World Disc Games 2008

 

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The World Disc Games returned to Santa Cruz California after a 5 year hiatus with a modified format. Self Caught Flight was trimmed down to MTA and Discathon was eliminated. There was also a new team format in place in an effort to have greater collaberations and entice new players into the fold. Below is a brief re-cap of the first few days and a more detailed report of the final day. These reports can be seen in greater detail at the yahoo overalldisclink group.

 

MTA was won by current and two time World Disc Golf Champion Nate Doss over veteran Andrew Lemann (2nd ) and Mark Farrar (3rd). For his first throw ever in competition Nate Doss put up a remarkable 12.25. Current World Disc Golf Champion Val Jenkins also won the event with her first attempt at the event over Carrie Burlogar. 

 

In Distance, the historic Fields at UC Santa Cruz just got a little bit smaller after some booming throws pushed the boundaries. Avery Jenkins threw a World Disc Games record 212 meter throw in the first round which actually cleared the track at the far end of the field. He held on to win with a final round 175 meter throw. Second place went to Nate Doss with a final round throw of 169 meters. Chris Edwards took 3rd with a final round huck of 166 meters.  Val Jenkins almost bested her Big D in the Desert World Record of 148 meters with a throw of 145 meters. This throw may be even more impressive considering the conditions were only mildly assisting. Carrie Berlogar finished second with a final throw of 108 meters.

 

The final day of World Disc Games 2008 was filled with drama and high level performances. The day started off with the golf final 9 par 29 around the fieldsat UCSC. The last two holes were doozies at 700+ feet with elevation drops with the pins seemingly on the edge of cliff above the bay. The weather was once again spectacular with clear skies and warm breezes. In the women's division current World Disc Golf Champion Val Jenkins carried the day posting a +4 on the par 29 course and a +8 overall. Silver Medalist Carrie Berlogar trimmed her lead by a couple of strokes posting a +2 for the final round and a +12 overall. In the Men's Division the Gold Medal went to Val's big brother Avery Jenkins who posted at -23. The Silver Medal went to local Ruben Alaniz who trimmed current World Disc Golf Champion Nate Doss by one stroke. Nate received the Bronze for his efforts.

 

The DDC title went to the scrappy team of Deano Porter and Mark Farrar who kept veterans Andrew Lemann and Doug Korns on their heels and never let up to take the title. Rookie phenoms Nate Doss and Avery Jenkins took a surprising 3rd.

 

Accuracy was up next and carried the extra weight of the official World Flying Disc Federation world title as well as the World Disc Games designation. In the Women's Division Val Jenkins went first and narrowed her keen focus to card a tidy 14 hits. Carrie Berlogar who had posted 14 and a 12 in the previous day's qualifiers couldn't find the magic and carded an 11 for Silver. In the Men's division San Diego's Deano Porter started early and recorded 16 hits which held up until local phenom Nate Doss showed why he's a clutch player at Disc Golf by hitting the target 18 times. Last up was expectant father Conrad Damon. By his standards he started off a bit shaky missing once from the short and middle straight positions. But he rebounded and in an incredible display of concentration, ability and drive nailed 3 of 4 from the difficult short left position to take Gold. It was a stunning display and came right on the heels of Nate Doss' impressive rally down the stretch. It was all in all a stirring finals.

 

Last up was freestyle. The conditions were tricky. After perfect winds for most of the week the wind stalled and became somewhat difficult to gauge. Few teams were able to make the necessary adjustments Dave Schiller shook off some of his crust to showcase his magnificent game and partner Danny Cameranesi played the perfect compliment taking 4th. First through third was a classic thriller with tight scoring determining the places. IN third with a strong performance but a few too many drops was Larry Imperiale and Fabio Sanna. Coming in second place .1 ahead of the third place team was Paul Kenny and Arthur Coddington. They actually tied for the best execution score but it was not enough to knock off the champs, Dave Lewis and Dave Murphy. They actually had the third highest

execution score of the round but won difficulty and Artistic Impression to seal the deal.

 

Some more surprise visitors arrived in the form of Matt Roberts of the 70's

dynamo team the Roberts Brothers, former Air Head and Santa Cruzty Tim Bratton and local Kevin Buzzy Roberts.

 

The overall quality of the tournament was great. The young disc golfers were in a word Extraordinary. They quickly adapted to the strange plastic discs and quirky games showing ability and skill far beyond their experience. Nate Doss took the Overall Gold medaling in every event except freestyle. Avery Jenkins took Silver with impressive throwing skills displaying both power and touch. And taking Bronze was the irrepressible

Deano Porter who edged out veteran huckster Andrew Lemann.

 

Val Jenkins took Overall Gold for the Women's Division winning every event. Runner up Carrie Berlogar displayed the true spirit of the games showing poise, determination and warmth on top of a burning drive to compete.

 

The team format was in place for the first time and was used as an experiment. It solidified the ranks and gave an extra level of comraderie.

Local press coverage:

 

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9806332

 

Kevin Givens

Tournament Director