2008 Amateur National Championship

[Bruce Brakel]

This is a list of the players who qualified at Rockford:

PDGA#   First   Last   Where Qualified
13087   Bruce   Brakel   IOS #4
24562   Dustin   Fee   IOS #4
30060   Kenny   Glassman   IOS #4
28440   Gabe   Guerrero   IOS #4
30613   Tate   Handy   IOS #4
22890   Kevin   Lenth   IOS #4
24032   Juan   Lopez   IOS #4
1276   Tom   Mcmanus   IOS #4
28057   Jordan   Merriman   IOS #4
17103   Dan   Michler   IOS #4
27973   Garrett   Podgorski   IOS #4
28464   Greg   Schwartz   IOS #4
12784   Mike   Strauss   IOS #4

This is the best tournament for amateurs I've ever played.  I'll be demonstrating what losing 35 pounds and taking steroids can do for your game.  Be there.

www.amnationals.com

[CEValkyrie]

Here is a link to some more discussion about this event. It is an awesome event!

http://discontinuum.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=3845.0

[Bruce Brakel]

I've only lost 30 pounds so far.  I've made the appointment for the steroids. 

This is the deal for getting in by playing a qualifying round the day before:

If you have a rating of 915+ and you pay the $25 for a qualifying round and complete the round, you're in, unless the tournament fills.  But it never fills.  So if you have an opportunity to carpool with someone and you're 915+, get here a day early, pay your $25 and go qualify.  If the tournament fills somehow, qualifying round players get in by score.  But the tournament never fills.  They only had 91 or 92 players last year and they can take something like 144. 

[reg-waters]

ok who else from here is attending this event .as i will be making the trip there now that i made the list and fore going playing at a very good long running local event The Pickle for those that have played The Pickle you know what i mean by it can be fun if you get lucky and miss  those  >:Dcircles for those that are hitting Am Nationals where you all staying getting a room at the Holiday in near Waterford if anyone wants 2 car pool once there just send me a message here and good luck to those playing

[Bruce Brakel]

Kelsey and I practiced the course yesterday instead of going to Tony and Michelle's wedding.  I practiced playing it.  She practiced caddying it.  She did not lose a disc.  I found one.

I had the best drive of my life on 3.  If the hole is 888 I threw the drive 588, but it is a steep downhill drive. 

The rest of the front nine sucked.  I had a 68.  This course owns me.  It beats me up every time. 

[SERG]

Work isn't going to let me make this one but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND attending this event if you have qualified. I've never played the Bowling Green Am Championships but I definitely believe this is the true AM event to attend if you can. You're treated with great amenities throughout the entire tournament and have the opportunity to play one of the most challenging courses (both physically and mentally).

Good luck to all who attend.

[Bruce Brakel]

Bowling Green -- feh.  Don't get me started on Bowling Green. 

Am Nationals has one of the best courses you'll ever play, great player packs, unending food, Lizard games, and I hear there's some kind of payout too.  Trophies go really deep. 

Am Nationals has tee times.  Everyone plays the course 1-18 every round.  I like that idea on on a course that has really tough sections.  Of course, on the Toboggan the tough sections are holes 1-18. 

Todd White was telling me about the player pack yesterday but I was not processing new information very well.  There's going to be a lightweight chair, custom embroidered.  There is going to be a custom made mini with your face on it.  They will take your picture when you check in and you'll get the mini the next day.  There will be that PDGA approved disc you can only get at Am Nationals.  There's more.  Ask on pdga.com and he'll probably tell you.  It's not a secret. 

[Jon Brakel]

Todd White is a guy that should be nominated for TD of the Year if he hasn't been already. Really nice guy and he gets the job done. Not too good at cribbage but I'll let that slide. 

[DiscCrazy]

This is the deal for getting in by playing a qualifying round the day before:

If you have a rating of 915+ and you pay the $25 for a qualifying round and complete the round, you're in, unless the tournament fills.

What if you don't have a rating of 915+? Can you still try and qualify? Is there any other way to qualify, other than playing advanced in a tournement and being in the top 20% that has not already qualified?

[Jon Brakel]

This is the deal for getting in by playing a qualifying round the day before:

If you have a rating of 915+ and you pay the $25 for a qualifying round and complete the round, you're in, unless the tournament fills.

What if you don't have a rating of 915+? Can you still try and qualify? Is there any other way to qualify, other than playing advanced in a tournement and being in the top 20% that has not already qualified?

I know there have been sponsor exemptions for the USDGC. Maybe there are sponsor exemptions for Am Nats also. Othere than that I think qualifying at a qualifyer or on the qualifying day before Am Nats are the only ways to get in.

