Warder, Shreve, Raynor go 1-2-3
FROSTBURG — During three days of gym classes last week at Mount Savage Middle School, Wyatt Dare was told that, unlike in the school environment, disc golf courses would offer plenty of trees and other obstacles on which players can challenge themselves.
Dare accepted the challenge on Wednesday night as he and seven others competed in a casual round with the Allegany County Disc Golf Club at Hoffman Park Disc Golf Course in Frostburg. It was Dare’s first time on a disc golf course. And he quickly realized the school-time lesson was accurate, as he saw (and hit) plenty of trees as he made his club and disc golf debut on the newly opened course, the first public disc golf course in Allegany County.
Wyatt Dare makes the putt on No. 9.
Dare, 13, of Ellerslie, finished second to Luke Spradlin-Vogelsang, 9, of Frostburg, in the Youth Division. Spradlin-Vogelsang needed 33 strokes to get through nine holes while Dare needed 39. After a double bogey on No. 1, Dare carded his first par of his disc golf life on No. 2, a 125-foot straight shot — arguably the most difficult throw in the sport. To be sure, Dare sometimes did not take the most direct line to the basket. The lefty heavily utilized hyzer throws from start to finish to try and get through and around trees and brush.
Dare finished with five bogeys — on Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 — and two double bogeys (Nos. 1 and 5). Spradlin-Vogelsang, meanwhile, finished with one birdie and managed par four other times along with three bogeys and one quadruple bogey (No. 6). Incidentally, it was No. 6 that he had birdied — twice — the night before in the club’s first glow round at Hoffman Park.
With the completed round, Dare becomes the club’s 72nd member and slides in ranked in the middle of the pack (ninth) among 18 players in the club’s Youth-Boys Division . Nearly one-third of all club members are age 21 and under. A total of 58 players ranging in age from 8 to 72 have completed at least one round with the club in 2023.
Dare is the second Mount Savage Middle School student to complete a club round since the club facilitated six days of disc golf instruction during gym classes earlier this month. He joins Karli Huff, of Frostburg, and hopefully more will follow.
Warder tops Shreve (again)
David Warder threw for birdie the second time around on No. 5 and held off challengers Bill Shreve and Keith Raynor the rest of the way to take the top spot in a six-player field in a casual club round.
Warder, 32, of Frostburg, led Shreve, 47, of Cumberland, and Raynor, 46, of Vale Summit, by a single stroke at the midway point. He gained a stroke on Shreve on No. 10, but the two were tied after No. 13 when Shreve threw for birdie. Warder took the lead for took on No. 14 with a birdie to Shreve’s bogey — one of only two on the night for him. Raynor, meanwhile, kept within a stroke of Warder over the first four baskets on the back nine but lost a stroke each on Nos. 14, 15 and 16. Raynor ran out of baskets to try and complete a complete.
Warder finished with a seven under par 47. Shreve took second (48) and Raynor was third (49). The father-son Frostburg duo of Kevin Spradlin, 44, and Noah Spradlin, 23, tied for fourth as each player carded a 55. Tim Lick, 32, of Cumberland, rounded out the field with a 58.
Warder and Shreve each tallied eight birdies over 18 baskets. Raynor had five, while Kevin Spradlin and Lick finished with three apiece.
It was Warder’s third win over Shreve in four rounds at Hoffman since May 16. Warder beat Shreve by one stroke on May 16, by eight strokes on May 22, and two tonight. Shreve got the better of Warder, by three strokes, during the club’s first glow round at Hoffman Park on Tuesday night. The club has hosted six rounds at Hoffman Park since the disc golf course opened on May 14. Shreve has played all six, and has never finished lower than third place. Warder, meanwhile, has three wins and a fourth-place finish since May 14.
Wyatt Dare makes the putt on No. 9.
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