Saturday, June 23, 2007

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Doylestown, WI (not sure if it comes up on Google maps) was the site of this year's Dingleball Tournament. It was held at a cool country bar which had about 10 acres behind it for such events.

Now I know many of you are not familiar with this 'new' sport or may call it by another name. i.e. ladder golf, lasso golf, or other names.

Standing 20 feet apart are these three rung ladders and two teams of two (like horseshoes) throw three sets of golf balls (dingleballs) attached by 12" of string at these ladders. Three points for the top rung, 2 for the second, and you guessed it, 1 for the bottom.

One team throws their three sets of dingleballs followed by their opponents and you can cancel out points. (like horseshoes) The team to reach 21 wins.

On this particular fine Saturday, 64 teams gathered with one goal. No, not to win. But to raise some dollars for a cancer charity. (Erin) For $20 your team was entered in the tourney. For another $20, you got all the food you wanted to eat, and there was plenty for the 12 hours of fun, and all the keg beer you desired.

The pictures tell most of the story. Pete, Sharon, Kali, and I brought both of our motorhomes. (that's two for those that are math challenged) Many of the participants tent camped. There was also a cool silent auction with some great items. Thanks to all the organizers and especially Lucas, who attempted to take first place, even though he lost games. Lucas is in one of the pictures standing next to the referee, Paul.

I've been playing dingleballs for, let's see, not long. Perhaps a dozen games before this tournament. At the start of the tournament, Pete and Sharon were supposed to be partners. Their dog Kali decided to wander off 10 minutes before the tournament was about to begin. At that time I didn't have a partner, so I wasn't even in the games. At the last minute, Sharon withdrew and asked me to partner with Pete. Thanks Sharon!

To make a long story slightly longer, Pete and I just kept winning. With 8 brackets of 8 teams, a team has to win 3 games to get to the quarterfinals, and then two more to get to the final. Thanks to Pete, we never lost a game. Six games, Six wins. Tournament champions. Yeah!

The trophies were great, as shown in one of the pics. Oh, for those of you wondering, the gal standing next to me is (no that's not Pete) , and I know I will mis-spell her name, Tantavia from Russia. She just happened to attend with a friend and had to leave shortly after this picture.

After the auction, after the final game, after the awards ceremony, and after more food, then came the karaoke. More fun, and very late.