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2008 CAN-AM Singles Challenge Tournament Results
            March 1 & 2, 2008

Championship Play-Offs
Pro Division 
Champion - Wally Burnett - Canada
Runner-Up - Larry Mardis - USA

Amateur Division
Champion - Paul Papineau - Canada
Runner-Up - Edward Curtin - USA

              Divisional Tournament Results

                    USA Pro Division - 17 Entries
Main Event                                        Consolation
1st  -  Larry Mardis                             1st  -  Jim Gaillard
2nd -  Sil Oliveira                                2nd  -  Bob Bugby
3rd  -  Frank Hemming                        3rd  -  Paul Horsfall
4th  -  Bob Guerrini                             4th  -  Richard Reynolds

                Canadian Pro Division - 21 Entries
Main Event                                         Consolation
1st  -  Wally Burnett                            1st  -  Joe Greenwood
2nd -  Geoff Bell                                  2nd -  Jack Thorne
3rd  -  Ralph Webb                              3rd  -  Peter Berg
4th  -  Erika Berg                                 4th  - Don Breau

               USA Amateur Division - 52 Entries
Main Event                                         Consolation
1st  -  Edward Curtin                           1st  -  Ron Lewandowski
2nd -  Clair Sutherland                         2nd -  June Nowak
3rd  -  Jo Waldron                                3rd -   Dave Vogle
4th  -  Rosaire Cote                              4th -  Reba Wade 

           Canadian Amateur Division - 51 Entries
Main Event                                           Consolation
1st  - Paul Papineau                              1st  - Glen Knechtel
2nd - Pat McGregor                               2nd - Philippe Chartrand
3rd  - Walter Morrison                            3rd  - Romeo Gnassi
4th  - Marie Barron                                 4th - Lillian Harris

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St. Pete Amateur Masters Tournament Results
The top eight point winners of the Saturday Morning Singles were eligible to play in the first St. Pete Amateur Masters Tournament.  Two eligible players did not play because of prior commitments so two alternates were eligible to play.

We used an  "8 chart" elimination tournament to determine the winner and the placements for the contestants.  The players drew their line on the chart and we played one 75 point or 16 frame game per round so that the tournament would be similar to the Saturday Singles format.

There were several exciting match.  In the first round, Larry Grieger, who had placed 8th in the Saturday Singles standings, drew line number 7 and had to play Bob Schunk (line 8), the top player in the Saturday Singles.  After a tense battle the score was 69 for Bob and 71 for Larry and Bob had the hammer.  With an open board, Bob went for the win with his hammer but shot short and did not score. Everyone was shocked by the shot. When Larry had the next hammer, Bob hid a 8 and Larry hid a 7 which made the score 77 for Bob and 78 for Larry.  Then with his hammer, Larry boldly shot for another 7 and made it.  The final score was Bob 77 and Larry 85. 

In a later match, Joyce Linna was playing John Witteveen and had to get down to some kitchen play to get back in the game.  And even though she had the "kitchen touch", John was able to shoot his disks out of the kitchen and hold on to his lead and win the game.

We finished two rounds of the three round play-off and then it rained "cats and dogs" on Saturday, February 23rd.  We had to reschedule the final matches for Tuesday, February 26th.

In the final match for first place between John Witteveen and Vivian Balog, Vivian had trouble keeping her own disks out of the kitchen because the court (28) was so "fast".  We had to use "wet beads" on the courts on February 26th because it was too windy to keep the regular beads on the court.

The final placements for the St. Pete Amateur Masters are as follows:

Everyone had fun and learned a lot more about playing competitive shuffleboard. Congratulations to all the players.

Saturday Morning Singles 2007 - 2008

Thanks to Roy for his help every Saturday.

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November 17, 2007 - Week 3 of 16
The weather man had predicted cold temperatures for this morning, but it turned out sunny and warm.  A totally perfect shuffleboard day.

We had 10 players so no one got a bye this week.  There were three games today that were decided by one point.  Thanks to Roy Armstrong for his help in setting up and for "pushing" the half court.

The current standings are as follows:

All the players are "on the board" now, as far as points are concerned. 

