Also note that Highway 36 from Lyons to Estes Park is undergoing major flood reconstruction, so if you plan to drive up to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park from Lyons, you should take SH-7 instead (you turn left at the end of town, instead of right. SH-7 is open all the way to Estes and takes only a little longer than 36.

The latest tee time information is located at:  Latest Tee Time Schedule

Once rounds are done on Friday, standings and projected cut-line will be posted at:  Results

Only the top 64 players from Friday will qualify for the head-to-head, double elimination bracket on the weekend. There will be no playoff games for those with a score on the bubble. In the likely event of a tie score on the 64-player threshold, the tie breakers will come from the 9 holes of Pingolf, as follows:

1. total number of hole-in-ones on the score card

2. total number of twos on the score card

3. total number of threes on the score card

and so on...

In the unlikely event that one or more players on the bubble all have an identical score card, then those players *will* be eligible to play a single game playoff for the available spot on Saturday morning. Please check the website on Friday to see whether or not you made the cut. I will update the page as "Final" when all scores are in. The last group is scheduled to start at 8:40pm, so hopefully, the results will be final by Midnight. If you just miss the cut, you can still show up on Saturday morning as an alternate in the event that someone from the top 64 doesn't show up.

Please note that Lyons Classic Pinball is a public arcade. In addition to the $40 registration fee, you will be responsible for coin drop on all of your games played during the weekend, including Pingolf games. (Kevin and Carole Carroll are gracious hosts and offer our community an incredible public arcade to help spread the "Gospel" of Pinball, and we should all be more than happy to contribute to their business!) You'll also note that once you are there, LCP is NOT a very large place, and yet it contains a very large number of excellent pinball machines. So, please prepare yourself for a "Location Pin" experience all weekend long. To be clear: There will NOT be a lot of room and it WILL be very crowded at all times, and you will be surrounded by LOTS and LOTS of people. Please be prepared for this. If this is not your cup of tea, then please DON'T play in this tournament. You have been warned!

[LCP comment: There will be outdoor seating and congregation areas outside the upstairs front entrance, as well as the basement walk out. Downtown Lyons offers shopping, restaurants and the world-famous Oskar Blues Brewery right next door. When you're not playing or need a break, there are plenty of options so please take advantage of them.]

The Pingolf course is tentatively set, as follows:

Hole 1: Banzai Run {Lock a Ball} [PAR 3]

Note: Banzai Run is in the first room of LCP, while all of the other games of Pingolf will be played down in the basement.

Hole 2: Wheel of Fortune {12,000,000} [PAR 4]

Hole 3: Space Time {40,000} [PAR 5]  (Note: Tilt ends *ball*)

Hole 4: Congo {400,000,000} [PAR 3]

Hole 5: Fish Tales {TBD} [PAR 4]

Hole 6: Swords of Fury {1,200,000} [PAR 3]

Hole 7: Iron Man {12,000,000} [PAR 4]

Hole 8: World Cup Soccer '94 {TBD} [PAR 3]

Hole 9: Kismet {600} [PAR 5] (Note: Tilt ends *game*)

Note that "PAR" is the number of balls available to play. If you do not achieve the score (or goal) in the allotted number of balls, your score for that hole will be PAR+1. So for instance, if you do not reach at least 12,000,000 points on Wheel of Fortune after 4 balls of play, then you will record a 5 for that hole. So you never play more than one game on any hole and the worst score you can ever make on a hole is PAR+1.

With 106 players currently signed up to play, pace of play is really, really important. Even if everyone in the group fails to achieve the target score, it should still only take the group, at most, 20 minutes per hole, on average, and three hours total for the 9 games. I don't want everyone to feel rushed, but at the same time, it's *very* important to maintain the 20-minute-per-hole pace for the sake of *everyone* behind you. So please hold off on drink and cigarette breaks, etc. during your round. There will be plenty of time before and after the round for that sort of thing. Everyone will play the course in order. There is *no* skipping ahead of slower groups. If there is a malfunction or other mechanical issue, please notify Someone in Charge as quickly as possible so that we can fix the problem quickly and not back everyone up.

Also remember that there is a wild card spot available to play in the IFPA-11 World Pinball Championships the weekend after the Spring Classic for the highest finisher in the Spring Classic tourney who hasn't already received an IFPA invitation. In the likely event of a tie for this spot, there will be a one game playoff between the tied players on a game randomly chosen from a group of candidates. This game, if needed, will be played on Sunday as soon as the last non-IFPA qualified player exists the tournament.

Weekend Schedule

Thursday, May 15: LCP has regular hours at 5:00pm. The LCP Monthly tournament will begin at 7:30pm ($5 entry, random bracket, random single game, double elimination). If you want to play, you must register for this tournament in person by 7:15pm. Pingolf games in the basement will be available for practice on Thursday.

Friday, May 16: LCP opens at 11:00am and the first Pingolf group begins promptly at Noon. Players can warm up on games on the main floor, but the Pingolf games will not be available for practice on Friday. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled tee time to check in and pay your $40. If you are late for your tee time, your group will not wait for you, and since we're full, I can't guarantee you will get to play at a later time. So, please be on time!

Saturday, May 17: LCP opens at 9:30am and Round 1 starts at 10:00am. This is important: You must check in by 10:00am on Saturday morning or you will lose your spot in the 64-player bracket. Please do not be late!

Sunday, May 18: LCP opens at 8:30am and the IFPA SCS First Round begins at 9:00am. If you are playing in the IFPA SCS Finals, you will need to check in by 9:00am and you can warm up starting at 8:30am. The first Round of the day for the Spring Classic will begin at 10:00am.

Please check with IFPA and Josh Sharpe for details on the IFPA SCS Finals.

For the Spring Classic 64-player, double elimination bracket:

The first round is the best-two-out-of-three, with the higher seed getting choice of game or position in Game 1. From then on, the first choice goes to the loser of the previous game. This is important to keep in mind: A player may only choose a game once the entire tournament. If you can't remember, or think your opponent has already chosen a game before, check with me because we will have a full list of *all* the games played by everyone. After the first round, the winner's side of the bracket will play the best-three-out-of-five, while the loser's side will continue to play best-two-out-of-three. We will get through as many rounds as we can on Saturday, but we will stop if and when we get down to the Final Four on the winner's side and the Final Eight on the loser's side.

If everyone turns up who is currently registered, then payouts will be:

1st Place: $1,500 + trophy

2nd: $900 + trophy

3rd: $600 + trophy

4th: $400

5th - 8th: $200

9th - 16th: $100

Note: Payouts are subject to change based upon actual turnout, but all the money (sans cost of trophies) will be paid back.

Note: This is a PAPA 2014/15 Circuit Event, so the winner will also guarantee themselves a spot in the PAPA Circuit Finals next year at Pinburgh.

If you have any questions, you can email me directly or get to Lyons early on Friday and ask me in person! I hope everyone has safe travel out to Colorado (Don't let today's snow scare you, the weekend weather is going to be AWESOME!)

Cheers,
Adam Lefkoff

5/12/14