Week 1 WDL: OT disc golf required

Warder, S. Mallery take Advanced Division after 3 playoff holes
Willmon, Farris earn Rec Division win with CTP contest
Raynor, Farris pair up for Women’s Division win

* Allegany County Disc Golf Club on Facebook
* Mile Lane Disc Golf on Facebook
* The Glades at Meshach Run on Facebook
* Results: Week 1 . Week 2 . Week 3. Week 4 . Week 5 .Week 6 . Week 7 . Week 8 . Week 9
* 2023: A Look Ahead
* 2022: A Year in Review
* Fisher Cup details

Special thanks to Scott Mallery for recap assistance

ACCIDENT — It seems that some of the hype common around this time of year in the worlds of college and pro football found the local disc golf scene.

Four teams — two-thirds of the field — were unable to settle things over 18 holes on Sunday afternoon in Week 1 of Winter Doubles League at The Glades at Meshach Run in Accident. Thirteen competitors (the highest since Week 3 of Fall Doubles League) faced off in a best shot format with no cap on the number of consecutive drives.

And playoff disc golf was required.

Advanced Division

All six players competed on a single division card and started on No. 3. With 16 holes down and two to go, the duo of David Warder, 32, of Frostburg, and Scott Mallery, 54, of Mount Savage, held a two-stroke lead over Bill Shreve, 46, of Cumberland, and Colby Mallery, 19, of Mount Savage. Ethan von Hagel, 20, of Cumberland, and Keith Raynor, 45, of Vale Summit, sat in third, three strokes off the pace.

On No. 1 — and No. 17 overall — both S. Mallery and Warder dipped into the woods early. Shreve, meanwhile, parked his drive. Warder and S. Mallery salvaged a par, but Shreve and C. Mallery had cut their deficit in half down to a single stroke.

On arguably the most talked about layout over the nine-basket course — No. 2 and 18th on the day for the group — C. Mallery drove first with a high forehand shot that flew cleanly through a small gap to the high left of the tree cluster. Shreve followed up with an excellent shot of his own. As the group approached the top of the mound, they noticed C. Mallery’s disc was within 3 feet of the basket. Suddenly, Scott Mallery and Warder found themselves forced to make a run for the basket.

It didn’t work. Mallery’s sidearm drive found the first available tree and Warder’s effort was low, hitting the small dirt mound, and didn’t make it to the trees. The pair converted a putt of about 25 feet to save par and force a playoff.

Only one of six teams bettered their performance over the back nine: Colby Mallery and Shreve were four under 25 at the midway point and executed a six under par 23 over the second half. Von Hagel and Raynor threw for par on each of the last two holes and finished with a seven under par 51. The other two teams finished with a 10 under par 48.

Playoff hole No. 1 was a modified layout, starting to the left of the No. 1 basket to No. 2. It was a wash, as both teams parked their drives. Playoff No. 2 teed off to the left of basket No. 2 back to No. 1. Again, a wash, as both teams fared well on the drives.

There was some discussion as to leave it a tie, but von Hagel pointed out that someone should walk away with a win. He was right; the Allegany County Disc Golf Club tries to avoid ties whenever possible.

The top two teams decided to tackle the traditional No. 1 for a third time as daylight was nearing its end. Shreve and Colby Mallery both hit trees early and faced a throw of 50-plus feet from the tree-lined edge. Both missed, but barely. Scott Mallery’s drive, meanwhile, went into the tree line just before the basket. He and Warder were left with a slightly obstructed putt of approximately 15 feet.

They nailed it.

Shania Farris joined the Allegany County Disc Golf Club for her first league round.

Women’s Division

Players in the Advanced Division put their minis in a box and watched as 8-year-old Noah Davis reached blindly into the box to pull one marker, then another, to determine partners for the day. He did the same for the Rec Division, and it just so happened the league’s only two women were paired up for the round.

They made the most of it.

