The 1st North Ark Open was the second tournament in Harrison. The North Ark course was played with temp holes at the 2011 Disc Golf Monkey Finale. The baskets were installed in 2012. Although a slow process to finish the course, the North Ark maintenance crew and the local club has done a remarkable job of cleaning and manicuring the course. If you played the Finale, I'm sure you are well aware of what I am talking about. Hats off to all of you who have had any part in the construction and upkeep of the course and thank you for furthering our sport in Harrison

There were sixty three players at the North Ark PDGA C - Tier event. I'm sure we have all played in weather a little better, but I can't remember the last time I had. Sunny, mild breeze, and moderate temperatures allowed for a great time of hitting the chains. There were seven divisions that included Open, Adv, Adv Women, Adv Grand Mast, Int, Rec, and Rec Women. There were some very tight fields especially in the upper divisions.

Lacey Hayes and Madison Rogers won the Women's Advanced and Recreational division fields. Both ladies are from North West Arkansas. In the Rec Division, Rob Emmett beat out Brad Chism by 3 strokes to take the ever coveted “Move Up” division. Toby Rector's 105 that won Intermediate would have placed him 5th in Advanced (thinking Advanced is where you should be Toby) great job. Zach Rogers of North West Arkansas held off the pack led by Shayn Woltz who was only one stroke off. Only 2 back was Kyle Tutor and Cory Anderson. In the Open Division there was a close battle to the end. Only 3 strokes separated the players who cashed. Joplin's Chris Clemons took home top honors with a one stroke win over Kyle McClure, Doug Wiegand, and Aaron Ulrich. Zack Jones, who was only 3 out finished 5th for last cash. Well played champions, and to all the rest of you who cashed a big Congratulations.

The North Ark course offers a great venue for disc golf, and I am looking forward to watching the game, course, tournament ,and support of all continue to grow in Harrison. Thank you all for coming and hope to see you soon!

The 1st North Ark Open in Harrison, AR will be May 18th. This will be Harrison's first tournament and is part of the Going Bananas Tour. For more information please click on the PDF flyer.

Pre Registration is open and there have been several people who have already signed up. If you have pre-registered look at the list below of discs and message me your disc choice. If you are planning on coming please pre register because all discs are limited and so are the shirt sizes. As always, first come first serve.

Discs available are:
Champ Roc 3's
Blizzard Boss
Champ Boss
Champ Tern
DX BB Aviar

Hope to see you all there!!

Nine Divisions, 88 Players, lots of moisture, 2 incredible courses, all made for a a long but fun day at this year's Marshall Spring Fling. With thirty-one more players this year than last, support by the local news paper, and the awesome courses inside the Indian Foot Hills Park I am confident this will be an event you may not want to miss in the future. I want to thank everyone for your support and making this year one to remember! I never thought we would be able to pull these numbers off with the conditions everyone knew they would be facing. For this I would like to say Thank You to each one of you for braving the storm!

For a full listof results please visit http://www.pdga.com/tournament_results/100843 . I would like to congratulate the winners of the 9 separate divisions at this time. Battling the elements, staying focused, and playing well in the conditions is quite amazing! Congratulations to the following Winners:
Women's Intermediate
Intermediate Women – Janey Helton
Advanced Women – Brady Monnahan
Recreational – Josiah Durham
Intermediate – Chris Dunn
Advanced – Jeff Campbell
Advanced Masters – Gary Harvey
Advanced Grand Masters – Ron Klein-Mo
Pro Masters – Kevin Hart
Open – Jason Stone

I would also like to apologize for the delays. I take full responsibility for the delays and will be the first to say it was un acceptable. We have discussed what went wrong and talked with other TD's about the issues and have already came up with improvements for the future. For those who would be gracious enough to remember the good things about the event thank you. If you have comments, opinions, and ideas on how to improve feel free to FB, e mail, text, or call me.

I hope to see everyone at the next tour stop in Harrison, AR. The date is set for May 18th and will be held at the North Ark course on campus. We are all hoping that the tee pads will be ready to be played on by then.

The Marshall Open is coming up this weekend (Staurday the 27th). This tournament is played on two beautiful and difficult courses. Both courses will challenge you with a wide variety of shots. Short, long, tight, and plenty of elevation puts Marshall as one of the most challenging venues on the Going Bananas Tour. Bring your “A” game or your humility card.

There will be Flex Start Doubles on Friday starting at 1:00 so you can practice one of the courses and hopefully win some cash or loot. Brig your partner and we will start you with another team that is ready. There will be three division:
Open $30 ($15/player)
Adv $20 ($10/player)
Am $20 ($10/ Player)

Pre Registration is greatly appreciated for Saturday. Many of you have mentioned that you are coming. Please Pre Register it makes everything much easier the day of. Players packs are on a first come (and Pay) first serve (Choice) basis. There is a limit of 90 shirts and 100 discs. The Disc Choices are:
DX Aviar
JK Aviar
FT KC Glow Roc
Champ Gator
Champ Roc III
Discs Should Be In Tuesday!!

