Queenstown 2008
HomeDiscgolf?NZ CoursesThrowing ClinicEventsBobs TipsNewsBuy A Disc - LinksContact Us
 

2008 New Zealand Disc Golf Tour Event No.4 - Queenstown

8-9 March 2008
Queenstown, New Zeland
TD James Smithells

Wakatipu Tournies 2008 - The TD's Perspective

Preparation for the 2008 Wakatipu tournies began straight after the 2007 tournies concluded. A TD's job is never done! Mental note to self at the time; remember in 2008 to properly organise the tape collection at Paradise and give timely advice about inclusion on the helicopter flight. Doh! Preparation for 2007 had been dastardly, with the team feverishly beavering away to complete major aspects of the course upgrade in time for the tournament, on top of the usual hectic logistics.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Giant ‘disc clouds’ in the sunset over the Remakables, an indication that a greater power is looking after the annual Paradise and Queenstown events.

This year was bound to be easier and indeed it was. The media coverage was better than ever, with ear-catching radio adverts starting with smashing plates, then one partner explaining to the other that they weren't getting ready for a Greek wedding, but were practising for the Paradise Plates and Queenstown Classic! The remaining course upgrade work had been completed months earlier, with the Gardens course looking immaculate; Ground Guard for Africa around tees and targets, grass growing through it in a drought, idiot-proof signage etc. Uan, Regan, Nathan and I spent a full day at Paradise on the Saturday prior to the tournies, marking out the course and weedeating tees, greens, and even paths. Paradise had never looked so good, but inevitably the dream of a post-marking out round evaporated in our exhaustion.

Following several late nights of final preparations, Friday duly came around, with Pete Crowther and Michael Proctor to collect en route to Paradise. Arrived at the Gardens to find said players, a mountain of luggage, and a rather frazzled Nigel Barnwell wanting a ride. Complicated manoeuvrings followed around borrowing credit cards, closed rental car shops, and foodless waifs, but the Jaguar calmly padded through the logistical jungle and eventually crammed everything and everyone into the Discmobile. A reliably lovely drive up the beautiful lake brought us to Paradise, where golfers suddenly appeared from all directions and multiple huggings and handshakes took place. The largest crew to ever stay over there had assembled for the 10th Paradise Plates!

The funniest point of the weekend soon followed, when Rachel (co-resident with Per) informed me that Nigel had lit the coal range in the Annex, with the microwave oven still sitting on top of it! She had found it in the deserted kitchen with brown smoke billowing from it's bottom. This led to many jokes about Nigel's microwave cooking lessons and whether he was going to eat it all himself or share it! Finally settled into the Garden of Eden, where Marty introduced me to the lovely Deb and delightful Maia, then proceeded to cook up a delicious pasta storm. The fabled early night almost happened, then Martin Galley turned up to liven proceedings and inadvertently ensure another cog tightened on the rack that is a TD's lot.

Saturday dawned well, with players having been informed that we would be starting on time (I can still hear the laughter!). Walking through the bush was required this year, which certainly made the Garden of Eden a lot more peaceful place to be. Raced up to the highest point with ropes to erect the flag, pissed-off that someone had cut and removed the pre-rigged ropes during the week. Arrived to find that they had removed the tent pegs as well. Didn't need this! Took off on a "short cut '' through the scrub to collect pegs from the basket and quickly found myself in deep jungle that even the Jaguar couldn't penetrate. Backtracked and eventually got through and back, erected the flag, and returned to base. Great to see Ming Kaching again after many years. The usual chaos was prevailing there, so got onto sorting out the cards for the Doubles and all of a sudden the players meeting was starting, well behind schedule. Help!

The Doubles passed uneventfully, with a moderate wind adding challenge to the exposed holes on the grassy hummocks. There was close competition as usual, with the force-to-be-reckoned-with Marty de Haas and the disc-golf-machine Simon Feasey taking it out with a fine 41. Mario Cerniar and Craig McNab from Christchurch followed on 43, with five pairs tied just behind on 44.

The wind kept up for the Singles, with the usual suspects leading the charge. At the end of another great day in Paradise, the unstoppable Ken Jarvis took out the Open with a 42, Brett Hailstone won the Masters with a 46, Bob Gentil prevailed in the Grand Masters with a 49, Ming prevailed over herself in the Women's with a 65, and Dylan Menzies secured the Under 18 with a creditable 52.

As tends to happen at Paradise, people playing in Queenstown promptly disappeared while the residents wound down and prepared for the evening. Marty did another yummy loaves and fishes routine with pasta, as people gravitated to the Garden of Eden. A complex issue about the round arose, which led to an interesting discussion. Clearly the wisdom of Solomon and the diplomatic skills of Henry Kissinger would be required to resolve this! The calm and mild evening gathered momentum, aided considerably by Martin Galley's superior tequila, open fire and fine drumming. Stories and jokes abounded, with peak levels of enjoyment being sustained for hours. Anyone who was there will remember it as a magical night. Exemplified perhaps by the mysterious, distant hooting and hollering, which turned out to be one of our party gleefully running around the field expressing his happiness!