Nicki Raynor, 45, of Vale Summit, and Shania Farris, 26, of Wiley Ford, W.Va., managed to throw for par 11 of 18 times (61 percent) en route to a three over par 61. The two also threw two birdies — taking advantage of the 170-foot hole on  No. 6 both times around the circuit. Raynor and Farris split up their bogeys, throwing two on the front nine (Nos. 4 and 7) and three on the back nine (Nos. 1, 3 and 9).

Rec Division

Nicholas Willmon, 28, of Oakland, and Tim Farris, 26, of Wiley Ford, played on a separate card than division opponents Matthew Marsh, 20, of Oakland, and Kevin Spradlin, 43, of Frostburg.

It didn’t lessen the drama.

Spradlin and Marsh held a one-stroke lead at the midway point — the two were one under par (28), while Willmon and Farris were even at 29. While they played their baskets in different order, the box score tells the story.

Latte the pup was excited to watch Nicki Raynor drive from the No. 7 tee pad.

Both teams bogeyed their first holes on the back nine — Spradlin and Marsh on No. 1, Farris and Willmon on No. 2. Then Spradlin and Marsh bogeyed No. 2 the second time around while their opponents tied the score by throwing for par on No. 3. Three baskets later, Farris and Willmon took a one-stroke lead when the threw for par on No. 15 while Spradlin and Marsh saved par on No. 14, which features a 400-foot downward slope along the powerline.

Marsh and Spradlin tied it up when they birdied No. 6 the second time around. The two teams remained knotted until the final basket. Marsh and Spradlin both missed putts for a birdie on No. 9. They settled for the four-stroke par. At the same time, Willmon and Farris threw for par — but only three strokes — on No. 1 their second time around.

As daylight waned under a gray sky, the two teams decided to settle the match with a closest-to-the-pin (CTP) contest on No. 1. With the flip of a disc, Spradlin and Marsh went first. Spradlin threw his Envy putter and it  hugged the left side of the tree line a bit too closely, striking a tree and settling on the fairway some 50 feet out. Marsh used his River to go for broke. The trees won.

Farris and Willmon fared much better, and the pair won the contest on Willmon’s drive that was an easy putt from the basket.

 

Youth Division

Noah Davis was better over the second half than the first half. The 8-year-old Frostburg boy, who began playing disc golf five months ago, stowed his drivers more frequently over the back eight — he played Nos. 1-8 twice — and found some success.

He also came to realize that using primarily putters and mid-range discs is sound advice for any new player.

Nicholas Willmon had a solid day on the course.

Davis played as an individual, a plan to make the most of being the only competitor on Sunday under the age of 19. He finished with 81 strokes, including 42 over the first half and 39 on the back eight. The score was 23 over the division-adjusted par of 58 over 16 holes.

Davis is still working on throwing flat, nose-down drives on a consistent basis (aren’t we all?) When he was unsuccessful in doing so, the wind was constantly there to remind him to keep trying.

Davis threw bogeys on 10 of 18 (55.5 percent) baskets. He ran into trouble on No. 6 the first time around. From less than 170 feet out — Youth Division players tee off at a spot left of the established tee pad in hopes of avoiding the pond — his drive missed its mark, then he struggled with a couple of uphill putts. He improved by a stroke the second time around, and it could have been two strokes. However, the youngster took a penalty stroke when he had to re-tee after his favored Glitch disc went into the pond.

 

Week 1 notes

Tim Farris helped his team to victory in his first club round.

* Bill Shreve parked a drive from the No. 8 tee pad to win CTP – a $5 certificate to the Mile Lane DG store.

* No ace today; the ace pot is now up to $101.

* Thirty players have now completed at least one round in nine weeks of FDL and one week of WDL. That compares favorably to the 2021-22 season, during which 23 different players competed over 18 weeks of a combined Fall/Winter Doubles League.

* Week 2 of WDL is at Mile Lane Disc Golf Course in Mount Savage. Tee time is 2 p.m.

 

 

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