Earl Cup XVII - August 24 - Dragan Field

[Josh Connell]

The 17th annual Earl Cup pitting the Pilots against the President's team.

This year, the event will take place on Sunday, August 24 at Dragan Field in Auburn, Maine.


Here's my annual Earl Cup history dissertation...

The Earl Cup originated in 1998 when Bob Enman challenged the NEFA President to put together a roster to compete in a Ryder Cup-style team event. The winning team goes home with the Earl Cup trophy, named in honor of Bob's late father Earl, the original owner of Enman Field (back when it was an airstrip).

Each year, the current NEFA President selects the President's team from among NEFA members. Bob Enman, Kyle Enman and Josh Connell select the Pilots team from among Dragon Disc Golf Pilots (our club for players who have registered a minimum number of rounds on our courses).

All competition is match play format. Round 1 is Best Shot doubles. Round 2 is Best Score doubles. Round 3 is Singles. Team that wins the most points (1 per match) wins the Cup.

The roster size for this year's edition will be reduced from past years. It was originally a 12 on 12 battle, but various circumstances and special considerations eventually ballooned roster size up to 20 players per side. It was decided that the big rosters were just unwieldy and increasingly difficult to fill, particularly for the traveling team. So we are going back to the original 12-person teams, this year consisting of two women and ten open spots.

Earl Cup history:

1998: NEFA win @ Enman Field Beast
1999: NEFA win @ Buffumville Lake
2000: Pilots win @ Enman Field Beast
2001: NEFA win @ Buffumville Lake
2002: Pilots win @ Enman Field Beast
2003: NEFA win @ Pyramids
2004: NEFA win @ Enman Field Beauty
2005: NEFA win @ Maple Hill
2006: Pilots win @ Enman Field Beast
2007: NEFA win @ Barre Falls Dam
2008: NEFA win @ Enman Field Beast
2009: NEFA win @ Maple Hill
2010: Pilots win @ Enman Field Beast
2011: NEFA win @ Maple Hill
2012: NEFA win @ Enman Field Beast
2013: NEFA win @ Hyland Brewery
2014: ???????? @ Dragan Field

NEFA leads all time 12-4

[Josh Connell]

Less than two weeks to go. About time we see some rosters.

Captain Gary, would you care to lead off?

[Gary Cyr]

Josh, The Presidents Team is already posted in the General Discussion section of the forum There isn't a lot of suspense to go through.

Kyle Moriarty - Confirmed
Kevin Gardner - Confirmed
Joe Yaskis - Confirmed
Ken Gary - Confirmed
Wendy Boutin - Confirmed
Sam Henderson - Confirmed
John Buonsanto - Confirmed
Ashley Toomey - Confirmed

President Pick:
Dave Jackson - Confirmed
Gary Cyr - Confirmed
Ryan Sullivan - Confirmed
Mark Valis - Confirmed

[Josh Connell]

Well then. I haven't really been following that thread so closely, so I missed that.

I guess then I'll post our roster...most are returning from last year, only one new addition.

Ryan Bourque
Josh Connell
Bob/Kyle Enman
Tyler Grady
Chris LeClair
Kieran Nichols
Joe Roy
Charles Sawyer
Drew Smith
Aaron Wilmot
Alicia Villnave
Jenn Varney

Bob and Kyle are going to form a bit of a hybrid player. Bob will play round one then give way to Kyle in the second and third round. As usual, all his talk of retiring from the event was semi-forgotten once the new year rolled around. But he's done with trying to go all three rounds.

[Sandy Redd]

Come on Nefa.
Make it a 4 time

[Dave Jackson]

This might sound ghey and a little weak, but I am very greatful to be a part of this event in Maine, where the idea was born.
Tradition still means a lot to me in sport, so I feel like a pretty lucky guy to be included.

Can't wait.

[Thomas Bentley]

Tradition still means a lot to me in sport

Just remember that the tradition is we win.

GO NEFA

[Drew Smith]

Traditionally, NEFA's win streak has stopped at 3. Glad you brought it up

And hopefully, it won't be 90+ and humid like last year - sheesh!

[Gary Cyr]

I was doing some scouting on the Pilots Team last night. 25% of your team are not PDGA members

[Josh Connell]

I was doing some scouting on the Pilots Team last night. 25% of your team are not PDGA members

Wow, I'm surprised that percentage isn't higher. It's an uphill battle in these parts.

If you really want to avoid disappointment, don't look up the NEFA membership of our roster.

[Josh Connell]

Injury replacement for our team.

Kyle Enman out
Jamie White in

No, Gary, he's not a PDGA member. Bwahahaha.

[jim tufts]

I wonder why pdga has been an uphill battle in these parts.

