, it was a
team effort with Billy and Matt who deserve special praise
for their tireless running around behind the scenes. Thanks
to all those who came, it was you who really made the
tournament.
Damn
Massive
Ps bagsy not me TD next year!
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