garydropcho
Nov 01 2007, 03:45 PM
50 high school and middle school golfers played 6 different courses in Allegheny and Beaver counties during the Fall '08 season to determine the best individual players and school teams in the Pittsburgh area. When all the putts were made and the strokes tallied, three things remain the same: Marcus Ranii-Dropcho and Chris Hoeg are the top high school and middle school players; Pine-Richland has the strongest team of golfers; and disc golf continues to grow at the junior level in terms of the number of new players and the level of competition.
The growth was most evident over the course of the series, where the smallest fields were at the first events at Phillips Park and Monroevile, but grew steadily through September and October to a record 27 golfers at the final event at the par-66 Deer Lakes Disc Golf Course on October 27. In fact, the high school fields doubled and sometimes tripled the am and pro fields that were contested at the same times as the scholastic tournaments.
Within the high school division, Marcus Ranii-Dropcho repeated as series overall champion, winning each of the six events. Marcus won Deer Lakes by 5 shots, Monroevill by 11, and Economy by 13 strokes, but the margin was close at some of the other events: 3 stroke victories over of Series Runner Up and Hampton High School Captain Sean Malone at Phillips Park and Knob Hill, and a one stroke victory over Rookie of the Year Justin Thomson from North Allegheny at Schenley Park. Ranii-Dropcho always had the answer, however, and lead his team to the Pipe and Chains trophy as well.
The competition is getting deeper at the high school level where 6 different players finished in the top 3 spots at each of the events. Tenth and eleventh graders made up the majority of the players as well, pointing to continued growth in future years. All told, 46 high school players from 7 different school districts competed. While Pine-Richland and Hampton were 1 and 2 again, North Allegheny resurrected their team for a close third place. Deer Lakes players represented at their home course and Mt. Lebanon high school showed up for the first time in a long while. Highlands School District and PA Leadership Charter School made their debuts in 2007.
The middle school division was all Pine-Richland as eighth grader Chris Hoeg repeated his title. Davis Karran (8th grade) finished second and Connor Karran (7th) a close third. More recruiting will have to be done in the intermediate grades to fill the spots as Chris and Davis will play high school next year. Another area for improvement is to have some girls playing in the series. C'mon guys, bring your sisters and girl -- friends out to play. Disc Golf is a cheap date.
Thanks go out to all the parents who carpooled kids to the courses, to the volunteers from the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society who helped run the events at the various courses, to the parks that hosted the events (including Old Economy Park in Beaver County) and most importantly to Innova Disc Golf, Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society and Grip It and Rip It that sponsored the series with discs, tee shirts, trophies and prizes. Every participant got a golf disc at each event they entered, everyone in the series got a special edition T shirt, and the top three places at each event and in the overall series won trophies and prizes. Prizes were also awarded for Closest to the Pin and Longest Putt contests at each of the events.
In all, it was the biggest and best Scholastic Series yet! Thanks to all who participated.
J. Gary Dropcho
PSDGS Director
The growth was most evident over the course of the series, where the smallest fields were at the first events at Phillips Park and Monroevile, but grew steadily through September and October to a record 27 golfers at the final event at the par-66 Deer Lakes Disc Golf Course on October 27. In fact, the high school fields doubled and sometimes tripled the am and pro fields that were contested at the same times as the scholastic tournaments.
Within the high school division, Marcus Ranii-Dropcho repeated as series overall champion, winning each of the six events. Marcus won Deer Lakes by 5 shots, Monroevill by 11, and Economy by 13 strokes, but the margin was close at some of the other events: 3 stroke victories over of Series Runner Up and Hampton High School Captain Sean Malone at Phillips Park and Knob Hill, and a one stroke victory over Rookie of the Year Justin Thomson from North Allegheny at Schenley Park. Ranii-Dropcho always had the answer, however, and lead his team to the Pipe and Chains trophy as well.
The competition is getting deeper at the high school level where 6 different players finished in the top 3 spots at each of the events. Tenth and eleventh graders made up the majority of the players as well, pointing to continued growth in future years. All told, 46 high school players from 7 different school districts competed. While Pine-Richland and Hampton were 1 and 2 again, North Allegheny resurrected their team for a close third place. Deer Lakes players represented at their home course and Mt. Lebanon high school showed up for the first time in a long while. Highlands School District and PA Leadership Charter School made their debuts in 2007.
The middle school division was all Pine-Richland as eighth grader Chris Hoeg repeated his title. Davis Karran (8th grade) finished second and Connor Karran (7th) a close third. More recruiting will have to be done in the intermediate grades to fill the spots as Chris and Davis will play high school next year. Another area for improvement is to have some girls playing in the series. C'mon guys, bring your sisters and girl -- friends out to play. Disc Golf is a cheap date.
Thanks go out to all the parents who carpooled kids to the courses, to the volunteers from the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society who helped run the events at the various courses, to the parks that hosted the events (including Old Economy Park in Beaver County) and most importantly to Innova Disc Golf, Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society and Grip It and Rip It that sponsored the series with discs, tee shirts, trophies and prizes. Every participant got a golf disc at each event they entered, everyone in the series got a special edition T shirt, and the top three places at each event and in the overall series won trophies and prizes. Prizes were also awarded for Closest to the Pin and Longest Putt contests at each of the events.
In all, it was the biggest and best Scholastic Series yet! Thanks to all who participated.
J. Gary Dropcho
PSDGS Director