Some players will be traveling during the holiday week so next Saturday could be the time for the rest to move up in the standings.  Remember, when the cat's away, the mice will play.

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November 10, 2007  -  Week 2 of 16
We had some tough competition in our second meeting of the season.  Joyce Linna, last year's over-all runner up, took an early the lead in this year's singles competition by earning 8 more points which put her in first place with 17 points.  Barbara Pariseau is a close second with 15 points.

Two new players, Phyllis Mathiot and John Dudley, signed on this week.  Phyllis earned 5 points in her first outing.  John is still looking for his first points.

We had a bye in each round.  Phyllis got the first bye, Joyce Linna got the second one and Vivian Balog got the third bye.  A bye is worth 2 points. 

The current standings are as follows:

The courts have been refinished this fall and they are running so good that they are like butter.  We expect to see some great shuffleboard this season.

Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot - Open Division - November 10, 2007
The Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot for the Open Division was held on Saturday, November 10^th, after the Saturday Morning Singles competition.  Because there was only one shooter (Bob Schunk) in the Open Division on Friday, November 9th, we decided to move the open shoot to Saturday morning so that more experienced players could participate.

The top two shooters, Bob and John D., received Publix gift cards to use for their Thanksgiving turkey or whatever other goodies they desired.  Joyce A. and Barbara each received a one pound Hershey bar for their third and fourth finishes.

The final scores were as follows:

Congratulations to the winners and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Join The Fun
Any amateurs or beginners who would like to sharpen their game and possibly become the first St. Pete Amateur Masters Champion are invited to join us on any Saturday morning and become a registered player in the competition.  There is a one-time registration fee of $10.00 which covers competitive play until the end of February and entry into the play-offs - if you earn enough points to get into them.  Register or sign-in (if you are already registered) by 9 am each Saturday.  Free Coffee and Donuts are available for the players.

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November 3, 2007  -  Week 1 of 16
The Saturday Morning Amateur Singles started on November 3, 2007 with 9 players.  This is an ongoing competition among amateur players.  The players play three non-walking singles games each Saturday and they earn 3 St. Pete Points for every game they win.  They draw their opponents for each game and if a player draws a bye then they receive 2 points for that round.  Each game is either 75 points or 16 frames - whichever comes first.

This year we have added an end of season play-off in which the top 16 point winners will vie for the title of "St. Petersburg Amateur Masters Champion".  Ralph Clark is the sponsor of the St. Pete Amateur Masters Championship.

The November 3rd results are as follows:

November the 3rd was a perfect day for shuffleboard.  Sunny, warm and bright with lots of enthusiasm and good shot making.  We saw many close games and several finished before the 16th frame.  One outstanding sequence of shots occurred in the match between Vivian and Betty.  In the 16th frame of the game, the score was 43 for Vivian and 39 for Betty.  With her last shot, Betty put one of Vivian's disks into the kitchen and scored an 8 for herself.  Then, with her hammer, Vivian hit Betty's 8 on the inside and rolled her own shooting disk across the center line and deep into the seven.  The resulting score for the frame was -3 yellow and 0 black. That made the final score for the game 40 to 39 in Vivian's favor.  Both players shot a great game.  

Since we had an odd number of players on Nov. 3rd, we had one bye in each round.  Joyce Armstrong drew the first bye, John Witteveen drew the second and Mary Grieger drew the third bye.  A bye is worth 2 points.

This season there are 17 Saturday's from November 3rd through February 24th so the maximum number of St. Pete Points a player could earn would be 153 - if they won three games (at three points per game) every week and did not draw a bye in the entire season.  It will be interesting to see how the season plays out.  

Last Year's Winners
Last year's winner of the Saturday Morning Amateur Singles was Bob Schunk with 93 points and the runner-up was Joyce Linna with 90 points.  The championship was decided in the last game of the season.  We had a great season and  no one expected such an enthralling "white knuckle" finish.  The top ten finishers received cash prizes provided by Ralph Clark, the tournament sponsor. 

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St. Pete's Tuesday Night Tournaments

Tuesday Night Tournament Results - Summer 2007

TNT # 3 - August 7th - August 21st  - Co-Ed Singles
The third Tuesday Night Tournament was a singles competition and we initially started on July 31st.  However, we were rained out the first night after just a couple of rounds were played.  So we restarted the tournament on August 7th.  We had 18 entrants and the tournament went through August 21st. 

