Donnecke, Gilbert Winners at Canada National Championships

Canadian Disc Golf Tour #7

Monday, September 16, 2024 - 14:02

Written by Matt Lisac, Parked Pro

Clearwater, BC - The name Canadian National Championships would imply a contest exclusively by and for citizens of the Great White North. But much like the world championships in baseball and basketball, Canadian Nationals is a truly multi-national affair. The last two MPO champions, Casey Hanemayer and Thomas Gilbert, are household names in the land of moose and beaver, and winning their country’s most important tournament in 2023 and 2022 respectively, is a point of pride for canucks everywhere. But on the FPO side, you have to go back nearly a decade with hall-of-famer Elaine King to find the last Canadian winner at this event, with stars Paige Pierce, Kristin Tattar, Raven Klein and Ella Hansen playing the role of foreign usurpers most recently.

View all results from the 2024 Canadian Nationals >>

Colleen McInnes, PDGA #78677

Canadian Nationals is an event that has historically brought in a large contingent of international players. On the one hand, Canadians love showing off the courses and natural beauty that keep the sport full of excitement and wonder. On the other hand, they don’t necessarily care for exporting their sport’s version of the Crown Jewels down south. But going into 2024, rising pro tour star Sofia Donnecke, and 2023 runner-up Colleen McInnes, alongside a field of notable talent, had fans’ hopes high for a home-grown champion in 2024.

Gabrielle Lee, PDGA #193361

In the first MPO round, the aforementioned “Chunks” Hanemayer and “Big Maple” Gilbert announced their presence by throwing in from 200’ back-to-back on the first two holes of the event, driving the crowd into a fervour as the feature card played the first two holes a combined 10 under par. A continued display of accuracy and distance carried Gilbert to a three-stroke lead over the Cranbrook native, Hanemayer, Iowa’s Nick Culver, and surging Erik Wiebe from Winnipeg after round 1. The second round saw Hanemayer and Gilbert pull away from the field, setting up a two-horse race in the finale. Despite a hard charge from pro tour veteran Max Regitnig, who (along with Danny Gled) shot a 1056-rated final round -11 hot round to close out the final podium spot, Gilbert showed his class in the final round by creating and keeping an average of 8 strokes on the returning champion to win his second Canadian National Championship. Gilbert, who prioritizes the Canadian National Championships in his calendar, was effusive in his praise for the tournament, event staff, and field of competitors, and promised to return to defend his title.

Casey Hanemayer, PDGA #67314

Over in FPO, the crowd was treated to another nail-biting finale. 2023 Canadian Disc Golf Tour champion Colleen McInnes, who took Raven Klein to a playoff at this event in 2023, had payback on her mind, and led by 2 over Taylor Chocek, a young Oregonian Division 1 college Heptathlete-turned-disc golfer on the rise. Donnecke and American traveling professional Lauren Butler were in pursuit going into round 2, where Chocek took the lead from McInnes with a 964-rated round that featured incredible back-to-back eagles, setting the stage for an action-packed final round with Chocek, McInnes and Donnecke only separated by 2 strokes.

Julie Moens, PDGA #113154

Chocek powered through the front 9, maintaining control with effortless distance and impressive putting, but the mounting pressure finally turned into cracks on the 12th and 13th holes, where Chocek’s putting let her down on consecutive holes, turning a 2-stroke lead into a 2-stroke deficit to the hard-charging Donnecke to the shock and delight of the Canadian hopeful. With the weight of the moment and eyes of the country on Donnecke, the tides appeared to turn again, as she gave up a stroke on 16 bringing all 3 athletes back to a 2 stroke spread going into the penultimate hole. Donnecke and McInnes both birdied 17 bringing McInnes back into the picture for another spectacular final-round Nationals comeback, but it wasn’t meant to be in 2024 as Donnecke confidently managed her way around the winding 18th and laid up for par to seal a 1-stroke victory, her first Canadian National Championship, and the first Canadian FPO winner at this event in a decade.

Max Regitnig, PDGA #27812

“A big thank you to all players and families in attendance for giving us the opportunity to host such a prestigious event. A huge shout out to the staff and volunteers that went above and beyond - John Gould-Thorpe, Carrie Neal, Iain Warren, Mark and Connie Wilk and Donald Ritchie. Thank you to Best Western Clearwater, Quality Inn Clearwater, and Innova Canada for giving us the ability to make this happen! Clearwater can't wait to see you again!” -TD Dennis Greffard

Taylor Chocek, PDGA #189702

"You really can’t understate the amount of pride that we have for our homegrown talent like Sofia and Thomas here in Canada. To get to see them, along with the best talent in the country, under the most pressure and biggest crowds is a major highlight of the summer for disc golfers and fans from coast to coast, and they put on a show." - Andre Lodder, CEO Parked Pro Media

Other notes from Canadian Nationals: CanDiscGolf announced that the 2025 Canadian National Championships will take place in and around Peterborough, Ontario. BC’s Craig Sheather was given the Inaugural PDGA Canada Volunteer of the Year award for his tireless work running events and coordinating the country’s national disc golf team that attends WFDF competitions around the world. Stu McIsack won the MP40 division in a close battle with Thomas “TK” Kuhn, and Krisy Lee had a comeback win against Elizabeth deVries in FP40.

The next stop on the CDGT is the Discmania Open, in PEI Oct. 4-6.

The full standings of the CDGT can be found at CDGT.ca

Players can earn CDGT points at all Canadian A-tier and B-tier events.

***

PDGA Canada re-invests Canadian player fees back into the sport in Canada, assisting tournaments, training events, course construction, media like the CDGT, and more. Their support makes the Canadian National Championship and Canadian Disc Golf Tour possible. The CDGT is an exciting new opportunity for players to compete at a high level and showcase their skills on a national stage, in a way that has never been available for players in Canada looking to make the jump to global professional competition. From providing structure, support and sanctioning for tournaments, to helping aspiring professionals reach their athletic dreams, PDGA Canada has been instrumental in bringing Disc Golf into the mainstream in Canada as both a sport and a competitive hobby.