Worlds is all about everyone getting to play if they want to. Am Nats is about the best Am players duking it out against a killer course.

[JCthrills]

After hearing about the event from Todd this weekend & others that are qualified I'd love to try my hand at getting in.  Do you know of any more qualifying events that a very low ranked (but fastly improving) player such as myself can get to in an attempt to qualify?  Am I reading correctly that the day before will be a last chance qualifier?

[JCthrills]

I think I may have found the answers to my questions... should have looked first I guess. From the PDGA boards:

The 2008 USADGC!
http://www.midgp.com/index.html

Held annually at the INFAMOUS 'TOBOGGAN' Course in Kensington Metropark in Milford, Mi.

Players with a rating over 915 can go play a qualifying round tuesday, wednesday, or thursday and qualify no matter what score they shoot due to their rating being over 915.

Everybody with a rating UNDER 915 must shoot a qualifying round of at least 915 to enter the event...

During last year's event a 66 (+4) round was rated 922... (remember this course has 6 par 4's and even a par 5!)
Qualifying rounds are $20 each.

The player's pack has ALWAYS been one of the major drawing points for players in previous years..

This year's player's pack includes: (Valued at $180)
--Embroidered Chair
--2 Discs
--1 Mini (this will be a super color with your mugshot & PDGA# on it!)
--1 Hat
--2-3 Towels (embroidered)
--7 meals over 3 days + players night

With your entry fee at $75, entering this event is a no-brainer!


BTW... the toboggan course will have baskets in on June 7th!

[Bruce Brakel]

You can find a list of qualifying tournaments at www.amnationals.com., but there are no more qualifiers for this year.  If you play Advanced, you can qualify for next year at the Illinois Open in Rockford in September. 

If you aren't 915 rated, you can get in by shooting a 66 during the week-of qualifying.  I'm 935 rated and I cannot shoot a 66.  Ratings for that course are kind of skewed because the ratings are being generated by a bunch of rapidly improving advanced players.  The course has an SSA of 58 to 59 when stable pros play it but an SSA of 56 to 57 when rapidly improving advanced players play it.  It is not because there is an easier Advanced version of the course but because top Advanced players just shoot more above their rating than top pros do. 

There are absolutely no sponsor exemptions to Am Nationals.  It may be the only tournament in the PDGA that has qualifying rules where money isn't one of them.   

The nice thing about this year's player pack is that for Innova throwers it is heavy on general merch and light on the Discraft discs.  One of those two discs is a Z Buzzz SS that has nice resale value. 

[JCthrills]

Well, at the very least I'll get to play a memorable round on the Tobbogan & have a couple extra days off work. Should I not qualify I'll be able to get alot accomplished at my soon to be on the market home in Burton ,MI.

[Jon Brakel]

There are absolutely no sponsor exemptions to Am Nationals.  It may be the only tournament in the PDGA that has qualifying rules where money isn't one of them. 

Never say never. No one has offered a large enough sponsorship. I could see someone win one of those $200 million lotteries and then think...hmmm...I could part with 1 percent of this for an opportunity to play Am Nats! 

[JCthrills]

Very true! Everyone & every company has their price.

[Bruce Brakel]

Mark Ellis has this great paragraph in his Am Nationals dinner speech.  He says something like, "This is the only tournament in the PDGA where you cannot buy your way in.  You can buy a sponsor's exemption to Pro Worlds, or the USDGC, or pretty much any other tournament.  I know; I have.  But not here.  Every one of you qualified by playing some damn fine disc golf.  You are truly the best amateurs in disc golf and everyone of you belongs in this tournament."  

[Jon Brakel]

Mark Ellis has this great paragraph in his Am Nationals dinner speech.  He says something like, "This is the only tournament in the PDGA where you cannot buy your way in.  You can buy a sponsor's exemption to Pro Worlds, or the USDGC, or pretty much any other tournament.  I know; I have.  But not here.  Every one of you qualified by playing some damn fine disc golf.  You are truly the best amateurs in disc golf and everyone of you belongs in this tournament." 

I think if someone came up with a figure that Kenner would agree to sell Discraft for, they would find themselves in the situation that they could play Am Nats if they wanted to. I'm not sure who wants to get humiliated by the course AND the field...but there could be someone out there, some day that gets him or herself into that situation.

[tacimala]

Jason Rose are you playing?

[skipache]

sadly no,  reports around here say that he is working on friday and thursday and maybe saturday too, he said that he was going to try and go to Circus City though....