Case DiscGolfPark Hosts First Major Event in Oklahoma Open

Sand Springs held its first major event at Case DiscGolfPark Saturday, hosting six amateur divisions of the Oklahoma Open on its white (short) tees.

Tara Royal shot a 66 in Recreational Women. Samantha Cooper and Kelsi Snook shot 64s in Intermediate Women. Del Wytovak shot a 48 in Recreational Men, Jarrod Harris shot a 54 in Novice Men, and Eric Savage scored a 53 in Amateur Masters 60+.

Matthew Brown scored a 55 in 18U Juniors, Canton Taylor scored a 54 in 15U Juniors, and Jaxton Taylor scored a 63 in 10U Juniors.

The three-round Oklahoma Open is also being played on five other Tulsa-area courses and will conclude on Sunday.

Cross Country

Chloe Grona took first place in the Frontier Valley Conference junior high track meet at Muskogee, leading the girls to a program-best seventh place finish.

Chloe Grona ran the two-mile race in 12:39 to earn the conference title while Josie Grona placed 7th in 13:15 to also earn All-Conference honors.

The junior high boys also had a historically good seventh place finish, led by Wyatt Shaw in 12:38 for 36th place.

The varsity girls placed eighth, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 5K time of 22:09 for 26th. The varsity boys didn’t place but were led by Taigh Wright in 19:48 for 43rd.

At the 6A Regional meet in Ponca City Hilton placed 44th in 22:38.49 but the girls were one runner shy of earning a team place. The boys finished 15th, led by Wright in 19:59.32 for 74th.

Football

The Sand Springs seventh grade football team improved to 4-2 in its division with a 40-0 rout of Broken Arrow Orange on Saturday. They will play at Bixby White on Saturday.

The eighth grade team suffered its first loss of the season, 18-12 against Carver. The Sandites are 6-1 overall.

Sandite Baseball clinches home Regional, Layne Kirkendoll wins Conference Championship

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

For the first time since 2011, the Charles Page High School baseball team (29-6, 11-3) has clinched a home regional tournament after winning its final two district games last week.

The Sandites won 4-0 against Putnam City North (8-27, 3-11) Monday at home before steamrolling the Panthers 25-7 Tuesday on the road.

Jabe Schlehuber (6-1) tossed a complete game one-hitter on Monday with 10 strikeouts and Keaton Campbell scored one run and two RBI.

Dom Ornelas blasted his team-leading eighth home run of the season on Tuesday and the Sandites talled 20 hits in their highest-scoring game since 2016. Eli Buxton (3-1) threw six strikeouts against two hits in three innings.

On Thursday the Sandites paid back an 8-0 loss from earlier in the season by defeating Highway 97 rival Sapulpa 18-5. 

Kayden Campbell (4-0) threw three strikeouts and allowed two hits against the Chieftains (26-9) for the win, and Keaton Campbell and Ty Pennington both hit home runs to lead a 16-hit Sandite effort.

The regular season ended in a 4-3 loss to Westmoore (25-10) on Saturday. Buxton took his first loss of the year, throwing three hits and three strikeouts in 1.1 innings. 

Five pitchers combined to allow only five hits in the loss, and the Sandites managed 10 hits of their own but stranded nine runners.

Fishing

Hunter Spencer and Hayden Lowrance won first place in the Oklahoma Bass Nation youth event on Keystone Lake, Sunday, April 24th. The duo caught five fish totaling 16.54 pounds, including the 4.37-pound big bass.

Caden Strawn and Drew Turner were runners-up with five fish weighing 16.47 pounds, including a 3.93 pounder. 

In the high school division the Sandites were led by Mack Taylor and Parker Haling with five fish weighing 13.15 pounds for ninth place.

Eli Rogers and Caden Shea placed 10th with five fish weighing 13.09 pounds. Nathan Griffin and Jaxon Trotter placed 11th with five fish weighing 12.87 pounds. 

Gabriel Castellano and Dallas Elifrits were 32nd with three fish weighing 7.07 pounds. Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey were 56th with a 3.05-pound fish.

Disc Golf

40 players turned out for the Sand Springs Showcase PDGA C-Tier one-round tournament at Case DiscGolfPark on Sunday, April 24th. 

Tyler Oakes won the Open division with a 51, Hueston Kratz won Advanced with a 52, Sonny Dalesandro won Intermediate with a 49, Joshua Pauley won Recreational with a 55, and Joshua Loustaunau won Novice with a 56.

Samantha Russell won Advanced Women with a 69, Jimmy Haase won Amateur Masters 40+ with a 56, Jude Henry won Amateur Masters 50+ with a 61, and Shane Chester won Junior 15U with a 69.