Forced myself to bed at 4am, to be rudely awoken by my alarm at 6am, accompanied by the sound of that rack turning another couple of notches. Uh oh! Scrambled around packing then bolted for Queenstown to set things up for the Classic. Everybody was helpful, as usual, and the event started taking form. Where was my intravenous caffeine drip? Eventually the players meeting began and off we went for the first round, in lovely weather. Even managed to score a creditable 52, which got me in the second seeded group for the afternoon, and a chance to do direct battle with Bob for the awesome, newly-created by Dan Kelly, Grand Masters trophy. Everything was ticking along just fine until I missed an easy putt with six holes to go, the rack turned one notch too far, and I hit the wall. Lucky it's only a game!

With the help of many, scores were double-checked and ordered, prizes were collated and all appeared tickety boo. We then had a fun competition across the lily pond to see who won the NZSkydive jump, with Michael prevailing. Another grand selection of generous prizes was then handed out, with once again everyone getting a prize. Divisional winners in Queenstown were identical to those in Paradise, with the exception of Marty de Haas taking the Masters over Brett. In the midst of the pre-presentation chaos, I made an uncharacteristic mental arithmetic error and incorrectly presented the Paradise Grand Masters trophy and prize to Nigel Barnwell. Apologies once again to Bob. A fine evening of drinking and dining followed, with a few tired teddies in evidence. Thanks to the generosity of Marty, on the following morning I went on the winners’ flight with The Helicopter Line, which well made up for missing out last year. A final dinner that night with the survivors nicely rounded off another excellent weekend. A big thanks again to all those who helped out with the numerous tasks. Mental note for 2009, get rid of that rack by having less fun, not!

James " Jaguar " Smithells

Other Great Queenstown Disc Golf Events / Stories

Queenstown 2007 Disc Golf Tournament
Queenstown 2006 Disc Golf Tournament
Queenstown 2005 Disc Golf Tournament
Queenstown 2004 Disc Golf Tournament

Back to the top

Disc Golf New Zealand
The spectacular new ‘Grand Masters Trophy’ unveiled for the first time at the Classic this year.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Where else would you find a disc golf target like this? It’s amazing what James can do with a Wild Irishman. Matagouri or wild Irishman (Discaria toumatou) is the only NZ native plant with thorns.

Disc Golf New Zealand
TD James Smithells spotlighted by the warming Autumn sun wishing Bob hadn’t introduced him before he had a chance to get his hat and sunnies on.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Three happy Waiheke Islanders in Paradise, Nigel Hailstone, Nigel Barnwell and Brett Hailstone.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Bob, Arthur, Simon and Marty take time out on the high point at Paradise to take in the spectacular view. Dutchman Arthur Bosschaart had just arrived in the country on his annual summer sojourn down under.

Disc Golf New Zealand
The local’s only group Regan, Ken, Nathan and Uan waiting on yet another of the spectacular tees.

Disc Golf New Zealand
TD James Smithells having a psychology session with the All Black coach Graeme Henry on the hole appropriately named ‘World Cup’.

Disc Golf New Zealand
The Queenstown Disc Golf Flag is flying above Paradise indicating the annual southern stop on the NZDG tour is under way, the players are in the house.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Marty, Simon, Arthur and Bob happy to be in Paradise.

Disc Golf New Zealand
James, with hat and glasses on this time and ready to lay down the law at the players meeting prior to the start of the 2008 Queenstown Classic.

Disc Golf New Zealand
The Tattooed flatlander Arthur Bosschaart tee’s off ‘The Rock’ on hole number 3 in the Queenstown Gardens.

Disc Golf New Zealand
On his fifth visit to the ‘Queenstown Classic’ 10 year old Toby Gentil heads to the basket on hole 12 happy with a par.

Disc Golf New Zealand
As always it’s good to take a little time out to ‘Visit Bruce’ on any round on the Queenstown Gardens. Bruce Grant was a local climbing legend.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Local Nathan Howie on the par 4 ‘Windy Way’ sends a solid putt at the chains, as playing partner James Smithells watches on.

Disc Golf New Zealand
The crowd gathers for the across the pond shoot out for the prize of a Tandem Skydive, won by Aucklander and first time Queenstown visitor Michael Proctor.

Disc Golf New Zealand
And the winner was ……. Well done to Ken Jarvis …. Who incidentally will be tying the knot a little later this year on a trip to Mexico.

Disc Golf New Zealand
Who wants to play for prize money when you can take one of these fantastic Queenstown Classic Trophies home.

