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Blizzard Fails to Ground Region 7 Disc Golf Championships

(Rapid City) The Region 7 Disc Golf Championships were held Saturday and Sunday at Jackson Park, hosted by the Black Hills Disc Golf Confederacy. 68 players from five states competed for Pro and Amateur Division titles, and for national tour points under the Professional Disc Golf Association. The pre-tournament blizzard kept many traveling players away, although the event still drew the largest field ever to compete in Rapid City. All divisions played two rounds of 25 holes Saturday on an expanded temporary layout, with the top Amateur and Pro Divisions playing a third round on Sunday.

In the Open Pro division, John Anderson of Rapid City easily out-classed the quality field, winning by 13 strokes over Travis Blase of Mitchell. Anderson, currently rated second in the state, will next compete at the PDGA National Tour event in Kansas City June 6^th – 8^th.

In the Pro Master division, Rob Liebman of Berthoud, Colorado, won in a playoff over Rapid City’s Kayne Larimer after a back and forth battle in the third round. Mike Hamkens of Bismarck, North Dakota claimed the Pro Grandmaster title.

Chris Nikolas of Aberdeen won the Men’s Advanced Amateur division by one stroke over Ryan Smith of Spearfish. Nikolas took home a portable Frolfware custom basket for his effort, and both players earned invitations to the U.S. Amateur Disc Golf Championships next month in Milford, Michigan. Shelly Dunham of Moorhead, Minnesota won the Advanced Women’s title. In the Advanced Masters division, Rapid City’s Bruce O’Connell finished 5 strokes ahead of Don Altmyer of Spearfish. The Advanced Grandmaster division was handily won by Lane Prang of Rapid City. The Men’s Intermediate crown went to Josie Bure of Hill City, as he narrowly defeated Brice Johnson of Spearfish by one stroke. Rapid City’s Theresa O’Connell took home the Women’s Intermediate trophy, besting Melisa Antijunti of Pierre by three strokes. Justin Hirchert of Rapid City claimed the Recreational division title. Under 16 Juniors was won by Colt Schneider of Rapid City, and in the Under 10 Juniors, Rapid City’s Race Thayer defeated his brother Roy to claim the final title spot. Tim Jackson of Rapid City carded the only hole-in-one of the tournament, as he aced the 7^th hole in the first round.

The next area disc golf tournament will be the annual World’s Biggest Tournament, being held May 24th in Spearfish. More information on local disc golf is available at blackhillsdisc.com or sddga.com.

Division	Place	Name and City	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	total
PROFESSIONAL DIVISIONS
Pro Open	1	John Anderson – Rapid City, SD	75	67	70	212
	2	Travis Blase – Mitchell, SD	75	77	73	225
	3	Joey Schmit – Davenport, ND	73	83	78	234
	4	Tyler Liebman – Berthoud, CO	81	78	76	235
	5	Scott Jones – Florissant, CO	86	79	78	243
	6	Nathan Hamkens – Bismarck, ND	79	80	84	243
	7	Jesse Selland – Sioux Falls, SD	80	78	87	245
	8	Brandon Balzer – Bismarck, ND	87	88	80	255
Pro Master (40+)	1	Rob Liebman – Berthoud, CO	79	79	82	240
	2	Kayne Larimer – Rapid City, SD	80	81	79	240
	3	Scott Caesar – Rapid City, SD	84	85	85	254
	4	Byron Klevgaard – Fargo, ND	81	88	88	257
	5	Randy Pippin – Fargo, ND	94	83	89	266
Pro Grandmaster (50+)	1	Mike Hamkens – Bismarck, ND	84	92	82	258
	2	Garland Judd – Broomfield, CO	93	88	95	276
AMATEUR DIVISIONS
Advanced	1	Chris Nikolas – Aberdeen, SD	79	78	81	238
	2	Ryan Smith – Spearfish, SD	82	78	79	239
	3	Corey Fonder – Spearfish, SD	80	79	82	241
	3	Tyler Brown – Aberdeen, SD	82	81	78	241
	5	Dave Campbell – Gillette, WY	82	77	88	247
	6	Jason Wiedrich – Rapid City, SD	86	80	87	253
	6	Shad Green – Gillette, WY	84	83	86	253
	8	Kevin Schwan – Spearfish, SD	88	82	87	257
	9	Kirby Bachtold – Gillette, WY	85	89	85	259
	10	Josh Hardin – Dickinson, ND	89	86	88	263
	11	Chris Wells – Rapid City, SD	81	97	90	268
	12	Tim Jackson – Rapid City, SD	80	88	101	269
	13	Brock Antijunti – Pierre, SD	88	89	97	274
	14	Justin Faber – Sioux Falls, SD	88	86	DNF	DNF
Advanced Women	1	Shelly Dunham - Moorhead, MN	111	102	102	315
Advanced Master	1	Bruce O’ Connell – Rapid City, SD	79	83	86	248
	2	Don Altmyer – Spearfish, SD	82	84	87	253
	3	Jay Blount – Pierre, SD	83	87	86	256
	4	Eric Thorstenson – Rapid City, SD	81	82	95	258
	5	Steve Bernard – Rapid City, SD	87	84	91	262
	6	Mike Parsons – Rapid City, SD	96	92	86	274
	7	Kevin Clark – Hot Springs, SD	89	93	93	275
	8	Tom Jacobs – Gillette, WY	95	97	90	282
Advanced Grandmaster	1	Lane Prang – Rapid City, SD	86	89	95	270
	2	Ivan Judd – Riverton, WY	97	92	95	284
	3	Jerry Mikkelsen – Pierre, SD	116	112	113	341
Intermediate Men	1	Josie Bure – Hill City, SD