DUE TO EXPECTED WEATHER THE SANTA CRUZ PAD SETTING WORK SATURDAY 1/31 HAS BEEN POSTPONED. WE’LL GET BACK ON THIS ASAP, KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR UPDATES AND THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

The SANTA CRUZ WORKDAY is a GO for THIS Saturday Jan. 17, as we look to finish phase three of the restoration project, we’ll be looking to set 7 or more teepads, replacing the old hazardous hex pads. We need about a dozen souls to help on Sat. starting at 9 AM. Bring shovels, hoes, picks, rakes, wheelbarrows. We will have a backhoe for the heavy work.

LAYOUT UPDATE: Thanks to all who commented on the new tee positions for 3 and 4 that we tried out at league and club champs. Based on input from members and the board, we are adjusting a few things, such as moving the new #2 A teepad further west out of #1’s way (near old #17), the proposed new #3 A pad will move a little more east to get it further away from #2 green…you asked, we listened! 

We’ll have a limited supply of Ice Bowl logo merch available at popular prices.

The 20th Tucson Ice Bowl Disc Golf Tournament benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona will take place Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8 a.m. on a special course at Santa Cruz River Park. FLYER

Entry is a $15 donation and there will be open, advanced, intermediate, masters and women’s divisions. As always, mulligans will be available for any shot for $1, with a grand prize for most mullis bought. Preregistration and same-day registration will be available, but we strongly encourage preregistration and will be offering an incentive (see below).

The Ice Bowl, part of a national series of tournaments benefiting food charities, is Tucson Disc Golf Club’s biggest annual charity event, and the club has raised nearly $14,000 and thousands of pounds of food for the Community Food Bank since 1995. In 2014, the Tucson Ice Bowl raised a club-record $2,713.

The Community Food Bank’s Jack Parris accepting a giant check from TD Dave Wichner for the 2014 Ice Bowl.

Preregistration is available on Disc Golf United, and same-day registration also will be accepted. We were a little conflicted about using preregistration for the Ice Bowl for the first time, since it carries a small cost. But DGU has offered a free Innova portable fabric basket for clubs that have 20 or more players register for Ice Bowl events through its site. And of course, prereg helps everyone by smoothing tourney administration. SO WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS: All players who preregister will automatically be entered in a raffle for the portable basket donated by DGU, so consider your small service fee a raffle entry.

Hole sponsorships will be available for $25 per hole, and info on other sponsorship opportunities and a general FAQ will be posted shortly. We are going to play a midlength course at Santa Cruz with some hazards like OBs and mandos. We are tentatively looking at playing a round of A pads and a round of Bs.

Left to right: Jeremy Herr, open; G. SCott Carle, masters; Tina Roher, women; Drew Robertson, Am

The 2015 Tucson Disc Golf Club Championships and Membership Drive was a big success, after starting a frosty morning on Saturday at Groves the weather and competition heated up at Santa Cruz River Park on Sunday, where an impromptu heavy-metal concert took place. Congratulations to top open finisher Jeremy Herr, amateur division winner Drew Robertson, masters champ G. Scott Carle and women’s winner Tina Roher. Complete results are available at Disc Golf United or tinyurl.com/p9bgjpt   To view an album of photos from Sunday’s round: tinyurl.com/nfodup4

Thanks to the roughly 80 players who played and special thanks to members who helped TDs Chad Cassett and Dave Wichner make the tourney a success: TDGA treasurer Mike Wierda, who handled registration, shirts and tags with his usual aplomb; Quentin Riddle and the whole Groves crew who worked very hard to create a very special 18-hole layout; all-around helper Jason Yob; Ben Vosper who helped with course layout and admin;  our barbecue chef JP Pariury who made excellent pulled pork and chicken and awesome, key registration and scoring helper and club secretary Brittani Thomas; and Joe Arenas for bringing drinks and the band, the Dead Chiefs, who rocked Santa Cruz during closing festivities!

The Sunday tee times for the second round are posted at the link below. PLEASE ARRIVE AND CHECK IN AT LEAST A HALF HOUR BEFORE YOUR TEE TIME.. Thanks!

ClubChampsTeetimes010415

A PDF list of players teeing off in the early flight at Groves Park DGC  tomorrow (Sat. is posted here. GrovesAMPMFlights

 If you are to tee off in the afternoon for the 1 pm shotgun start, please check in by noon.

The players meeting for the early-flight players will be at 7:30 a.m. and there is much to go over with this special course.

The 2015 Tucson Disc Golf Club Championships and Membership Drive is set to tee off at 8 a.m. Saturday at Groves Park. You can register online by noon Friday or walkup early at Groves (7-7:30 a.m.)

LAST-MINUTE NOTES:

SATURDAY AT GROVES: The tourney will start at Groves with an 8 a.m. shotgun start, with a second flight teeing off at 1 p.m. on a special 18-hole course featuring two par-4s.

