Taking an idea from “the Buffalo guys” and their organization, and after floating the idea by some PFDS members (who seemed very interested), we’ve decided that we’d like to start a Match Play tournament here in the Pittsburgh area. Here are the basics:
Cost:
ONLY $20 per person for the entire tournament .

When:
From the end of June through Early Sept if we have a 32 person field. Complete your match at your convenience within the set time period for the bracket.

Format:
Player field will consist of 8, 16, 32 or 64 individuals (depending upon interest).
All players will be seeded into brackets (like the NCAA basketball brackets) with the winners advancing. Mulligans will be used as the handicap system.


I'd really like to know who is interested?? I already know that we can get an 8 or 16 person tournament going but I would like to get more if possible.

I know the disc golf “season” has already started but this seems like a load of fun. We should be able to complete the tournament in plenty of time, and build up excitement for next year! It will be a 100% payout to the top 4 finishers! If we get more players we can pay out a little farther also.

I tried attaching the rules and explanation page here, but had difficulty with file size limitations. Please contact me if you would like me to email you the document or if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions! I’m really hoping we can get at least a 16 person tournament patched together for this year and can grow from there if there’s interest in years to come. Also, I’d like to hear from you if you’d like to be considered for the Tournament Committee – it’d be nice to have about 5 people who might not be signing up to play in the tournament (so you’ll be more objective). Please pass the word around to people who do not check the forums so we can get a lot of people signed up and a bigger payout for the top players! I am going to send some information to be posted on the PFDS website also.

Funny you mention this.

Carl Vesch is thinking about ressurecting the Pittsburgh Challenge Ladder. It is a match play format. Everyone will get a bag tag and you can challenege other players with a tag.

The challenge ladder was a very successful league that ran from the late 90's to the mid 2000'.s Don;t let Buffalo fool ya ;)


Anyway, I believe Carl is willing to run this league again.

The challenge ladder should be beginning in the beginning of June. Cost will be $10 which will get you your tag.

Full rules will be posted later next week.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031208142834/pages.prodigy.net/disc_golfer/_wsn/page3.html


there is a link to one of the old challenge ladder websites with some of the old standings and scores.

http://www.vibramdiscgolf.com/playerscup/index.html


Check this out for some serious Match Play that is about to start.

Chris, I get the impression that you are hijacking this thread. A simple "I am not interested" would have sufficed.

I'm in for anything that happens

I like the match play tournament idea...Carl could always set up the challenge ladder too..i don't see the two events being mutually exclusive. Seems like tim has put a lot more thought into his plan though...

Below are the rules for the PFDS Match Play Tournament. I will also be sending the formatted PDF document to be posted in various other places and will let you know when it's available for viewing. If you're interested in participating, please email me at kstouden@yahoo.com so we can get an idea of how large the player field might be. Please remember to spread the word to those people who don't check the forums!

2010 PFDS Match Play Tournament

Cost:
ONLY $20 per person for the entire tournament .
You are not in the tournament until you pay!

When:
Complete your match at your convenience within the set time period for the bracket.

Format:
Player field will consist of 8, 16, 32 or 64 individuals (depending upon interest).
All players will be seeded into brackets (like the NCAA basketball brackets) with the winners advancing. Mulligans will be used as the handicap system.

RULES:

� All golf will be completed using a match play format. Score is kept by winning individual holes, not total score or strokes. Player with most holes won wins the match and advances to the next bracket.
� All matches will consist of 18 holes EXCEPT for the semi-final and final rounds which will consist of 36 holes.
� In the event that players are tied at the end of a match, a sudden death playoff will be necessary. The first player to win a hole outright will be declared the winner.
� PDGA and local PFDS rules will be in effect for all matches.
� The two meter rule in not in effect.
� If players cannot finish a match by the predetermined date, a forfeit MAY be declared. However, the tournament committee will make any final determinations regarding forfeits.
� If there is a question of the rules make a final determination as a group. If the group has trouble resolving the issue, please contact the tournament committee for a ruling.
� All round results must be emailed to kstouden@yahoo.com. They must include total holes won/lost for each player, course played and the date of the match.
� The participants will determine course to be played for each match. The following procedure should be used when determining a course to play:
1. The higher seeded player will select a course of his/her preference.
2. The lower seeded player then has the option of accepting that course or vetoing the initial choice and suggesting another course.
3. If the higher seeded player does not then agree, then the players have two options: 1. Select one of the other PFDS courses to play, or 2. Email the tournament committee and one of the remaining courses will be randomly assigned for the match.
4. 18 holes must be played. It will be permissible if both participants agree to a 9 hole PFDS course to play it through twice.


