A total of 54 competitors came to Fountain Hills on April 22 to compete in one of twelve southwest regional qualifier disc golf tournaments, the Next Generation Disc Golf Tournament.

The top 12 players from the Fountain Hills qualifier, along with the top players from the other Southwest region qualifiers, will compete in Scottsdale on Oct. 14-15 for an entry to the national finals. The national finals will be held in Fountain Hills Nov. 17-19 and will host the 72 best-of-the-best amateur players from across the United States, and the winner will drive home in a new car.

The Fountain Hills Disc Golf Club designed a unique and challenging course layout for the recent event, featuring a brand new 510’ par 4 with tight fairways bordered by trees and two treacherous water hazards. There were also two elevated baskets on the course that force the players to either play it safe or go for a birdie and risk a likely bogey.

Although most of the players came from the greater Phoenix area, a few traveled from out-of-state for the opportunity to play at what many disc golf professionals call the “Pebble Beach” of disc golf courses. The player profiles ranged from 18 to 50-plus years old and, although the majority was men, a handful of women participated in a side competition called The Dance. The side competition uses a player’s tournament rating to rank players against other players across the country by division such as Advanced Women or Men 40 years and older.

Organizers said the tournament was a success thanks to help from the Fountain Hills community. Local disc golf player and Fountain Hills Disc Golf Club member Dmitri Hunter helped setup the course and the Fountain Hills Express Convenience Store & Deli arrived early in the morning to take food orders and made sure lunch arrived right on time.

As a special note, competitor Jacob Holmes had a big day on the course by throwing a hole-in-one. While results were not yet finalized, the tentative top-three finishers included Andres Leon in first, Mitchell Ramirez in second and Robert Cummings, III, in third.

For more information, visit nextgendiscgolf.com.