We try to play a round robin whenever possible in these TNTs to give all the new players a chance to play several rounds before being eliminated from the competition.  With 18 entrants we were not able to do a round robin because it would have taken 17 rounds and 6 weeks to complete the tournament.

Our playing format is one game of 75 points or 16 frames (whichever comes first) per round and the players draw their first opponents each night.  The rest of the matches are "called" by the tournament director to give the players a chance to play various opponents as close to their skill level as possible.

In the final matches, Bob Schunk defeated Pat Eckstein on court #T7 to win first place.  In the play-off match, Chris Page defeated John Gower on court #T5 for third  place.

Final Results:    1st Place  - Bob Schunk  - 7 Wins
                       2nd Place  - Pat Eckstein  - 5 Wins
                        3rd Place  - Chris Page    - 4 Wins
                        4th Place  - John Gower   - 3 Wins

Congratulations to the winners and "good shooting" all around.  Our winners reflected our co-ed format with two guys and two gals taking the top places.

We are going to try something different next week because so many players are complete beginners. We are going to start an Instructional League on Tuesday Nights to help the new players learn the strategies of the game so they will have a better chance of being successful in a tournament setting. Be here at 7:15 pm to get in on the strategy sessions and the practice games.  There will be no charge for instructional sessions and practice games.  Courts will be open at 6:30 pm for warm ups.

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 TNT # 2 - July 17th - July 24th  - Co-Ed Doubles
Our second Tuesday Night Tournament started on July 17th and it was a doubles.  Four players came without partners and they paired up so everyone was able to play.  The rest of the players came with their partners.

We were happy to welcome some new TNT players, especially those from Lakeland.  We played three spirited rounds on the 17th and finished play for the night at about 9:45 pm.  We came back on July 24th with four teams playing for position.

It had rained a good part of the day on the 24th, but the courts were dry and ready for practice at 6 pm.   The weather stayed dry during the first round of matches.  Then it started to sprinkle during the second round.  It sprinkled off and on throughout the final matches. 

In the semi-final matches, Bob & Joyce beat Dan & Christine on court T6 in one match and Jerry & Bev beat Pat & Eddie on court T5 in the other match.

In the final matches, Bob & Joyce beat Jerry & Bev for 1st place on court T7 and Pat & Eddie beat Dan & Chris on court T6 for 3rd place.

The final results were:
                                   1st Place  -  Bob & Joyce
                                  2nd Place  - Jerry & Bev
                                   3rd Place  -  Pat & Eddie
                                   4th Place  -  Dan & Chris

All of our winners were co-ed teams with Mr. & Mrs. teams of Pat & Eddie and Jerry  & Bev.  Dan was holding his young son (who turns 1 next week) throughout the matches and still managed to play a respectable game.

The next TNT starts on July 31st at 7:30 pm - weather permitting.  It will be a co-ed singles so you don't need a partner to play.  Courts will be open for practice and warm-ups at 6 pm.  Register to play by 7:15 pm in the clubhouse.  $5.00 entry fee per player.  Tournament play starts at 7:30 pm and we will play up to 3 rounds each Tuesday until we complete the tournament. 

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TNT # 1 - July 10th - Co-Ed Singles
We held the first TNT on July 10th.  We played a round robin walking co-ed singles of 5 rounds of 12 frame games.  After the 5 rounds were completed, we had a two-way tie for first at 4 wins.  Since it was getting late we decided to break the tie with a lag rather than play another full round. 

Ed Bryant and Chris Page lagged in the tie breaker.  They were tied again after four lag shots so the winner was determined with a 5th lag shot.  Ed won first place on the fifth lag and Chris won second.  John Gower came in third and Pat Eckstein won fourth. 

The tie breaking lag was a new shuffleboard experience for all of the tournament players and it added an extra element of excitement.

Our winners reflected the co-ed format of the tournament with two guys and two gals winning placements. 

It was 10 pm when we finished play and we decided then to limit rounds played to 3 each Tuesday - since most players have to get up for work or school the next morning.