PRE REGISTRATION LIST:
Russ Burns, Jake Whitehead, Kevin Carder, Seth Hamilton, Cory Anderson, Zack Jones, George Eudy, Matt Crowe, Jeff Campbell, Bill Adams, Kyle Tutor, Matt Jones, Francis Albansee, Josiah Durham, Jacob Peterson, Justin Ausmus, Shayn Woltz, Derred Scheperle, Grant Benson, Jerry Scott, Mike Sisco, Derred Scheperle, Jack Lowe, Paul Morrison, Adam Morrison, Matt Dixon, Trevor Erickson, Janey Helton, Brandy Monnahan, Ryan Pate, Kenny Fuller, Lance Jones, Mark Crowe, Bill Neenan, Gary Harvey, Ted Keith, Brad Hilton, Rollin Clamme, CD Steiner, Chris Johnson, Zach Williams, D. Loomis, Cooper Arnold, Jason Duden, Mike Porter, Bruce Heidebrecht, Nate Clark, Kevin Hart, Christine West, Nate Love, Dan Zink, Brian Swezy, Robert Lane, Jose Ossa, Cody Freeman, and Blake Mitchel

If you have Pre Registered and are not on this list, please contact me. Thanks, and see you in Marshall!

If you plan on coming to the Marshall Open, registration is now open. Simply click on the "Click here to Register" tab below the flyer and follow the instructions. Looking forward to battling the awesome courses that Marshall offers.

Disc choices for this event are:
DX Aviar
JK Aviar
FT KC Glow Roc
Champ Roc III
MF Champ Gators

Remember these choices are limited and are on first come (Pay), first serve basis.

See you all there!!

Exciting news from Nick Helm about the new course in Ava. Nick and the City of Ava have raised more than half of the funds for the project. I am excited that the first installment is being mailed which means basket assembly has started. To quicken the process of getting a full 18 hole course in the ground they need our help raising the last of the funds. This Sunday, April 14th Nick will be holding a second fundraiser event in Ava's City Park (the site for the new course). If you are going to be staying close this weekend, show your support by playing this week end in Ava. If you have a Discatcher Sport basket or better, please contact me and bring it to use on the temp course. For any more information please contact Nick Helm at (417) 693-1019 or myself. I hope many of you can make it!

This past Saturday was the 5th Annual Lucky 13. 79 players took part and competed in 9 different divisions. We were all blessed by great weather unlike the following few days of cold rain. I would again like to thank each of you for starting the Going Bananas Tour off right! To all the sponsors and the Republic Parks & Rec Department, thank you for making this event another one to remember. Congratulations to all of who battled the winds and were able to place in the cash. I want to give a quick shout out to Seth Hamilton for his $200+ Ace on hole 2. Nice skip with a Legacy Rampage! The winners included: Josie Chalmers, Janey Helton, Christine West, Chad Fisk, Mark Komoroski, Kevin Feldbaumer, Drew Elrod, George Eudy, and over all champion Richard Why. Great job to all of you!!

The Lucky 13 is this Saturday as many of you know. My apologies for not posting earlier, but I have been working on both this event and the new DGM mobile trailer that I am sure everyone will enjoy. Nearly 60 players have pre registered and I have heard that there are several others coming, but plan on paying the day of. I am hoping to reach 90 again this year, and will allow up to 100 players. Remember only the first 90 players are guaranteed a players pack so get registered. All players will receive a disc and have food provided by this years food sponsor Little Caesars (Thanks Zach Pirwitz for making this happen)!

What is new this year in the Going Bananas Tour?

As I mentioned above I have a new mobile store that measures 25' which is 8' longer, 4” taller, and 4” wider. This means a lot more merchandise can be stored. With over 450 discs coming in the last few weeks, and new Tour Apparel just in, I am ready to offer an even better selection during pay out time. I can't wait until Saturday to make the debut!

Also new this year are several large sponsorships that will benefit everyone. I would like to welcome back all my previous sponsors and welcome aboard Legacy Discs, Dynamic Discs, and the Journey Post. Vibram has chosen to do another CTP/ACE Competition this year and will again result in a Monkey Trap to be given away. I am super excited to officially announce that Millennium Discs, Legacy Discs, and Dynamic Discs are joining in this awesome exclusive DGM CTP/ACE Competition. That's right, each player will now have 4 chances to win awesome CTP packages and 4 chances to qualify in taking home 4 Monkey Traps at the end of the year. Remember there is no cost involved. Simply use the brand disc that the hole is being sponsored by and you are eligible!

