Alaska PDGA Winter Series #16

Joe Caissie   April 12, 2022 at 5:15pm

Summer League survey

Payouts for Week 10 will go out today, fyi.

I was originally thinking Summer Leagues would start in a couple of weeks, on April 26 - but something about summer leagues when there's still snow on the ground or giant puddles of meltwater feels wrong. A May 3 start date will allow us to get 20 rounds in with the last round on September 12, still about 9 days earlier than the last league last year. Any thoughts on this? I think my default right now is starting on Tuesday, May 3 unless folks express a strong preference.

Joe Caissie   April 10, 2022 at 4:26pm

Week 10 Recap

I'll update the payouts for B pool tomorrow and actually pay folks out - again I gotta open my other computer which has the correct percentages for a 14-person pool.

30 folks for the last week of winter leagues! Kind of cold, kind of weird ground play out there - I heard of at least a couple 4-putts. I personally came close to collecting a 1X4 (ace run + missed putt + baaarely made the comebacker). Didn't bother Scott Groves, though, who took down A Pool, bogey-free by 2 strokes ov ... more

I'll update the payouts for B pool tomorrow and actually pay folks out - again I gotta open my other computer which has the correct percentages for a 14-person pool.

30 folks for the last week of winter leagues! Kind of cold, kind of weird ground play out there - I heard of at least a couple 4-putts. I personally came close to collecting a 1X4 (ace run + missed putt + baaarely made the comebacker). Didn't bother Scott Groves, though, who took down A Pool, bogey-free by 2 strokes over Cody Humphrey.

Morgan Leeds crushed B pool by 3 strokes over Dan "is giving disc golfers a bad name" Allen and Rod Stepp: Rage Monster. You guys gotta control your teepad shoveling and uses of phrases like "darn it" (sorry to the kids out there) if you want to catch Morgan.

Jeremy Lukas took down a well-populated C-pool with a sub-60 round.

Thanks to everyone for coming out this winter, and I think we're going to start up summer leagues on Tuesday, April 26 (might be May 3, but check DiscGolfScene for updates). That'll allow us to get two 10-week leagues in without having the last league weeks ending in the dark. Ratings update this week, too, which should include this league, so keep an eye on any pool changes. We'll be starting with a nice hefty ace pot rolled over from this league!

Joe Caissie   April 9, 2022 at 5:29pm

Week 10 - Westchester Lagoon - ANNOUNCEMENT

Not sure how the course is looking, but if there are any massive puddles and you don't want to play from deep water, you are allowed to take free casual relief. That means you can take your lie on a line moving away from the basket to the first dry spot (you can't endlessly continue backwards like you would if it was OB). If you have any questions about how this works, talk to me or one of the more experienced players. I'm expecting this will only matter around the basket on Hole 1, if it matters at all.

Joe Caissie   April 7, 2022 at 11:55pm

Week 10 - Westchester Lagoon REQUEST

If anyone is out there this afternoon, can you update me on the status of the small oceans of meltwater, especially around Hole 7? I'm kind of hoping the ground drains or it dries up by Saturday, but we're running out of above-freezing hours.

Also, get your mittens and hand-warmers back out one last time - supposed to be around 20-25 for the round start on Saturday!

Joe Caissie   April 6, 2022 at 5:51am

Week 10 - Westchester Lagoon

Not sure how things will progress as the week goes on, but the Goon is a mess right now - puddles in a lot of places. If there's water you don't want to step in on Saturday, you can take casual relief. As of right now, that's around 1 and 5's basket, and we might need to go off to the side of 6 and 7's teepads. Things might drain by then, but brush up on casual relief rules just in case. Also, Friday night is supposed to be pretty cold as of now, so the final round of the winter leagues is going to be legit winter.

Joe Caissie   April 3, 2022 at 3:47pm

Week 9 Recap

Some seriously hot scores out at Davis this week - teepads were dry, temps were warm enough for a light hoodie, and I'm excited to say that I played my first Alaska round of the year in regular sneakers. Now we just need that snow to go away so we can get some footing on our putts.