Thanks to Joyce Linna for registration and referee duties and to Mary Eldridge, the tournament director.

If you would like to experience the fun of "tournament shuffleboard" then join us for the Tuesday Night Tournaments.  Our next tournament starts July 17th at 7:30 pm.  It will be a doubles tournament so bring a partner and get ready to have some fun. If you don't have a partner then come anyway and we may be able to find a partner for you. Be sure to register to play by 7:15 pm in the clubhouse.  There is a $5.00 entry fee per player.

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2006 Tournament Results

97 total entries.

Tournament Director:  Mary Eldridge
Asst. Director:  Betty Witteveen
Head Referee:  John Witteveen

The First Annual Challenge
The first annual CAN-AM Challenge Singles was more successful than we could have imagined. We had 97 entries in four divisions. There was the Canadian Amateur Division, the US Amateur Division, the Canadian Pro Division and the US Pro Division.

The format for this non-walking singles was 14 frames per round for each round up to the semi-finals. At the semis and beyond the format changed to 2 out of 3 games per round at 75 points or 10 frames per game - whichever came first. If a third game was needed then it would be 10 frames and switch colors after 5 frames.

Sponsors
This tournament had four sponsors who provided some of the cash prizes. The sponsors were: Lawn Service Co., Tropical Roofing, Inc., Executive Pool Service and Strodes BBQ & Deli.

Cash (from the entry fees) was added to the sponsorship money which brought the total amount of the purse to well over $1000.00.  32 players received prizes for winning 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the main events and the consolations on all four charts.  Not to mention the bonus $300.00 that was awarded to the contestants in both Championship Play-Offs.

John Witteveen deserves a  lot of credit for going out there and getting those sponsors.  

We all thank all of our sponsors for their support.

The Divisions
The Canadian Amateur Division was the largest with 43 entrants. It was played on a 32 chart with 11 sub-brackets. The US Amateur Division had 35 entrants on a 32 chart with three sub-brackets. Sub-bracket players (in either division) would have had to play six rounds if they reached the finals. The US Pro Division had 11 entrants on an 8 chart with three sub-brackets and the Canadian Pro Division had 8 entrants on an even 8 chart. The pros players played either three or four rounds to complete their chart.

Tournament Preparation
We used the tournament courts numbers 1 through 8 and Section 3 courts numbers 1 through 28. Many thanks to Don Breau, John Witteveen and his team along with Mary Eldridge for cleaning and washing the courts just before the tournament.  Some of our new club members had waxed the Tournament Courts and courts 21 through 28 in Section 3 a month or so ago in anticipation of the upcoming tournament.  We had 25 courts ready in Section 3 along with the 8 tournament courts for a total of 33 courts.  We had another 20 courts on stand by - just in case. 

Thanks also to Don for preparing the disks for play.

Thanks to Joyce Linna for setting up the registration tables with Canadian and US themes in the club room. They looked great.

We continued the themes outside where we put some beach towels with wide red and white stripes and some with wide blue and white stripes over the backs of the benches on the tournament courts and courts 21 through 28 in Section 3. These towels gave the courts a cheerful and festive look. There was just enough breeze to cause the US and Canadian flags to give everyone a happy wave every now and then.

Joyce handled the US registrations and Betty Witteveen handled the Canadian registrations. John Witteveen handled the 50/50 and Bob Breckenridge was the MC for the opening ceremonies. Mary was busy setting up the draws for the four divisions in the ballroom.

Adventures in Scorekeeping
The courts numbered 1 through 17 in Section 3 do not have scoreboards (yet) so the players used clip boards with specially made score sheets to keep their scores. Each end kept their own score on their own clip board and score sheet. The main comment we had from these courts concerning the clip boards was that the players at the opposite end of the court did not know the scores of the games being played at the opposite end of their court and therefore, they often did not know why certain shots were taken. Some players found this novel situation amusing and some did not. This set of courts was used for the first two rounds of the tournament only.

