Copyright ©2004 Bigdawgski. All right reserved.

Click on the link below to read the press release on the 2006 Big Dawg Series:

CORRECT_CRAFT_LAUNCHES_A_SLALOM_SERIES.pdf

2006 Big Dawg Series News:

Lowe Wins Ohio Big Dawg Event

(from USA Water Ski)

 Lucky Lowe of Lake Alfred, Fla., won the second stop of the inaugural Ski Nautique Big Dawg Slalom Series on July 16 at Bellalago Lake in Leavittsburg, Ohio. Lowe scored 1-1/2 buoys at 41 feet off in defeating Canada's Todd Johnson (1 at 41) in the head-to-head finale. The series, which pits Men’s 34 mph slalom skiers - age 35 and over - in thrilling head-to-head match ups, consists of four qualifying stops, each with a $5,000 purse, and one championship, with a $10,000 purse. Jeff Danos of Mandeville, La., won the first stop of the series on June 25 at the Bayou Big Dawg in Covington, La.

 For final results, click here*. For Saturday's preliminary round scores, click here*.

 The remaining qualifying stops will be held Aug. 26-27 in Brentwood, Calif., and Sept. 9-10 in Harmony, N.C. The series championship will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at Correct Craft’s brand new 216,000-square-foot international headquarters in Orlando, Fla. Anyone finishing in the top eight at any of the qualifiers receives an automatic berth to the championships.

 Skiers qualifying for the championships following the first two stops are: Steven Binkley, Chris Clark, Jeff Danos, Mike Dehlinger, Ben Favret, Tim Huston, Todd Johnson, Lucky Lowe, Thierry Malhomme, David Miller, Chet Raley, Chad Scott and Mike Thompson.

 The series is open to skiers age 35 or older who have not placed among the top 10 in a professional tournament in the last three years, or any skier over the age of 50. Each tournament in the series includes two rounds of record-capability action, followed by a bracketed 16-skier head-to-head finale.

 The Big Dawg slalom tournaments have become popular among participants over the past two years because the skiers are not fragmented into divisions, and the winners are declared after a thrilling head-to-head format. At the regional and national championships, titles are awarded to the winners in Men 3, Men 4, Men 5 and Masters 55K, the top divisions for 34 mph slalom athletes. At the Big Dawg events, there is only one division, and ultimately, one Big Dawg.

 For complete tournament results from the Bayou Big Dawg, click here. For more information on the series, click here.

 In addition to Correct Craft, other sponsors of the series are: PerfectPass, PCM, D3, GOODE, HO, Mapple, O’Brien, Connelly, Ramlin Trailers and Skylon Audio.

 

1251 Holy Cow Road * Polk City, Florida * 33868

(ph) 863-324-4341 – (fax) 863-325-8259
Mon-Fri * 8:30-5:00 EST.
© Copyright 2006 USA Water Ski

2006 Ohio Big Dawg Highlights
By: Bruce Butterfield
Monday, 17 July 2006, at 11:58 a.m.

A name change may be in order, as the 35-40 year old age bracket seemed to be empty, and there were several contenders well into their 50’s. Where are all those darn kids anyway?
Almost half of the skiers were using the 1 hand gate, compared to only 1 or 2 a year ago. Seems to be catching on.

There were no calls for the ambulance as opposed to the three 911 calls in Louisiana, but Chad Scott made the best attempt with an OTF yard sale coming out of 5 ball at 39. It was one of the most spectacular, non-injury crashes seen in a long time.

After Sam Ingram dislocated his shoulder 3 weeks ago, everyone was expecting him to smooth out, be more cautious, and not take so many hard hits. Naaah.

Thierry Malhomme (no one could pronounce his name - Terry Ma Lome) traveled from France for this tournament. After running 5 @ 39 the first round, he opted up for a 39 headwind in the second round and ran it. Pretty stout, especially for being in the over 50 club (I think Thierry is 46 - Schnitz).

After the first qualifying round, 9 skiers were bunched in 12th place at 2 @ 39, which made the strategy for the second round critical. As usual, many well qualified skiers narrowly missed the cut by a simple mistake that cost them a buoy or 2.

Working hard on his academy award, Ben Favret whined about not skiing much this year, being hurt, only skiing 34 a few times, etc, etc. In the second round, he ran 3 at 41, tying the M3/MM55k National record. Then backed it up in the finals, just to be sure. He’ll be in real trouble if he can’t find any more 9100s on Ebay.

Ohio Dave Miller was finally able to get into the sweet 16 of his own tournament by averaging 2@39, but tying with Kim Contos for the 16th spot. Both had to run off by going out cold at 38 after neither had skied for several hours. Kim left it open by only getting 2 and Dave was able to get to 3 and make it to the sweet 16.

Directly across from the Host hotel, is the Four Seasons Health Spa, Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of the skiers was feeling a little sore and wanted a shoulder massage and decided to give the Four Seasons a try. On the board inside, was the price list: $30 for half hour massage, $50 for a full hour, etc. After the unnamed skier looked at the list, a lady emerged from behind the peep hole and had to explain in broken English that the list did not mean anything and the price was $150 for “lots of fun”. He said he declined and was told to leave.

The head to head was exciting as usual. Of the more notable moments were Dave Miller absolutely stroking 39 and overturned 5 ball. That left the door open for Tim Huston to scrap and get 5 by the skin of his teeth. Lucky Lowe got a terrible 1 ball for a downwind 39, but stayed with it and completed the pass. A few skiers later, Todd Johnson got an even worse 1 ball for the downwind 39, but stayed with it and also ran it. The only MPD on site seemed to be working well for him.

Once again a big thanks to Correct Craft, all the other sponsors, Greg Davis, and Dave Miller for pulling this exciting event together.

Advertisement from the March 2006 issue of Water Skier magazine:

2005 Big Dawg News:

2004 Big Dawg News: