An amateur shows professional form in the opening round of the inaugural Hurricane Bridge Disc Golf Open.

The inaugural Hurricane Bridge Open was held Saturday and Sunday, March 9 and 10, at the Hurricane Bridge Park Disc Golf Course. The Bridge Park course was designed by Johnny Sias of Letart. Sias, a 5 time Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) World Champion, was the tournament director for the Open.

Disc golf is played much like golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, the players use a flying disc or Frisbee®. The disc golf shares terminology with golf and is scored in like manner. The object is to complete each hole with the fewest strokes (in the case of disc golf, fewest throws).

A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target, which is the “hole.” The hole consists of an elevated metal basket. As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw landed. The trees, shrubs, and terrain changes located in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer. Finally, the “putt” lands in the basket and the hole is completed. Disc golf shares the same joys and frustrations of golf, be it sinking a long putt or hitting a tree halfway down the fairway.

The Bridge Open was a PDGA B-tier event. The 141 participants included players from Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Ontario, Canada. Last year, there were about 10 B-tier tournaments held in West Virginia. B-tier tournament participation is limited to PDGA members. The tournament must be at least 36 holes and may extend over a three-day period. The total payout must be at least 100% of entry fees plus an additional $750 minimum. The Bridge Open Pro total payout was $1,590. All amateur players received t-shirts and discs. The top half of each amateur division received gift packs of varying value. The combined payout to both Pro and amateurs was approximately $13,000.

The Bridge Opening first round (Saturday) consisted of a shotgun start by Pool’s B and C in the morning and Pool A in the afternoon. The second round on Sunday was by assigned tee times.

Sponsors for the tournament were the City of Hurricane, Innova Champion Discs, Joe Graziano with Graziano’s Pizza, Josh Petry with ABC Auto, Van Man Discs, Christian Riley CRDG, the Lewis Family, Kenny Rollins Moodgolf, Johnny and Adele Sias Lucky 8/Crazy 8 Disc Golf, the Mullins Family, Jonathan Wright with Martin’s Peterbilt, Bob Hoover with Stalnaker Farms, Maddog Discs, and Bill Ragan #15769.

A listing of Divisions, number of players, top finishers and total strokes were as follows:

Mixed Pro Open (11)
Ian Johnson of Scott Depot – Amateur (117)
Evan Jarvis of Milton – $413 (117)
Andrew Wood of Independence, KY – $240 (117)
Stephen Becker of Louisville, KY – $150 (116)
Trey Childress of Louisville, KY – $119 (125)

Woman’s Pro Open (1)
Taylor Crammer of Charleston – $114 (133)

Mixed Pro 50+ (2)
Greg Ellis of Ona – $227 (124)

Mixed Amateur (28)
Zach Harr of South Webster, OH (121)
Arron Moore of Catlettesburg, KY (122)
Carter Patton of Charleston (122)

Mixed Amateur 40+ (13) — Barry Adkins of Chesapeake, OH (132)

Mixed Amateur 50+ (4) — Eddie Taylor of Barboursville (108)

Mixed Amateur 2 (16) — Derek McAfee of Fleming, OH & John Reaper of Olive Hill, KY (131)

Woman’s Amateur 2 (7) — Jodi Jackson of St. Albans (113)

Mixed Amateur 3 (21) — Dusty Conley of Hurricane (109), Joshua Conrad of Barboursville (110), Taylor Pratt of Hurricane (115)

Mixed Amateur 4 (32) — Ryan Childers of Scott Depot (102), Nichlas Meadows of Milton (102), Joshua Grueser of Dunbar (103), Matthew Randolph of Charleston (104), Steven Macuch of Galloway, OH (105), Dutch Underwood of Charlton Heights (106), Brian Ricardo Grose of South Charleston (107)

Mixed Junior≤18 (4) — Ethan Curtis of Ona (101)

Mixed junior≤12 (2) — Nikko Forbes of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (115)