The Quarries Throwdown - May 28, 2016

[Kyle Moriarty]

16 looks dope!

[Andy Powell]

Only 13 spots left!

[Steve Cavender-Wood]

I am so looking forward to this tournament, the hole by hole preview is great giving me a feel for a course I have never played before.

I do a blog on the geology of disc golf and I am glad I went out and signed up for this one. The quarries region of Vermont looks really cool and I am planning on getting to the course on Friday afternoon to take pictures of the course and add it to my blog. So if anybody has questions about the rocks and stuff, hopefully I will have figured it out enough to answer them.

See y'all there.

Steve Wood
The Geology of Disc Golf
http://geodiscgolf.blogspot.com/

[Julie Ferdella]

Im not playing in this tourney but you're really making me want to plan a trip there this summer! Some of the photos remind me of Holler in the Hills.

[Andy Powell]

Steve - I was going to post on your forum thread that this should definitely be a stop for you. I'm glad you're making it up here!

Julie - You should see how much better it looks now with the leaves on the trees. I guess just take the picture for 5 and apply the same aesthetic to the rest. Let me know if you do decide to come up later in the year and I'll give you the grand tour.

[Andy Powell]

I'll be busy with final preparations tomorrow night, so I'm going to just get the last two hole previews out now.

Hole 17 is a 234' par 3 bending left to right from an elevated tee position. I find that a backhand turnover works better than a forehand here as you need to carry some distance after making the turn 60-70' off the tee. Again there is granite piled about 30' behind the basket making this a good ace run. Put it close, card the 2, and head on to 18.


Now it's time to finish strong with the 293' par 3 18th. A pair of bushy trees divides the two sides of the fairway. You really can't choose wrong here. The left side has one telephone pole to negotiate and fades a bit harder to the green while the right side favors a continuous shallow hyzer angle. Get your last birdie to finish strong.

[Andy Powell]

We're down to just 11 spots left and with a few verbal commitments and some day-of registrations, it's looking like we will probably sell out! Don't wait though. Avoid the $5 day-of fee and make sure you're eligible for the player/caddy competition by getting your registration in by noon tomorrow!

[Andy Powell]

Ok, so they're not actual Barre granite this year, but I still think the trophies are coming along nicely. Come get yourself one!

Only10 spots left!

[Andy Powell]

Please carpool if you can. Parking is going to be a little tight. Please drive slow. We are in a residential area. See you in the morning?

What he said.


Only 7 spots left for pre-reg!

Watch this spot tonight for details of some of the other raffles, auctions, and giveaways we will be offering tomorrow.

[Andy Powell]

Well pre-reg is officially closed with only one spot remaining, but if you show up tomorrow wanting to play, I think you'll find the TD willing to oblige.

Final TD announcements coming tonight!

[Andy Powell]

Well the course is playing great, and there were quite a few people getting in their practice rounds today. I will say that when you're not right next to the stone it will be hot out there. The bugs are also making an appearance, especially on the turn into the back nine. The key to having a great day tomorrow is going to be water, sunscreen, and bug spray. Don't forget these essentials!

Some side activities to look forward to tomorrow:

50/50 raffle for the course
Two Roads Brewing prize competition
Long drive contest
and of course the Player/Caddy competition which this year will be more of a team event I'm calling Mini Madness!

See you in the AM!

[Andy Powell]

What a day! This tournament has officially exceeded my wildest expectations.

First there were my expectations for the course. I am always amazed by this place. If your last time playing here was the original Fall Platter tournament, or even last year's Throwdown, then you have no idea what this place has become. Al Rosa and company have polished this truly unique piece of property into a perfect combination of challenge and scenic beauty.

Then there were my expectations for player interest. After a field of 45 last year, I had told the Parks and Rec board that I expected a crowd in the mid-50's this year. Instead 82 players made the trip out to Barre on a beautiful Saturday. Despite at least 4 or 5 big tournaments in the surrounding states and provinces, we drew in quality competition from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massechusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Quebec, and of course Vermont. 11 of the 12 NEFA divisions were represented with only FPO remaining empty (Alex Benson I'm looking at you for next year). I can't wait to put on a good show for next year's 90 person (sellout?) crowd!

