The Golden Sombrero Tour is up and running with last week's Redlands Ice Bowl. Tomorrow's Sand and Ice Bowl in Palm Desert will be the second stop on this year's 5-event circuit. After Palm Desert the series will move on the the Ice Bowl in Paradise @ Chavez Ridge on Jan. 23rd, the 3rd Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl @ Montiel Park on Feb. 13th and the final stop at Salt Creek Golf Course in Chula Vista on Feb 21st.

So what's the big deal? Well first off, all of these Ice Bowl tournaments give disc golfers a chance to raise money and collect canned goods for our less-fortunate neighbors - something that is undeniably good. Second, they provide a semi-competitive way to start off a new year of disc golf and a way to hone your skills for the upcoming SoCal Series. Third, the winner of the series receives an Innova Discatcher Traveller portable basket, which is a great prize, and everyone who enters ANY Ice Bowl in the series is entered into the opportunity drawings held at the last event at Salt Creek. And finally - these tournaments provide Carl, A.J., and the rest of the chuckle-heads around here (myself included) with an opportunity to hone their smack-talking skills.

How do you win the Golden Sombrero Series? Players will receive points at each event equal to the number of players that they beat at that event. At the end of the series, each player's top 3 point totals will be used to calculate their series points. This means that you don't need to enter all five events to win, a change from last year.

Right now it's pretty bunched up at the top, with Evan Taylor holding a slim lead after his ace-fueled 19-under at Redlands, but it's still anybody's race. Who will walk away from Salt Creek with the Golden Sombrero on their head? Maybe you!!!

Check out the current series standings at: http://pddgc.com/series_points.html

I have set up a tournament page for the San Marcos Ice Bowl on Disc Golf Scene: http://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/3rd_Annual_San_Marcos_Ice_Bowl_2010

I'll be updating the entries here on a regular basis, posting pictures of prizes and updates on any other pertinent info.

There is also a "Talk" section attached to the page, where the inevitable trash talking can take place. Cool thing about the discgolfscene web site is that once you are entered in the tournament and are signed up on the site, you can get e-mail updates on any changes to the tournament page.

I just sent Bert the updated GS Points table, which he will post at pddgc.com. But, here's a little teaser:

Golden Sombrero Top 10 after 2 Events:

Patrick Paramore 49 pts
A.J. Risley 45 pts
Bert Cotton 43 pts
Suzette Simons 41 pts
Allen Risley 40 pts
Jon Berg 40 pts
Carl Renda 38 pts
Evan Taylor 30 pts
Keith Gregori 27 pts
Austin Stringfield 24 pts

On the strength of a first-place and second-place finish, Patrick Paramore leads the field after two events. Things are still pretty tight at the top, as only 9 points separates the top 6 competitors.

But things can change considerably, and no one, not even those who missed the first two events, is out of it. Since points are awarded based on the number of players whose score you beat, there will be lots of points available at Chavez Ridge (80 players expected) and San Marcos (54 players expected), and Salt Creek is a complete unknown.

Who will wear the Sombrero this year?

Will the points for the upcoming events (Chavez, Montiel, Salt Creek) be based on the number of players in your division or for the overall event?

Will the points for the upcoming events (Chavez, Montiel, Salt Creek) be based on the number of players in your division or for the overall event?

Overall event.

So the winner of the Open division could potentially wear the Golden Sombrero in February?

Yes, but so could the winner of the Recreational division, if their score is better than lots of other players. It's all about how many people you beat, when everyone's scores are put in order. Don't assume that the Open division winner is going to score better than everyone else, 'cuz that might not be the case.

Online registration for the San Marcos Ice Bowl (Saturday, Feb. 13th, 2010) is now available at PDGA.com: http://www.pdgasignup.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1263849129

The Golden Sombrero points have been updated to include the Ice Bowl @ Chavez Ridge results. Full results will be available soon at pddgc.com.

There has been a change at the top of the leaderboard, as A.J. Risley has taken the lead with 111 points, followed closely by former leader Patrick Paramore with 110 points. Allen Risley is in third with 95 points and Carl Renda holds fourth place with 93 points. Chris Horn, Open division winner at Chavez Ridge, jumps onto the board in 5th place with 82 points, benefitting from the large size of the Chavez Ice Bowl field. Former leader Evan Taylor dropped to 8th place while previous top-5 player Suzette Simons slid to 17th place.

