A Classic Indeed!
The 2019 edition of the Spoonwood Classic featured perfect weather, a course in top shape, and fierce competition across several divisions. As the early summer sun rose over Southwick, Massachusetts into a cloudless sky, players trickled in to the New England Disc Golf Center.
An hour before the opening horn the NEDGC was filled with players loosening up and fine tuning their putting. Many players found the Meadows Course, with new bright red Prodigy Baskets and several turf teepads, was a great place to get in some quick pre-tournament practice. It’s nice to see the Meadows getting some love.
The day warmed in to the high 70’s, and with no humidity and little wind; it was just about perfect playing conditions. A full field of 72 players turned out, and by all accounts everyone had a great time.
The MPO (men’s pro) division was so tight it took two extra holes before Nicholas Carl took top honors over Kyle Moriarty. Both players had shredded the difficult “white layout”, with two round scores of sixteen under par, just one clear of Shane Wyatt. Juana Flores and John Williston also shot double-digits under par to round out the top five.
Kathryn Gray took down the Woman’s Open division with some consistent play.
Paul Sullivan (AKA Sully from Tully?) won the Pro Masters and also won the hearts of the rest of the field with his $20 eagle challenge on the “road hole”, #18.
In a very competitive Advanced Amateur Division, Tyler Blanchet shot a sizzling -14, 3 shots clear of Samuel Streeter and Chris Spear who split second place honors.
The Advanced Women’s field was also competitive with some fine play. Cassandra Lioi handled the Spoonwood Ridge Red Layout pretty well, carding consistent 3 over/4 over rounds to beat Casey Della Penna by just 2. Nicole Dalton came in third.
Chris Buckle ran away with the Amateur Masters, with a very hot ten under total. Eric Hansen was even par to bet Seth Hermanson by just 1 stroke for runner up honors.
The Intermediate Division also put up lots of low numbers, with Nicholas Eori winning with two rounds that totaled ten under par. Tyler Cook’s six under was only good enough for second place, while Chris Bowman & Matt Mesite tied for 3rd place, one under par.
On the Intermediate Women’s side, Kathleen Bemis bested Lori Ann Roncarati by six shots.
The Men’s Rec filed was taken down by Ryan Bousquet who threw two consistent rounds to finish at one over par, 5 shots clear of runner up Steve Venne and and six ahead of 3rd place finisher Eric Bain.
A big tip of the cap to Drew Gardner for pulling together this amazing tournament, both as TD and for all of the hard work he put in to get the course in great shape. Chris Barden was also there every step of the way.
A special thanks to our hosts, the Brown family. Freda Brown provided her usual fine hospitality despite some lingering pain from a recent fall. Her son Randy did his usual magic with the driveway and parking lot, and Randy’s young son Jackson is already learning the nuances of Tournament Directing from Drew.
Finally, a shout-out to Prodigy for their ongoing support and help with the player packs. The putter stamp was a work of art.