DETERMINING HANDICAPS:

� Handicaps will be based on a player�s PDGA rating.
� The handicap will be the difference of rating to 1000 and then divided by 10. For example, if Player A has a 930 PDGA rating then they would have a handicap of 7. The tournament staff will make each player aware of how many mulligans they will be receiving or giving for a particular match.
� Handicaps are updated as PDGA ratings are updated.
� Players that do not have a PDGA rating will be assigned a handicap based on their performance in local PFDS events and as determined by the tournament committee. Generically speaking, amateur players will receive a handicap around 12 and open players will receive a handicap around 7.


MULLIGAN SYSTEM:

� The mulligan system will be used. For example, if Player A was to receive 5 strokes from Player B then Player A will have 5 mulligans to use during the match.
� Regardless of what the handicap difference is the maximum number of mulligans a player will receive in an 18 hole match will be 15, and a maximum of 30 mulligans in any 36 hole match.
� In the event of a sudden death playoff, a player who has mulligans remaining may choose to use them. However, a player will not receive additional mulligans in a playoff situation.
� Mulligans may be used at anytime during the match with one exception: A player may not use more than one mulligan on any one shot. To explain, a player may not attempt a particular throw more than twice.
� Once a player has elected to use a mulligan, they must play the result of that mulligan�s lie.


DETERMINING SEEDING:

� In the future, the previous year�s winner will be the #1 seed and will receive free admission into the tournament.
� The following factors will be considered by the tournament committee when determining seeding:
1. PDGA rating
2. League results
3. Knowledge of the players ability by tournament committee members
4. Fairness of the seeding process
� Players who have never been members of the PDGA and have ratings assigned based on their league performance will not be seeded higher than players that have an established PDGA rating in the tournament.
� The committee will rank the players after sign ups have ended.


IMPORTANT DATES:

Coming soon! WE ARE HOPING TO START IN LATE JUNE!




Any questions, concerns or suggestions should be directed to kstouden@yahoo.com.





Special thanks to the Niagara Region Disc Golf Organization for the ideas and information. Much of the information contained in this document is taken directly from their site. You can visit their website at: http://www.nrdg.net.

I like this idea, I think that the higher seed should be able to pick the course and tees of his/her choice no matter what. If the lower seed doesn't accept, it should be an automatic forfeit.

The mulligans/handicap seems silly especially depending on course chosen. I know I wouldn't want to play a player with a 10 handicap at Schenley but would be more willing to do so at the long tees of Deer Lakes or Moraine.

Therefore, just my suggestion, but I believe that the higher seeded player should have the benefit of being able to choose the course and tees played.

You are correct Mark, both leagues will work just fine independently.


and I never said I wasn't interested, just that the Pittsburgh Challenge Ladder is coming back on June 1st. It is a match play league. It was the most successful league ever in Pittsburgh Disc Golf History. And I am glad that it is coming back.

I think your league sounds like a great idea.

Will there be a 100% payout? Or will some money go back to the club?

and I mentioned the challenge ladder, because at the end of the year we did this same format where the top 8 players would play the finals. 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc etc etc.

As posted previously, it will be 100% payout. And the higher seed will not dictate exclusively what course and tee's will be played. If you don't want to play someone with a high handicap at Schenley just veto it and send it to the comittee for random course selection. I realize that you would be a highly seeded player and you would like it to be weighted as heavily in your favor as possible but we are going for what is most fair.

