Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by John Tonin

AIMING DOWN THE FAIRWAY - Alejandro Pulido makes a drive during the Fall Classic 2020 disc golf tournament hosted by the Whitehorse Disc Golf Association at Meadow Lakes on Saturday.

Disc golfers take over the links

The territory's disc golfers took over the Meadow Lakes Golf Course from Thursday through Sunday, forgoing the usual courses they play on.

By John Tonin on September 22, 2020

The territory's disc golfers took over the Meadow Lakes Golf Course from Thursday through Sunday, forgoing the usual courses they play on.

They took over the links to vie in the second annual Fall Classic 2020 tournament hosted by the Whitehorse Disc Golf Association (WDGA).

In its second year of existence, tournament organizer Josh Paton said the event saw 90 disc golfers tee off – a big jump from the tournaments inaugural rendition.

"It went amazing," said Paton. "We had a huge turnout. There was a frost delay on both days but that just put us into the best time of the day."

Paton said it was fortunate the Yukon moved into Phase 3 of its COVID-19 reopening plan. If it hadn't, Paton said there wouldn't have been a tournament.

To ensure the safety of the participants, Paton said, extra health and safety protocols were put in place on top of the rules Meadow Lakes has for there ball-golf members.

"I did my due-diligence and wrote to the CMO to make sure we would be compliant," said Paton. "We used tee-times instead of a shotgun start. There was no handling of other people's equipment and we had hand sanitizer everywhere.

"Everyone was so respectful. The disc golfers here would go above and beyond to be able to play on a golf course."

Playing on a golf course, compared to the disc golf courses around town offered players new opportunities, Paton said.

"The golf course is so wide open, without as many trees to contend with," said Paton. "People could try different shots like rollers or just manipulate the disc differently.

"There was lots of prime opportunity to do that."

Paton said the WDGA and Meadow Lakes continue to build an "increasingly good relationship" and the hope is that the tournament can continue to grow.

"We had two full practice days this year instead of one before tournament play on Saturday and Sunday," said Paton. "Then they requested we leave the baskets up so schools can come play.

"Hopefully, this will grow so we can have baskets on the greens on a semi-permanent basis."

Results from the tournament are as follows. Based on division, players would shoot from the appropriate tee box. All levels played two 18 hole rounds at par-57. The total par of the two rounds was 114.

Al Hill shot three-under over two rounds to capture the advanced category. Ben Monkman, one-under, placed second, and Ryan Norquay six-over came third.

Shooting from the Meadow Lakes red tees, Lee Malanchuk, nine over, won the Amateur 50+ division. David Griffiths and Allan Fozard followed.

The intermediate category had the most disc golfers. They played one round from the white tees and the other from the regular tees.

Alex Murdoch shot a combined five-over through two days to secure top spot. Kevin Olson finished one stroke back of first and Kayden Smith, eight-over, grabbed third.

The recreational division shot both days from the red tees. Lewis Cameron had a successful day on the greens shooting four-under. Aaron Smarch finished at par for second place and Christopher Vance, nine-over, nabbed third.

The intermediate women shot from both the red and white tees. It was a close matchup at the top of the leader board. Misha Donohoe shot 23-over to earn top honours. Carole Dumont was two strokes off the lead and Megan Stallabrass was two strokes back of second.

Bria Levia, 17-over, placed first in the recreational women division. Both rounds were played off the red tee boxes. Krysta Kelly was two strokes off the lead, with Clea Smith rounding out the podium spots shooting 143 over the two days.

Comments (1)

Up 15 Down 0

Clay Cliff on Sep 22, 2020 at 3:34 pm

It's cool to see a sport like this growing. Players of almost any athletic ability can join and it's fairly cheap to play. Congrats to players and organizers.

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.