A Pool was hopping - 12 players! Cassidy and Hunter tied for the win, each dropping Series 16 record 50s. Beckner not only hit an ace on Hole 2 Red, but he also grabbed a 2 on the par-4 3 Blue. Also shout-out ... more

Some seriously hot scores out at Davis this week - teepads were dry, temps were warm enough for a light hoodie, and I'm excited to say that I played my first Alaska round of the year in regular sneakers. Now we just need that snow to go away so we can get some footing on our putts.

A Pool was hopping - 12 players! Cassidy and Hunter tied for the win, each dropping Series 16 record 50s. Beckner not only hit an ace on Hole 2 Red, but he also grabbed a 2 on the par-4 3 Blue. Also shout-out to Jarod, who got the only deuces of the day on both 5 and 6 Blue.

Dan Allen and Morgan Leeds tied for the win in B Pool, only carding 5 bogeys between them.

Jeremy Lukas destroyed C Pool so thoroughly last week that no one wanted to play with him this week! First place, though!

Final winter league week at Westchester next Saturday! Thanks to everyone for coming out, and we'll probably be starting up Tuesday night sanctioned singles either the last week of April or first week of May!

Joe Caissie   April 1, 2022 at 5:37pm

Week 9 - Davis Park

Final round at Davis of the winter! Get your cash in! Huge ace pot!

This week we're going to put the pools together as much as possible - I'm grouping folks by ratings. But we're going to reverse the tournament convention, so the lowest rated folks get to start on the most desirable holes (I'm ranking them: 1-9-2-4-5-3-6-7-8, but we likely won't have folks on all those holes.).

Joe Caissie   March 29, 2022 at 7:45pm

Week 8 Recap

Great turnout for week 8! 32 players, I believe an all-time record for a league I've run! Most importantly no aces, so that ace pot is getting up there! 50% gets paid out when we're over $100, so we're getting up near $80-$90 for the next ace...let's get our first Davis Park ace of the winter this week! Whatever's left after week 10 will roll over into the Tuesday night summer leagues.

A Pool put in a disappointing showing, frankly - no one really lit it up, with ... more

Great turnout for week 8! 32 players, I believe an all-time record for a league I've run! Most importantly no aces, so that ace pot is getting up there! 50% gets paid out when we're over $100, so we're getting up near $80-$90 for the next ace...let's get our first Davis Park ace of the winter this week! Whatever's left after week 10 will roll over into the Tuesday night summer leagues.

A Pool put in a disappointing showing, frankly - no one really lit it up, with myself, Scott Groves, and Will Graham tying for first with -7. Speaking for myself, I found myself a little nervous about throwing my trusty Leopard3 with those skippy greens, and that may have cost a few strokes.

Dan Allen took down B pool (and would have taken A Pool) with a -8 46 - tied Mike Chung for the biggest take-home this winter! Chad McCaffrey grabbed a nice pot, too, with a -7 46.

Jeremy Lukas took down the largest C Pool we've had this year with a 55.

Payouts will go out later tonight or tomorrow.

Just a note - I want as many people as possible to play in these leagues...so for example I am very flexible with letting people in at the last minute if I possibly can. But if you can't FINISH the round, please don't sign up. If you leave in the middle of the round, I'm going to do the least punitive thing I'm allowed to, but I can't just discard the round. This is a sanctioned event and whether it's a rage-quit or something else you have to go do, you can't leave in the middle of a round.

Joe Caissie   March 27, 2022 at 12:44am

Week 8 payouts still pending

B pool again will have to be updated later - I need to look up the payouts on my other computer

Joe Caissie   March 24, 2022 at 8:36pm

Week 8 - Goonies Never Stay Dry!

I'll get payouts for Week 7 out this evening. Time to sign up for Week 8! Some of the puddles are pretty deep at the Goon, but I and some of my fluid dynamics expert friends are gonna take care of that. Hopefully we'll also de-slick Hole 6. Either way, the greens are pretty damn skippy, so get ready for a "fun" week out there!

