Other than less than stellar weather conditions Saturday, the Battlefords Community Disc Golf Club’s duties of hosting the 2017 Saskatchewan Open Provincial Disc Golf Championship went off without a hitch.
“The high winds Saturday made things less than perfect for the golfers, but we were pretty much near perfection for the rest of the weekend,” BCDGC president Evan Zimmer said.
“We had a great turnout of golfers from all over the province and we had a lot of high points over the two days with very little low points.”
A total of 52 competitors took to the course at Centennial Park over the two-day tournament, which saw golfers from the Battlefords, Edmonton, Melville, Regina, Saskatoon, Watrous and Yorkton taking part.
“We’re really happy with the turnout,” Zimmer said. “There’s room for growth as our course can hold up to 72 golfers, but the amount we had was higher than the average for a Saskatchewan disc golf event.
“One of the nice things was that we had nine women taking part in the two divisions, which we believe is a record, and we had quite a few golfers in the novice division.”
The biggest challenge that the golfers faced during the weekend was high wind gusts Saturday, which meant that many adjustments had to be made.
“It was all about control and risk management, as if you tried to go for it on the tight holes, you more often than not paid the price and had a stroke penalty,” Zimmer said. “As a result, you saw some scores from golfers in their two rounds that were 10 strokes apart due to the winds.
“That wasn’t an issue Sunday, but we had the golfers shooting from pro tee boxes that we installed for the event, so that increased the difficulty a bit even if it wasn’t as windy.”
Three competitors from North Battleford came away with tournament titles, as Colton Scott won the novice division crown, Zena Johnson finished first in the women’s event and Kristy Bird captured the women’s novice division championship.
“That was awesome to see, especially with the women’s divisions as there was a good battle all weekend with golfers from all over the province,” Zimmer said. “I think two strokes separated the leaders throughout the last day.”
Other provincial champions were Jonathan O’Leary of Saskatoon (men’s division), John Kuzma of Saskatoon (masters division), Taylor Mountain of Regina (advanced division) and Chandler O’Leary of Saskatoon (junior division).
Zimmer said that his favourite moment of the weekend came during the awards presentation as he presented 11-year-old Rhys Farries of Saskatoon with a $100 cheque for the longest putt of the event after he drained a 50-footer.
“To see the look on his face when he found out he got the prize, it got me a little bit misty eyed,” Zimmer said.
“It was a family affair as his parents were both playing in the tournament along with his grandfather, and that’s something we want to see continue to happen as we grow the sport.”
With the provincial championship rotating around a number of courses, the Saskatchewan Open more than likely won’t return to North Battleford until 2021 at the earliest.
Although it will be a few years until the event returns here, Zimmer said the success of the weekend will be a huge building block for the BCDGC going forward.
“We’re on the map and we know what’s possible when it comes to coordinating a major event,” Zimmer said.
“Our club and the programs we offer here are growing and we’re eager to continue to build on that momentum.”