It looks like it will be very difficult for someone who did not play at Chavez Ridge to take the Golden Sombrero and the 1st prize Discatcher Traveller basket, because of the field size. Any of the top twenty-five players are still in the running, however, as long as they play in the remaining tournaments (San Marcos and Salt Creek).

The next stop on the Golden Sombrero Tour is in two weeks at Montiel Park in San Marcos. You can register for this event on-line at: http://www.pdgasignup.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=1263849129

Allen, I think I have more points than 100. If you are counting the whole field at Chavez, then I believe I would receive 61 points + 49 points (previously) for a total of 110 points. Also, by my calculation, AJ would have 116 points.

I wonder if there will be NO mulligans at Salt Creek? Playing straight up would give players in the running a fair chance to make up ground for the final results.

Allen, I think I have more points than 100. If you are counting the whole field at Chavez, then I believe I would receive 61 points + 49 points (previously) for a total of 110 points. Also, by my calculation, AJ would have 116 points.

I wonder if there will be NO mulligans at Salt Creek? Playing straight up would give players in the running a fair chance to make up ground for the final results.

Oops - I had a typo in the earlier post - Patrick should have 110 points, not 100.

And re: mulligans at Salt Creek - I am encouraging Randy to have mulligans for sale. The entry fee that you pay for most of these Ice Bowls barely covers the cost of the players packs, prizes, etc. Most of the money that goes to charity is made from the sale of mulligans. I think raising money for the charities is more important than the competition for the sombrero.

...

Oops - I had a typo in the earlier post - Patrick should have 110 points, not 100.

And re: mulligans at Salt Creek - I am encouraging Randy to have mulligans for sale. The entry fee that you pay for most of these Ice Bowls barely covers the cost of the players packs, prizes, etc. Most of the money that goes to charity is made from the sale of mulligans. I think raising money for the charities is more important than the competition for the sombrero. I'm all about raising funds for the charity. Of the 5 Ice Bowls though, I like the format at Chavez (still raise funds for charity and play competitive golf, do I really need another disc?). Well, I guess we can finish this battle by letting the person with the fattest wallet win.

I disagree Pat. The Ice bowls are all about charity. They are not tournaments that are meant to be litmus tests of who is better than who. Save that for tournaments like Memorial, GCC, etc. One thing that is overlooked in my mulligan abuse is that by the time the circuit is over I will have donated $100 to different charities through mulligans. That $100 also bought me an idea of where I was at and how competitive I could be. So I got something out of it, but I was not really ever trying to win, per se, just trying to play as best that I could. But what I get out of it is secondary, money is getting raised for good charities, hungry people are being fed...

And obviously I have work to do in order to be competitive again...LOL. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be but am working on it. It's all good as putting in the hard work is the fun part.

Oops - I had a typo in the earlier post - Patrick should have 110 points, not 100.

And re: mulligans at Salt Creek - I am encouraging Randy to have mulligans for sale. The entry fee that you pay for most of these Ice Bowls barely covers the cost of the players packs, prizes, etc. Most of the money that goes to charity is made from the sale of mulligans. I think raising money for the charities is more important than the competition for the sombrero.


I'd also like to play the Ice Bowl at Salt Creek !!!

OK...I'll try this again. I typed the whole post up yesterday only to have it erased when I hit "Submit Reply..."

Many thanks to all who played and helped out with the 3rd Annual San Marcos Ice Bowl on Saturday. We had very un-icy weather, with a high of 75 degrees and sunny skies all day. We surpassed our fundraising goal this year, collecting over $1,100 and a few hundred pounds of canned food for The Angel's Depot - good going, disc golfers!

