Huge thanks to the 40+ competitors who came out to Pender Harbour this past weekend to take part in The 2023 Painter’s Open, which is quickly becoming a ‘tent post’ event in our club tournament season.
Scores were low, vibes were high and the sun was out in full effect. Shoutout to Coppertone for making a fortune literally off our backs this past weekend. Good thing we all stayed hydrated out there. 🍻
This post will recap the weekend’s play and provide club members with an updated season standings.
Junior Division
The forehand slinger, Mr. Firestorm himself Gabriel Watts came away with another impressive SC/DC Junior Division victory this weekend, defeating good friend Hayden Kendel by just a single stroke! Watts shot even par at Lion’s Park for the victory. He minimized bogeys and managed the course very well for another clean victory. For those counting at home, this marks three victories in three tournaments for Watts this season.
Kendel came up just short of Watts, but edged out most of the field with newcomer Malakai Liebich finishing in 3rd place. Shoutout to Malakai and his Dad Justin for making the trek out from Texada Island!
By picking up 50 points with his first SC/DC Major win, Watts now firmly cements himself in a race for the top with Kendel in our Junior division standings. While Kendel retains the lead, it’s worth noting that he has played all five events this season, while Watts has played just three. With only a possible five of eight events counting towards season ending standings, this one will be a tight one at the top.
Jacob Quiqley also moves up the standings into solo 3rd place, just squeaking past Evan Connors.
Recreational Division
The Kliewer clan continues to carve its competitors! Mika Kliewer picks up the victory in Rec and is now a two time Major champion. Kliewer started the day up two strokes on Leigh Maclennan but managed to pull clear on Sunday despite a charging effort from Alexander Rainville. Kliewer birdied out holes 17 and 18 to cement a victory, with Rainville taking 2nd place and Maclennan taking 3rd place.
With another Major victory, Kliewer now firmly separates herself from the pack in our Rec Division standings.
Rainville and Aaron Walker can both still catch her, but they’ll need to perform well in the season’s remaining three events.
Should Kliewer manage to take down another event this season, she’ll lock down a divisional championship in the tidiest way possible. Incredible stuff. Not sure I’d ever see such clutch frisbee golf from someone named ‘Kliewer’ but I digress…
Intermediate Division
Oh… you thought Rod was washed because he dropped one lousy tournament in a playoff? Think again, CHUMP!
Intermediate powerhouse Rod Dalziel takes home his fourth victory of the season, squeaking just past Adam Grout and Justin Liebich in a very tight tournament. All three competitors entered Round 2 with a tie at two under through 18 holes at Lion’s Park.
The stoic Dalziel managed to pull away from the field on Sunday though, but admits that he was nervously watching Grout’s final holes via UDisc in the hopes that his score would hold up. It did and now Dalziel has a Ted Nugent-like stranglehold on the division.
Grout earns his first podium appearance with an impressive performance, but his highlight of the weekend was gracefully going ass over tea kettle while not disturbing the playoff on hole 18 in the Open Division. A truly gritty performance. Liebich, meanwhile, earned himself a podium finish in his first SC/DC club event. Thanks for making the trip over, bud!
As I said, Dalziel now has a stranglehold on his competitors in our Intermediate Division standings. He’s 72 points clear of Aaron Beckingham in 2nd place and more than 100 points clear of James Kwantes in 3rd place.
Unless Beckingham can run the table the rest of the season to match Dalziel’s four victories, this division is wrapped up.
Enjoy your victory lap, Roderick… you’ve earned it. The Blue tees await your arrival.
Advanced Division
An honourary member of the Kliewer clan, Isaac Carroll comes away with the win in our Advanced Division!
Carroll, who only recently started playing competitively, earned a two stroke victory over good buddy Sasha Kliewer to earn himself his first SC/DC victory. Good kid, plays the point on an umbrella PP as a right hand shot, so you know he bombs. Wrong sport… but I digress.. point is the kid’s an athlete!
Both Carroll and Kliewer managed to distance themselves from the field, with David Lacroix a full five strokes back of Kliewer for 3rd place.
By picking up a huge 50 points with his victory on Sunday, Carroll now rockets up the Advanced division standings into a tie for 3rd place with Chris Hodgson. Kliewer retains his spot at the top however, outpacing 2nd place Callum McDonald who struggled during Round 1 this past weekend, but dug himself out a bit during Round 2.
