New Zealand Disc Golf Tour - the Crater Cup 2008
Mangakeikei, Auckland, New Zealand
June 2008

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Once again the Crater Cup was going to be a memorable event, a new course, a field of 35 and the typical Auckland June shite weather would impact on the weekend.

The format for introducing a doubles event instead of the usual Friday afternoon practice round proved to be a successful format which other TD’s should consider with a good field turning up. The call from TD Simon was for a hat draw with bargaining opportunities to allocate partners but in the wanning light of the winter solstice the Rebel Tour led by the Lost Tribes Blair Joines and Dave Routley took matters into their own hands and set of with their own preselected partners.

Some magical shots were played with one in particular being Fish’s drive which ended up resting on the pole of the signature hole no. 15 much to the delight of his fellow Ultimate crew's laughter and heckling throughout the event showed us all how golf should be played in the spirit of the game. Its always good to see you guys at our events.

7 under proved to be the winning score which was amazingly achieved by 3 teams.

Saturday morning and Maungakiekie was looking resplendent. In my mind to play discgolf at this amazing location with Tamaki Mokoro looking watchfully down on proceedings from his vantage point on the summit is unparallel anywhere in New Zealand, a privilege for all us players ! These are the things that our tour should be recognised and enjoyed for.

Round one can be a telling one with some high and low scores coming in with an opening round of 54 which included a triple bogey by Martin setting the pace. Other good scores to come were from Taumaranui’s Dave, G M Pete and Blair whose company I would enjoy in the top group for round 2. Juan Unda spoilt what could have been a terrific round by shooting a 12 on his brother’s named hole JIM’S RAVINE Alas this was too much for the Freaky Stylist to handle so he had a bit of a sulk, DNF’d and went mountain biking. An extremely rare and noticeably absentee from the top group was TD Simon, past multiple Crater winner who sadly had to as TD make some big calls regarding rulings. Its hard enough running an event let alone having to deal with the mired of issues and rulings currently affecting tour events. Lets all make it easier on the TD’s by each of us doing our bit by sticking to simple rules and guidelines without being pedantic so at least the TD can also enjoy the weekend.…

Round 2 saw no major changes in players positions although Jack Turner put in a solid 2nd round to level him with Mark Hamilton and take out bragging rights amongst the ultimate crew. I’m picking some podium finishes in the near future.

Sunday morning……. and everyone woke up to heavy wind and even heavier rain belting down on the hill which gave Simon no option but to call the event off. Serf and myself went about taking the baskets down in some of the worst weather on the summit I’ve seen which confirmed that it was totally unplayable. As we got drenched and smashed by the elements unbeknown to us the rest of the players had latte’s and scones down at the Kiosk but at least got to have an open forum on the state of our game and ways to improve it for everyone. So onwards and upwards!

So the Freaky Styley 08 Crater Cup winners and recipients of Stylist member Renee’s beautifully crafted trophies were determined on the merits of Saturdays play were…

Overall and Masters: Martin de Haas
Open Mens: Blair Joines
Grand Masters: Pete Boyle
Womens: Ming Menzies

Look out for 09’s Maungakiekie Madness, which I’m sure you’ll all appreciate, so practice your forehands.