• If you requested the earlier tee time, please arrive by 7:30 a.m., as of 10 a.m. Friday it looks like all those who requested the early time will be accommodated.
• If you are in the later group, please arrive by 11:30 as we will want to tee off right as soon as possible.
• We will post a list of early and late Saturday groups online here and on FB, if you’re not sure contact Dave Wichner or Chad Cassett or send an email to contact@tucsondiscgolf.com

SUNDAY AT SANTA CRUZ: Sunday’s round at Santa Cruz will be by tee times, in order of placement in division based on Saturday scores.

• Tee times will be posted on the registration site and on the website and Facebook, and sheets will be posted Sat. eve at Santa Cruz.
• Santa Cruz will play from the B teepads as it is now, except that #9 will move to the long position behind the softball field, which we have reserved for the day to avoid conflicts. There are no Par 4s, all holes are Par 3.
• We are looking at around 4 p.m. for awards, hopefully we will finish before that and can enjoy food and games…
• Pulled pork and chicken, homemade cole slaw and potato salad are on the menu. We will not be providing drinks. If you’d like to bring a side dish to share, let Wich know or send an email to contact@tucsondiscgolf.com
• Both ramadas are reserved but seating is limited, never hurts to bring a lawn chair. We have a beer permit, so you may bring beer but drink responsibly and let someone know if you need a ride.

THANKS and Club Champs update.. A big thank you to the 20 or so club members who showed up Saturday at Groves Park to help Chad make a very cool 18-hole layout for the Club Champs! A lot of teepad, pin and trailwork was done to make the special course flow. Some of the temporary pins are marked with poles so players can practice, and a course map will soon be available.

Note: The Santa Cruz River Park course will play roughly the current B-pad layout, though we will use the proposed new teebox for #4 and may play #9 behind the ballfield fence.

SIDE DISH SIDE NOTE: The abrupt closure of our longtime sponsor Cheba Hut put our food plans in flux, but we will be rustling up some delicious pulled pork and chicken and homemade cole slaw, chili and side dishes. BUT we could use some additional side dishes, we’ll prolly be buying beans, potato salad and chips, but other side and salads are welcome. If you’d like to help. contact Dave Wichner or send an email to contact@tucsondiscgolf.com

A lot of work goes in to prepping this signature hole 1.

SAVE the date: the 20th Annual Tucson Ice Bowl benefiting the Community Food Bank is tentatively set for Saturday, Feb. 7. The location and other details will be posted shortly. Last year, the TDGA raised a record $2,713  and 285 pounds of food, a new record all around.

Also, the TDGA board will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday at Barrio Brewing Co., 800 East 16th St. An agenda has been posted to the Board Meetings page (click on menu at lower right). Club members are always welcome to attend but if you’d like to address the board please let us know in advance. Note that the board will present a review of 2014, including a budget summary, and goals for 2015 at the Club Championships on Jan. 4. As always please contact any club officer with any questions or concerns.

Photos by Mike Wierda

Thanks to all who on short notice braved the cold and rain to help pour teepads at Santa Cruz River Park last Saturday, and thanks to the City of Tucson for supplying a truckload of concrete in what may be the biggest single donation of its kind to advance the sport in Tucson… It was quite a sight to see a full-size cement truck lumbering around the course, and the crew of about 20 members led by Ben V poured 12 teepads in about four hours. More to come soon, as in the second phase 7 more pads will be set in the next month or so… so stay tuned but be aware, scheduling is tricky with equipment and material coordination so thanks for your patience! The pads are beautiful, as the moisture actually helps them cure slow and hard. We will be removing stakes and forms as we can as things dry out, but there is still some groundwork to do so be careful and again thanks for your patience… See more photos at tinyurl.com/nc63aoo

Special thanks to member Mike Wesner (on knees in jeans), a 30-year concrete pro.

All hands on deck to cover pads in steady rain.

Teepad after troweling and floating, not yet textured.

New teepads are coming to Santa Cruz, and we need your help!  After a club crew removed pads and set forms last weekend, the city will come out and pour concrete this Saturday. This is the first of a two-phase process to replace 19 teepads.

Here are details from project leader Ben V:

The city inspection of our forms went well, our 10 pads have been approved!

The concrete is being delivered to Santa Cruz at 9 a.m. on 12/13 (Saturday morning). We need 4 people to show up at 7:30 to help placing the wire mesh in the forms. By 8:30 we will need at least a dozen people. In addition to preparing and pouring 10 pads we also have to set two additional forms just in case there’s too much concrete.

Please pm me (Ben Vosper) or speak up in this post if you can be at the Santa Cruz ready to work by 7:30 or 8:30. Again we need 4 bodies at 7:30 and 12+ bodies at 8:30.

It is vitally important that if commit to being at the Cruz at a time that you are there! Arriving 15 minutes early is ideal. We can’t have the concrete waiting on us. Remember the city is buying, delivering, and pouring this concrete for free so we must be ready to receive it.

Items that we need: shovels, screed bars, wheel barrows, any concrete finishing tools (flat trowels and corner trowels). A small utility trailer. Please have anyone contact me (Ben Vosper) via pm if they have any of these items that they can bring.

Thank you all for the countless hours of work you have given in the past and in the future to help restore Santa Cruz Disc Golf park.