Fall Doubles League to open at Ditto Farms

$153 in ace pot to start nine-week season

* Summer Flex League continues through Sept. 24 (free to play)
* Three weeks remain in Fall Youth League action (free to play)
* 2022 Fall Doubles League wrap-up
* 2023 Fall Doubles League flyer (PDF)

FROSTBURG — The Allegany County Disc Golf Club’s Fall Doubles League will open its second season at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22, at Ditto Farms Regional Park in Hagerstown.

It will be the first of two out-of-county trips over the nine-week period. The fall schedule includes six different courses: one in Washington County (Ditto), four in Allegany County (Central AoG, Mile Lane Disc Golf, Hoffman Park DGC and Locust Post Brewery DGC); and Wharton Park DGC in Fayette County, Pa., which is located approximately 40 minutes northwest of Frostburg. It is the club’s first trip (a) to Hagerstown or (b) Pennsylvania for something other than a Fisher Cup event.

The club encourages players age 9 and above, of varying abilities and experience, to come out and try doubles play. It can be an awful lot of fun and it’s a great way to see some really good players sling some discs. Play is open to members and non-members alike. Club membership is free and requires a player to simply complete one round in a club-organized event to become a lifetime member at no charge. To date, the club has more than 105 members, nearly one-third of whom are age 21 and under.

Tee time each Sunday afternoon is 2 p.m., with registration beginning at 1:30 p.m. League players will use a mix of paper scorecards and uDisc for scoring.

While some things from the 2022 season will remain the same — such as the $5 weekly fee being optional — there are some changes to the 2023 campaign. Among those changes:

* The optional $5 weekly fee includes $3 to the club and $2 ace pot (only $1 ace pot per $5 in ’22)
* No division standings. Random dubs pretty much all the time, though play will be within divisions when turnout allows.
* Instead of players winning their divisions for a free entry into season-ending doubles tournament in early March, this time each week’s participation will get a player one entry into a random drawing for a free tournament entry. Play nine weeks means nine entries into the random drawing. If turnout allows, random drawings will be done by division (Men’s Advanced, Men’s Rec, Boys’, Girls’ and Women’s divisions). If we follow that same format in Winter Doubles League, the same player could conceivably win both drawings which, of course, would allow them and their doubles partner to receive free entry.

As we did in 2022-23, we hope to continue to offer one or more CTP award most weeks. This will depend, in large part, on turnout (and buy-in from players).

Ace pot

The club’s ace pot currently sits at $153 and will be in play beginning Week 1 of Fall Doubles League. Like last year, an ace doesn’t mean a cash payout the day you hit the ace. Instead, a player’s ace earns that player a share of the ace pot pie at the end of the doubles season. One ace by a player means one equal share of the pot; two aces means two shares, and so on.

The optional $5 weekly fee includes a doubling of the ace pot fund from $1 in 2022 to $2 per player in 2023. Of course, a player must buy into the ace pot prior to the start of the round in order to stake a legitimate claim to a share of the ace pot funds.

CTPs

Modest closest-to-the-pin prizes will be offered most weeks (as in ’22-’23). If turnout and player buy-in merits, we can offer multiple CTPs (based on division).

Formats

As in 2022, the format will vary from week to week. Possible formats include:

* Combined score (teammates play as individuals but combine raw score after the round)
* Iron Man Scratch Match (a club favorite)
* Best shot / alternate shot / worst shot (or a mix)
* Putter-only challenge (or similar one-disc, limited-speed, or lost-disc challenges)
* App-based adventures
* Ranked doubles (teams decided by players’ club rankings)
* Random dubs (self-explanatory we hope)
* And more.

For the club favorite of Iron Man Scratch Match, here’s how it works:

All athletes in the field are paired off in teams. Sometimes regular par is thrown out the window and the club uses modified pars. For example, at Mile Lane last year, short 2, short 3 and short 9 were all par 2s for adults (still par 3 for certain youth). Pars could be changed based on divisions and/or courses.

Anyway, points are awarded for throwing for par or better on each basket. Points are dialed back to zero if a player bogeys twice in a row. Players earn 10 points for an ace, 5 points for an eagle, 3 points for a birdie and 1 point for saving par. So if two teammates total their points and have the most points among all teams, they win the day.

Winter Doubles League

Winter Doubles League will begin Sunday, Dec. 31 and run through Feb. 25. The second annual Allegany County Doubles Championship tournament will be held during the afternoon of Sunday, March 3. It will be a two-round event played on either one or two sites (details are still being worked out).

2022 turnout

We’d love to meet or exceed 2022-23 season turnout.

Last season, an average of 10.78 players showed up each week over the 18-week season. In ’21-’22, only 7.5 players per week. There were 31 different players last season (playing 193 rounds) compared to 23 the year before (and 133 rounds).