* Results on Disc Golf Scene
* Results on uDisc
WOODSBORO — Dan Beachy and Devon Spiker teamed up to tie for 14th place among 29 teams in the amateur division of the inaugural Woodsboro World of Doubles tournament on Saturday at Woodsboro Regional Park.
Frostburg residents Beachy, 38, and Spiker, 19, played under the team name BFC and combined for a score of 72 during the first round of play and a 62 in the second round, finishing three over par with a 134.
Daniel Naylor and Peter DeBorja tallied the same scores in each round to complete the tie. The team of Jeremy Ginnever, who doubled as tournament director, and Matt Radhe won the amateur division with scores of 60 and 59, finishing 12 under par.
Beachy and Spiker threw two birdies in the first round — holes 6 and 21 — while managing four bogeys and one double bogey (No. 10).
In the second round, Beachy and Spiker finished with six bogeys — holes 2, 4, 13, 14, 16 and 17 — and made par 11 other times. The round included three bogeys (7, 11, 12) and one double bogey (No. 10).
What stood out for Spiker, playing in his first tournament outside the friendly confines of Allegany County, was No. 10. Hole 10 was not so friendly, Spiker explained, noting that BFC’s opponents declined to let them know of a hazard area.
“The people that were with us didn’t tell us that there was a swamp,” Spiker said.
The wooded hole featured a dog-leg left turn. It was a par 4, and he estimated it at somewhere around 500 feet.
“You want to set yourself up for the second shot,” Spiker said. “I didn’t throw the best shot. It went into the swamp. I actually lost the disc. It’s gone forever.”
Unable to find Spiker’s disc, team BFC was left with Beachy’s lie — located some 40 feet from the tee pad. Beachy, Spiker said, hit an early tree.
“That was a tough hole,” Spiker said. “If you take away hole 10, we place 10th. That’s how bad we did on hole 10. If we had just (thrown) par … (but) those holes happen. You can’t take it back.”
Photo by Bryan Rocco
Devon Spiker took his putting skills and Orioles fandom to Woodsboro for a weekend doubles tournament.
Playing formats varied throughout the unsanctioned, day-long tournament in Frederick County. During Round 1, players threw from the blue tees to the white baskets and used the “best shot” method, in which both players on each team drove from the tee and threw from each lie. Then, team members chose which of the resulting lies to throw from, working their way to the basket.
Things got a bit more difficult in Round 2. Athletes players “worst” or “tough” shot on baskets one through seven. There, both players threw from the tee and their opponents in the group chose which of the subsequent lies they would next throw from. The aim for the other team, of course, was to make it as difficult as possible for the opposing players.
The next third of the course, baskets eight through 14, were played alternate shot. A player threw from the tee and the teammate threw from where the disc landed. Each two-person team then worked the disc to the basket, and only one player needed to finish the basket. The player who did not complete the basket teed off for the next hole.
On baskets 15 through 21, the teams resumed the “best shot” style of play used in the first round.
Next steps
Spiker said he wants to play a few more out-of-county tournaments this summer, perhaps in Fairmont, W.Va. He hasn’t ruled out a return to Woodsboro, though.
“I actually want to play it again,” he said. “I want to see how much better I can do. If they have another tournament, I’d probably play it again. I understand the course.”
Spiker is about two months shy of his completing his first full year of playing disc golf. A natural forehand thrower, he threw all but about 10 throws on Saturday using his new-and-improved backhand. He estimates his backhand drives have increased in distance from 250 feet to about 320 feet in only the last couple of months.
Locally, Spiker plans to play the Summer Fling singles/doubles tournament at Mile Lane Disc Golf in Mount Savage again. He played in 2021 — he placed third with Seth Wilson in the doubles portion after playing in Western Maryland Disc Golf‘s weekly league play on a single Thursday night. Spiker said he figures he has improved a lot since last year.
In WMDG league play in 2021, Spiker played four times — Aug. 19 through Sept. 9 — and scored 62, 58, 56 and 58. He has played in five of six weeks so far this year and has averaged a 51.4, with a best round of 50 and a worst round of 55.
Spiker closed out the 2021 season with a sixth-place finish in the WMDG end-of-season tournament.
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