Surfer’s Paradise is in the middle of the Gold Coast region that stretches from the southern suburbs of Brisbane down to Tweed Heads, across the Queensland state line into New South Wales. With miles of white-sand beaches facing the Pacific Ocean and a network of canals in the hinterland leading to the rainforest covered Great Dividing Range, 'Surfers' has always been popular with visitors. In recent years, the year-round warm climate and natural environment has also encouraged many elite athletes to use it as a training base – it was inevitable that disc golf would catch on here.

Now in its third year, the Gold Coast Classic has begun to attract players from around Australia and from overseas as well. This year, 33 players verged on Birchill Park, 10 miles inland on the banks of the Nerang River. The lightly wooded parkland course had some tricky elevation changes and natural obstacles. As the cool mornings gave way to sunny days, the brisk South Easterly ocean breeze gave players plenty to think about with their putts on the sloped, fast greens.

The hot early rounds were had by Western Australia’s Dave Bandy #8534 (pictured above) who finished the first day three throws ahead of compatriot Chris Finn #37970 with locals Rick Kapalko #9680 and Rhus Kruger #57993 close behind. A combination of shaky putting and a hot third round from Finn on the second morning saw Bandy’s lead evaporate and Finn stormed away in the final to win by five. Finn’s 29 in the final, unofficially rated 1001, was only matched by Kruger who overtook Kapalko to claim 3rd place with Bandy in 2nd.

Jason Vidot #46616 also saw a healthy lead of six throws in the Advanced division evaporate on the final morning as Ross Davis caught and passed him with one hole remaining. Davis only needed a par to win but managed to double bogey the hole to hand the win back to Vidot by 1 throw.

Other winners included Bruce McNaughton #46135 in Advanced Masters, Paul Robinson in Advanced Grandmasters, Candice Roberts #63159 in Intermediate Women, and Ville Lahtinen in Recreational.

As the idea of destination/vacation disc golf grows, players could do much worse than mid-September in Surfers Paradise, Australia. Australia is also hosting its first ever PDGA Major disc golf event in January 2015, the Aussie Open. Registration for the 2015 Aussie Open is already available online and with just a few months remaining until the event, the time to register and start planning is now!

The full results for the Gold Coast Classic are available on PDGA.com and if you’d like more information about the upcoming PDGA Major in Australia, head over to the 2015 Aussie Open website.

Photo Credit: Tim Marchbank #8518