[Josh Connell]

One more roster change...

Aaron Wilmot out
Casey Poussard in

Fingers crossed that our roster is now set.

[Gary Cyr]

One more roster change...

Aaron Wilmot out
Casey Poussard in

Fingers crossed that our roster is now set.

On paper that's a nice improvment!

See You Sunday! You know how special I think this event is!

[Dave Jackson]

Can





Not





Wait.

[Erik Zarazinski]

Will this course be closed to casual play during this EPIC event?

We're heading up for the weekend and we're trying to plan out our course of attack.. (pun intended)...

Thanks!

[Josh Connell]

Will this course be closed to casual play during this EPIC event?

We're heading up for the weekend and we're trying to plan out our course of attack.. (pun intended)...

Thanks!

The course will still be open. All we ask is that casual players respect the Earl Cuppers and vice versa.

[Erik Zarazinski]

Thanks.

[Bill_MacWilliams]

I got to play in the first 2 Earl Cups. Lots of fun. Good luck to all..

[Charles Sawyer]

We will have plenty of beer for our guests!

[Dave Jackson]

I'm an Iced Tea lover and avid dab enthusiast, if that matters.

[Josh Connell]

One more roster change.

Tyler Grady out
Adam Dube in

[Josh Connell]

Pilots up 11.5 to 10.5 with two matches to go. Down to the wire.

[Josh Connell]

PILOTS.

[Josh Connell]

Full details to come later...

After round one it was 4-2 for the President's team.
After round two it was 7-5 for the Pilots.
After round three it was 12.5 - 10.5 for the Pilots.

Thanks to Gary and the Presidents team for coming up and making this the closest Earl Cup in a long time, maybe ever. Can't wait for next year.

[Dave Townsend]

Sweet!

[Dave Jackson]

One more roster change.

Tyler Grady out
Adam Dube in

Great roster move!!!

Fantastic group of people today. The Pilots were extraordinary hosts and a real class act.
Everyone I played with today were awesome to play with.
Bob, Kieran, Drew, Adam, Jamie and of course Clecky, it was great to play in your groups.
It was pretty cool playing my first round in 9 years at Dragan, with Bob after my last round at Dragan 9 years ago was with Bob. The course has matured beautifully and was a delight a to play. Fun as all hell.
Sully and JonBon, thanks for being in my group as well.

Josh and Gary, thanks for captaining this event.

Gordie, thanks for being a very gracious host as well.

Congrats Pilots!!!! You played well and should be very proud of yourselves.

Always wanted to play this event and it was even better than I always thought.


Thank you

[Drew Smith]

Well said Dave - great day for it ... finally! It wasn't pouring rain, and it wasn't 100 degrees and humid - perfect weather.

[Drew Smith]

Ryan Borque on Hole 2

Dave Jackson on Hole 18

Kyle Moriarty on Hole 1

Gary Cyr on Hole 8

[Josh Connell]

Full Results

Round 1 - Best Shot Doubles
White/Poussard vs Gary/Buonsanto - Pilots
Enman/Nichols vs Sullivan/Jackson - Presidents
Smith/Roy vs Yaskis/Henderson - Presidents
Bourque/LeClair vs Moriarty/Gardner - Presidents
Connell/Sawyer vs Valis/Cyr - Pilots
Villnave/Varney vs Boutin/Toomey - Presidents

Presidents 4, Pilots 2

Round 2 - Best Score Doubles
Roy/Nichols vs Yaskis/Henderson - Pilots
Smith/Dube vs Sullivan/Jackson - Pilots
Connell/Sawyer vs Cyr/Moriarty - Pilots
Poussard/White vs Valis/Gary - Pilots
LeClair/Bourque vs Gardner/Buonsanto - Presidents
Villnave/Varney vs Boutin/Toomey - Pilots

Pilots 5, Presidents 1
Overall: Pilots 7, Presidents 5

Round 3 - Singles
Joe Roy vs Joe Yaskis - Pilots
Charles Sawyer vs Ken Gary - Presidents
Adam Dube vs Sam Henderson - Presidents
Chris LeClair vs John Buonsanto - tie
Jamie White vs Dave Jackson - Pilots
Ryan Bourque vs Ryan Sullivan - Presidents
Casey Poussard vs Mark Valis - Pilots
Drew Smith vs Gary Cyr - Pilots
Kieran Nichols vs Kevin Gardner - Presidents
Josh Connell vs Kyle Moriarty - Presidents
Alicia Villnave vs Wendy Boutin - Pilots
Jenn Varney vs Ashley Toomey - X

Pilots 5.5, Presidents 5.5
Final score: Pilots 12.5, Presidents 10.5