Picture: KINGSLEY FLETT
THE Australian Disc Golf Championships were run and won over the weekend, with Geelong’s Patrick Robinson crowned men’s pro open winner in a dramatic finish.
Robinson shot an impressive 16-under par for the event over the two courses, to defend his title.
Competitors used the Crater Lakes disc golf park and the Attamurra golf course, with all running to script.
Mount Gambier club president Ryan Nicholson said the competition ran well, with the men’s open division keenly contested.
“Patrick has been a dominant force in Australian disc golf in recent years,” he said.
“He was the reigning champion and is a very strong competitor.
“He had a come-from-behind victory after he trailed Jordan Wheeler for quite some time, but kept chipping away and overtook him in the last part of the final round.”
Wheeler is another strong player who hails from Perth.
He has toured America this year and was able to return in time for the nationals.
In another tight result, the men’s Advanced division went to Canberra’s Shaun Archer after a tough contest with Mount Gambier’s Hayden McPherson, which went down to a playoff hole.
“Hayden has come ahead in leaps and bounds since starting out,” Nicholson said.
“He came in with a four-shot lead over his next competitor, but Shaun came from behind to force a playoff.
“Hayden made a mistake off the tee on the playoff hole and Shaun took advantage of that to win.”
The men’s novice division saw a win to Mount Gambier’s Daryl Pearson.
“In the men’s novice, the top four were all Mount Gambier players,” Nicholson said.
“We have had a lot of new players recently and these guys will now be keen to tour in other parts of the country to try to work their way up to compete in the higher divisions.”
One part of the competition which attracted plenty of interest was the Sacrifice to the Gods, which took place from the Tower, with a 300-metre throw to a basket below.
In an interesting twist, the winner was Warrnambool’s Joseph Quinn.
“We had five people compete – Patrick Robinson and Toosje Frequin for winning the open divisions, we had closest to basket competition through the week, a raffle and we did a registration draw.
“Adelaide’s Anna Kolodina won the registration draw, but was a bit apprehensive about doing it.
“She offered it to Joseph Quinn, who took the first throw and landed within 27 metres of the basket.
“It was incredible.
“It was over 100 metres closer than anyone has ever got before.
“We had the whole field down the bottom spectating and had sight of it coming down through the trees and down to rest.
“None of the other guys were anywhere near it so he won the $500 and split it 50/50 with Anna, which was a nice gesture.”
Overall Nicholson said the event was a huge success.
“We had overwhelming and encouragement and support from all the visiting players,” he said.
“We had some esteemed and experienced individuals from the greater disc golf community and their comments about the Crater Lakes course suggested it was world class.”
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Men’s Pro Open: Patrick Robinson (Geelong).
Women’s Pro Open: Toosje Frequin (Geelong).
Men’s Pro Masters: Bruce McNaughton (Queensland).
Men’s Advanced: Shaun Archer (Canberra).
Women’s Advanced: Kairi Koobakene (Estonia).
Men’s Masters: Mathew Wallis (Sydney).
Men’s Grand Masters: Kim Holmes (Perth).
Men’s Intermediate: Andrew Simpson (Adelaide).
Men’s Novice: Daryl Pearson (Mount Gambier).
Women’s Novice: Natalie Jones (Queensland).
Junior Boys: Archer Shaw (Queensland).
Junior Girls: Hannah Sims (Queensland).
