The Whitehorse Disc Golf Association (WDGA) hosted its Season Opener Tag Tourney at Solstice DiscGolfPark on Saturday.
Josh Paton, who helped organize the WDGA’s first event, said so far so good.
“It went awesome,” said Paton. “The weather was slightly questionable at the start of the day with the snow, but it cleared up and we had some nice sunny patches and got 47 people out, which was phenomenal.
“We are quite happy with that. It is still not quite warm enough for everybody especially with snow on the ground. I called 50 so I was happy getting close to that with the weather.”
What is a tag tournament? It was a way for disc golf players to obtain a ranking.
“The tag tournament, whoever has the lowest tag is the leader of the tag match,” said Paton. “Then you can challenge anyone within 10 spots of you to a round – that is the idea.
“The season opener tournament was to determine those standings to see where everyone was.”
Throughout the year, players can challenge other disc golfers for their tag. Both players must be present and agree on the rules for a tag to be exchanged.
“It encourages people to get out and play people they don’t know as well,” said Paton. “It has more of a competitive feel to it if you are playing for something.
“I’m sure the number one tag will be coveted by the end of the season.”
Over the past several years, Paton said disc golf has continued to gain popularity in the territory.
“It is unprecedented in disc golf — the growth that we are experiencing,” said Paton. “With COVID it has been such a good ‘safe six’ kind of sport. You can go with yourself or your family and people have been gravitating toward that.
“Our mandate as a club is to grow the sport of disc golf within the community so we always strive to put on an event that is fun and inclusive for everyone.”
The Tag Tourney came a week after the Yukon saw its first-ever women’s-only disc golf tournament.
Paton said nine women also entered the tag tournament, accounting for about 25 per cent of players. He said the number of women involved with the sport in Whitehorse is only increasing.
The tournament was 18 holes and par 54.
Mackenzie Pemberton shot a five-under-par to secure the number one tag. Eamonn Pinto, 51, shot the second-best score of the day followed by Nigel MacNeill, two under par.
The top 10 hovered around par. Tenth place disc golfer Dan Reimer was four over par.
Contact John Tonin at john.tonin@yukon-news.com