In The Booth
Fortunately, the draws were uneventful. We found out that there is not much time to write out the charts when the playing format is 14 frames per round. Mary recruited Betty Witteveen as an assistant in the tournament booth and together they were able to keep the tournament flowing smoothly. This was Betty's first time working in the booth and she did a great job. She helped make the tournament a success.  John Witteveen took care of the Third Calls.

Door Prizes
Just before the second round was completed we had a drawing for door prizes - as an added bonus. There were four $10.00 Publix cards (sponsored by the Club) available as prizes. One for each division. We used the line numbers on each division's chart for the drawings. The US Amateur winner was Art Shorts on line number 24. The Canadian Amateur winner, Don Carpenter, was on sub-bracket line number 8B. The US Pro winner was Sil Oliveira on sub-bracket line number 5B and the Canadian Pro winner was Shirley Goodwin on line number 3.

Spectators
Since we had a total of 17 sub-brackets on three charts, there were times when some players had to wait until a sub-bracket match was resolved before they could play their next match. These players, along with some general spectators, created a nice audience in the grandstand for the players on the the tournament courts. It was refreshing to see so many spectators give an occasional (and knowledgeable) round of applause for the good play we were fortunate to witness on the tournament courts. We had a good group of spectators throughout the tournament.

The Championship Play-Offs
The Pros had their play-off first because of the smaller number of entrants in their divisions. Peter Berg represented Canada and Richard Elliot represented the US. They played their match on Tournament Court 5 starting around 1 pm on Sunday. The format was two out of three games of 75 points or 10 frames, whichever came first.  Peter won the Pro Championship in two games. He received a $100 bonus for his win. This was in addition to his cash prize for winning first in the Canadian Pro Division. Richard received a $50.00 bonus for his runner-up win - also in addition to the cash he won for winning first in the US Pro Division.

The Amateurs started their Championship Play-Off on Sunday around 4 pm.  Patricia Fancher represented the US and Adelard Tremblay represented Canada. This match went three games on Tournament Court 5. They used the same format as the Pros.   The spectators in the grandstand were hanging on every shot. Everyone knew Adelard but few knew Pat, although one or two said they had played against her in "park" play. Adelard had the lead when they switched colors after the fifth frame of the third game. Now Pat was on yellow and Adelard was on black. Pat played defensively by clearing the board after she scored two extra disks and gained the lead. She stuck a couple of times but survived Adelard's kitchen attempts. Adelard shot short once and lost his hammer.  In the end, Pat won the Amateur Championship.  They both received a big round of applause for their great play.

Congratulations to all the winners and a big "Thank You" to all the players who made this tournament a great event.

The Plaques
The winners of the Championship Play-Offs (Peter Berg - Pros and Patricia Fancher - Amateurs) will have their names and country engraved on the perpetual plaque along with the year (2006).  They will each receive a small memento plaque to commemorate their win.  The perpetual plaque and the small plaques are sponsored by the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club.  Each year the winners of the play-offs will be added to the perpetual plaque.  The large plaque is set to record the winners for five years.

Publicity
There was an article in the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday, April 5th, in the Neighborhood Times that had three photos of the action on Sunday, April 2nd.  One photo showed John Witteveen "calling" a disk while using a magnifying glass.  We have already received several calls and emails reminding us that "you can't use a magnifying glass".  We know the rules.  However, John was using the glass "just for fun" on that one disk.  It did produce an entertaining photo.  Another photo showed Carl Rogerson with his characteristic "cowboy" hat and the third showed John Heron helping out by "pushing" disks on the tournament courts.  It was a nice spread and we thank Willie Allen for his excellent photography. 

Wrap-Up
All in all, it turned out to be a great tournament.  The weather was warm, the humidity was nice and low and there were very few breezes to interfere with the shooting.  Everyone was friendly, upbeat and positive.  And we haven't seen so much good play in a long time. 

St. Petersburg had a busy weekend planned for April 1st and 2nd and we were concerned about possible parking problems.  Fortunately, we had no parking problems even though the Chess Club (next door) was holding a tournament that weekend and there was a dance in the ballroom on Saturday.   And, we hardly heard the noise from the Grand Prix cars that were racing in downtown St. Pete on Sunday.  However, we did hear the military jets as they swooped all over the downtown area on Saturday during the air show. 

