Next Adventure at the Rose City Open
The 2012 Rose City Open was played this last weekend at Pier Park in North Portland. In their second year of running the Rose City Open, tournament directors Justin Hiat and Eric Lund ran another flawless event. Building on their success from last year, they put on another great event enjoyed by over 140 players.
Next Adventure Banner Flying at Tournament Central
Flight Crew Members Ryan and Dan Tournament Directors Justin Hiat and Eric Lund
This year’s player's packs included some sweet plastic from Latitude 64, a handmade beanie, and a cool pint glass rocking the 2012 RCO open logo designed by local disc golfer Kel Carver.
Because this is a favorite tournament of many locals who play and compete at Pier Park, the competition was fierce. The Pro Division saw Eugene’s Chris Becker take home his first professional win over touring Pros Nikko Locastro and Nate Sexton. Portland local Sean Phillips took second place. The Advanced Division had an RCO record-breaking 70 players that took the course this weekend. Portland’s own Michael Grummert ran away with the victory, shooting three straight 1000-rated rounds. Flight Crew members Ryan Gwillim and myself finished respectfully in the top 10, with Ryan edging me out by a stroke. In the Woman’s Advanced Field, Sally West from Salem Oregon took the title with some solidly-played golf. Flight Crew’s Cindy McMahan gave Sally a run for her money with a hot first round before finishing in a solid second place.
Cindy hitting a putt on hole 13
Ryan tees off on hole 8
Dan warming up his putting behind the Next Adventure Pop Up
Celeste going for a long put on hole 16
Enough can't be said about the amazing shape the course was in for the tournament. Pier Park is fortunate to have some wonderful local groups and communities that support and care for both the park and the course; Friends of Pier Park, Stumptown Disc Golf Club, and our very own Next Adventure to name a few. Over the last year a great deal of work has been done, from removing evasive plants and creating walking paths, to installing great benches and tee signs. Pier Park continues to get better every year thanks to everyone’s hard work.
Players gathered around Tournament Central
Once again I would like to thank Tournament Directors Eric Lund and Justin Hiat for running a fantastic event. Everything was great--from bringing in sponsorships (which reminds me, lunch at Fire on the Mountain, a new sponsor, was awesome!) to running everything on time and having scores updated and posted online by the time many of us got home. Can’t say enough about what a great tournament this was!