Sep 08 2007, 10:04 PM
Registration is now open for Tournament of the Damned V (aka Tournament of the Dams), October 6th and 7th. A registration form should soon be available at NEFA.com,. and is now available at BuffumvilleDiscGolf.org.. I have applied for PDGA sanctioning as a Tier �C� event. The tournament will feature four of New England's premier disc golf courses, located at US Army Corps of Engineers dam sites: Tully Lake, Royalston, Massachusetts � 18 holes. Barre Falls Dam, Hubbardston, Massachusetts � 18 holes. West Thompson Lake, N. Grosvesnordale, Connecticut � 18 holes. Buffumville Lake, Charlton, Massachusetts � 18 holes + a 5-6 hole safari (or, should it be 27 holes plus?). Yes, this is a new format�four dam courses in 2 days; and no, it has nothing to do with the Dam Open. 90 players maximum.


Schedule
Saturday, October 6th: Round 1, Tully Lake, 18 holes. Round 2, Barre Falls Dam, 18 holes
8:00 � Registration, Tully Dam
9:00 - Players Meeting (look for sign)
9:15 - Start Round One, Holes 1-18
Lunch (on your own, in transit)
1:15 pm - Round Two Players meeting, Barre Falls Dam (near picnic shelter)
1:30 pm � Round Two, Holes 1-18

Sunday, October 7th: Round 3, West Thompson Lake, 18 holes. Round 4, Buffumville Lake, 18 holes plus Safari round for top Pro and Advanced players.
8:30: Players Meeting, West Thompson Lake (near Tee #1 at boat ramp)
8:45: Start Round Three, Holes 1-18
Lunch (on your own, in transit)
1:00, Players meeting, Buffumville Lake (behind office)
1:15 pm - Start Round Four, Holes 1-18
4:00 - Safari Round - top players in Pro Open and Advanced will play a 5 or 6-hole safari round at Buffumville Lake.
5:30 � Cookout & Awards Ceremony (at Buffumville Lake)

Special Conditions: Use of illegal substances, and use of alcohol during play, is an automatic disqualification. Shirts required; no tee shirts allowed Ace pot for each course; un-won ace pots subject to CTP contest. Top scorers at each course win special prizes. Overall top professionals (40% of field) win cash. Overall top amateurs (40% of field) win Buffumville Bucks (gift certificates). Pre-tournament check-in by 9 am on Saturday required (even if pre-registered.) No cell phones allowed during play.

Note: an email address is required to register. I anticipate needing to communicate important notices from time to time as plans for this event jell.

I strongly encourage you to pre-register in advance. That will be a huge help considering the complicated nature of registering and putting together groups for this 4-venue event. Also, you will avoid paying an extra $5.00 fee for registering the day of the event. Get your PDGA membership current to save another $5.00 PDGA non-member fee.

I am looking for cash sponsors, CTP prize contributions, and hands of help. I will need a co-TD for each course. Also, cook for the cookout Saturday afternoon.

David Stidham, Tournament Director
41 Dellwood Rd.,
Worcester, MA 01602
508-791-9094
email info@buffumvillediscgolf.org

booksmart
Sep 22 2007, 12:00 PM
bump.

Sep 26 2007, 09:59 PM
THE COURSES

The Tournament of the Damned (aka Tournament of the Dams) features four US Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam projects. With the installation of a disc golf course at Buffumville Dam in Charlton, Massachusetts in 1998, the federal dams have proven ideal for disc golf courses in New England. The varied terrain at the damsites, along with the elevation changes, long open fields, tight woods, plenty of OB riprap (stone protection on the slopes of the dams and roads), and often spectacular water hazards, make for great disc golf. The Buffumville Lake DGC turned out to be one of the most popular and challenging courses in the region. Soon, disc golf courses sprang up at other Corps of Engineers dams, including Barre Falls Dam in Barre, Massachusetts, West Thompson Lake in North Grosvenordale, Connecticut, and Tully Lake in Royalston, Massachusetts. Currently, a course is being developed at Hop Brook Lake in Middlebury, Connecticut.

SATURDAY - ROUND 1 - TULLY LAKE. Tully Lake�s 18 holes were the result of two Eagle Scout projects in 2003 and 2006. As Joe Yaskis said on another NEFA thread, Tully has some great holes, and some poor ones too. Recent forest regeneration cuts have opened up several holes (to their improvement, in my opinion), but this did leave a lot of slash and debris around. In a short time, the stumps will re-sprout, creating a big brush problem (especially, for example, hole 14).