On Friday, March 31st, we had over 80 players playing from 7 pm to 11 pm in our regular St. Pete Shuffle activity.  So - the Club really had a busy weekend.

We all agreed though that "it doesn't get any better than this".   We look forward to next year's event.

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       February 14, 2006
      Valentine Doubles

Cancelled due to the cold.

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    February 10, 2006
St. Pete Shuffle Singles

Tournament Director: Mary Eldridge 

It was a pleasant night for shuffling and we started our walking singles at 7:30 pm.  We used 12 frames for the preliminary rounds and 16 frames for the final round. 

The final round was played on court 7 and it went right down to the last shot.  With Jim (yellow) having  47 and Paul (black) having 40.  The frame ended on the call of one of Paul's disks.

After the first two calls disagreed, Mary had to make a "third call" on the disk and called it "no good".  It was an extremely close disk, but it  definitely touched the line.

It is unusual for such a close call to determine the final outcome of a tournament. 

Jim and Paul received first and second place trophies for their winning efforts.

We finished the tournament shortly after 10 pm.  The regular Shuffle continued on until 11 pm. 

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                                            February 5, 2006
                                         Super Bowl Doubles

Tournament Director: Mary Eldridge

It was another beautiful day for shuffling and a few dead-hard shufflers were here to have some fun.

With the small turnout, we ended up with two matches of 2 out of 3, 75 points games.  After the first round, everyone had lunch and then we were able to finish the second round and be ready to leave by 2 pm.

The winners of the final match were for the Steelers in the Super Bowl so their win was a harbinger of the "Big Game's" outcome.

 Shuffling fun and the Super Bowl - all in one day.  You gotta love it.

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                                             January 27, 2006
                                     Draw for Partner Doubles

Tournament Director:  Mary Eldridge

Friday night was a great night for shuffling.  We always have trophies for the winners of first and second place in the Friday night tournaments. We don't have consolation brackets so every round is "sudden death".   Win or "else". 

The players drew for their partners at 7:30 pm and they went right to work.  We used one 16-frame game per round for the first two rounds and then switched to one 12-frame game per round.

We had quite a mix of experienced players and brand new players.  Most of the newbies got an experienced partner so the competition was fairly even. 

Larry and Carol split their time between Canada and the Bradenton area and Dieter and Birgitt have been visiting Florida (from Germany) this week to learn more about shuffleboard.  Larry and Carol are experienced players and the Hussmanns are just getting started.  All four took home a trophy. 

The (kind of dark) photos above show the four winners with their trophies in the picture on the left.  The picture in the middle shows Dieter shooting from the foot on court 6 during the final match and the picture on the right shows Birgitt shooting against Larry Lumsden at the head of court 6.  These photos were taken from 11 pm to about 11:15 pm.

The final match started at 10:30 pm and continued until 11:15 pm.  We saw a surprising number of excellent shots from both teams during the final match.  

Peter and Erika Berg (also Germans and from the Bradenton area) cheered on both teams in the finals right up to the end - along with several other spectators.

Winning the trophies was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. Congratulations to the four winners.  

We wished Dieter and Birgitt a safe trip home on Saturday and we look forward to their next trip to the US in August.  We wish them good luck with the German Shuffleboard Association and we will be glad to help them in any way to become strong players.

Visit the German Shuffleboard Association at  www.shuffleboarder.de
It's in German but there is a translation service available.  

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                                           January 24 & 25, 2006
                                            Anniversary Doubles

Tournament Director:  Mary Eldridge
                                           
We were glad that the club's 82nd anniversary gave us a good reason to hold a tournament even though Mother Nature chose to rain on us the first day. 

Mother Nature unleashed her first salvo with a light rain around 7:00 am on Tuesday, the 24th, so we had wet courts to greet us the first morning.  However, with a little squeegee work from Don Breau and a little toweling from Mary and others the courts were ready for action at 9 am. Thanks to those who dried the courts.

We were all delighted to welcome Dieter and Birgitt Hussmann as brand new players in the tournament.  They are from Langenselbold, Germany and they are visiting Florida this week to learn more about shuffleboard. 

They have recently established the German Shuffleboard Association and they are very interested in learning all they can about the game.

