Illinois Winter Series 2008

[stpitner]

Along with Aaron Scott and Jason Rose, I am proud to announce the Illinois Winter Series 2008 - a 3-event series hosted by 3 different TD's.

While all of the information is not 100% finalized, we know enough information to start telling everyone about it!

Event 1 - 2nd Annual Jericho Lake Ice Bowl (Aurora) - Sat, January 12th - TD: Aaron Scott
Event 2 - The Abominable Snowman @ Madison Meadows (Lombard) - Sat, February 2nd - TD: Jason Rose (C-Tier)
Event 3 - Irish You the Best of Luck @ Community Park (Channahon) - Sat, March 8th - TD: Scott Pitner (sanctioned)

There will be series points awarded at each of the 3 events.  The events will be percentage based so that it does more of an equalization factor of different field sizes.  A first place finish will always be worth 100 points, and if there are say - 15 people in the field, 2nd would receive 93 points (defeating 93% of the field 14 out of 15 players), 3rd 87 points, 14th gets 7 points, 15th gets 0 points, etc.  The max you could score for the 3 events is 300 points.  There will be trophies for the series winners - what we're doing for these trophies is still to be determined.

We hope to have even more information coming out soon along with some flyers to help spread the word, but the plans are to have 2008 Ice Bowl custom stamped discs at the January tournament and then Winter Series custom stamped discs for the other 2 events!

Hope to see plenty of people out there for each event!

[tree]

Interesting concept

[stpitner]

there was a request to move the 3rd tournament for this event from Sun, March 9th to Sat, March 8th to allow more people to go to the Lumberjack Open in Battlecreek, MI.  They have MPO and MA1 on Sunday, with MA2 and MA3 on Saturday.  I would think that probably more MPO and MA1 players would be willing to travel and play both events, and since I haven't submitted sanctioning yet, I can still move dates.

Would there be others interested in this plan or would it cause more people to no longer be able to attend this tournament?

Don't hold me to it - but the current consideration is to hold the event in Joliet at West Park.  We haven't secured the park location yet.

[Fox Metro Discer]

I just worry about spring thaw. If there is a lot of rain, the course will be really muddy. And West Park has natural tee pads. Maybe Chanahhan would be a better choice? Multiple teepads that are concrete and alternate holes are easy to add at this course. Just an idea.

[airspuds]

why not lockport ?

[Fox Metro Discer]

doesn't lockport have like 6 missing baskets?

[ChrisPUTTS]

I was at Lockport a couple months ago and all the baskets had been installed... 

As far as i know they are still all in the ground..

[stpitner]

I have not played Channahon yet, are all of the tees concrete now?  Is there a fairly easy spot to reach to set up merch in relation to the parking lot and hole 1?

I just figured that down in that region would be a good spot to bring a couple more tournaments.

[can't putt]

Channahon has all concrete tees except for one or two longs.  There are a couple of good options for merch. setup -- you won't be disappointed there.  HOWEVER, if it's spring thaw that is the concern, Channahon has several holes that become lakes in the spring.

[Jon Brakel]

It's a crap shoot doing a tournament in this area in March (really any month--look at Aurora this year, we were lucky to be able to play that one!) but I think Channahon would be more playable when wet than West Park. You'll get your feet wet at either course but you won't be slipping in as much mud at Channahon and I think you'll do less damage to the course at Channahon if it is wet.

[damonshort]

It's a crap shoot doing a tournament in this area in March (really any month--look at Aurora this year, we were lucky to be able to play that one!) but I think Channahon would be more playable when wet than West Park. You'll get your feet wet at either course but you won't be slipping in as much mud at Channahon and I think you'll do less damage to the course at Channahon if it is wet.

I agree w/ Jon, and I'd also strongly suggest making a courtesy call to Frank Grimes if you do a tournament there when the conditions are questionable, considering the time he's put in on that course. 

[tacimala]

I really enjoy winter tourneys and playing in less than ideal conditions. For some reason it feels like a bigger success when you play well and can be more fun. With that it can also be not fun at all when you are playing bad AND playing in the cold. Cracked Plastic and Lumberjack Open over in Kalamazoo/Battle Creek have been staples of winter disc golf tourneys for years from everything I've understood and last year I played in both and had a blast all weekend long. I'll be playing in both again this year and recommend anyone else that is thinking about it to do so as well. Looking forward to some winter tourneys here locally!

[DiscGolfSchodt]

Any more info on event #3? I dont see it on the PDGA tour page i'm trying to decide on playing that or going to MI.

[stpitner]

The event will be moved to the 8th so that pro/adv players can go play the lumberjack open on the 9th.  The course should be decided upon at the ice bowl, and an announcement will be out next week along with sanctioning agreements going in.  I want to make it a B-Tier, but since once again I'm cutting it short on time before tournament it's going to be a C-Tier.

[DiscGolfSchodt]

sounds good, thanks

[stpitner]

3rd event - some news - I met Frank Grimes yesterday, and he and I discussed holding a tournament.  I am pleased to announce that as long as the park district has no problems with the date, the 3rd event in this series will be held on Saturday, March 8th, at Community Park in Channahon, IL.  We haven't figured out the specific details, but some of the money per player's entry fee will be given to Frank to be used towards continued work on course improvements.

The Irish You the Best of Luck tournament will be a PDGA-sanctioned event.

[tacimala]

Awesome, Channahon is a really fun course and Frank does a great job there! I just worry that the water will rival yesterday's outing, if not more.

[stpitner]

yeah, he and I discussed that - and he had a few ideas on what can be done.  So we'll keep an eye on the conditions and go from there!

[Fox Metro Discer]

I will have point standings up sometime today (if the kids allow). Just haven't had a chance to get to the numbers yet.

[Fox Metro Discer]

Here are the standings after the first of 3 events in the Illinois Winter Series.