Paris course shines as 64 junior disc golfers compete over Labour Day

Eight-year-old Lillian Booth-Salmon of Cobourg and her dad, Kyle, show off some of their discs during the Ontario Junior Disc Golf Championship at Paris’ Dwayne Bereziuk Memorial Disc Golf Course.

George Le Gresley

Sports Reporter

The Augusta National Golf Course, where the Masters golf tournament is played and whose holes are adorned with pine trees, must have the same aroma as Paris’ Dwayne Bereziuk Memorial Disc Golf Course; at least that’s the imagery that ran in my imagination. Instead of pro golfers and an extensive gallery of fans, over Labour Day weekend, there were 64 amateur youth disc golfers and their families for the Ontario Disc Golf Junior Championship tournament.

During the COVID pandemic, I thought I would try the game and bought a beginner set of discs. As I did in my youth and beyond, playing with a Frisbee, I threw my discs with no accuracy or distance, eventually quitting when I lost my so-called driver in the bush. This game requires some skills that I couldn’t develop, as every shot attempt went the distance of a paper plate.   

The competition is comprised of boys and girls, whose ages range from 6 to 18 years old. All the players were friendly and eager to practice and play in the tournament, but more importantly, to reconnect with their friends. One competitor was eight-year-old Lillian Booth-Salmon, who, with her dad Kyle, who also serves as her caddie and coach, made the trip from Coburg to Paris. For Lillian, happiness was seeing and playing with her friends she had met in previous tournaments, as well as competing. 

Then there is Paris’ own Brooklyn O’Krafka, who won a Silver Medal at the Professional Disc Golf Association Junior World Championship in Emporia, Kansas. Entering Grade 9 at Paris District High, Brooklyn has been playing the game since the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. As time went on, she began to improve her game. With encouragement from her mother, Jaimie, and her dad, Trevor, who is also her caddie, she sought expert coaching and even installed a disc golf target basket in their backyard to improve her putting. Brooklyn finished the tournament with a five under par score, qualifying her for the Canadian Championships in Port Hope, Ontario, starting September 12. I’m sure that the coach of the Paris High Ultimate Frisbee team, who went to Ontario High championships last season, will be making a recruitment visit!

On August 31st, the Green Lane course hosted the Paris Memorial Golf Tournament, which hosted the adult players. The Memorial is to honour the memory of Dwayne Bereziuk, who was a driving force in getting Paris’ disc golf course built. 

Here are some of the Paris entrants and their results:

Jennifer Snow came in first in the Women’s Pro +40 category with a score of 4 under par. Mark Ciszek finished third in the Men’s Pro 50+ category. 

Brooklyn O’Krafka played again on Sunday and was 6 shots under par in the Women’s Amateur category and Daniel Gray came in 6th in the Mixed Amateur 40+ category. 

Shelley Kingma-Kitchen came in second in the Women’s Amateur 50+ category. Zachary Barlow was in a four-way tie for second place, and Corey Lehmann came in seventh in the Mixed Amateur 2 category.

For more information on how you can participate in this sport, contact the Paris Disc Golf Club by email at parisdiscgolfclub@gmail.com.