Joe Caissie   March 21, 2022 at 4:18pm

Week 7 Recap

Great to be back out at Davis, and hopefully if the temperature can average above freezing for the rest of the early spring, we'll be done de-icing teepads. Tied the league record for attendance with 25 this week, and I expect we'll beat that this week at Westchester! An ace should pay out something like $70, so run it!

Ratings were rough this week, which means the league collectively played pretty well. Scott Groves took down A pool with a 51, getting a birdie on both 5 and 6 ... more

Great to be back out at Davis, and hopefully if the temperature can average above freezing for the rest of the early spring, we'll be done de-icing teepads. Tied the league record for attendance with 25 this week, and I expect we'll beat that this week at Westchester! An ace should pay out something like $70, so run it!

Ratings were rough this week, which means the league collectively played pretty well. Scott Groves took down A pool with a 51, getting a birdie on both 5 and 6 blue! The field averages almost .8 strokes above par on those, so that's almost a back-to-back eagle. Beckner and Haskin battled to a tie for second, with 52s.

Morgan Leeds demolished B pool, taking it down by 4 strokes with a blazing hot 54. I have a feeling he'll be in A pool by the time summer leagues come around. Shout out to Martin Molodih and Jonathan Yang, taking cash in their first league round. I played with Jonathan; he's got some tools, guys. He parked hole 8 blue with an up the middle shot, the only time I've ever seen that done.

Jeremy Lukas almost won his own JohnE McCray disc back (thanks for donating it!) with a 64 to take down C pool. Speaking of, congrats to Morgan again - in addition to taking down B pool, he shot 66 points over his rating, and grabbed the Saint Pro.

We have a lot of new players in the league, which is great - if you're reading this, let's make sure we're playing by PDGA rules - more experienced players in the league, please help folks out with this. Most of what folks tend not to know is marking your lie, and putting inside the circle. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer...and if you need a mini, I'll have them this week.

Joe Caissie   March 20, 2022 at 8:25am

Week 7 Payouts

Just wanted to get scores posted - B Pool will have their payouts updated shortly - I have to open up my other computer and grab the payout table for 15 people.

Joe Caissie   March 18, 2022 at 8:57pm

Week 7 - Davis Park

Time to get your cash in this week! As a reminder, around 10am I'm going to lock up the registrations and do hole assignments via "snake" by ratings. Also, Jeremy Lukas is putting a JohnE McCray-signed disc up for the player who shoots the most above their rating this week!

Joe Caissie   March 15, 2022 at 4:34pm

Week 6 Recap

Some sizzling scores out at the Goon this week - 25 folks showed up to play in some mild temps with merely wet (not icy!) teepads. Four weeks left to winter leagues, and that means just a handful more weeks until the Kincaid Kickoff!

A Pool finally showed up (couple weeks there where B pool was posting better scores), with Jarod O'Brien getting the league record 12 down, one off Seth Asing's 13 down from last league. Scott Groves threw what would have been the league record to take ... more

Some sizzling scores out at the Goon this week - 25 folks showed up to play in some mild temps with merely wet (not icy!) teepads. Four weeks left to winter leagues, and that means just a handful more weeks until the Kincaid Kickoff!

A Pool finally showed up (couple weeks there where B pool was posting better scores), with Jarod O'Brien getting the league record 12 down, one off Seth Asing's 13 down from last league. Scott Groves threw what would have been the league record to take second place with 11 down. 9 down wasn't even good for cash this week!

B Pool had a massive turnout with 16 folks, and Mike Chung taking down the biggest (unmodified) cash prize of leagues this year with his bogey-free 47. Dan Allen, Chase Powers, and Morgan Leeds only had one bogey among them, to tie for second at 6 under, 48.

There was a fierce battle in C pool, where Jeremy Lukas and Tyler Pohler fought to a tie for first.

No aces, so the pool is starting to warm up - it'll be over $50 this week out at Davis. We'll do our level best to get those teepads clear and dry - the blues need a lot of work, and there's supposedly some snow coming this week, so any help will be appreciated. 3-4 hours of daylight after normal work hours end now, so no excuses!

Joe Caissie   March 14, 2022 at 8:04pm

Week 7 - Davis Park

I'll get week 6 payouts done shortly!

