Dunedin’s Isaac Latta came from a few places back to defend his overall title in the third and final round of Queenstown’s 13th Tucker Beach Rush Disc Golf Tournament last weekend. Latta, who also won the mixed pro open, was part of a full field of 72 disc golfers from all over the South Island with a couple of North Islanders also playing. Hosted by the Queenstown Disc Golf Cub, the tournament was also sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association (C-tier) and the New Zealand Disc Golf Association. Tournament director Hemi Te Awhitu, who won the masters (over 40) mixed pro category himself, says they added three holes to make the course a 21-holer, with 63 holes played altogether. “Because [most disc golfers] travel, they want to play the most amount of golf possible.” With an unfavourable forecast, Te Awhitu says he’d been stressed about the weather. “I thought, ‘maybe it’s unlucky13 this year, but, you know, for 13 years we’ve just had beautiful summery conditions. “And when the wind is high at the gardens course, it’s always pretty still at Tucker.” Named for the 19th century gold rush on the nearby Shotover River, prize winners appropriately receive gold pans for trophies. “When we first installed the course it was really under-utilised, but now the Queenstown Trails Trust has put their trail through there, it’s just actually turning into quite a busy little reserve there.” Te Awhitu says the vibe of the two-day tournament was helped by the shotgun start to each of the three rounds, meaning everyone set off at the same time, albeit from different holes. “Everybody hangs around for prizegiving rather than, if you were to have a tee time, as they finish, people just sort of wander off and go home.” scoop@scene.co.nz
