Quarry Park had the honour of hosting the first BDGA Tour Event of the year on 2-3rd February. Half the course had been under water the previous weekend, and contingency plans were being made in case of continued flooding, but thankfully the river levels went down and left a very soggy, but playable course.

The tournament lived up to its name, with low temperatures and a biting wind, it was indeed a chilly chuck. Fortunately, disc golfers are a hardy bunch and we had a good turnout of 43 players. The first round proved pretty testing for most players, although it went smoothly for course pro Derek Robins, who shot a 57 on the "black" course, to lead by 4 from Matt Cutler. Fortunes changed on the 2nd round with Matt shooting 53 to Derek's 58 on the "blue" course.

On Sunday morning Derek improved by 4 shots on the blue course to sneak back ahead of Matt, but they were both overtaken by Chris O'Brien who shot his best ever competitive round, an amazing 47. Chris has made lots of finals but had never actually won a BDGA Open Division title and with a final 18 holes of the black course his resolve was sure to be tested. He produced another cracking round and extended his lead to win by 5 from Derek, with Matt taking 3rd spot.

In the Advanced Amateur division for players rated below 920, our tournament director Jesse Denny was looking for some glory having re-classified from the Open Division. Mark Fleetham had the hot first round, but couldn't maintain the good form, and Jesse shot the best score in his division for each of the following rounds, to record a resounding victory by 13 shots over Mark.

In the Intermediate Amateur Division for players rated below 870 we had high hopes for QP regular Phil Blount, but he had a poor third round, and a trio of Croydon players came through strongly. It was a close finish, but Neal Clifton just edged it over Will Bolton. Neal shot way above his rating and is clearly improving fast.

There was some great young talent in the junior divisions with Ned, Joe and Megan all performing well, but they couldn't keep up with Charlie O'Brien who will soon be capable of challenging for honours in the Intermediate Amateur division.

Big thank-you to Jesse Denny - this was his last event as tournament director, and it all ran smoothly. Thanks to all the competitors too for braving the elements, putting up with the muddy tees and keeping smiling through all the trials and tribulations of 4 rounds on a challenging course.
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