B. Padovini vaults into 3rd in SFL standings

Week 12 division winners: C. Mallery, K. Spradlin, S. Farris
E. Padovini, Spradlin-Vogelsang tie atop Boys’ Division

* Week 13 SFL heads to Locust Post Brewery DGC in Little Orleans
* Fall Youth League Week 3 is Friday, Sept. 15 at Hoffman Park DGC (all players encouraged and welcome)
* Results: Week 1 . Week 2. Week 3. Week 4 . Week 5 . Week 6 . Week 7 .
Week 8 . Week 9 . Week 10 . Week 11 . Week 12 . Week 13 . Week 14
* Scroll down for a few photos, full results and updated division standings

MOUNT SAVAGE — Twelve weeks down. Two to go.

And while some of the races for first are pretty clear, competition for second and third in multiple divisions remain. That begs the question: Who will play the role of spoiler?

The top three players in each division of the free-to-play league are vying for cash or, in the youth divisions, gift certificates. There will be no ties permitted. The 14th and final week of Summer Flex League features a shotgun start at 2 p.m. at Hoffman Park Disc Golf Course in Frostburg. If the weekly contest results in a tie in the top three spots of any division, there will be a designated series of modified holes for a playoff to decide the place-winner. Players will be limited to a single round in Week 14.

Week 13 SFL action, meanwhile, moves east as the Allegany County Disc Golf Club visits the new Locust Post Brewery Disc Golf Course in Little Orleans. All players, across all divisions, will play a round of 18 holes on the nine-hole course that includes nine from the short tees and nine from the long tees. Every hole is a par 3, and it should be noted that No. 9 has only one tee.

Brian Padovini

Course availability for Week 13 is as follows:

Friday, Sept. 15: 12 noon to 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16: 12 noon to 2 p.m. (all rounds must be completed by 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 17: 12 noon to 8 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 18: 12 noon to 8 p.m.

Players should play particular attention to No. 8 for two reasons. First, there could be a yellow jackets nest on the lower gap of the hedge of thorns past the tee pad. This is the primary route players take from the tee pad and into the open field as they work their way to the basket. Yellow tape was put up over the weekend in that spot, but players might want to take the path in the middle of the hedge.

Second, the hedge is, as stated, a hedge of thorns. Try not to throw your disc into it; getting it out scratch-free is nearly impossible.

Players should consider bringing bug spray; the gnats can be terrible at times.

Mercifully, the weather over the next week is supposed to cool a bit, which could limit gnat activity.

On to Week 12 roundup:

Men’s Advanced Division

Summer Flex League competition has been played at Mile Lane Disc Golf in Mount Savage in six of the 12 weeks. Colby Mallery has played in four of those weeks and earned his third win on his home course with a 16 under par 58.

Bill Shreve, 47, of Cumberland, carded a personal best 61 on the 24-basket layout to finish second while Gordon Cox, 49, of Hagerstown, took third with a 62. All three players earned the weekly bonus point by recording their best rounds during Saturday Morning Tag League play. The SMTL can double as a player’s Summer Flex League round in designated weeks with the goal of offering an incentive to play in SMTL.

Scott Mallery, 55, of Mount Savage, placed fourth with a 63 while Ethan von Hagel, 21, of LaVale, was fifth with a 67.

Colby Mallery’s seven points — five for the win, one for participation plus the bonus point with the Saturday Morning Tag League partnership — put some distance between the 19-year-old Mount Savage resident and Sam Wolodkin, 21, of Frostburg, in the division standings. Mallery is now squarely in third with 47 points. Shreve sits in first with 60 points while Scott Mallery is second (52).

Can son Colby catch dad Scott?

Will Sam Wolodkin’s presence (or absence) over the next two weeks impact the top three? Let’s find out.

Women’s Division

Shania Farris could have taken the final month of Summer Flex League off and still finished in first place. The 26-year-old from Wiley Ford, W.Va., has certainly set a competition standard (in any division) for tenacity and consistency.

But for more than a few weeks — eight, in fact — there has been quite the contest shaping up for second and third between Stephanie Spradlin, Krystal Mallery and Albina Stiffler. And with all due respec to the American Pie movie franchise, it’s mostly Stiffler’s fault.

