Oak Grove - Wintertime Open
Provided by Tours by Worm

Cam, Lesli, and I woke up Friday morning to a warm Innova parking lot in California, and a slightly different climate than Colorado. Cam had driven from Breckenridge down to Pasadena, approximately a thousand miles, all day and all night. Dave Dunipace greeted us as we pulled in the night before and informed us that we were welcome to the parking lot plus showers and our sponsorship packages. All of the staff at the Innova factory were cool (as usual), and very inviting. Thanks to everyone at the warehouse, we appreciate your support!

After hanging at the factory for a couple of hours and chit chatting we decided to go practice the course. This tournament was our first stop last year, and Cam left with the title of Wintertime Open Champion. When we arrived at the course I noticed an unfamiliar motor home in the parking lot with a big dolphin on the side. To my surprise it was the B-BOYZ, Brian Schweberger, Brian McRee, and the notorious Billy Crump. This is the new touring group on the scene, and what a group they are, from the first-in-flight state of North Carolina.

The course looked pretty much the same from the parking lot, but there were some different holes added from previous years. The Oak Grove course is the first ever pole hole course in the world, and this fact alone brings it respect from any golfer that passes through. Your first time around this course you might say that it's too short or even too easy, but during tournament play this course can be rather stimulating to your game. Mandos, o.b., and double mandos will keep you thinking as you are experiencing the early days of disc golf. The course was also set up to 27 holes for some long rounds during the tournament, especially since we started at 8:00 on both mornings.

Dave Feldberg hooked all of us with a place to stay at Sam's grandmother's house, where he lived in the downstairs basement that he paid rent for. Granny was very sweet and let us park our homes out in front of her home. Sam, a super cool disc junkie that just so happens works for Innova, he was also is a fairly good musician that played guitar and the harmonica. Dave took a swing at the ukulele since Sam told him to leave the guitar playing up to some guitar players. Wake up time came soon, and I woke up to the sound of water hitting on the house. Assuming that the sound was of course rain, I started to think of what I was going to be needing for some good old early morning soaking. After getting up finally and moving around the house a little, I figured out that it was just Sam's sprinkler system. No rain today, just an early morning Steve Rico 21 under out of 27 holes for a quick lead. I shot a 12 under and Cam shot a 10, not very good to get out of the gates with. Geoff Lissaman was in second place with a 16 under, and lots of people between 14 and 10 under par.

The course was changed a little for the second round, but little changed on the top of the leader board as Steve carded a 12 under and a nice 7 stroke lead going into Sunday. I was mind boggled by the course and shot a blistering 5 under, while Cam tied me up for the day with a 7 down, neither of us were very pleased with our play. The winnie crew was doing pretty good, with Todd and Avery somewhere around 4th, and Dave in the top 10. We all went and got some dinner so we could get ready for our early morning round again at 8:00 on Sunday. Team Flying Eye needed some sleep anyway after all of the traveling and snowboarding we were actually very sick and in need of some nutrition and rest.

Sunday morning arrived fast and I woke up once again to the sounds of water. Not being fooled this time I got up and went about my business, only to find out that this time it was really raining plus everyone was ready except for me as usual. By the time we arrived to the park and I got all of my stuff together, they had already blown the 2 minute warning and it was still raining. Cam and myself started on like the 5th card with Chris Brophy and Mark, a new pro player in his first open tournament with a laid back but dangerous putt. It rained on us just long enough to get us good and wet and then it stopped. The sunshine came out and it was starting to look like the clouds were leaving.

The final 9 was only taking the top 3 open players, and with 27 holes to play a lot could happen at the top especially. Steve maintained his lead but now had 5 strokes on Brian Schweberger and 6 on Al Schack. These three players now proceeded to a finals that included mostly original holes from the course that we had seen that morning. Steve walked away with the win as Al came back to second, Brian finished a respectable third at his first touring stop ever. Some people think that it was the first time that Geoff was not in the finals at this traditional oak grove tourney.

Lesli was sore during the whole tournament and did not play very well because of it, but she did make 55 dollars and took 4th place. Cam was sniffling and coughing during our round, and I think the rain just kind of brought back the nasty virus that we are still dealing with today. I finished tied for eleventh and Cam was tied for eighteenth if I am not mistaken. Things seem to be looking a little bit better since we took our discs out to practice the last couple of days though, and I think our games are fixing to get back to normal. Thanks again to Sam and granny and we hope to see you some time in the future. Later...