The Going Bananas tour also has some PDGA Tier changes to some of the events. The big tier change is that of the 4 States Open which is registered as the first ever A Tier on tour. The Joplin Disc Golf Club, has worked very hard and has proven that they are capable of not only running a large event, but running one well! Congratulations to all involved in making this happen. The Pitt Open is also moving up to a B Tier and will offer 2 days and two courses. The Monkey Trap Open in Springdale, AR will also be a B Tier thanks to NNWA for there continued support of this event. There are two new stops on the Tour as well. Both Rolla, MO and Harrison, AR are welcomed additions to this years Tour.

Stay tuned for more updates, and I hope to see many of you in Republic this Saturday!

This past Saturday, Disc Golf Monkey's Going Bananas Tour 2013 kicked off in Lebanon, MO at the 5th Annual Lebanon Ice Bowl. Sixty-Three players showed up at the Jared Hilton Memorial Course despite 3-4” of solid ice that covered all of Atchley Park. We were all fortunate that the Lebanon Parks and Rec Department and a number of local volunteers went out the night before and cleared the tee pads. To all of you who helped with this a huge Thank you for the hard work! Walking was difficult all day, and throwing was even more of a challenge. There were no run ups on second and third shots because of the slippery surfaces. This made the drive the most important shot of the tournament. I heard of side bets on who could fall the least...What a great time!

Last year we had 3 more people than this year, but the conditions were perfect perfect in 2012. John Shelton, the Parks Director, was present and was amazed by the 63 player field. He was even more excited when I turned in the numbers. Nearly 250 lbs of food and $1,265 was raised for the Lebanon Area Foundation! Mulligans and the drawing raised a majority of the funds. There were several items donated by sponsors of the event: Hilton Bail Bonds, Hilton Chiropractic, Monster, Missouri Eagle, Legacy Discs, Dynamic Discs, Millennium, Vibram, and the Lebanon Parks and Rec Department. The big ticket item was the Black and Yellow Monkey Trap that was won by local golfer Janey Helton!

This years winners included: Brandy Monahan (Wmns Div), Joey Carpenter (JR Div), Derred Scheperle (Rec Div), Jake Stern (Int Div), Lance Jones (Adv Mast Div), Nathan Clark (Adv Div), and Kyle Webster (Open Div). Very well done champs!

I am very excited to announce that in our first two tournaments of the year $2,165 has been raised for charity. Hats off to all of you, and I will say this is just the beginning to an incredible 2013 season! Get signed up soon for the PDGA season opener: The 5th Annual Lucky 13 in Republic, MO set for March 16th. Registration is open, and there are several players pre registered. The first 90 will receive a shirt and disc in their players pack. Don't miss out and remember there were 90 players last year!

My apologies to all of you for my being late in posting this recap. The Bethel Bowl was a great success. Pastor Nick Derosa's idea of setting up a temp course and running a tournament that would benefit the Victory Mission (with canned food) and the Special Needs Classroom at Truman Elementary (wit the monetary donations and proceeds) was a hit. Nick told me the plan was to buy as many Tablets as he could for the Special Needs Students with the money we raised. Needless to say, Nick and the whole congregation, was blown away by the number of players that came to support and the $900 raised at the event! A true Mission Accomplished.

Forty-four players showed up despite less than 2 weeks of promotion. The 13 hole temp course offered quite a variety of shots despite a lack of trees. The Bethel course proved to be rather challenging and difficult. Elevation and wind were the challenges of the day. Players were offered mulligans as a way to raise additional money and help lower scores. There was also a raffle with many donated prizes including an Innova Discatcher Sport as the grand prize. Both forms of fund raising were a successful.

Winners included, Matt Williams (Junior Division), Janey Helton (Womens Division), Mike Abbott (Recreational Division), Brandon Bare (Intermediate Division), Kyle Tutor (Advanced Division), and Russ Burns (Open Division). Tourean Willhold was the big winner as he made out well by winning the basket in the raffle! Congratulations to all of you!

I am excited to announce that this event was featured on the cover of the Missouri Autism Report March 2013 Issue. This was part of the delay in the recap as I wanted to post the web site for all to read about what took place. You can find the article at http://www.calameo.com/read/0009315519c94f8d3036d
I had the pleasure of being a part of delivering the 9 tablets to the special needs classroom. Teachers, aids, the principal, the Autism representative, and the kids were ecstatic when the tablets were handed out. It was explained to us that these tablets are like a key that helps unlock things stored up inside the students minds. I truly wish everyone who was a part of this tournament could have been there to see the reactions of the students and administrators. It was incredible. Again, I want to thank everyone who help make this a very special event!