“WORLDS” is Full of Stars…
Day 4 was a soggy one. It rained on and off all day. Even with the lousy weather we saw some amazing golf scores. Open competitor Avery Jenkins’ 53 at Blue Valley was unbelievable! One eagle and 11 birdies resulted in his low score. That course is over 10,000 ft. And even more incredible is that there are competitors not that far behind him. Coda Hatfield is 3 back with former World Champions, Climo, Schultz, Doss and Feldberg, on his heels as well. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Another group worth mentioning is the Amateur Senior Grandmasters. All 4 competitors on the lead card (Bob Mohl, Gary Camp, Chuck Hornsby and Charles Parsons) birdied Hole 18 (362 ft) at Pleasant Hill during their afternoon round. The furthest out was just 60 ft. Great job guys!
Preceding the evening’s Star Par Talent Show, women gathered in the ballroom for a Women’s Committee meeting with the main focus being bringing more women to the sport. Hosting women only events, women’s leagues, the soon to be launched www.pdga.com/women website, and how tournaments can be more women friendly were just some of the topics discussed. It was a great turnout for this meeting. I believe the Women’s Committee is well on their way with future planning and bonding. Thank you to all who attended.
Now for the main event… The Star Par Talent Show sponsored by Innova. This event was what Worlds is all about. The bonding outside the competition makes it more of a convention. There was juggling by Wayne Dillen (he bit an apple during one of his juggling acts), Steve showing his skill of tuba playing while “putting” (which comically ended with him throwing his bag at the basket while playing this tuba – cementing the fact he didn’t make many putts) and musicians galore. The two who took 2nd and 1st were Chase Pruit (played the guitar and harmonica - Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”) and taking the portable Innova basket home was Tony Burciaga. His talent application said “guitar and stuff”. He played the guitar and drums simultaneously. The song was “San Francisco Bay Blues” in which he stopped in the middle of his performance and said in a “matter of fact” manner - “My first ace was with a Juliana Korver Valkyrie.” He then proceeded with his song like nothing had stopped. (Korver was one of the judges). The crowd just roared. Tony, you were incredible!
Honorable mentions are Ernie Small’s band which consisted of Ernie playing guitar, Rick Rothstein playing a “mean” harmonica and Crazy John Brooks playing the trombone. Their Kansas City (Blues) song honored the courses in the chorus: “Might play Swope, might play Rosedale, might go Down Under you just never know. I’m going down to Kansas City they got some pretty little courses, I just might play some.” ( I hope I got that right.) Toni Ray sang a Tracy Chapman song dedicated to a friend as well as an original she wrote titled “Say Goodbye”. My favorite line was “did you see the yield sign when you were driving me crazy”. Great job girl! “Granddaddy” from NY played an original as well titled “One of Them Days”. It was about his terrible rounds at a tournament; singing about roll away putts “Look at ‘er go!”. He invited everyone out to his private course in NY. The MC was hilarious. After the invitation he said to the audience, “OK, so here’s what we want you to do. Leave Kansas City. Hop on a plane to NY. Come back for your 8:00 AM tee time. That’s all you gotta do.” The pauses between each sentence made for a perfect delivery. Billy Lane and Merle played guitar as well. Merle’s playing was so incredibly moving and peaceful. I wish I could remember the song but it had an Italian feel to it… he said there were like 3,000 notes in that one song. His fingers were constantly strumming making the notes so delicate. It was beautiful. Then we woke up to Billy Lane’s Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here”. I bet everyone was singing along in their heads to that familiar tune. He dedicated it to his friends back in CA. (Pictures below: Wayne Dillen and assistants Lydia and Vivian, Steve the Tuba Playing Putting Guy, Ernie Small and the Old Guys, Toni Ray, Granddaddy, Merle Witvoet and Billy Lane)
The “Wild Card” act was performed by Val Jenkins and Nate Doss. What skill they have! It was comical to say the least. Their “off the top of their head” act? B-boxing by the lovely Val while Nate OWNED the dance floor with his break dancing moves. Let’s just say there will be a YouTube video of this I am most certain. Unfortunately for us, but fortunate for them, their pictures turned out fuzzy...guess it was all the movement in those dance moves!!
Becky Stebbins did a fantastic job with the production of the evening’s entertainment. But it was more than just entertainment for me. To be among people you see as disc golfers and then invited into their personal lives made it very moving for me. Chase plays in his church praise band (which I relate to because I run the lights for our Contemporary service) and the Dillen girls (Vivian and Lydia) play tennis and basketball as well. To step away from the golf competition of Worlds and interact on another level just makes Worlds that much more meaningful. As Billy Lane’s act explains it best… we all “wish you were here”.
Tomorrow evening’s activity will be the Fly Mart from 7:30 PM – 11:00 PM with over 40 vendors - a disc golfer’s dream shopping experience.
Peace,
