Splinter's Sports Club Rocks in Vegas at ADA National Championships!

Splinter's Sports Club located 30 miles Northwest of Chicago in Palatine, Illinois is owned by Al MacFarlane. Al has been in the bar and restaurant business since the late 1960's and has sponsored dart teams for over 27 years. Shortly after opening his first bar in Palatine in the early '70's, Al moved across the street. It was at this new bar, Bushwacker's, where Al and some of his friends first became interested in darts. ADA rep, Rich Reed, joined by some fellow dart players and regulars, put together Al's first teams. All were members of the Chicago Area Associated Darters (CAAD), now known as Windy City Darters.

Al started with only a couple of boards, but it quickly became apparent more were needed. Soon he started sponsoring major weekend tournaments and draws. For you older dart enthusiasts, Bushwacker's was where K.C. Mullaney became one of Al's regulars. By 1980, Al decided it was time to move to a new and bigger location and opened Maxfield and Friends Bar and Restaurant. Again, Al put in only 2 boards for his friends, but soon realized more were needed when Rich and K.C. along with many other players from Bushwacker's began playing there. At one time, Maxfield's had over 25 teams and held many tournaments, such as the St. Patrick's Day Shoot, throughout the year.

In the late '80's, it was time for Al to move once again, and in 1988, he opened Splinter's Sports Club. This time Al planned ahead and designed an area especially for darts. Splinter's first became involved in the ADA in 1993 when Rich Reed and fellow dart players including Glenn Remick (President of the ADA) sat down and discussed the possibility of putting some ADA teams in the Palatine area. In 1994, after attending his first championships, Rich began recruiting players at the local establishments for the ADA. Splinter's teams first went to the ADA Championships in 1995. For the first couple of years they did well in many events, including the 1997 men's doubles win by Joe Flashing and Footloose, however, they always came up a bit short in the team competition. In 1998, Splinter's team Some of Dat with members: Rich Reed, Joe Flashing, Footloose, and Lisa Burnham took first in the Neutralizer steel-tip team competition.

In 1999, although losing the steel team event in a tie breaker, Splinter's teams did well in many other steel events including Mr. Footloose taking first place in men's singles. Just across the hall, another Splinter's team The Mad Hatters was in the process of taking first place in the team open electronic event. The team of Jeanine March, Jim Damore, Dayton Strawbridge, Don Cromie and Dale Sandifer went on to claim many other top spots in the weekend events.

In 2000 and 2002 S;inter's team, The Desert Rats again came up a little short, taking second place in 2000 in the team steel neutralizer event and second place in 2001 in the team open event. Members Rich Reed, Ray Schatz, Hop Attaphit, Joe Dabrowski, Chuck Speake, and Jim Coniglio did well in other events including Jim Coniglio and Ray Schatz taking first place in men's doubles.

This past August, Splinter's once again sent a number of teams to the ADA championships in Las Vegas to compete in the steel open and steel neutralizer events. By the end of the weekend, Splinter's teams had accomplished the following: First in neutralizer team steel event was the Who Cares team with players: Fred Folkerts, Maryl Spence, Jeff Meyer, and Gary Stauffer.

Second in neutralizer team steel event was the Sitting Ducks team whose players were: Gavin Anderson, Bill Manes, Chris Szponder, Tom Happ, Mike Happ, and Christy Graham.

First and third in men's open singles were Jeff Morris and Joel Chmielak.

First and second in men's open doubles were Joel Chmielak and Footloose taking first and Jeff Morris and Don Ferris taking second.

Second and third in men's neutralizer doubles were Chris Szponder and Tom Happ winning second while Rich Reed and his partner claiming third.

Second in ladies neutralizer singles was Christy Graham.

Third in men's neutralizer singles was Jeff Meyer.

Over the years, each of Al MacFarlane's bars (Bushwackers, Maxfield and Friends, and Splinter's Sports Club) have won many city championships and have seen many patrons perform very well at tournaments throughout the country. But as Rich says "the summer of '2002 in Las Vegas will be one of the most memorable events because so many players at different levels did so well."

When you're i the Northwest Chicago area, plan to stop in, pay tribute to K.C. Mullaney whose picture is on the wall, and throw a few at one of Splinter's 8 steel boards and 4 electronic boards. Splinter's Sports Club is located at 2070 Rand Road, Palatine, Illinois.

Authored by Chicago area darter Rich Reed and reprinted with his permission, as featured in the Nov/Dec '2002 issue of Bull's Eye News Magazine. Thanks Rich for a great story!