The competition was close - lots of good golf and strategic use of mulligans led to some low scores. Highlights of the day included Deano Porter's ace of #5 (it may have been his first throw of the day?), Eddie Lopez's ace on #1 - which was his frst ace ever, and Patrick Paramore's aces on #2 in the first round and #1 in the second round - his first tournament aces and good enough to win the portable Innova basket. Luke Christensen shot a blistering 37 in the first round and cruised to victory in the Men's Open division. Other division winners were:

Men's Advanced - Danny Zwolenski
Women's Advanced - Laurie Stroh
Men's Intermediate - Nick Newton
Women's Intermediate - Liz Rousseau
Men's Recreational - Mike Henry
Juniors - Sam Maury-Holmes

Danny Z also took away the prize for the most canned food donated, so he had a pretty good day. Josh U'ren continued his winning Ice Bowl ways - last year he won the Innova basket for getting an ace, this year he won Disc Golf Bingo. And the winner of the prize for the lowest PDGA number in attendance was not #100 John Kirkland - though he was sure it would be - but instead Scott Dickson took the prize with PDGA #84.

Lots of thanks to the volunteers that helped out:

Monica Watkins, co-TD and logistician extraordinaire;
Brian Bobka, for helping all day long in many ways;
Michelle Chambless, Ben Rutherford and Michael Shaw, for helping out with player check-in;
Nick Newton, for helping us transport all of the tables and chairs to and from Jack's Pond Park;
A.J. Risley, for running the putting contest and providing a few "special" prizes;
Nate Carter, for supplying the sound system; and
Ryan Meyer, for helping with check-in, scorekeeping and schleping tables and chairs back to Jack's Pond.

Thanks to each of you for giving up your time the day before, energy, warm-up time, wind-down time, etc. to make this tournament a success!

We'll be back at Montiel Park in two weeks for our first "Couples" Disc Golf Tournament to benefit The Angel's Depot. This will be an excellent chance to bring a "significant other" who isn't a regular disc golfer, or to introduce some friends to the game. We'll have Ice Bowl discs for all players and more great opportunity drawing prizes, including more stuff from Stone Brewing. Please contact me at [email protected] ([email protected]rizbee.com) for more information!

With the San Marcos Ice Bowl being held this past Saturday, four of the five Golden Sombrero Series events have been contested, with 160 individual players taking part so far. The last stop on the GS tour will be this coming Sunday, at Salt Creek Golf Course for the San Diego Ice Bowl. The leaders in the competition at this stage are:

1. A.J. Risley - 136 points
2. Patrick Paramore - 131 points
3. Carl Renda - 129 points
4. Evan Taylor - 127 points
5. Dan Lichtman - 107 points

The title is still up for grabs. Watch out for Big D - since he only has played in two events so far he will close ground on the leaders if he plays at Salt Creek. Remember, each competitior's top 3 scores are used, so if the Salt Creek field is larger than the field at Redlands any advantage gained at Redlands may be wiped away. It will be very interesting to see who walks off with the Golden Sombrero...and the Discatcher Traveller!

And the winner is......

.... :D

The Salt Creek Ice Bowl on Feb. 21st concluded the 2010 Golden Sombrero Ice Bowl Series. 187 disc golfers participated in the five events, and over $3,000 was raised to support local charities that feed the hungry and provide other needed services for those less fortunate than ourselves. When all was said and done, A.J. Risley emerged as this year's Golden Sombrero Champion with a total of 141 points. A.J. received a Discatcher Traveller portable basket, courtesy of Innova-Champion Discs, and a shiny, sparkly golden sombrero. Right behind A.J. in second place was Patrick Paramore with 136 points. A.J.'s margin of victory can be attributed to his two-stroke edge over Patrick at Chavez Ridge, which resulted in a five point buffer.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4423428784_5e1672b0fa.jpg

The Golden Sombrero Top Ten:

1. A.J. Risley - 141 pts
2. Patrick Paramore - 136 pts
3. Carl Renda - 129 pts
4. Evan Taylor - 127 pts
5. Allen Risley - 113 pts
6. Daniel Lichtman - 107 pts
7. Chris Horn - 82 pts
8. Brian Vagi - 81 pts
9. Todd Banks - 80 pts
10. Cliff Towne - 78 pts
10. Jake Wills - 78 pts.

Full results for the series will be posted at pddgc.com. Thanks to everyone who participated, and we'll see you next winter!

The Salt Creek Ice Bowl on Feb. 21st concluded the 2010 Golden Sombrero Ice Bowl Series.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4423428784_5e1672b0fa.jpg

Thanks to everyone who participated, and we'll see you next winter!

You can tell it is winter in this photo because Patrick and AJ are wearing long sleeve shirts/hoodies with their shorts. :cool:

I love So Cal in February.