Buffalo Ice Bowl 2008

[bfaslewis]

For anyone in the area that is unaware, this is the 3rd annual Buffalo Ice Bowl;
it will be held on Saturday, February 16th, at Chestnut Ridge Park.

Here is the official link: http://www.nrdg.net/IceBowl08.pdf

And for more information, go to: http://www.nrdg.net

[timg]

I just added it to the calendar so it should show up towards the bottom of the forums around 4 or 5 days before the event.

[MattK]

Are either of you guys going to play? If I'm in town that weekend I think I'll give it a shot.

[bfaslewis]

I should be going. Dan Wiles wanted to check it out.

And I ran into John, who runs it, and he said that it's alotta fun...I'm just hoping that it's not too cold.

[MattK]

Sounds good, Lewis. I should see you there. I'd like to head down to the Ridge sometime to practice a bit first, since I haven't played there since October. Hopefully tomorrow won't be too bad. Sunday is supposed to be brutal, though.

[timg]

I won't be able to make it.. I rarely play in the winter plus it would be a bit of a trek to make it out there. Those tournaments are always too early in the morning for me ;)

[MattK]

Any chance on you waking up in time for the Como Lake Park course grand opening next weekend, Tim? ;)

[timg]

I scheduled service for my car that morning otherwise I'd actually make a real attempt to be there. I've never played in any sort of tournament/event so it would be interesting to see how I'd do.

[timg]

Hey Matt,

How was the Como event? I'm actually thinking of entering the Chili cookout thing on the 26th. I'm still trying to convince myself to wake up that early :)

[MattK]

I posted my worst and 3rd worst scores ever at that course. Wind was around 20 mph. I put 5 shots into the lake, and 2 into the "temporary lake" on hole number 9. I even had a roller get blown in. And I wasn't the worst; we had people quitting because they ran out of discs. The organizers tallied 31 discs lost in one round on hole 14! There was a contest to see who lost the most discs, the most was 7.

I didn't stick around for the wrap up. My group finished our last few holes as quickly as possible. It was like running a race when you've realized you aren't going to win, place, or even finish with a respectable result...in the end we just wanted to finish. It was a great group of folks to play with though; were it not for the wind I would have had a great time.

[timg]

oof.. 31 discs.. that's crazy! Sounds like a rough event for all involved.

[MattK]

That's 31, in one round, just on hole #14. I figure just as many went in on the second round. Of course, many went in on #10 as well, and I watched them slip in on #8, #15, #17 and #18 (and that was just in my group). Other losses were reported on #9, #16...just about everywhere there was water. Total discs lost for the day was surely in the 100's, though I have not heard an official tally yet. #14 was by far the worst hole, not only because it is the longest over the water shot, but also it was playing into the wind.

[timg]

Wow.. that surely must be some sort of record for most discs lost in a tournament.

I can't say I'm too broken up about not making it out that day. I had lost 2 discs at MCC last week so I would have been short a couple of discs to begin with.

[MattK]

You should definitely play that one at Chili, though. As I recall, you kick ass at that course.

[timg]

I think "kick ass" might be a little generous but I like to think I do ok :)

[MattK]

Well, you kicked my ass...but that's not saying much. :D

[timg]

On the plus side, at least there isn't much chance of losing discs in water! :D

[timg]

I ended up signing up for the Cookout. Should be interesting waking up that early on a weekend and attempting to be active. I'm not anticipating playing my top game given that I'll be half asleep on the course :)

[timg]

Wow.. so the cookout was a complete disaster for me. I haven't played that poorly... ever!

First round I just flat out played poorly. A combination of waking up that early and not taking my time putting (which I never really do). I was a bit put off by the serious demeanor of the other guys in my group.. although this was my first tournament and I'm used to playing with friends or alone so that seriousness probably just comes with the territory. They were there to compete, I was there to have fun. Very few words exchanged throughout the round due to the aforementioned serious demeanor of the other guys which made for a looooong 18 holes. That was the other thing, 3 hours to play 18! I usually finish in 40 minutes to an hour. After a certain point I just wanted it to be over as I felt it was dragging so my play started to dip more right around there.

I was going to leave after the first round as I had my fill but figured I'd stick it out. Glad I did because the second round was spent in the rain/wind/thunder storms. 3 hours while dry was rough for me, soaking wet was that much more fun.

Overall I would have to say I don't have the patience or serious demeanor necessary for tournament play. Looks like it'll be recreational rounds for me from here on out :)

[MattK]

Don't let it get you down, Tim. I've never done a sanctioned event, maybe everyone was just really serious about player ratings and such, or maybe you just got matched up with not-so talkative groups. When I've played fund-raiser / just for fun / beer league tournaments, it is usually a pretty fun crowd.

The slower play is just a fact of life. I find it takes about twice as long to complete a round. More people, more traffic jams on the course. Everyone moves as slowly as the slowest group.

But the important part: was the Chili any good?

[timg]

Yea, I think the slowness was really what bugged me the most or it was a very close second to playing in the rain. I tend to play a very fast paced game so this was like going from 200mph to 30mph.. suddenly I'm driving Miss Daisy.

As for the Chili, I'm not big on it so I went to McDonald's. They did have 3 varieties to choose from though.

I think if I enter another event one day I'm going to go for a non-sanctioned one where ratings, etc. aren't a factor. Chances are it'll be a little more light hearted and less hyper-competitive.

[ERicJ]

I've played half a dozen tourneys now and almost all my foursomes have been fun/entertaining. Though I did have one card that was just plain quiet, and you're right, that isn't nearly as much fun. I wonder how different tourney atmosphere is by region of the country... the Rec divisions here in Texas all seem pretty laid back.