The problem I see is the cutoffs. 8 and 16 players should be easy to find. What if you only get 31? does that mean that 15 people that wanted to play get kicked out? Worse yet if you get 60, do 28 people get the "sorry charlie"? It may be worth trying to create a bracket that does not exclude anyone.

I agree Scott. My wife and I considered doing a bracket with bye's for some of the higher seeded players but I was afraid that it would not be all that fair to some of the lower seeds that have to win more matches to get to the final. It seemed that since everyone pays the same amount to enter then some people should not be forced to win more matches than others. I think we will stick with the 8, 16, 32, 64 bracket format and unfortunately if there are only 31 players and we cannot entice just one more person to enter then its just tough luck for those left out. It should be even more incentive to sign up early to guarantee inclusion. I am really hoping for a 32 person field since the payout will be really nice for first place (around $340 with maybe a little extra added).

Just curious how the payout will be done? I think being a handicap league it would be nice to pay out at least 50% of the participants. It would be nice to spread the money out instead of it just going to the top finishers.

Thanks for running this Tim, sounds like a good time.

Good news! We have the first tier goal of 8 people ready for the Match play tournament. I am still hoping for 16 or 32 players but now that we have enough people to get the tourney started we will have the first round begin on June 26th with two weeks to complete your round. We will wait until a few days before to post the bracket to give more people a chance to join.

As per a suggestion by Mark Prestopnik we will have a random draw for the starting positions in the bracket, instead of seeding each player. The person with the lower handicap will still be the one to make first suggestion on course choice.

We are still looking for people to sit on the Comittee (really you don't have to do much) and I would prefer the comittee members to be people not registered to play.

If you would like to join please send an e-mail to kstouden@yahoo.com. So there is absolutely no confusion, if you have not sent an e-mail to the address above or talked with me in person you are not registered.

I hope to hear from some more of you soon. Thanks, Tim

Any chance you could post who the people playing are? And their respective handicaps?

The 2010 PFDS Match Play tournament is starting this weekend! We currently have 12 players signed up and ready to go. I would like to get four more players to round the field out to 16. The new ratings update is tomorrow so I will finalize the handicaps this week and will be doing the Bracket draw this week at Schenley's Wed night league.

On Thursday I will post the first round Match ups and handicaps.

Put me down if you get 16. I will kick you the money when I see you.

If you still are going to need more players to get to 16 I would be interested. Let me know if you do and where or who to get my money to.

With you two, we will only need two more and I think the Olcotts were interested. I will be at Schenley on Wed, Deer Lakes on Sat and Timberlink on Sun.

Count me in. I will bring money tomorrow. Olcotts might be in, but whoever plays them will have to pick them up and take them home.

lol. that is too funny. I will pay up this weekend. I plant to be at both places.

If we do get more last minute signups and go over 16 people then Katie and I will back out to give everyone a chance to play.

Tim - I'll gladly back out before you do...you know i don't need more dg sucktastic these days.

Olcotts might be in, but whoever plays them will have to pick them up and take them home.

^^^ He's not joking. :p

So if someone has to play one of them and they don't show its a forfeit? Sounds like easy money to me...lol

And allow 6 hours for your round with the Olcotts.

is it too late to get in on the match play??

Scott and Chris could you please PM me your e-mail addresses?

for some reason I cannot send a PM??? deitzel at hotmail is my email

scott.hartle@pfds.org

i'll take that as a no.....thx anyhow...

I did not see your name on the bracket. Did you call or email Katie or Tim?

The 16 person field has been filled. There is one person, though, who is considering not playing. If you want to send us your email address we'll add your name to the list of alternates and let you know. Hopefully we can get a 32 person field together next year.

Will the bracket be published on PFDS.org with updated results?

Lori would LOVE to play!!!! Let me know ASAP.

Me and Matt McMillan played our round today at Moraine. I won 4-2. I saw Heintzelman playing his round today as well at Moraine.

