Story Credit – Disc Golf World Tour
The 2017 disc golf season starts this week here in Australia! As always, we have a team of media professionals on site to bring you close to the action from the comfort of your home or place of work. (more…)
As we draw near to the 2017 Aussie Open, we first wanted to give you a quick recount of the 2015 tournament. The 2015 Aussie Open marked an important step forward in disc sports in Australia: the first PDGA Major to be held in the country. Players made their way to Perth from across the globe: USA, Canada, Finland, Germany and New Zealand, as well as native Aussies from across the continent, to be a part of this historical event.
The days before the start of the tournament brought typical Australian summer weather: hot and dry. This drought was to be broken less than two hours into the first day of the tournament, when a large thunderstorm brought a halt to play for two-and-a-half hours. The skies and puddles cleared quickly after this and, by the end of round 1, Nate Doss found himself one shot ahead of Paul McBeth after shooting a 9 under 56, with Dave Feldberg a further shot behind. In Women’s Open, Valarie Jenkins held a one stroke lead on Jennifer Allen after shooting a 68.
Day 2 brought a new course record, and it was to be held concurrently by two players: McBeth and Simon Lizotte, who improved on his first round 62 by 9 strokes. Day two saw a ‘fairway ace’ eagle 2 by McBeth on hole 2. At the end of the round, McBeth held a 5 stroke lead over Lizotte and Ricky Wysocki, with Doss and Feldberg just one stroke further back. The women’s event was blown wide open by Jenkins’ 64: 12 shots better than the next best round from Allen.
The course record was shaved by a further stroke on Day 3, and it was again McBeth and Lizotte which achieved this feat. Lizotte looked to be the only one with a chance to catch McBeth on the final day, trailing by 5 shots. Jenkins further increased her lead on Day 3, easing out by a further 5 shots to lead Allen by a massive 18 strokes.
In a tense final day battle, in which Lizotte closed to within two after 15 holes, McBeth held his nerve to come away with the win by a comfortable 6 shot margin. Wysocki shot the hot round of the day with some solid putting early, but had too much to do to catch the leaders and finished in third. Val Jenkins continued to extend her lead and won by a massive 21 strokes over Jennifer Allen, with Germany’s Christine Hellstern in third place.
The Women’s Open division at the 2017 Aussie Open will feature some of the highest rated players from the US, Japan and Australia competing for the Aussie Open title. Never before has Australia seen a women’s disc golf division of this calibre.
Among this talented field of players you will find world champions, world distance record holders and National Tour event winners, including Americans Paige Pierce, Des Reading, Madison Walker and Jennifer Allen.
Throw in Naoyo Yoshida from Japan, as well as Aussie hopefuls Cassie Sweetten, Kristina Bair and Arana Kenyon, and the division will be one of the mostly hotly contested on Australian soil!
With the 2017 Aussie Open now just over a month away, we want to remind players and travelling partners to book their room at the Sorrento Beach Hotel by January 1st. Its summer here in Australia and beachside accommodation is highly sought after. If you want to be guaranteed a room at the official tournament hotel, you need to book by the start of the new year.
The hotel is just steps from the beautiful white sands of Sorrento Beach and they are offering a discount to their standard rates for the Aussie Open. Use the discount code DISC17 for the special rates. The hotel offers multi bedroom apartments so get together with your mates and save some dough. We’ve got more info about the hotel on our website here or just head straight to the hotel’s website to book now!
If you have been thinking about registering for the Aussie Open but haven’t gotten around to it yet, we’ve got some great news for you! The first 50 players to register for the 2017 Aussie Open by December 15th will receive an Aussie Open limited edition mystery item with a value of $20 – $30.
Head over to the registration page today to reserve your spot in the first PDGA Major of 2017 and score your free item.