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February 4-6 2012 - a PDGA 'C' Tier event

Summer at Spa Park!

The thought of playing the brilliant Spa Park in summer conditions had kept this correspondent enthused for months. Blue sky and sunshine, a slight cooling breeze from the south, dressed in shorts and a tee-shirt.  So I can only imagine how the GM and Tournament Director felt when pretty much the minute he walked into the park on the opening day of competition he ripped his left calf muscle while jumping to catch a warm up disc. This pretty much confined him to hobbling for the rest of the weekend. In fact we’ve just learnt his specialist has told him it’s probably a six week convalesce. Here’s hoping he comes good for Queenstown.

The first thing this regular Taupo Classic player noticed was that in summer there is bulk foliage on all the deciduous trees, which narrows the many alleyway type fairways immensely making this a very different course from our regular winter  tournament. This park lays down some testing Disc Golf challengers and there was no reason to think Waitangi weekend 2012 would be any different.

As per usual with our NZDG annual Championships the first day offers a great ‘course-learning’ opportunity with the NZ Doubles Championship seeing pairs of players discussing their strategies, disc and shot selections as they play two rounds of the Championship course. It was great to see 15 teams contesting the 3 divisions. Well done to the winners, Simon Feasey and David ‘Speedo’ Keene the overall title, Jenny Joynt with daughter Allie making a welcome return to take the Woman’s title and Ming Menzies paired with son Henry Conway taking the mixed doubles title on the first hole of a sudden death play-off with Taumarunui’s Blair Joines playing with Levin’s Gemma Sullivan.

Saturday evening and the Tournament dinner finds us all at the old Spa Hotel where the Wellington round of the Rugby 7’s is live on the big screen. Roast Chicken with gravy or Pork with lashings of apple sauce and heaps of vegetables followed by ice-cream sundaes. Nice!

Day two of competition and with the arrival of the non-doubles players, not to mention the ‘4’ J10 Juniors the number of competitors for our 34th Annual Disc Golf Championships swells to 44 [including the 4 players who only played doubles].

After a welcome from the TD with the limp, especially to the 7 internationals from Australia (2), Canada (1), the USA (2), the UK (1) and Germany (1), play got underway in ideal Disc Golf conditions. At the lunch break Tauranga’s Dean Marshall had laid down a ‘catch me if you can’ challenge with a score-card featuring a 48 total: an impressive and not to be bettered 8 under the card.

Just about as spectacular was our J15 competitor, shooting off shortened J15 Tees, Toby Gentil coming in with not just his best competition round ever but a 53 that would put him in outright second place and earn him a slot in the seeded top 4 for the afternoon round. It was great to hear the encouragement offered by his playing partners who all agreed he earnt his slot there. To see The Tobe's face after hearing his honour showed how much it meant to this budding disc golfer.

The afternoon second round saw 2011 Champion Simon Feasey cut the morning deficit in half shooting a consistent 54 along with the Taumarunui duo of 2010 Champion Blair Joines and the evergreen Pete Boyle. In the battle for Woman’s supremacy Levin’s Gemma Sullivan headed away from the park after day one 2 shots up on the defending champ Ming Menzies.

Monday - Waitangi Day - and it was another cracker day for Disc Golf. There are a few no-shows, a few of the Auckland crew had to head back on family missions and Nick Harrel IV one of our visiting Americans had the conumdrum of the Superbowl versus completing the NZ Nationals. The draw of his beloved game saw him in a bar downtown for the 10am kick off. We can understand that one.

End of round three and lunchtime as mathematician Toby Gentil checks the cards for his TD father the GM. Simon has come in with a 50 and taken the out-right lead over Dean Marshall by 1 shot. In the woman’s competition Ming had closed the gap, even taking the lead at one point of the round but over the closing holes slipped back to the same 2 shot deficit she had started the round with behind Gemma. For the last several years the Womens competition has been riveting with every drive, approach and putt possibly being the decider between winning the covetted trophy or not.

Lunch in some welcome shade was followed by a putting competition that saw Sammy Neilson from Christchurch pick himself up an ‘Innova Discatcher’ traveller target, compliments of Gentil Sport.

I would like to say that it’s obvious everybody enjoys these lunchtime side competitions. The Ring-of-Fire and the distance comp on the two previous days went down a treat. Great stuff!

One round to go, will anyone keep up with New Zealand’s top player? No! In fact Simon’s 52 saw him take the 2012 NZDG Title by a massive 8 shots over Tauranga’s Dean Marshall, with King Countries’ Blair Joines just 1 shot back in 3rd. Levin’s Gemma Sullivan increased her lead over Ming to 5 to take her first National Title. Congratulations!

I do just have to add that as far as this reporter is concerned one of the highlights of the weekend was most definitely the 4 J10 players, Talia Feasey, Maia de Haas, Dylan Love and Caitlin Feasey who skipped, sang, threw, roly-polied, laughed  and even picnicked their way around two 9 hole rounds, chaperoned by three dedicated and chuffed Mums. 

Brilliant, just brilliant!

If you are visiting Taupo for the first time there is a lot to see and do in the area, check out;
http://www.tourism.net.nz/region/taupo/attractions-and-activities/

The Results

* won in first playoff hole

* Superbowl!

Yeah!