Chris, have Lori shoot us an e-mail at kstouden@yahoo.com. When each round is complete we will post an updated bracket. Since the Tournament was supposed to start today and we still have one person that may change we have not posted the Starting bracket. More to come.

Craig McCloud and I played our match at Deer Lakes tonight. I won 4 and 2.

Sid beat Scott Hartle at Knob.

Lori and Sean Bolen had a great battle yesterday at Knob. Sean ended up winning 4-3. They both shot 59's to the C-pins at Knob. Great fun to watch.

Our last first round match is scheduled for Thursday. We are tenatively planning for the second round to start this coming weekend. Matchup e-mails will be sent out in the next day or so with the exception of the undecided bracket.

What is the undecided bracket?

Katie corrected me. We have two matches undecided. One is scheduled for thursday but the other is in danger of becoming a forfeit if they cannot finish it by saturday. We will be sending out the Match up e-mails this weekend or before that if both matches complete. Sorry for the confusion.

Sorry it took me so long to figure out how to post the starting bracket! Here it is for your viewing pleasure. Once our first round matches are all complete (by this weekend) I will post the updated bracket soon after and there will never be another delay!! Also, sorry for the small font. I'll play around with it, but for now just squint...

As promised, here is the updated bracket for the second round of Match Play.

I beat Sean 6-5 in sudden death tonight at Moraine from the gold tees.

I was down 5-1 with 6 holes to play.

5-1 with 5 holes to play I should say. It was amazing battle. I had to shoot a 62 from the golds to beat Sean. I managed to get points on 14,15,16 and 18 to tie him. And then his putt for birdie on Hole 2 rolled away and he took a bogey to my par. What an intense match it was.

Nice playing Sean!!

Brian Grace and I played tonight at Deer Lakes (white tees), and he won a see-sawing battle 7-5 after 18 holes. Brian's round was highlighted by hitting the pole on both Holes 4 and 12 and parking his second shot from the middle of the mud on 16.

WOW. Birdie from the mud on 16 is HUGE!!!

I wanna be there for the Brian vs. Tim match....assuming Tim makes it to the next round...Let me know when you guys play.

I wouldn't buy tickets for that match up yet since I am taking on Jeremy on his home turf, and my nemesis, LakeView DGC at Moraine!

Who won the match? Sid and Scott are playing tomorrow at Knob. Then I will know who I get to play next.

Tim kicked my butt. He had me closed out with 4 holes left to play. He played well. One over from blues at Moraine. I had about my worst round of the year out there shooting a big old 75.

Like I said...lemme know when the Brian vs. Tim match is. I want to see that

Sid beat Heintzelman today at Knob. So now we have Brain and Tim and Me and Sid in the next round.

Don't forget the Semis and finals are 36 holes.

Mark, Brian and I would like you to randomly select our course for us. Although if he plays the Knob Hill course championship that would be a good time to play since it is 36 holes and neither of us has mulligans.

If you guys want to do the KH course championship thats cool...I was thinking about going, so at least I'd be there to hear about it. What if you're not put in the same group? Or are you assuming you guys will be at the top of the field?

If not, I am thinking Phillips Park...now that would be sick...though it has to be an 18 hole course right?

Any course in Pittsburgh qualifies.

The semi-final round of the Match Play Tounament starts tomorrow and 36 holes must be played by each of the participants! The handicaps were updated after the most recent ratings update on July 10th (this only effects Brian and Tim's match where they are now completely even).

Good luck gentlemen!

committee might be making it's first course selection for me and Sid.

Can we play the 36 holes at 2 different courses?

Absolutely. You can play 18 at one course and the second 18 at another. It just has to be 36 Holes played. If you guys need a random draw let us know and we will send it off to our Comitee member (because only one person volunteered).

Nice.....J.Gary have them play Phillips Park. Sid can take the bus!

Perfect! But Chrissy won't play a match on a 9-hole course.

Sid and I played our first 18 holes today at Knob Hill. I am winning 8-3 with 18 left to play. We were wondering if Sid gets 2 mulligans each round or for the total 36 holes?

