Local disc golfer Mikey Yu won last weekend’s 31st annual The Helicopter Line Queenstown Classic in the Gardens by a staggering 21 shots.
It was the 46-year-old’s sixth consecutive mixed pro open title and fifth overall title in a row.
He finished the two-day tourney, comprising four 21-hole rounds, 43-under — the next best in the field of 90-plus players shot 22-under.
Originally from Melbourne, Yu lives just seven minutes’ walk from the Gardens — ‘‘I get out there a fair bit, most days if the weather’s reasonable’’.
He started playing after undergoing knee surgery ‘‘and I needed something to get me outside and enjoy the sunshine’’.
‘‘I started working at Small Planet and they have discs there so I thought maybe I’ll go and try disc golf.
‘‘And it worked out really, really well — within a year I went out and played a competition and I finished halfway in the field.
‘‘And I was like, ‘all right, I’ll just progressively try to aim to finish further and further up’, and then, yeah, got to winning.’’
Queenstown Disc Golf Club veteran Hemi Te Awhitu says Yu’s margin of victory was ‘‘unbelievable’’.
‘‘It just goes to show, practice pays off. ‘‘He’s a bit of a Queenstown phenom at the moment.’’