Stiffler, 23, of Cumberland, moved from Martinsburg, W.Va., earlier this summer. Disc Golf was already a part of their lives, and through church met up with the Mallery family. The Mallery group, of course, quickly introduced them to the local disc golf scene. Since then, Stiffler has earned at least a share of second place in division play in six of those eight weeks. She now sits in fourth place with 38 points, a single point behind Mallery, 50, of Mount Savage. Spradlin, 43, of Frostburg, moved into second place overall with 39 points (one ahead of Mallery) as Mallery took the week off.

The result? The players currently in spots two, three and four are separated by only five points.

Boys’ Division

With Josiah Spradlin on the sidelines this week, Frostburg residents Evan Padovini and Luke Spradlin-Vogelsang each completed multiple rounds. For both players, their last round of the four-day weekend occurred late Monday evening. In that round — played together — both athletes offered their best of Week 12.

Padovovini, 12, and Spradlin-Vogelsang, 10, each threw a one over par 73 to tie for first place for the week. While Spradlin, 13, of Frostburg, sits somewhat precariously in first place in the division standings, Padovini and Spradlin-Vogelsang failed to gain any points on each other. They both, however, closed the gap between themselves and Spradlin.

Spradlin leads the division with 64 points. Spradlin-Vogelsang is second with 57 points and Padovini is in third place with 55 points.

Liam Hutter, 13, of Frostburg, is in fourth place but is out indefinitely due to a broken arm (during non-disc golf activities).

So it’s not a matter who will make up the top three, but in what order they will finish.

Of course, there are a couple of new members of the club that could impact the Summer Flex League results. Jeremiah Hampton, 12, of Cresaptown, along with brothers Marshall Vogtman and Tarik Vogtman, 13 and 10, respectively, have crashed the club’s Fall Youth League with stellar results in the first two weeks. If any, or all, of those players choose to participate in Summer Flex League competition over the next two weeks, it could foil any particular athlete’s plans.

Girls’ Division

Lily Lick, 10, of Cumberland, is the only female player under the age of 17 to complete a Summer Flex League round. By default, she’s in first place. But over the next two weeks, anything is possible.

Shenna Vogtman, 15, of Frostburg, has played the first two weeks of Fall Youth League and played very well.

Will she play the role of spoiler in Lick’s bid to win the division? Or will any of the Summer Youth League players come out?

Stay tuned.

Men’s Rec Division

Like his better half, Tim Farris has first place in the Men’s Rec Division all sewn up. Kevin Spradlin is comfortably in second.

Who will finish third?

Brian Padovini, 42, of Frostburg, started the fourth month of his disc golf life with a personal best eight under par 66 on Friday evening. That remains the division standard for the week until Monday evening. Taking advantage of his first good night’s rest in nearly a week, and a seasonably comfortable, cooler temperature, Kevin Spradlin tossed his way to a personal best 11 under par 63.

The effort included 14 birdies — another personal best, on any course, for the 44-year-old from Frostburg. Spradlin’s previous best of 65 was recorded on Aug. 27. He had thrown for a then-record 11 birdies that night and another round at Hoffman Park DGC in Frostburg.

Spradlin’s 63 stayed atop the division lead. The win is Spradlin’s second in four weeks. He has earned at least a share of the division lead in each of the past four weeks.

Padovini’s 66 was good for second, while Noah Spradlin, 23, of Frostburg, and Farris, 27, of Wiley Ford, tied for third with a 68. Richard Smith, 50, of Hagerstown, placed ffith (7) while Rick Perkins (72), Anthony Miller (74) and Nathan Stiffler (80) rounded out the eight-player field.

It was Miller’s first club round and a bogey on nine long helped to prevent his first-ever under par effort.

Farris maintains the overall division lead with 70 points. Spradlin is firmly in second (61) while Padovini moved into third (37), one point ahead of Keith Raynor (36). Noah Spradlin, currently fifth with 27 points, would have a shot at a top-three finish only if both Padovini and Raynor are unable to compete over the final two weeks.

This will be the final season in which Farris and Kevin Spradlin compete in the Men’s Rec Division. After Week 14, both players will be assigned to the Men’s Advanced Division. Farris has earned at least a share of first place in nine of 12 weeks this summer, and placed in the top three in 11 of 12 weeks. Spradlin has earned at least a share of first place on five occasions, including four straight, and has two outright wins. He has placed in the top three in 11 of 12 weeks of competition.