This division more than any other has some competition for top spot. It’ll be the one to watch as we near the season’s finale.
Open Division
The Whitler! The Ageless Wonder!
Disc Golf Hall of Famer Glen Whitlock stunned the gallery with a dramatic victory on the 18th green over good friend and long-time competitor Denny Nordli in a two hole playoff.
Whitlock entered Championship Sunday with a four stroke lead over Nordli and a three stroke lead over both Trevor Connors and Jordan Newman.
Whitler started slow, going bogey and triple bogey to start his day. In fact, the triple bogey 8 that he shot on hole 2 was just the fifth 8 that he has carded in his 40+ year competitive career. I think I’ve had five already in 2023…
With Whitlock stumbling out of the gate, Nordli saw the opportunity to score. He picked up six strokes on Whitlock on the front 9 to vault himself into a healthy lead. Connors and Newman continued to go back and forth, but couldn’t surpass Nordli or Whitlock the entire round. The pair would wind up in a tie for 3rd due to a crazy four stroke swing on Hole 18. More on that hole later though…
Whitlock managed to shred the Back 9 with some determined play to get himself back into the mix. Frankly, he played like I’ve never seen him play before. There was a fire in his eyes on the putting green and he was throwing air shots off the tee further than any of his cardmates had seen him manage before. It was impressive, to say the least.
Heading into hole 18 with its intimidating water carry, Nordli held a one stroke advantage over Whitlock. First on the tee, Whitler threw a perfect shot that missed acing by mere inches. His drive would push long though, landing just outside the circle in front of the long OB water feature. Nordli would put his drive closer, leaving himself with about a 25 footer for victory.
Whitlock was up first though and he’d need to cash his long pitch putt to have a chance at a playoff victory. He paced off his lie and then…
Whitlock cashed his birdie putt much to the delight of the assembled gallery.
This shifted all of the pressure squarely over to Nordli, who still had a chance to end the day with a birdie chance. He came up short though and the pair headed back to 18’s tee for a playoff.
The first playoff hole saw both gentlemen land in the circle off the tee and then both missing their putts to tap out at par. Nothing to see here. The second playoff hole though… there was plenty to see.
Both competitors appeared to throw into the water off the tee, but were ultimately saved by the reeds on the far side of the in bounds line. Fortuitous for both men, for sure. Nordli was up first on his approach and looked to play things perfectly, when his disc suddenly got up on edge and…
Nordli’s soft approach got up on end and rolled out of bounds into the OB water feature. From there, all Whitler had to do was lay up an approach and tap in for the victory.
While it was an improbable path to victory Whitlock, no one is surprised that he came away as club champion on the weekend. Nordli put up an incredible fight, but Whitlock would not be deterred and is now an SC/DC Major champion! Someone notify the Hall of Fame! We need the records updated!
Whitlock now jumps up into 2nd place in our Open Division standings, behind Nordli who is distancing himself from the field a bit. Anthony Paul retains a spot in the top three, despite bowing out of the event due to injury. It’s also worth noting that Paul has played just two events this season, so you know his best is still to come.
Connors and Newman both pass Dean Miles and Matt Smith and put themselves in the mix for a season ending podium finish, as well. Good guys, those Connors/Newman boys.
Thank Yous and Shout-outs
Big, big thanks to the staff at the Pender Harbour Golf Course in the Pro Shop and in the Restaurant for making this such a fun weekend.
Extra special thanks to course manager Darlene Selander for all she has done and continues to do to make disc golf a reality for us up in Pender! Shout out to Clubhouse Restaurant Dean for an incredible buffet banquet dinner, as well.
Huge round of applause for Jeff Doran, Denny Nordli, Richard Daubin and Andrew Oxley for helping set up the course at Lion’s Park for Round 1. Appreciate your work, as always guys.
The biggest ‘thank you’ of all though of course goes to tournament director and all around good guy Matthew Kliewer. The tournament has been a labour of love for Matthew and he has poured in so much time, money and energy to make this our greatest event on the calendar. If you haven’t yet, please give him a ‘thank you’ for all he has done and continues to do for our club.
Speaking personally too, Matthew is a pleasure to work with in organizing these events. This event took a lot of coordinating to pull off and I think we pulled it off successfully. Looking forward to next year’s already!
