David Perry, Clare Hussey take the MPO and FPO titles, respectively
November 27, 2024 by Kingsley Flett in Recap with 0 comments
Players who both hailed from the state of Victoria took down the Australian Disc Golf Championships this weekend in New South Wales. The tournament, coming at the end of a big month of disc golf down under, was held in the small rural town of Molong, population 1600, about 180 miles inland from Sydney. For David Perry, age 22, it was the 11th win of his 5 year career while it was Clare Hussey’s sixth win in two years of playing FPO to pair with a number of FA40 titles following a long career in ultimate frisbee where she represented both Australia and Great Britain. Both Aussies had to overcome strong local competition as well as traveling pros Thomas Gilbert and Peyton Miller to claim their titles.
Affected by illness at the beginning of the weekend, Hussey struggled with fatigue in the 90 degree temperatures, particularly on the second day, where her six stroke first round lead over Indiana’s Peyton Miller had shrunk to four. Hussey found her groove on Championship Sunday, though, pulling away from Miller after a two stroke swing on hole 8, then stretching her lead to 8 strokes with four holes to play before sealing the contest with a 180 foot throw in for birdie on the notoriously difficult par 5 hole 14.
“The first two holes defeated me all weekend,” said Hussey. “But then I got my birdie on hole 4, which I did every day. Then I stayed steady while the others had some disaster holes. The two stroke swing helped me relax in the final holes. I’m really stoked. It’s lovely to get the title. I’m happy to be a 43 year old pinging frisbees with accuracy. I’m looking forward to getting some more challengers join the fun.”
For Canadian pro Thomas Gilbert, who was coming off a solid year which included four A-tier wins and a top 10 placement in the European Open, the tournament was an opportunity to extend his Aussie trip. Gilbert had won a bronze medal for Canada in the World Team Disc Golf Championships, held on the other side of the continent in Perth two weeks prior.
“Australia has always been on my list to visit,” said Gilbert prior to the tournament. “This excuse to come play the Australian Championships, the Aussie Open, and the World Team Championships – it’s been an absolute pleasure and honor to come and play these events and to see the sights in Australia has been a treat.”
At 1015 rated, Gilbert was the highest PDGA rated player in the tournament and shot well above this in round one to record a provisional 1038 rated, 8-under-par 56 to open a two stroke gap on Perry, with Queenslander Luke Bayne a further stroke back in 3rd. Gilbert had a rougher second round, though, carding two fewer birdies and two more bogeys to drop down to a tie for second place with 18 year old Western Australian Blake Houston, both two strokes behind Perry.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Perry after his second round. “The first couple of holes I felt the nerves. But the vibe on the card was great and we were able to relax and push each other.”
Perry and Houston had swapped the lead for most of the second round before Houston bogeyed the par 5 hole 14. Hole 14 was to play a key role in the final round too, as a triple bogey on the hole saw Houston lose a two stroke lead that he’d built up with a string of birdies in the previous 11 holes. With a few holes to play, Perry, Gilbert and Houston were the only viable potential winners.
On hole 17, Gilbert didn’t take a chance to go one ahead of Perry when his 25 foot birdie putt from OB hit the cage. Gilbert had thrown a high sky roller long on the 646 foot hole but crossed the out of bounds line within the circle. Perry threw out of bounds on the hole too and saved bogey to stay level with Gilbert.
On the island hole 18, Gilbert’s drive hit the island but then slid less than an inch out of bounds. Seeing the red flag, Perry threw to a safe part of the fairway and then laid up to tap-in range. Gilbert’s bid from the drop zone to force a playoff skipped off the cage. Perry was overcome with emotion as he claimed his first big win.
It was a somewhat controversial choice for Australian Disc Golf to take its premier event out of the main capitals to a small town more than a two hour drive from a major airport. But the event, held over two weekends, with most of the amateur divisions to play this week, was fully embraced by the Aussie disc golf community — and more.
“The benefit of holding an event in a town like Molong is how it contributes to the local community,” said local organizer Kevin Costa. “This is the biggest sporting event in Molong’s history, and the benefits to the town and the region have been noticeable everywhere.”
Molong is just one of the smaller centers in Australia to embrace disc golf as the sport down under is finding a unique way to establish beachheads beyond just the larger urban areas.