Softball

The CPHS slow pitch softball team ended the season with a 7-14 record after falling 10-2 to Guthrie and 19-1 to Jenks at Regionals on Wednesday.

Golf

Zane Downey scored an 81 and Mason Ward shot 84 to lead the Sandites at the Skiatook tournament on Wednesday. Seth Benton scored 89, Drew Paden scored 91, and Cameron Villines scored 94.

The girls ended their season Tuesday at the Ponca City regional tournament. Gina Foster shot 110 and Madison Chambers scored 112.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs boys took 10th and the girls placed eighth at the Frontier Valley Conference track meet at Union High School on Friday with one champion.

Layne Kirkendoll won the long jump at 19 ft. 1.5 in. to break her own school record of 18 ft. 8 in. She also placed fourth in the high jump at 5 ft. 2 in.

Matthew Shelton placed fourth in shot put at 46 ft. 10 in. Jestin Rawlins placed sixth in discus at 139 ft. 6 in. The girls 4x800 relay team placed fourth in 11:04.84.

Tennis

The CPHS girls tennis team split with Sapulpa on Thursday. Sapulpa won the Singles match, but Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder won 6-2, 7-5 in Doubles.

Case Community Park brings organized disc golf league to Sand Springs

Taylor Dutto hosts the first-ever disc golf mini tournament at Case Community Park.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Sand Springs is no stranger to organized sports. The bustling Tulsa suburb is the home of the West Side Alliance, a nationally competitive soccer organization; the Keystone Kids wrestling program, which has crowned national and Pan-American champions in all three styles; the Sand Springs BMX Association; as well as baseball and softball leagues that compete with the best.

One area the town is now breaking into is disc golf. The City of Sand Springs has operated disc golf courses since 2004, but until this summer, there has never been an organized league. In April, the City officially opened the Case DiscGolfPark, replacing the existing 18-hole River City course. 

“That has always felt like the lost end of the park,” says Sand Springs Parks Director Jeff Edwards. “Nobody really knew it existed.” Past the softball complex, there is only disc golf and BMX. Most of the course grounds weren’t utilized by the public till the first course was installed in 2017.

Since the unveiling of the new design, Case Community Park now hosts weekly Monday evening minis organized by Taylor Dutto, a Tulsa resident who has fallen in love with the Sand Springs course. 

At the Monday, July 12th mini, Taylor Sears took home $310 in cash earnings after winning first place in the Open division and throwing a 221-foot ace on the first hole of the White layout. Jimmy Forester also threw a hole-in-one to split the ace pot with Sears and earn $215. 

In addition to the Open division, there are also several amateur divisions that pay out in either cash or merchandise. The latest mini drew nearly 50 competitors.

The new DiscGolfPark marks a notable investment by the City of Sand Springs in their efforts to attract regional tournaments to their flagship park. Designed by 2009 PDGA World Champion Avery Jenkins, the new course features some of the finest course infrastructure in the state. 

Massive turf tee-pads, brand new baskets, and quality signage provide some great perks that many other courses are missing. The park also features two layouts at all times. Each of the 18 tee pads features a long (Blue) and short (White) basket, so players always have the option of either a challenging or recreational round. But that’s only half of what makes Case Community Park such a great location. 

The course offers even better Arkansas River views than Tulsa’s historic Riverside Park. The grounds drain faster than almost any other area course following a rain storm. It’s usually the most frequently mowed disc golf course in the Tulsa metro, as the City makes every effort to provide pristine fairways. It’s also a great place for wildlife, as Bald Eagles can frequently be seen nesting, hunting, and perched in the mature cottonwood trees along the river. 

“What makes (Case DiscGolfPark) unique is while there is some trail activity that goes alongside some of the holes, I think there’s some good opportunity for people to feel secluded there,” says Edwards. “It’s a little bit more peaceful and tranquil to go get a round in without a bunch of noise and activity all around. I definitely think that makes it somewhat unique as opposed to some of the other courses that are squeezed into smaller properties with a lot of other amenities around them.”

The Sand Springs disc golf course is a great place for long-time disc golfers and beginners, men and women, old and young. Regardless of your skill level, there’s a great time waiting for you in Case Community Park. 

To keep up with weekly minis, interested golfers can join the Case DiscGolfPark Facebook group.

Sand Springs disc golfers hold River City Send-Off

Tommy Agent (left) and Pete Shipley (right) won their divisions Saturday at the River City Send-Off.

