After its two year hiatus this event returns at a new location… not too far, far away.

The last time we went on this journey was back in June of 2022. Dellwood and The Masters of The Canyons. We knew almost immediately when we decided to run this event that it would be He-Man themed. It was a tip of the hat, or maybe a tip of the Power Sword, to all the new Masters aged players that grew up watching He-Man and his adventures on Eternia defending Castle Grayskull. The event was a huge success seeing 225 players from 11 different states and a total pro purse of $5,866. Players received in their player packs, the coveted maroon rain jackets that can be seen around the JTown area. It was a great weekend with great play. Results from 2022 can be found here:

https://www.pdga.com/tour/event/59041

Shortly after the event we decided that it would be run every other year as to not have too many annual local events. This would give another year for people to become eligible for any of the age protected divisions too. We also discovered that we wanted the venue to change. I mean, what’s the point of having a bunch of great local courses if we don’t use them, right? We set our sites on The Oaks. It’s a great course that offers a wide variety of difficulty for players of all ages. Next we had to determine the theme because if it’s going to rotate courses it only made sense that it would rotate themes too. 80s references were thrown around, too many to name. We knew that we would eventually do something Star Wars themed so why not now? Dellwood and The Return of The Masters at The Oaks was born and yes we know, it’s a mouthful, but continuity is everything. The artwork for the event is based on the back of the Speeder Bike vehicle packaging made by toy company, Kenner. Another tip of the hat, or maybe lightsaber this time, to the guys who grew up imagining battles in galaxies far, far away…

The weather was perfect all weekend, we set up tournament central on the fairway of Hole 1 and were able to watch everyone tee off on Hole 2 (tournament Hole 1). Player pack items were given to all players, even the pros, included a Discmania Glow D-Line FD, a tournament polo printed by Unstable Disc Golf Gear, a towel with a map of The Oaks by Grumpy Goat Disc Golf.

Lauren Lakeberg was out on Sunday taking photos, she wrote about the event here and also links photos from when IL States was held at The Oaks. Lauren has been documenting our local disc golf scene for years and her website is a time capsule.

Huge thanks to the Mokena Park District, Shaun Ziems and Joe for keeping The Oaks great! We found out this weekend that Shaun and Joe are the only two employees maintaining The Oaks. What a huge undertaking for two people. The long grass is left on purpose to rewild the area and protect the remaining Oaks, they have seen a huge improvement in the ecological restoration of the course.

Thanks to Ryan “Big Cat” Stilson and Auston “Lil Flip” Kap for working in the shop all weekend. Thanks to our sponsors Redemption Disposal & Recycling and Sunteck tts. Thanks to Truckin’ Delicious for serving tacos on Sunday.

Full Greater Joliet Tour Season Leaderboard HERE.

Winners and results below!

Aces

Jay Bakula - Hole 5

ctps

MA70 - Hole 24 - Larry Auld

MA60 - Hole 20 - Roger Tranowski

MA55 - Hole 25 - Ken Sherlock

MA50 - Hole 19 - Mike Albertini

FA50 - Hole 13 - Laverne Shaw

FA40 - Hole 13 - Helen Handschuh

MA4 - Hole 4 - Stew Beck

MA40 - Hole 9 - Andrew Lund

Full Tournament Results HERE.

-Sheila on behalf of Sean, Ryan and Mike, catch y’all at the next one!