So now to the action:

Nick Gross crushed the old course record with an unofficially 1026 rated first round of 50 (-11)! He then held on for the win with a 56 in the 2nd.

Dario Re shot the old course record of 54 twice to come in a close 2nd place, but got some revenge with a 1 point win in Mini Madness at the awards ceremony.

Anne Lewis used a strong 1st round to beat out course designer and workhorse Al Rosa in MPM.

Daniel Marcus won MPG (and a "really cool trophy") in a one hole playoff with Davis Johnson and Karl Molitoris.

Chris Wentzell is determined to get a GMPS division title after coming so close last year in MA2. It shows as he took his second MA1 win in 3 events!

Alex Benson and Brian Betit put on shows of domination in FA1 and MM1 respectively. Alex's 58 from the white tees is also a new official course record!

Norm Peterson and James Hickman shot well in the single-player fields of MG1 and MJ1.

Mike Finn fought through to earn a 1 stroke victory over a 20 person MA2 field.

Beth Nordahl came through with the win in FA2 in her first tournament. Bush league represent!

Denver Heath signed up day-of and went on to grab the victory in an 8 person field in MA3.

It was great to see a lot of familiar faces out on the course yesterday. Kyle it was a blast to play with you for the first time in about 5 years (even if it was only for 12 holes). T.M. and crew, it was great to finally get to host you guys for a change! I also loved seeing all the new faces out there. I love it when a junior gets to walk in off the street, and walk out a champion. I love seeing women's divisions becoming more popular with local and travelling players. I love seeing the rec players who just thought that they'd give this tournament thing a try, and now because of one day of fun they're hooked! (We've got Garrett Worley for sure!) After all it was 9 years ago that I got hooked playing in a 5 person rec field at the Sugarbush Open. Yesterday 2 of those 5 rec players were your course designer/maintainer and your TD. Who knows where the new players from this weekend will be in 10 years!

Full results: http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/26845

Every year I'm learning at this, and I already know what I have to do to make next year even better. Are you ready for The Quarries Throwdown 2017?

[T.M.DYER]

Hey Andy,

Thanks for the Kudos...

If y'all are not planning to come and participate in Andy's 2017 Quarry Adventure...

You need to start planning to be there NOW!!!!!!

So Much Fun...Course is Spectacular... Amazing Vistas over the Old Quarries holes...

Huge Piles of Quarried Granite...Every Where...Hundreds of feet high...Ice chunks Still Frozen inside the pile of broken stone...

Reading the signs about the history of what it was...Fascinating Stuff...Cool Pictures from back in the day...

Do Not remember which hole#...huge pile of stacked rock on either side of the fairway just out from the tee...

The sign said that these two huge pile of neatly stacked rock...are piles of "unsaleable" rock...
Stacked on either side of the railway that ran between...these stacks were placed to help hold back the piles of rocks to keep the railway system clear...

Hard to imagine that space with no trees and almost devoid of any vegetation...

Most all of the work in these quarries was performed by Hand...up until the 1930's or so....

One of the signs said that,"Boys were paid 1/10 of a cent to drill each hole in the rock to start the splitting process"...

I am curious about this particular detail...I have used a hand star drill to put holes into rocks or boulders myself personally...not an easy task...


Only One Copper Penny... after 10 holes...usually a three person team to do this type of drilling...

How deep of a hole???
How big around(diameter) of the hole???
Wonder how many they could do in a ten hour day??? Inquiring minds want to know???

Andy, Al and crew...my hat is off to you gentlemen...WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

See y'all out on the links...
Thanks,
T.M.DYER

[Andy Powell]

In case anybody wanted to know what those record rounds looked like, here you go!
(birdies in green, pars in black, bogies in red)

Nick Gross - Blue Tees - 50(-11)

Front:
2,2,4,3,2,2,3,3,4=25
Back:
4,3,2,3,3,3,3,2,2=25

Alex Benson - White Tees - 58(-3)

Front:
3,3,3,3,2,3,3,4,6=30
Back:
5,4,2,2,4,3,3,2,3=28

Congratulations to you both!

[Danny White]

Here is the NEFA Points Series Report for this event

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-Jzz ... 1g1STQxS1E

Please post in this thread of you have any issues
http://forums.nefa.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=360