Taylor Dutto (pictured) organized the River City Send-Off with Dwight Griffis (not-pictured). 

For the first time since the Ray Brown era, Sand Springs hosted a disc golf mini tournament Saturday. Local golfers Dwight Griffis and Taylor Dutto organized the event as a send-off for the River City course at Case Community Park, which will soon be removed and replaced with a new layout. 

The existing 18-hole course is the third disc golf course in Sand Springs history. It opened in 2017 as part of a $6 million park renovation and was designed in collaboration with local Tulsa Disc Sports Association (TDSA) members. It will soon be replaced with a new professional design by 2009 World Champion Avery Jenkins. 

Although local players are excited for the upcoming redesign, many are also nostalgic to see the existing layout come to an end. Dozens of players participated in the River City Send-Off on Saturday, which marked the first competitive event in Sand Springs since before the Ray Brown Park nine-hole course was removed in 2012. 

22 players participated in a “flip-dubs” event in the morning, where players of all skill levels are randomly matched in teams of two. Zachary Schumacher and Andrew Rock won that event with a score of 42, twelve strokes under par. 

From 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 24 golfers played singles rounds in two divisions. Tommy Agent won the Open division with a score of 43 to lead a field of 13 pro players. Pete Shipley won the amateur division with a score of 48 in a field of eleven players. The event added out-of-bounds penalties to many holes, preventing players from throwing across sidewalks. That, combined with winds gusting as high as 40 m.p.h. made the course much tougher than usual. 

The event organizers plan to make the mini tournaments a weekly occurrence once the new course is installed, though those events likely won’t begin till the Spring due to the limited amount of daylight in wintertime. Both the Pro and Am divisions paid cash to the winners on Saturday, but amateurs will most likely be playing for discs at future events. No aces were thrown on Saturday, and that $230 ace pot will carry over to the next event. If attendance increases at future events, more amateur divisions may be added to separate intermediate and advanced players from novices. The minis will also serve as a fundraiser for future course improvements and maintenance. 

The new course is nearing completion and the Parks Department has been hard at work this week planting new trees to both increase difficulty on some holes, and to help protect sidewalks from errant throws. Benches and trash cans were also added. New concrete tee pads have been poured, and turf will be added to them in the next week. The new course will feature all new baskets and signage, and will play in new areas along the river and under the Highway 97 bridge. The existing course won’t be removed until the new one is fully installed. 

Sand Springs disc golf results - Bachelor Bash at McClure Park

Several Sand Springs disc golfers turned out for the Bachelor Bash disc golf tournament at McClure Park on Sunday. The PDGA-sanctioned one-round C-Tier tournament was hosted by Innova-sponsored local pro DeVan Owens, who will soon be marrying and relocating to Arizona.

Charles Page librarian Richard Why placed second in the Open division , shooting 48 on the par 54 course for a 995-rated round. Broken Arrow’s Brandon Cawthorne won the event with a 1029-rated score of 45.

Seth Cook tied for first place in the Pro Masters 40+ division with a score of 55 for a 915-rated round.

Virgil Noah placed 12th in Advanced with a score of 55 for a 915-rated round.

Kristal Briggs won the Intermediate Women’s Division with a 618-rated score of 81.

Dwight Griffis tied for second in Recreational with an 846-rated score of 61.

Scott Emigh won Novice with an 881-rated score of 58, followed by Mitchell Martin and Dylan Ward, who tied for second with an 835-rated score of 62. Dale Briggs placed seventh with a 744-rated score of 70.

Sand Springs disc golf results - Bachelor Bash at McClure Park

Several Sand Springs disc golfers turned out for the Bachelor Bash disc golf tournament at McClure Park on Sunday. The PDGA-sanctioned one-round C-Tier tournament was hosted by Innova-sponsored local pro DeVan Owens, who will soon be marrying and relocating to Arizona.

Charles Page librarian Richard Why placed second in the Open division , shooting 48 on the par 54 course for a 995-rated round. Broken Arrow’s Brandon Cawthorne won the event with a 1029-rated score of 45.

Seth Cook tied for first place in the Pro Masters 40+ division with a score of 55 for a 915-rated round.

Virgil Noah placed 12th in Advanced with a score of 55 for a 915-rated round.

Kristal Briggs won the Intermediate Women’s Division with a 618-rated score of 81.

Dwight Griffis tied for second in Recreational with an 846-rated score of 61.

Scott Emigh won Novice with an 881-rated score of 58, followed by Mitchell Martin and Dylan Ward, who tied for second with an 835-rated score of 62. Dale Briggs placed seventh with a 744-rated score of 70.