Summer League Championship & Invitational Tournament Recap
You remember that moment in The Office when Michael gets given the gold medal in The Office Olympics?
“My heart feels very full in this moment.”
That was me driving home from this event yesterday. My head was spinning with a ton of thoughts and feelings but all I could think to say to myself was that I’m so lucky and grateful. Looking back over this season it’s been a long and scenic road. So many stand-out moments - the kind that remind us that life is good, and it’s better when you can share it with good people.
I’d love to share the collection of my favorite moments across this season, but this post is really about yesterday’s event; the culmination of our summer league and the invitational tournament. First, a bit of background:
Coming into the final event of the season we already knew that the league winner would either be Ismael Ochoa or Brad Cook . These two sat far enough ahead in points that 3rd place was officially out of reach which set the stage for a great championship showdown (see promo here). Brad had the minor advantage coming into the day with a 3 point lead in total league points, but if you know how our point structure worked this season, you know that a 3 point difference isn’t much.
Ismael and I set up the registration/sign-in table in front of the Dellwood shop around 7:30 AM. We were met by Sheila and Sean Callahan of Dellwood Disc Golf soon afterwards who made sure we were good to go with our CTP gift cards - big thanks to Sean and Sheila. Right around the same time Ryan Fancher of Unstable Disc Golf showed up like a Disc Golf Santa Claus carrying trophies, jerseys, AND a box of donuts. Let me pause here for a moment to just talk about Ryan…you can look far and wide online or offline and you will NOT find a better person to work with in the Disc Golf arena. From the quality of his work to the experience of working with him it’s just unbelievable how much he cares. The trophies he put together for this event were simply beyond our expectations. Same with the jerseys he made for us. In the build-up to this event he was simultaneously working with a dozen other event organizers and projects, yet he never gave us the impression that he wasn’t on top of things and considerate of delivering a great finished product. Seeing the trophies and jerseys (and donuts) in person was one of the great moments of our year. HUGE THANKS! Everyone should be supporting Unstable Disc Golf.
Over the next hour and a half we signed-in both existing members and brand new members. In the end we wound up with 34 players for the day - some of them who had just happened to stumble across the tournament by chance and decided to jump in. With the help of the DGC crew (AKA Mob Golf) managed to get all 27 CTPs organized, the cards set, and begin the player’s meeting. After running through the unique course layout planned by Tournament Director Ismael Ochoa, we sent everyone out to get the action started.
10 minutes after blowing the tee-off horn, the sky turned black. It was only 10:30 AM but we legitimately had a hard time seeing our discs. We finished up the hole and walked toward the next hole while discussing what might happen if the weather really turned on us. Mid-conversation, the sky opened up and an absolutely torrential downpour began, soaking pretty much every single player AND our photographer (Brandie Zalas) in the process.
“Well, as much as the rain sucks, we can still play through it. As long as there’s no lighting…”
FLASH. BOOM. The sky lights up and the loudest closest-sounding crack of thunder shuts us right up. Nothing we can do about that one. That must have struck somewhere directly on the course. Not good. We blow the inclement weather horn and head back to tournament central.
It was kind of funny seeing everyone come flocking back to the shop, drenched but in good spirits. Sometimes this kind of thing can really crush your spirits, but I’m happy to say that everyone was chill and just rolled with it. We turned on some tunes (Disc Golf Chicago Spotify Playlist) and checked the weather radars. Looked like everything would clear up shortly so we hunkered down and hung out.
Turns out the lightning DID strike on the course and things actually got a little dicey for a few players. Travon Brown and Quentin Thorsen came back to shop clearly charged up (pun intended) about something, and then they shared with us their story. In the middle of playing hole #11 the lightning struck no more than a couple hundred feet away. In fact, it was so close that Quentin felt a shock run through his umbrella causing him to drop it. Luckily no players were hurt…and everyone signed waivers. Once we got back to playing we learned that the lightning had struck a tree right near the basket on #11. The tree was split from top to bottom, and somewhere within that crack was the freshly fried carcass of a poor bird who was in the wrong tree at the wrong time. So, while I’m glad to say that no players were hurt at this event we can’t rightfully say that everyone survived.