A couple of week 7 announcements:

First, I haven't been out to Davis but I'm guessing the pads could use some work. I'll try and get out there today to determine the scope of the challenge we're facing.

Second, Jeremy Lukas has kindly paid the JohnE McCray-signed Saint Pro forward and is offering it as a prize this week - the player who shoots most above their rating gets it! I'll try and think of something to do for ... more

I'll get week 6 payouts done shortly!

A couple of week 7 announcements:

First, I haven't been out to Davis but I'm guessing the pads could use some work. I'll try and get out there today to determine the scope of the challenge we're facing.

Second, Jeremy Lukas has kindly paid the JohnE McCray-signed Saint Pro forward and is offering it as a prize this week - the player who shoots most above their rating gets it! I'll try and think of something to do for the folks who don't have ratings.

Third, I'm going to sort cards by ratings this week - NCAA tournament-style. Highest-rated player who signs up is paired with the lowest-rated player who signs up. One of my favorite things about leagues is that people who don't play MPO or FPO get to play with some of the best players Alaska has to offer - and so I want to make sure we're mixing folks enough. I'm thinking in week 8 or 9 or 10 we'll do the opposite - sort by rating so A, B, and C pools can sort of play directly against each other.

Joe Caissie   March 10, 2022 at 9:49pm

Week 6 - Westchester Lagoon

It's that time - get your money for leagues in if you haven't already! Should be reasonable temps at Westchester, and I'm going to head out there possibly tonight, definitely tomorrow, to double-check that the teepads are decent.

Also, if you help Jeremy and me feel a little bit less like Sisyphus, Davis is going to need a lot of work before Week 7, so if you can find a day to get out there and do some shoveling between now and then, that will be greatly appreciated!

Joe Caissie   March 9, 2022 at 9:50pm

Payouts complete!

Hi, folks - if you were supposed to get money from the last couple of weeks, I just sent everything out. I'm not going to do recaps because I wasn't there and couldn't see all the amazing shots y'all threw.

But shout-out to Kristin White for her first B pool payout! Also welcome to Marty Zender, and David Sramek, who both finished in the money in their first league weeks! Hope you all come out this week (Westchester) so I can meet you in person!

Joe Caissie   March 5, 2022 at 12:57am

Week 5 - Davis Park

Reminder to everyone to get your money in tonight if possible - I might have a busy morning doing interviews with outfits like Jomez, asking me how I managed to shoot +4 at Vista del Camino, so no guarantees you'll get in if you're letting me know at like 9am tomorrow morning.

If you're not sure if you're in, just check this link: https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/57279. If you don't have a hole assignment, I haven't gotten your cash yet and I don't know you're playing.

Joe Caissie   March 1, 2022 at 10:23pm

Week 5 - Davis Park (We're back!)

Sounds like the teepads have gotten reasonable enough that we can play at Davis again - snow is supposed to fall on Saturday, so maybe folks can carry a broom in each group or something to keep the pads clean while you play. I'll try to get payouts for week 4 done tomorrow, but it may have to wait until I get back next week.

Joe Caissie   February 26, 2022 at 4:52pm

Week 4 - Westchester Lagoon

Hole assignments are tentatively finalized - I can probably get a couple more people out there if there are some late sign-ups but I'd expect the folks who have hole assignments won't change.

Also, we have a good number of new folks out there, so I've tried to group the veterans with them, but anyone who knows what you're doing, try to hit that happy medium between patience and making sure people follow the rules.

Joe Caissie   February 25, 2022 at 3:09pm

Week 4 - Westchester Lagoon

Week 3 payouts have gone out, and it's Friday, so that means it's time to sign up for Week 4. It's at Westchester Lagoon again - teepads at Davis are apparently not cooperating. I'm hoping for all of your sakes that you folks can collectively get out there and make sure the Goon pads are set to go, because I'm not there! Along a similar line, PLEASE let me know if you're coming by tonight. Vegas can be hectic and I might not be able to put you in groups if you sign ... more

Week 3 payouts have gone out, and it's Friday, so that means it's time to sign up for Week 4. It's at Westchester Lagoon again - teepads at Davis are apparently not cooperating. I'm hoping for all of your sakes that you folks can collectively get out there and make sure the Goon pads are set to go, because I'm not there! Along a similar line, PLEASE let me know if you're coming by tonight. Vegas can be hectic and I might not be able to put you in groups if you sign up at 10am Saturday morning.