Here is the map of the course:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/tul/Disc%20Golf%20Course%20Map. pdf

Go here for a virtual tour of the course:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/tul/discgolf.htm

Tully Lake DGC has 18 Discraft pole holes, but no tee pads. Teeing is from the natural terrain, and there is no tee lines marked. For the tournament, the tee line will be marked with wire flags. Jeff Mangum, the Corp�s Project Manager, is interested in working with volunteers to make tee pads and/or more permanent tee line markings.

It is 24 miles between Tully Lake and Barre Falls Dam.

SATURDAY - ROUND 2 � BARRE FALLS DAM. There are 18 Discraft pole hole at Barre Falls Dam. The course is in great shape, with helpful tee signs. The OB marked on each tee sign will be the OB for the tournament. Barre has several holes featuring open fields. The grass, however, is fairly short, and should cause little problem in disc searching. Ralph Gendron, the Project Manager, said he will be doing some additional mowing before the tournament, so the fairways should be in great shape.

Here is the map of the Barre Falls DGC:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/bfd/bfddgmap.htm

Statistics can be found on the scorecard:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/bfd/bfddgscorecard.htm

No camping is allowed at Barre Falls. There is a campground at West Thompson Lake within walking distance of the disc golf course there ($13 per night). After Saturday�s 2 rounds at Tully and Barre, West Thompson campground may be just the place to rest up for the Sunday morning�s round at West Thompson..

SUNDAY - ROUND 3 � WEST THOMPSON LAKE: West Thompson has 18 holes (Mach II New, I believe) and stone dust tee pads framed with timbers. The stone dust pads had become quite hazardous with their deep ridges and valleys created by foot action moving the dust. However, the pads have recently been cleaned of encroaching grass and the stone dust leveled up pretty good. The pads could probably stand another raking (using a fire rake or steel rake) before tournament day. This maintenance problem with the stone dust will continue until the pads are concreted like we did at Buffumville.

Another big issue with West Thompson is the unmowed grass fairways (holes 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17). Although the designated fairways are kept cropped pretty well, they are probably too narrow. Outside of these mowed fairways, the rest of the grassland is not mowed throughout the spring and summer, I think to protect bird nesting habitat. If you send an errant disc into that high, green grass in the summer, you might as well forget about it. However, now the grass is dry and largely fallen over, so finding discs should not be too much of a problem. Also, the Corps of Engineers is scheduled to mow the entire fields in early October. Keep your fingers crossed the mowing gets done before the tournament.

Here is an interactive map of West Thompson Lake DGC (with photos):

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/wtl/wtlrec9.htm

Here is the map and scorecard to give you some distance information:

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/wtl/scorecard.pdf

It is 17 miles from West Thompson Lake to Buffumville Lake.

SUNDAY - ROUND 4 � BUFFUMVILLE LAKE. The Buffumville Lake DGC has 27 holes (Mach II New or equivalent), with concrete or asphalt tee pads. During the Tournament of the Damned, everyone will be playing 18 holes, 1-18 (in the �A� positions). The top 3 or 4 pro open players, and the top 3 or 4 advanced players will be playing a 4-6 hole Safari round (depending on the availability of daylight). The Safari round may look something like: flagpole to hole 24, tee 27 to hole 16, tee 17 to hole 18, tee 1 to practice green, tee 4 to hole 13, tee 14 to hole 18.

Here is a map of Buffumville:

http://webpages.charter.net/stiddem/buffumville/golfmap.htm

and scorecard:

http://webpages.charter.net/stiddem/buffumville/scorcard.htm

OB at Buffumville is identified on the scorecards. In general for OB at all 4 courses, remember the 3 Rs - Reservoir (permanent water), Riprap Rocks, and Roads and Parking (paved).

After the Safari round at Buffumville, there will be a cookout and awards ceremony. I have asked several disc vendors to come and sell their wares. (Note: disc vending is not allowed at Tully or Barre.) They will gladly accept their gift certificates, Buffumville Bucks, and cash.

Registration information, registration forms, and scheduling are available at:

http://webpages.charter.net/stiddem/buffumville/tod2007-flier.pdf