Ray Sandoval of Extreme Cornhole and McDuffys Sports Grill hosted their second cornhole tournament this weekend in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby. Following the race, 18 teams signed up for the double-elimination tournament. Despite some wind and a larger than expected field, the tournament was entertaining and a success on many levels.
Notable contenders included John and David, Vic and Doug, Ray and Darwin, Dale and Terry, and Mike and Ryan as well as many walk-ups and unknown teams. Also returning as a team were Shay and Christine who seemed to have been absent from tournaments for a long while. If was one year to the day that Shay and Christine won their last major tournament which included a strong victory over David and John who have been on a tear ever since.
The windy conditions played a key role, causing experienced players to struggle to adjust their throws and newcomers to wonder why the game was so hard. Many games were long and grueling, and many strong players were obviously frustrated. To add to the challenge, the boards and bags played somewhat slick and rewarded only the most perfect tosses, the best of which belonged to Shay whose flat toss is legendary.
When John and David faced Shay and Christine on the winners side, it was a tough match. Shay and Christine fell behind early then fought hard to catch up. They were knocking on the door when John and David remembered the comeback from last year and closed it out before allowing history to repeat. On the other side of the winners bracket Vic and Doug beat Mike and Ryan. Then on the losers side, Mike and Ryan beat Shay and Christine. Then Mike and Ryan faced John and David for the chance to play Vic and Doug in the finals. Mike and Ryan have been playing together for several tournaments and both have shown the capability to play strong, but this was their biggest test. John and David both struggled while Mike and Ryan seemed to be in a groove. They fought off a late comeback effort and completed the upset, knocking John and David out and earning the right to play Vic and Doug for the championship.
In the finals, Vic and Doug sensed the opportunity to take it all, their arch nemesis David and John having been taken care of early. Mike and Ryan played well, but Doug and Vic were focused on their golden opportunity and took full advantage, winning the tournament and prize money.First prize was $120 plus $100 in bar tabs. Mike and Ryan settled for second place (and about $60?) but had succeeded in establishing themselves as top contenders. Shay, Christine, Ray, David, Darwin, and Dale and Terry all played well with streaks of crowd-pleasing heroics. Everyone had their humbling moments when struggling with wind of challenging conditions.
The singles tournament featured strong players like Mike, Ryan, Doug, Vic, and Ray. Doug continued his marquee day by rolling through the competition and winning that contest as well, and taking another $130 in prize money.
In a side competition, Ray held a longtoss competition for a pair of his new boards. After being knocked out of the main event, John got bored and ponied up $4 for eight shots at the record. His fourth slid into the hole and won him the boards and a stand-up score tower – nice return for $4! (I’ll bring them around when I set-up demonstration games – they’re well-built, functional, and a great value.)
Congratulations to Vic and Doug for a well-deserved victory, to Doug for the sweep, and to Mike and Ryan for their best finish to date! Special thanks to Ray and Carol of Extreme Cornhole for running the event, supplying the equipment, and donating the long toss prizes, and to McDuffy’s for hosting. Special sportsmanship award goes to David who handled the rare loss with grace and class, and to Ray who bowed out of both tournaments under different circumstances when he had a legitimate opportunity to win. To me, the highlight of the tournament was the across-the-board class demonstrated by everyone involved, showing once again what makes this sport so much fun.
Tempe Area Cornhole Organization 
Congratulations on a good website and a great review of the competition.
Why did you drop out?? Are you that much better??
Thanks. You mean why didn’t I enter the singles event? No certainly not out of over-confidence. I put all I had into the doubles, struggling to adjust to the wind, and never felt comfortable. It was exhausting. But I find singles even more draining because no one’s on your side and you have no one to share the satisfaction with. It’s a long hard road if you’re not strongly motivated at the time.