Lightning delay cleared at 11:15 and we picked up where we left off. We’re thankful to everyone for keeping their attitudes right and for being patient. We’re always going to prioritize safety, and we appreciate your understanding. Over the next 3.5 hours the weather progressively got better, allowing everyone to have a great time playing Ish’s challenging layout. Meanwhile we had three AWESOME people doing some HUGELY important behind the scenes things to help take this event to the next level.
Brandie Zalas wandered the course with her insanely expensive camera and documented the action. She did this as a volunteer out of the kindness of her heart. Pictures will be shared online ASAP. Brandie is genuinely one of the most sweet people on earth and you should probably keep her in mind if you’re interested in a photographer for your events or family photos. (sidenote: she will be doing photography at my wedding)
Kevin Macnamara who was extremely excited to play in this event but had recently sprained his ankle accepted my request to be our grillmaster for the day. On top of that, he accepted when I asked if he would capture footage of people teeing off on 13L. So, while we played, Kevin filmed, and cooked our food…on crutches… with a freshly sprained ankle. WHAT. A. LEGEND. Next time you see this guy, just give him a high five, or just bow in gratitude.
My dad, Tony Seminary. Basically two days before the event I was trying to figure out how to handle all the food prep, and I was kind of between a rock and hard place. I did what I do anytime I’m not sure where to turn… I called my dad, and he of course came through in the clutch. He prepped about 25 lbs of chicken drumsticks on Friday night, then on Saturday grilled them all at his house, then delivered them to us right as our round finished. Based on the feedback I heard, I think the chicken may have been some people’s favorite part of the day. Thanks Dad! (Sidenote: my dad is Teamster’s union organizer. If youre ever curious about unionizing your workplace, he would be happy to answer your questions.)
Once all the cards came back, everyone dug in to the burgers, sausages, chicken, chips, and water while the DGC team sorted through the scores and CTPs. See the scores here: DGC Summer Invitational results
Congratulations to new DGC member Quentin Thorsen! Shooting the 991 rated hot round with a 77 he was 3 strokes lower than the next closest player, making him the Champion of the first annual DGC Summer invitational. Congratulations Quentin!
And finally, settling the big question; Who rules Chicagoland (for the summer of 2019)? It was definitely a shootout between Brad and Ismael. Before I say who took it down in the end, I just have to say a couple things about both of these guys… First, I was real happy that it was these two at the top of pile battling for first place. Both guys greatly care about this club and it shows by the time they spend planning things, the donations they make, and the way they represent us on and off the course. Whichever way things shook out in the end I think I speak for everyone when I say we were going to be happy with whoever took down the championship.
After all was said and done, it was Mr. Bradley Paul Cook who claimed the title as our rightful champion of the 2019 Summer. He finished the day one stroke ahead and just a couple of league points ahead of Ismael. Congratulations Brad! Hell of a season. Thanks for everything you do for the club. We’re proud to have you as the champ.
After everyone ate their fill of food, we handed out CTPs and trophies, we hung around for a while bumping tunes, cleaning up, and sharing stories. I think coming out of the event the DGC administrative team (AKA Mob Golf) was kind of walking on air. We’re extremely grateful to everyone for coming to participate and we hope everyone had a good time. We’re not sure exactly how soon it will be when we organize our next thing, but we’re 100% looking forward it. Stay tuned!
Special thanks:
Andy Odeh - Planning food/catering, buying supplies out of his own pocket, organizing the CTPs, general administrative help year round.
Kiel Devine - Manging club finances and continually donating CTPs through the years
Brad Cook - Donating to the ace pot and CTP prizes. Assisting at tournament central. Setting a great standard of expectations as our 2019 Champion.
Kenny Slawson (Basket Cases Disc Golf) - Donating CTP prizes and helping to co-ordinate events together between Basket Cases and DGC
And thanks to all members of the club, past and present. Your support means everything. Without you none of this is possible.