Also, I'm going to do 4-packs this week to the extent I can - that way if there's a no-show, you can still play. But if your group is down to 2, the live scoring on PDGA allows your group to add or remove someone - you will need to re-shuffle the groups so that you're between 3 and 5 people on a card.

Joe Caissie   February 23, 2022 at 6:01pm

Week 4 update Goon again!

I'll get Week 3 payouts done soon, including the two aces! The "first" ace was half of $164, or $82, and then the "second" one was $50 because the pot was down below $100. So each ace will get half of the total $132, for $66 each.

Davis teepads are still covered in ice, according to field reports - so week 4 is going to be at Westchester again - spread the word. Also, I'm not here for the next two weeks, so if you normally pay cash, find someone with Venmo or Pa ... more

I'll get Week 3 payouts done soon, including the two aces! The "first" ace was half of $164, or $82, and then the "second" one was $50 because the pot was down below $100. So each ace will get half of the total $132, for $66 each.

Davis teepads are still covered in ice, according to field reports - so week 4 is going to be at Westchester again - spread the word. Also, I'm not here for the next two weeks, so if you normally pay cash, find someone with Venmo or Paypal to give cash to, so they can pay me on your behalf. And late entries especially these next two weeks are not guaranteed to be let in!

Joe Caissie   February 19, 2022 at 12:04am

Week 3 - Westchester Lagoon (THIS IS A CHANGE)

Teepads have been cleared of ice, mostly - will be by tomorrow's round. Should be good weather! Get yourself signed up!

Joe Caissie   February 18, 2022 at 12:21am

Week 3 - Westchester Lagoon (THIS IS A CHANGE)

If you're playing this week, get your money in! Again, we are flip-flopping weeks 3 and 4, because Davis is absolute shit right now. So we'll be at the Goon this week again!

Also, if in the next couple of days people could help out at Davis, we're going to try and get all the heavy wet snow off the pads, so maybe the remaining ice can melt a little. I have a goal to get four of them done tonight, Boyd has done a few, and I did a couple at lunch today - so it'd be great if the other 9 could get done.

Joe Caissie   February 16, 2022 at 1:50am

Week 3 - CHANGE! Westchester Lagoon now!

Davis teepads are apparently in pretty rough shape right now, with a lot more snow to come. We're swapping locations for this week and next week, so we have a chance to clear them. Still would be great if folks could help out at Davis, but it's probably not going to get cleaned off in time to play this weekend.

Joe Caissie   February 15, 2022 at 3:48am

Week 3 - Davis Park

Payouts for Week 2 are done - that means it's time for Week 3. It looks like it's gonna be a warm enough day, and a lot of folks are going to put in a lot of work getting those teepads clean and dry - so let's get a good turnout! Aces should be paying out at like $80.

One thing different this week is that I'm going to do random draw for the groups maybe 10am the morning of. We'll go back to requesting cardmates for other league weeks but it's good to mix the groups up once in a while.

Joe Caissie   February 14, 2022 at 4:05am

Week 2 - Westchester Lagoon

Great turnout on a nice warm Saturday - teepads were snowy but functional. Still no aces, so that pot is getting up there again!

Brian Cassidy took down A pool, nudging out Clint and myself with a 45, getting birdies on 6-7-8 both times (which is rarer than it seems; that was done either once or maybe not at all last winter).

Dan Allen continues to dominate B pool, nudging out Oliver with a 47. Shout out to Oliver who also grabbed 6-7-8 both times.

Jeremy Lukas took down a three-pers ... more

Great turnout on a nice warm Saturday - teepads were snowy but functional. Still no aces, so that pot is getting up there again!

