BDGA TOUR #5 THE BRISTOL OPEN. BY GARY O'MALLEY Last weekend saw the 5th event of the British tour held at Ashton Court Estate, once again this year we had some pretty adverse weather conditions which added to the challenges of the course. Having not played at Bristol before and having visited all the other venues on the British tour I was keen to see what the course was like and play a practice round before the competition, the prospect of trudging around in the rain on Friday evening when I arrived wasn't too appealing though so it was off to the pub for some grub and to catch up with people. Saturday we woke to some drizzle and some light winds but didn't let this dampen our spirits and got out to the course. This was the second biggest turnout at a tour event this year so well done to all those involved with the organisation to make this happen. A number of locals who I'd not seen before at other events bulked up the field and it promised to be a great event for all three divisions. In open most of the big names were there apart from a certain Mr Jester Wilson out after winning two with an injury that could unfortunately see him miss more events yet. Current British champion Derek Robins was looking forward to his first win of the season and Dan Ryan and Neil Picket looking to add one more to their tally.

In the advance amateur division it was looking to be a good competition with a separate winner for each event so far and a lot of debate on certain forums if this would be the decider for the ad am crown. Sam Stevens was looking strong after being in every final so far, could this be the time he took a win? There was a very strong field so personally I didn't fancy my chances of making a final. For the first round groups were picked at random, the course was only 15 holes as we lost 3 to hay making activities and the par was set at 48. James Luton took the lead in open with a storming 45 with Phil Wood shooting a 49 following not far behind with others hitting low 50's. In the Ad Am's Jon Tweed got around in 51 with Paul McCullough, in his first comp as Ad Am, flying around in 52 with Fran "Please" Wilson 1 shot behind on 53.In Int Am's Gilad Chudler shot a very respectable 55 with Ross Davies chasing with a 56. The second round was a strange place to be starting, not knowing what others scored in the first round gave a different challenge and it really was a case of just trying to better the score from the previous round and finding out how everyone did at lunch time. The wind and the rain got worse and it was difficult to find something dry to wipe your disk on. The long walk back to Ashton Court was well worth it and there's not many better looking places on the British tour to get warm and dry and grab something to eat, thanks to those who volunteered to make the lunches, hopefully you got enough contributions towards the trip to take Ultimate Frisbee to Ghana. During lunch time it was a time to find out how everyone had done and it was all change in open with Neil Webber leading with most of the field not far behind and Ad am's Jon Tweed holding on to his lead shooting a 53.

The 3rd and final round of the day was a true test of fitness for some, myself included, but most got on with it and had a really good time. There's not many sports around where you can go out in the pouring rain and still enjoy yourself or maybe it's just that the people who play disk golf have a certain screw loose? Answers on a postcard please. I think most of us were glad when it was over just for a chance to get warm but I really liked the format of 3 rounds of 15 as it gave a different challenge and 3 attempts in one day to get a hole right although some still alluded me. At the end of the first day the standings were Dan leading Del by one shot with Neil and James both 4 shots behind him. Jon Tweed was still bagging up the Ad am's expanding his lead to 7 shots on Fran Wilson and Si Edwards. Sunday morning saw a depleted competition lose almost 20 players to the wind and the rain before even one disc was thrown but the brave and the stupid turned out to see what the rest of the competition would bring. With so many players already out and with no prospect of conditions getting better it was decided by most to play just one round before trying to find some shelter. The lead group in open once again was very tight with just one shot separating Dan Ryan and Derek Robins going into the last round. By all accounts Dan played some solid golf all the way round looking for a certain win and once again it all came down to the last hole for them on the dreaded 11th. With its well thought out risk/reward OB lines and a gusty headwind Dan leading by a few shots ended up OB on his drive whereas Derek's drive landed OB but caught an edge and rolled back inbounds. Dan took some more bad luck and Del played out to take the win by just 2 shots admitting in his winners speech that luck was on his side but sometimes that's the way golf goes.

In Ad am's we saw the weather taking its toll on many players, playing around I saw a few players dropping out after a few holes which gained me a few places but I couldn't help thinking they were the sensible ones. Fortunately a determined group kept me interested long enough to finish the round with my best score over the weekend to somehow sneak a shared 3rd place with Paul McCullough, Terry Tenger took second with Jon Tweed scoring his worst round of the weekend but still leading by a comfortable 8 shots. Personally for me the outstanding performances of the weekend were Mike Davies, Paul McCullough and Si Edwards all recently stepping up to Ad Am and shooting a rounds 100 points above their ratings, these guys are going to be the ones to watch out for in the future. In the Int am's only 5 of the 15 entered completed the last round, James Burton equalled his 62 of the first round to win followed by Chris Richard in second and Jerry Andrew in 3rd place. In all I really enjoyed the course as it's a real mix of challenges, there are woods holes, water holes and big open holes and a mix favouring back and forehand shots, I can't wait to go back and play again and think I'll definitely be taking a trip down to Bristol one weekend in the summer to see how it plays in the dry. Place Name PDGA# Rating Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Total 1 Derek Robins 5980 989 51 48 45 51 195 2 Daniel Ryan 45314 980 51 47 45 54 197 3 Neil Webber 8824 977 51 46 51 54 202 4 Ross Poole 8861 941 50 48 52 53 203 5 James Luton 8856 944 45 56 47 58 206 Place Name PDGA# Rating Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Total 1 Jonathan Tweed 45313 905 51 53 52 56 212 2 Terry Tenger 44288 899 54 56 54 56 220 3 Gary O'malley 46975 868 57 56 56 53 222 3 Paul Mccullough 51520 844 52 56 57 57 222 5 Fran Wilson 46973 900 53 54 56 60 223 Place Name PDGA# Rating Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Total 1 James Burton 51344 791 62 68 66 62 258 2 Chris Richard 65 61 63 74 263 3 Jerry Andrew 8858 811 66 65 70 67 268 4 Sian Lee 75 68 73 78 294