Sports
Finnish Teen Wins $500 For Amazing Hole in One Off The Wharf
Masters show why they can compete in tournaments even if they don't win distance contests.
The gulf between the announcer and the disc golf distance finalists throwing from further down the Santa Cruz Wharf must have given Tom Schot an irregular heartbeat.
The announcer, however, quickly corrected his statement—for possibly the 10th time during the Fly Mart event held at Main beach Thursday afternoon—when he learned that it was 16-year-old Seppo Paju of Finland's second throw that smashed the chains from over 300 feet, not his first.
“A $5,000 winner, and unfortunately that's the end of the competition,” he said. “It's a second shot? My mistake that's a $500 winner. Tom you can wake up.”
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Competitors qualified for the fun diversion on Monday, by throwing the longest shots at Monday's distance competition at Anna Jean Cummings park on Monday. Paju put himself in contention with a toss of 167 yards and was unable to say anything as Tom Schot wrote him a check from his own pocket.
Besides the incorrect information on the prize number as well as the nationality and name of the winner the Fly Mart was a joyful break from the rigorous week of tournament activitie. Vendors such as Dynamic Discs from Kansas and Monterey's Disc Golf Association sold T-shirts, discs, and golf inspired artwork made by local Faith Green.
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It gained a lot of attention for the sport as several discs careened into the densely populated volleyball courts. This stopped the normal life of the beach and forced everyone to pay attention within several hundred yards of the action.
The Fly Mart was just two miles from DeLaveaga but worlds apart from the serene atmosphere earlier in the day for the Masters Division's third round. They were focused on getting in position for the semifinals, and it showed in how they responded to curves the course threw at them.
The players, aged 49-59 showed the difference mentality can have on your score, and the calm was noticeable right when you hit the parking lot. They responded to bad rolls and unfriendly trees with sighs and nailed many of their recovery shots.
The video at the right shows local Alfie Stevenson nailing a shot from outside forty feet for a bogey that may as well have been called a mulligan. His par putt hit the top link of the chains and rolled right back in front of his feet. Instead of cursing and hitting a tree he picked it up and drained it.
John Baldwin took advantage of the chance to play a round on his home course, and pulled away to a five stroke lead, with a combined 15 under par in the first three rounds. His closest trailers, Michael Werth and Phil Arthur both finished the day at ten below par fro the first three rounds.
