Bogey-free round helps B. Padovini to 1st SFL victory

Week 13 division winners: B. Shreve, B. Padovini, S. Farris, E. Padovini
One week to go in 14-week season

* Week 14 SFL is a shotgun start on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Hoffman Park DGC (2 p.m.)
* Fall Youth League Week 4 is Friday, Sept. 22 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

LITTLE ORLEANS — It’s been a tale of two halves for Brian Padovini.

The 42-year-old Frostburg resident is in the fourth month of his disc golf life. He hasn’t missed a round in the first 13 weeks of the Allegany County Disc Golf Club’s Summer Flex League, which began shortly after he first picked up a disc.

Over the first six weeks of the SFL season, Padovini amassed 12 points in the Men’s Rec Division standings, or an average of two points per week. Half of that was simply showing up — one point for participation each week and another point if and when he happened to finish in the top five. Players are awarded five points for first place, four for second, and so on.

Brian Padovini on the No. 1 tee at Locust Post Brewery.

Then, in Week 7, Padovini began to figure things out. He finished in a three-way tie for second place with a one under par 61 at The Glades at Meshach Run in Garret County. The effort was still six strokes behind Men’s Rec Division leader Tim Farris, but Padovini had the second-most birdies (five) in division play and fourth-most out of anyone in the 17-player field.

Padovini continued to progress rapidly, perhaps more so than any other new player in Allegany County Disc Golf Club history. He became a student of the game. Padovini watched video tutorials. He sought out advice. He started doing field work. As painful as it might be at seems to hear, he also looked for feedback on his form. Anything he could learn to try and improve, he would do.

Week 7 was a turning point for Padovini. Over the past six weeks of play, Padovini has 31 points — an average of 5.16 points per week — while finishing in the top three of the Men’s Rec Division five times.

On Monday night at Locust Post Brewery in Little Orleans, Padovini was all business. He finished up his flex league round with a two under par 52 and recorded the only even-split effort of anyone in the field over the weekend. Padovini needed 26 strokes to complete the front nine and another 26 to finish up the back nine; every other player needed more strokes on the back nine than they threw on the front nine.

The effort earned him his first division win in league play and solidified his cash-winning position in the season standings. He currently sits in third place, and though he can’t catch either of the top two players, no one in fourth place or below can challenge him for a podium finish. The season ends next Sunday, Sept. 24, which features a 2 p.m. shotgun start at Hoffman Park Disc Golf Course in Frostburg.

His round on Monday night was not perfect. He hit some trees. He didn’t pick up a birdie every time he wanted. It was, however, the only bogey-free round offered among 14 players acrsoss all four divisions who took on the challenge of the new, nine-hole course in eastern Allegany County. He was one of only two players to finish under par in Week 13.

Padovini has continued to rise to the challenge of what players have offered. Thirty-seven different people have completed at least one Summer Flex League round this season. Padovini is one of seven players who has perfect attendance through 13 weeks. Flex league players can complete as many rounds as they want over the specified period each week and their best round counts. Padovini played only two rounds this week, but he was more familiar with the course than almost any other player. He was one of a few club members to participate in the recent Grand Opening event at Locust Post Brewery, which might have given him a leg up on most of the rest of the field.

Farris, 27, of Wiley Ford, W.Va., finished second to Padovini this week with an even par 54, while Kevin Spradlin, 44, of Frostburg, placed third (55). Noah Spradlin, 23, of Frostburg, finished fourth (57) while Nate Stiffler posted his first top-five finish with a 59. Ethan Shreve, 20, of Cumberland, rounded out the six-player field with a 60.

Given the past six weeks, it seems quite likely that Padovini has moved himself into the position of deserving a promotion into the Men’s Advanced Division at the end of the season along with Tim Farris and Kevin Spradlin.

Albina Stiffler

Women’s Division

Two players in the division vying for second place overall in the season standings insist they are not competitive and play disc golf solely to spend time with family.

The other one acknowledges she’s out for blood.

Albina Stiffler, 22, of Cumberland, continued her climb up the division ladder with another second-place performance. She finished only four strokes behind Shania Farris, 26, of Wiley Ford. Farris won her 13th consecutive week with a 62. The performance moved her into a tie with Krystal Mallery, 50, of Mount Savage, for third place with 43 points. Farris is in first with an insurmountable 83 points, while Stephanie Spradlin, 43, of Frostburg, sits in second with 47 points.

Farris, Mallery and Spradlin have each played in at least 11 of the 13 weeks this season. Stiffler, a recent transplant from Martinsburg, W.Va., joined the club only in Week 5 in late July. Carrying her and her husband Nate Stiffler’s first child and being, at this point, only a few weeks from her expected due date, Stiffler has earned 43 points in only nine weeks of play.

The top three players in each division win a modest amount of cash.

Men’s Advanced Division

Bill Shreve, 47, of Cumberland, posted the hot round of the weekend and was one of only two players under par. His second round of the weekend, on Monday evening, turned out to be the best of the bunch with a four under par 50.

Shreve collected five birdies along the way, tying him with runner-up Scott Mallery, 55, of Mount Savage. Mallery finished second with a 54.

Shreve and Mallery were the only two players to compete in the Men’s Advanced Division in Week 13. Their efforts solidified the top three finishers in the season standings. Shreve will win, Mallery will finish second and son Colby Mallery, 20, of Mount Savage, will finish third.

In 2022, Scott Mallery eked out a one-point win over Shreve in the combined Men’s Division over a six-week season.

Boys’ Division

Luke Spradlin-Vogelsang has found himself in a bit of a rut on the local disc golf courses in recent weeks. Perhaps no one has benefitted more than Evan Padovini.

The two Frostburg boys are separated by only one point after 13 weeks of competition. Spradlin-Vogelsang, 10, is in second place overall in the division standings with 62 points. Padovini earned his second straight division win this week, and third consecutive top-two finish, to move into a close third with 61 points. Josiah Spradlin, 13, of Frostburg, is in first with 64 points.

The older Spradlin has been absent for the past two weeks, and it’s anyone’s guess if he’ll sit out for Week 14, too. If so, that means first place is up for grabs.

The club will not allow ties in the top three positions of any division.

Should Week 14 play result in a tie in the top three positions in the season standings, final places will be settled on the course in Week 14, which is a shotgun start at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Hoffman Park Disc Golf Course in Frostburg.

This week, Padovini threw a 62, including two birdies, for a big win. Spradlin-Vogelsang was 14 strokes behind.