Each round. Please use the e-mail chain for these kinds of questions since Sid should be on them also in case he does not see the forums.

lol, Sid doesn't see emails either

I see both. And what are you still doing posting on this thread? Didn't you get knocked out in the first round?

Brian and I played our semi-final match today at Deer Lakes. We were tied 13 - 13 after 36 and played 1 sudden death hole where Brian took a wicked 100 ft roll away back down #1's fairway on his second shot leaving me to putt in a 4 for the win.

Is there any update from the Sid - Chris semi-final? Today is the last day for the semis.

I was told by Chris that Sid had to forfeit because of illness.

Hey Tim. Thought Chris would have told you, I couldn't make it out last week to finish. Good luck and thanks to you and Katie for putting this together. It is a good idea and was a lot of fun. Count me in on the next one.

Chris Deitzel and Tim Stouden have advanced to the final round of the 2010 Match Play Tournament! Congratulations guys! Attached is the bracket.

Tim I can play Wednesday or Thursday. If that doesn't work, we can play next week sometime. Would you like to play Deer Lakes?

Chris, I can do Wednesday late afternoon or evening at Deer lakes. You can reply to the e-mail I sent you about what times will work.

I'd like to come just to heckle you two!

Make it Thursday and help with the Tpad party!

Tim and I are finishing our match at Deer Lakes tonight. Tim is up 3-2 after 18 holes from Deer Lakes white tees.

Should be a good finish tonight.

Let's go tim...Let's go tim!!!

Chris Won

Sorry to dissapoint Kurt but Chris Deitzel is the 2010 Pittsburgh Match Play Champion. It took two sudden death playoff holes to decide it, but Chris won 7 to 6 with all 36 holes played at Deer Lakes. The deciding hole was really the first playoff hole (hole #1) where Chris hit an early tree and kicked right but made a huge upshot followed by a 40 ft putt to push the hole! He went on to clinch by parking the next hole. It was an all around great round.

I want to thank everyone who played in the match play tournament and to Katie who did most of the organizing. I also wanted to apologize that our handicapping system did not seem to work as well as I hoped given that there were no upsets throughout. We are planning on having more match play tournaments with modified rules to even up the play. Anyone with ideas on how to better the Pittsburgh Match Play tournament should feel free to e-mail me at tistoude@hotmail.com. Thanks again.

Tim Stouden

What a battle out there yesterday. Tim started off the match with a 3-2 lead after the first 18 holes. I started out strong yesterday getting points on Hole 1 and Hole 3. Tim hit about a 50 foot putt on Hole 4 to push the hole. We both pushed Hole 5. I got a point on 6 and 8. So it was 6-3 with 9 holes to go.

We both took 3's on 10, 3's on 11, and we both took 2's on Hole 12. Both 3'd Hole 13 and then Tim took a point on 14 and 15 with birdies.

6-5 with 3 holes to go. I took a point on Hole 16. He got a point on 17.

18 Tim threw a sweet drive and I managed to flip my destroyer and land OB.

TIE GAME!!!!

Hole 1 Tim uses his last mulligan as his disc hit an early tree. His mulligan hits the same tree but deflects it perfectly up the fairway for an easy upshot. My drive kicks right and leaves me with a wall of trees. Somehow or another I managed to get my destroyer through the gap and about 40 feet short and right nof the pin. After a few gnats got in my ear I finally focused myself to make sure I hit the putt. CHING!! I couldn't believe I saved that 3. I was pretty sure the game was over after the drive,

Hole 2 Tim swung his drive just a little too far left and caught some limbs which dropped his disc halfway up the hill to the pin. My drive skipped just short of the pin and landed about 10 feet away. Tim missed the putt and the game was over.

It was an incredible match from start to finish. Tim sure can play, and has a killer putt. I enjoyed playing in this event and can't wait for the next one. Thanks to Tim and Katie for putting on a great event.

Attached is the final Match Play bracket. Congratulations Chris!