Monday, November 24, 2008

Sunday Tourney Ace Pool Aces

First of all, big cheers to Erin for setting up this blog for Mendo disc golf, and by extension, the Mendocino Frolf Club!  Looks great, and, once we get into the swing, should be a big bundle of fun for everyone.  Secondly, nevermind my question about signing up.  Everyone just has to respond to your invitation, and everything is pretty easy to figure out from there.  
Those things acknowledged, I'd like to post about sunday tournament aces and the ace pool.  In another post, Erin mentioned hole 14, and I was going to clarify that actually hole 14 has only been aced once in tournament competition since the ace pool has been established. Then it occurred to me that I have been present to witness all three tournament aces in the ace pool era!  Am I the only one?  I'd like to describe what I recall from each of them!:
The first ace occurred, appropriately enough, on hole 1.  Davey Stein, madman extraordinaire, pulled out a relatively new disc for him, a bright red-orange dx-plastic Firebird acquired at the Willits tourney he had attended with fellow MFCers Matthew, Erin, Rick, Tommy, and myself. There was a strong wind from the north ("The sea was angry that day, my friends!"), and when I saw Dave let it go, I wasn't optimistic.  First of all, the disc came up to level almost immediately, and it looked as if the thing HAD to turn over, which would have spelled doom.  The strong north wind at the Mendo course has a powerful propensity to keep these kinds of throws turned over until they come crashing to earth short right, or at best, long right.  But the dx disc was new enough that the Firebird stability kicked in, and the disc refused the turnover, glided flat for a piece, and then began to turn back left.  At that point, it looked to me like the big wind would get under it and unquestionably carry it well left of the basket.  As we watched, though, that Firebird instinct to tumble to earth began to take over.  The wind tried to push the throw left, but the Firebird, against all odds, said "not today buddy!" and made a beeline down toward the basket.  And damn if that thing didn't fold neatly into the chains!  We all jumped up and down and turned to mob Davey, but he was gone, tearing around the parking lot, wings straight out, a la a goal-scoring european soccer player!  His winnings?  Something in the neighborhood of a cool $150!  What a memorable ace to kick off the MFC ace pool!  Fly like an eagle, Davey!
I was lucky enough to register the second ace pool ace on hole 4.  That day we had south wind, which is somewhat unusual and generally signifies a coming rainstorm.  Despite having two previous aces on the hole in past years, I hadn't been playing the hole particularly well as of late.  I pulled out my dark red star-plastic Monster, and let 'er rip well right of my normal target, letting the wind bring her back over.  I don't remember much, other than holding my finish and watching as that red beauty dove behind the bush that fronts the basket.  It made the kind of sound where there isn't much doubt of the result.  A great feeling!  My winnings?  About 100 clams baby!  How sweet is it...
Big number three was thrown by Big Derrick on the aforementioned hole 14, and of the three, it unquestionably had the highest level of difficulty.  With the south wind making a heuser throw to the right over the blackberries unattractive, D scoffed and threw an anheuser shot to the left.  The thing tore through the defenseless wind, and then disappeared to the right, headed for paydirt, until we heard something no one really expected:  big chains!  Since it is a blind shot, we had to yell to the group ahead to confirm the ace, which Dave and Erin promptly did, and the third ace in MFC ace-pool history was official!  And unless I am mistaken, the shot was Derrick's first hole-in-one ever!  Even better.  It probably deserved the greatest monetary reward, but unfortunately came hot on the heels of ace #2, so yielded the lowest (how much was it, Derrick?).  Fortunately we ain't in this for the money, and ace#3 will live on as a killer toss nonetheless!
I hope this post is just the start of an ongoing thread on these first three aces, and all the astounding ace pool aces to come!  

5 comments:

  1. Great storytelling Jim, but there was one thing missing. I didn't see the disc hit the basket, but from tee #1 I saw Jim jump what looked like 20 feet in the air and throw his hands up in victory. Dave may have flown around the parking lot, but Jim hovered before our eyes! We could all see that glowing smile from all the way across the field and hundreds of feet away! Way to go guys! I'm sure they are the first three of many!! jody :)

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  2. Hey Erin would you be so kind as to invite us?
    spody.jody@gmail.com

    Thanks :)

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  3. Great Post. I hope it will inspire others to join in on the fun! This blog will be allot of fun once it starts rolling.

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  4. i believe my winnings were in the neighborhood of 25 dollars, but the memories are priceless, i was fortunate enough to witness all af these aces, also an interesting note. in my short time of frofling at mendocino seen three other aces two of which in the same basket that i hit. a beautiful threading the needle b-line from terry as hole 3 and one from super dave huge heizer stlye on 14, and i also got to witness roys flick ace on 15 , im feeling pretty lucky to catch all the frolfin excitement

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  5. The brodys also saw all three tourney aces. Some from two angles. Hands down the one that got paid the least got the most GASPS. We are going for GASPS, right D. Not the money.
    Bryan B.

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