The Belton Journal
The Open at Belton, a Disc Golf Pro Tour Silver Series Event (DGPT) returned to Belton for the second consecutive year. The event was a three-day event, Mar. 18-20, and was held at Heritage Park.
Jim Hudson, Assistant Tournament Director, said the world’s top disc golfers including reigning world champion Catrina Allen was competing in the women’s field of 40 Female Pro players.
Ricky Wysocki and Paul McBeth, number one and two in the world, competed in a field of 124 including 18 of the top 25 men in the world.
This year’s field consisted of pros from Sweden, Estonia, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Belize as well as of 30 states to compete at Heritage Park.
Disc Golf is a sport in which players throw a disc 400-500 yards at a target. The rules and terminology are similar to golf. Four types of golf discs are used. Players use distance drivers, control and fairway drivers, mid-range discs and putters. The precision and accuracy of the discs control height, speed, glide and angles for course difficulty and player skills.
Players complete a hole after throwing a disc from a tee pad towards a metal basket draped with chains. The number of throws it takes to get the disc into a basket is counted towards the par number for that hole.
Hudson said this was the first year that they sold tickets for the event.
Strong winds and cold temperatures started day-one of the competition.
Neal Dambra, Tournament Director, said the weather conditions made it hard for the players, but that they have played in these type of conditions before. The other two-days of the tournament had nice weather for the players.
Jeff Spring, Disc Golf Pro Tour CEO and Director, said that the DGPT is one step below the Elite Series. The competition counts towards official tour points, for the Elite Series. Spring said there were a total of 162 players for the Open at Belton.
The course was designed a few years ago by Neal Dambra, Tournament Director, and Jim Hudson, Assistant Tournament Director.
The course was designed using multiple configurations that serve all skill levels and tournament use.
Originally an 18-hole golf course, it is now a well-balanced disc golf course with a range of hole lengths, pars, and a mixture of holes requiring controlled left, right and straight throws. The use of elevation changes and foliage add to the challenges of the course.
The unofficial results for the Open Men event were:
Chris Dickerson with a par of -25 for a total of 155 for three rounds
Paul McBeth with a par of -22 for a total of 158 for three rounds
Richard Wysocki with a par of -22 and a total of 158 for three rounds
Nikko Locastro with a par of -21 and a total of 159 for three rounds
The unofficial results for the Open Women event were:
Catrina Allen with a par of -16 for a total of 182 for three rounds
Valerie Mandujano with a par of -15 for a total of 183 for three rounds
Kristin Tattar with a par of -14 for a total of 184 for three rounds.
Photos
BELTON JOURNAL/MIKE MYERS
Professional Disc Golfers from 30 states and eight countries competed at the second Open At Belton, a two-day Disc Golf Pro Tour Silver Series, held in Belton March 18-20 at Heritage Park.