We used the 75 point game (two out of three) format in the first round and we enjoyed the close third games in a couple of the matches.  By the time we were ready for the second round we decided to change the format to one 16 frame game per round - to make sure we could finish in one day.

After everyone had their lunch, we started round two and the contestants played about half a game when it rained again.  At first it just sprinkled but, then it really came down.  We had to call off play for the day.  Half of the players did not want to return on Wednesday so they forfeited out of contention for the top placements.

On Wednesday morning the weather was bright and dry so we resumed the games where we left off.  There were two matches to play out on Wednesday. One match was in the main event and was between Ralph Clark and Joyce Linna and Roy and Joyce Armstrong.  All four are club members.  The other match was in the consolation between Dieter and Birgitt Hussmann and Pat McGregor and Maria DeSwart. 

After a little warm-up the players got down to business.   Ralph and Joyce  won the main event match with a score 171 to 170 and they won first place.  It can't get much closer than that.  Roy and Joyce took third place.

In the consolation, Pat McGregor and Maria DeSwart won first place and Dieter and Birgitt won third place.

The teams from the bottom bracket of the chart forfeited out of the chance to play for first and third so the players of Wednesday's matches automatically won either first or third place in the main and in the consolation.

While this tournament had a few problems we all enjoyed the fun and games.   Congratulations to the winners and thanks to those who helped make it possible.

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                                         November 29, 2005
                                          1 Day NW Singles
                                               Open & Am

                                   Cancelled due to rain out.

                                       November 26, 2005
                                   1 Day Amateur Singles
                                           One Division

A couple of players got a new experience because they had never played a walking singles before.  Since the players were generally experienced players we used an 18 frame format with a color switch after 9 frames instead of the 75 points per game format which we use with novice players. 

It was a beautiful day and everyone had fun.  We were done by noon.

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                                      October 23, 2005
                             1-Day B-Y-P Doubles
                                   One Division

We were uncertain if anyone would show up to play today because of Hurricane Wilma's possible effects.  Ron and Ellie ran through some rain on the way to St. Pete but the rest of us made it without seeing any rain.

Since we had four teams registered we decided to play.  We drew line numbers and played 20-frame doubles games on courts 21, 22, 23 and 24. 

Actually it was more fun than we expected.  It was hot though and we thought we might see some rain before long.  Fortunately we didn't see any rain - just lots of clouds and a tiny bit of sunshine.

Richard and Rosemary played Ron and Ellie on court 24 in round one while Mary and Bob played John and Betty on court 23.  The courts were fast and the disks ran pretty good.  It wasn't long before everyone was hitting the kitchen.

In round two, Mary and Bob played Ron and Ellie for first on court 21.  Richard and Rosemary duked it out with John and Betty on court 22 for third.  Mary and Bob did not have much luck on court 21.  The match on court 22 was very close right up to the end.  It could have gone either way.   Congratulations to Ron and Ellie on their win.

Even though we had a small turnout we all had some fun and prizes were awarded to the four places.  Everyone went home a winner.

Thanks to everyone for making the day a little more fun.  See you next time.

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    2004 - 2005 Tournament Results

                                             March 13, 2005
                   Good Life Games - Shuffleboard Doubles

Event Director:  Mary Eldridge

March 13, 2005
Even though it was a beautiful day, Sunday had a lot more wind than Saturday.  And shuffleboard players know that that means that the glass beads may be blown off the courts at any time - which can make it difficult to be consistently accurate. Never the less, the players had fun and there was a close match or two. 

We welcomed newbies Suzanne, Ruth, Tom and Kathy.  They learned a lot about shuffleboard today and enjoyed their competition. 

Congratulations to the medal winners and thanks to Joyce, Garry, Vandra and Mary for setting up the courts, taking care of the goody bags and the snacks and the paperwork associated with the Good Life Games.

Thanks to all the players who attended and competed in the Good Life Games.

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                  March 12, 2005
Good Life Games - Shuffleboard Singles 

Event Director:  Mary Eldridge 

March 12, 2005
This year's competitors were the most knowledgeable and skillful shuffleboard players we have had in the Good Life Games in a long time.  Most of them know the strategy of the game and are skillful shooters.  Congratulations to all the medalists.