Brian Cassidy took down A pool, nudging out Clint and myself with a 45, getting birdies on 6-7-8 both times (which is rarer than it seems; that was done either once or maybe not at all last winter).

Dan Allen continues to dominate B pool, nudging out Oliver with a 47. Shout out to Oliver who also grabbed 6-7-8 both times.

Jeremy Lukas took down a three-person C pool, staying away from any double bogeys and picking up a couple of birds along the way.

I'll get payouts out in the next day or two - if you can spare some muscle, we're going to need it this week at Davis - looks like a lot of snow is coming. I'm going to try and get out there to get the bulk off the pads maybe Wednesday or Thursday after a lot of the snow has fallen, but it'll be good to get some people out there Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to help clean up what comes after that, and really get the pads nice and dry. Thanks a ton to Boyd and Rob Johnson the last couple weeks (I imagine others too, but I know they've been putting in a ton of work), but now that the days are getting a little longer, it'd be nice to get some people out there after work and sharing the load.

Joe Caissie   February 11, 2022 at 6:29am

Week 2 - Westchester Lagoon Teepad Update

Pads are pretty snowy, and between now and Saturday, there's gonna be more snow - so 7 and 8 will be shoveled out from the snowdrifts that currently cover them, but we're going to leave most of them snowy. Put on footwear accordingly!

Joe Caissie   February 10, 2022 at 4:47am

Week 2 - Westchester Lagoon

Get your money in! Again, if you want to pay just $8 instead of $11, you can pay for your renewal or new ADGA membership along with your entry fee.

Joe Caissie   February 9, 2022 at 5:08am

Week 1 Recap

Great attendance again, 21 players! The weather couldn't have been better (you know, for February), and between Boyd, Rob Johnson, myself, and some Mystery Man known only as The Shoveler, we managed to get the pads pretty much clean and dry.

A Pool was all upside down this week, with Cody Humphrey and myself, usually the kids getting our lunch money stolen, tying for first. I finally punched my ticket for the birdie train, nabbing six of them (counting 3 and 9 Blue as par 4s), and Cody ... more

Great attendance again, 21 players! The weather couldn't have been better (you know, for February), and between Boyd, Rob Johnson, myself, and some Mystery Man known only as The Shoveler, we managed to get the pads pretty much clean and dry.

A Pool was all upside down this week, with Cody Humphrey and myself, usually the kids getting our lunch money stolen, tying for first. I finally punched my ticket for the birdie train, nabbing six of them (counting 3 and 9 Blue as par 4s), and Cody played an almost pristine round, only taking a bogey on 6 Blue.

B Pool also saw a tie for first, with Chad McCaffrey and Morgan Leeds tying with a 58. Chad was the only one to birdie hole 6 Red, and Morgan was only one of three to pick up the 3 on 9 Blue.

C Pool was a battle, with all competitors within a few strokes of each other. Jeremy Lukas took it down despite not getting a single birdie, but limited the damage on any one hole to nose out Julia and Tyler.

Westchester this Saturday! Should be some fresh pow, so keep an eye on those discs, but run those aces and circle 3 putts!

Joe Caissie   February 6, 2022 at 9:44pm

Updates

Hi, folks - two quick notes/updates:

1. The password for live scoring is now "Goon". I think because we're starting on the heels of the former winter league, they wouldn't let me do the "Davis" password.

2. I'm going to use everyone's new ratings that will come out on Tuesday for assigning Pools...that'll also happen in March. Just an FYI for those folks hovering around 800 or 900.

Joe Caissie   February 4, 2022 at 1:42am

Week 1 - Davis Park

Jeremy and I have been working hard (mostly Jeremy...and some other mystery shoveler) to get the pads ready for Saturday. They're mostly ice-free now, and I predict we'll have them all done by tee time. Get your money in! And renew your ADGA membership if you want the lower rate!

Joe Caissie   January 31, 2022 at 3:09pm

Week 1 - Davis Park

Meet the new winter league - same as the old winter league. Just an update - the first week is in FEBRUARY, which means that if you want to pay the reduced rate of $8, you have to re-up your ADGA membership. Send renewal fees to me with the payment if you want.