Back to the top

2008 Queenstown Disc Golf Tournament NZ Tour Results

Click here to see your 2008 Tour Points Standing

Name
Divison
Paradise
Queenstown 1
Queenstown 2
Total
1
Ken Jarvis
O
42
44
49
135
2
Simon Feasey
O
44
47
47
138
3
Adam Thompson
O
51
47
49
147
4
Mario Cerniar
O
49
48
51
148
5
Bob Gentil
GM
49
51
52
152
6
Martin de Haas
M
52
54
50
156
7
Brett Hailstone
M
46
54
58
158
8
Nathan Howie
O
54
53
54
161
9
Nigel Barnwell
GM
50
55
56
161
10
Caleb Gribi
O
52
55
58
165
11
Pete Crowther
GM
53
59
53
165
12
Neil Hardey
GM
55
56
56
167
13
Craig McNab
M
52
58
57
167
14
Nigel Hailstone
M
53
56
59
168
15
James Smithells
GM
56
52
61
169
16
Regan Caldwell
O
55
54
62
171
17
Dylan Menzies
J
52
61
58
171
18
Ming Menzies
W
65
58
54
177
19
Arthur Bosscaart
M
60
60
59
179
20
Kyle Murray
O
59
61
63
183
21
Michael Proctor
GM
58
62
64
184
22
Uan Spijkerbosch
O
57
68
61
186
23
Gareth Dykes
O
60
62
64
186
24
Martin Galley
M
63
58
66
187
25
Tom Watson
O
68
58
62
188
26
Coren Sheriff
O
56
64
70
190

2008 Queenstown Disc Golf Tournament Paradise Doubles Results

 

Name

Round 1

1

Simon Feasey & Martin de Haas

41

2

Mario Cerniar & Craig McNab

43

3=

Brett Hailstone & Nigel Hailstone

44

3=

Neil Hardey & Pete Crowther

44

3=

Uan Spijkerbosch & Ken Jarvis

44

3=

Bob Gentil & Arthur Bosscaart

44

3=

Kyle Murray & Adam Thompson

44

8=

Nigel Barnwell & James Smithells

45

8=

Martin Galley & Caleb Gribi

45

10

Dave Brokaw & Tom Bond

48

11=

Nathan Howie & Regan Caldwell

52

11=

Dylan Menzies & Ming Menzies

52

13

Brian Hicke & Michael Proctor

52

14

Gaz Walker & Aaron Miers

54

15

Gareth Dykes & Coren Sheriff

55


2008 Queenstown Disc Golf Tournament Paradise Singles Results

  Name
Dvn
Total

1

Ken Jarvis

O

42

2

Simon Feasey

O

44

3

Tom Bond

O

48

4

Mario Cerniar

O

49

5

Adam Thompson

O

51

6

Caleb Gribi

O

52

7

Nathan Howie

O

54

8

Regan Caldwell

O

55

9

Coren Sheriff

O

56

10=

Dave Brokaw

O

57

10=

Uan Spijkerbosch

O

57

12

Kyle Murray

O

59

13

Gareth Dykes

O

60

14

Tom Watson

O

68

 

 

 

 

1

Bob Gentil

GM

49

2

Nigel Barnwell

GM

50

3

Pete Crowther

GM

53

4

Neil Hardey

GM

55

5

James Smithells

GM

56

6

Michael Proctor

GM

58

 

 

 

 

1

Brett Hailstone

M

46

2=

Martin de Haas

M

52

2=

Craig McNab

M

52

4

Nigel Hailstone

M

53

5

Arthur Bosscaart

M

60

6

Martin Galley

M

63

 

 

 

 

1

Dylan Menzies

U 18

52

2

Brian Hicke

U 18

59

 

 

 

 

1

Ming Menzies

W

65


2008 Queenstown Gardens Disc Golf Tournament Results

  Name
Dvn
Rd 1
Rd 2
Total

1

Ken Jarvis

O

44

49

93

2

Simon Feasey

O

47

47

94

3

Adam Thompson

O

47

49

96

4

Mario Cerniar

O

48

51

99

5

Nathan Howie

O

53

54

107

6

Caleb Gribi

O

55

58

113

7

Regan Caldwell

O

54

62

116

8

Tom Watson

O

58

62

120

9

Alistair Ceaver

O

64

57

121

10

Kyle Murray

O

61

63

124

11

Andrew Haller

O

61

64

125

12

Gareth Dykes

O

62

64

126

13

Uan Spijkerbosch

O

68

61

129

14

Coren Sheriff

O

64

70

134

15

Matt Wilson

O

73

65

138

16

Wendilein Weder

O

70

74

144

17

Mathew Lady

O

65

83

148

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Bob Gentil

GM

51

52

103

2

Nigel Barnwell

GM

55

56

111

3=

Pete Crowther

GM

59

53

112

3=

Neil Hardey

GM

56

56

112

5

James Smithells

GM

52

61

113

6

Michael Proctor

GM

62

64

126

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Martin de Haas

M

54

50

104

2

Brett Hailstone

M

54

58

112

3=

Craig McNab

M

58

57

115

3=

Nigel Hailstone

M

56

59

115

5

Arthur Bosscaart

M

60

59

119

6

Martin Galley

M

58

66

124

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Ming Menzies

W

58

54

112

2

Sheree Gentil

W

69

66

135

3

Robyn Agnew

W

78

75

153

4

Jo Fletcher

W

78

77

155

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Dylan Menzies

U18

61

58

119

2

Kel Potts

U18

66

68

134

3

Ciaran Jack

U18

74

62

136

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Jim Brewster

Putters

60

58

118

2

Rolf Liechti

Putters

66

65

131

3

Dan Gerard

Putters

66

68

134

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Toby Gentil

Junior

99

91

190


Back to the top


Proudly brought to you by...