We could not have had a more beautiful day for playing.  It was sunny and dry with spring-like temperatures up in the 70s.  The sun was so bright today that it was difficult to see the black disks that were in the shadows.

Thanks to Joyce Linna for handling the "walk-in" registrations.  Many thanks also to Garry and Vandra Morin for their efforts.  They brought the goody bags, snacks, fruit, water and the medals for the contestants.

Today's event was fun "all around".

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                                         March 8, 2005
                              1-Day Draw Doubles

                                    Cancelled Due to Rain

                                            March 6, 2005
                             1-Day Sunday Doubles
                          Open & Amateur Divisions

                                    Open Division

                                               
                                  Amateur Division

Tournament Director:  Mary Eldridge
Tournament Sponsor:  SPSC   

March 6, 2005
This was our second Bring-Your-Partner (BYP) Sunday Doubles tournament.  Weather-wise it was a beautiful spring day - warm, sunny and dry. 

Thanks to Don Breau and Joyce Linna for setting up the courts in the morning.  We used the Tournament Courts (T-1 thru T-8) today, for a change.  There was a small amount of dripping dew at the head of the courts when we got here around 7:45 am.  Thanks also go to Joyce for taking care of the registrations and to Diana May for help in setting up the draw.

The amateurs drew first so they could get a quick start because they had two sub-brackets to work through.  They played the 16-frames per round format.  

It was suggested that we try a round robin in the open division so that everyone would get a lot of "play time".  Mary quickly set-up the round robin.  Each team played four rounds and had one "bye" round. We started out with the 16-frame format, but after the third round we went to the 12-frame format to make sure we could finish in one day.  The teams each drew a number and then looked at the round robin chart to see who their opponents were and which court they were to play the first round on.  The round robin chart was posted on the board so players could keep track of everyone's progress during the tournament. 

In the amateurs, the winners of first place in the main and first in the consolation came out of the sub-brackets.  Congratulations to Jim Barron and Joe Prisinzano and to Roy and Joyce Armstrong for their outstanding play in winning their 1st places.  All the amateurs did a lot of good shooting throughout the day.   

Special congratulations go to club members Pat Hooper and Joyce Linna for their third place finish in the main event and to Roy and Joyce Armstrong for their first place finish in the consolation. 

The open division saw some spectacular do-or-die shooting throughout the day.  On one occasion on court T-8, in round 2 with the score at 126 to 150,  Darvin Mueller had the hammer in the last frame of the game.  He was behind 24 points and needed a minor miracle to avoid a loss.  He managed to get two sevens on the board and his opponent, Fern LaChance, shot to clear them and unfortunately he missed them both.  Darvin then shot a big, fat ten to score 24 points and tie the game.  He and his partner, Larry Mardis, then proceeded to win the game in the overtime frames.

Another thriller occurred in round 4 on court T-6. Diana May had the hammer in the last frame.  The score was 79 to 88, in her opponent's (Darvin and Larry's) favor.  There were no scoring disks on the board and the ten was blocked by several disks.  Diana had to think about the situation for a minute.  Darvin and Larry had already won three matches and if they won this match they would take 1st place in the tournament with 4 wins.  Diana and her partner Fred Muehlebach had won one match so far and if they could win this match they would have two wins and one more round to play.  Darvin and Larry had the bye in the fifth round, so they would finish regulation play with 3 wins, if they lost this round. What to do?  Diana decided to shoot one of Darvin's blocking disks for the kitchen - and she made it!  The final score was 79 to 78 in Diana's (and Fred's) favor.  Eventually, the teams finished regulation play with a 3 -3 tie.

Instead of playing another full round (which would have been the sixth round of the day) to determine the tournament winners, we decided to have a lag-off.  After shooting from both ends of the court the score was tied at 4 - 4.  The players changed colors and after Diana and Fred scored 10 total points the lag-off ended because Darvin and Larry could not catch up with the remaining shots.

Diana and Fred won first place and Darvin and Larry won second place.

Paul and Heather Archambault won third place with 2 wins in regulation play.

There was also a lag-off for 4th place. The teams finished regula