Waitawa Disc Golf Course, Auckland, 18 & 19 June 2016

The inaugural event on the Waitawa Disc Golf course - the 2015 NZDG Championships - defined this 18 holes as one of the biggest challenges that any player might face so it was always going to be interesting to see who - if anyone - would turn up to another event held at Waitawa. But they did! It seems that the tough windy fairways, body-battering climbs and stunning coastal views actually became a combination that appealed to quite a few Kiwi disc golfer - good on you lot!

It was certainly pleasent to see that the 'coastal 9' had been revamped with the new holes stayed well away from the overgrown boggy areas of the park.

And it was the Coastal 9 that got the competition underway on the Saturday morning with players from as far away as Queenstown and Wanaka joining their North Island compatriots for a 10 o'clock shotgun start.

The general feeling over a excellent well earned lunch was the changes had helped immensely. Althought trepidation remained as the Waitawa Championship 18 was still to come, not once but twice. The afternoon round was to be off the slightly shorter tees and the Sundayround would on the full Championship Course of Waitawa, let's call it The Monster.

As the cards were checked, signed and handed in at the end of Saturday's play a quick look around saw most players with a smile on their faces. For most of the field the memories of last year had been over-ridden with more stories being told of great shots as opposed to great tragedies.

And so it was off to respective beds to rest and contemplate a Sunday off the long championship tees - would it still be all smiles?

And so it was Sunday morning and all but 2 of the initial 29 starters are ready to go. There's a steady breeze across the course which was going to make the ridge shots interesting with many of the fairways featuring OB on either side.

The Championship Tees, as expected, added around 10 shots to Saturday afternoon's scores although there were a few exceptions with Murray Crump bettering his Saturday effort and what an amazing performance by Shelly Flintoft, playing in her first event with discs she'd brought only a week before equalling her Saturday score.

Heading into the 'Super 6' Simon Feasey had a break on the field sitting on a 141, Waiheke Island's Keerti Ji was 7 shots back on 148, Queenstown's Ben Weil-Lake 150, Siep van Vliet also from Waiheke shared 4th with One Tree Hill golfer Brad Muir on 152 with visiting ex-pro American Michael Best rounding out the top 6 on a 153.

The extended 'Super 6' holes were played on the coastal 9 so as to give spectators the best advantage spots - not a lot changed over the six holes as those finishing 7th and down taking up position to watch high quality golf played by the top performers on the day.

Congratulations to everyone who played the inaugural Auckland Coastal Classic. It was another great weekend of Disc Golf and friendship and it was very pleasing to see everyone leave with a smile on their faces,eager keen to come back another time and take on the monster that is Waitawa.  

back to topThe Results for The 2016 Coastal Classic of Auckland

Waitawa Disc Golf Course, Auckland, 18 & 19 June 2016

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