The SCDGA officially tee’d off the club season with its first tournament of 2024 this past weekend at Camp Byng in Roberts Creek.
The event was sponsored by local brewery Tapworks who donated cash and prizes for the event. Big thanks to Geoff Gornall and to the staff at Tapworks for helping our club pull this event together.
Junior Division
Toby Cavers takes down the first event of his season with another stellar round of disc golf, something that we should all be accustomed to by now. Cavers plays a very consistent, controlled game of disc golf and he executed his game plan perfectly on Sunday. Well done, Toby!
Placing 2nd and 3rd were Abby Brose (Best Brose by far) and Owen Rutgers. Brose and Rutgers both pushed each other throughout the round and ended up being awarded some cool prizes for their efforts. Big, big congrats to Owen especially for not only competing in his first event, but for playing his first round of disc golf ever!
Recreational
It was just a two man field in our Rec Division, but the two men provided enough drama for a season-long documentary series. Good friends Jacob Quigley (13 years old) and Evan Connors (12 years old) battled out a roller coaster of a round with Quigley taking things down on the final hole.
There were several two, three and even four stroke swings in this round, making for an exciting finish. With both players close in score though, Quigley separated himself on the round’s final hole. Quigley played the Par 4 hole 7 to perfection and sealed victory with a tap-in par. Congrats to him on his first win in Rec after competing the past two years as a Junior!
Intermediate
Club newcomer Kelly Perreur-Lloyd took down his first club event by just a single stroke! Perreur-Lloyd bested Will Wayte by a stroke and Adam Grout by two strokes to claim the first victory of the season in Intermediate.
Perreur-Lloyd had a colourful scorecard through one round with 7 birdies, alongside a couple double bogies and even a triple bogey. He caught fire in the second round though, making up 8 strokes on Wayte to secure the victory. Shoutout to Wayte for a strong performance though and it’s always fun to see Grout competing at the top of the leader board.
Another shoutout to club newcomer Christian Boone for winning the CTB (Closest to Beer) prize from Tapworks!
Advanced
Don’t look now, but the Advanced Division could be a snake pit the entire season.
New guy Dryden Ostrosky played King Cobra on Sunday though, taking down the event by a whopping 7 strokes. Ostrosky put in a solid -3 score through 18 holes and gave himself a bit of a cushion for the tournament’s final 9 holes. He faltered a bit down the stretch, but was able to fall back on the strokes he banked earlier in the round for a tidy victory.
Tied for 2nd place were (…deep breath) Callum McDonald, Darin Brose (2nd best Brose), Dave Lacroix and Theo Ephraim. Don’t worry though… Rod still won something as he always does. Shoutout to Rod on winning the CTB and throwing back the warm brews right then and there. Maybe the most impressive play of the day, honestly.
Open
You know how Taylor Swift has ‘eras’ like David Bowie? Well, so does the Whitler.
Glen ‘The Whitler’ Whitlock is now officially in his ‘Win Everything on the Coast’ era. Our club’s 2023 Open Division Champion tee’d off the 2024 season with yet another victory, his third victory in his past five events and his sixth consecutive podium finish… at 67 years old. Impressive stuff from one of this sport’s most impressive individuals.
Whitlock took a while to get warmed up and rattled off 7 consecutive pars to begin his day. At the end of Round 1 though he trailed leader Trevor Connors by just 2 strokes. A roller coaster of a final round from Whitlock, Sponagle and Connors all culminated in a three-way tie on the tee-box of Hole 18. Sponagle was first to tee and ended up out of birdie position in the right side rough. Connors managed to give himself a long birdie opportunity with a well thrown forehand drive (Innova Star Wraith, let’s go) that landed in Circle 2. Whitlock then did what he always does… he came up clutch.
Whitlock flew a flippy, floaty frisbee fling that sailed right side of the fairway and nestled nicely onto the green in Circle 1. With Connors missing his C2 bid and with a chance to win the tournament outright, you knew Whitler wasn’t going to miss his opportunity.
Whitler for the win:
Was there ever really a doubt? Whitlock clutches up yet again and claims the first club tournament of the 2024 season. Just an easy day’s work for one of the sports all-time legends.
For a full look at the season standings, click here.
