Jingle Hills was played through Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4 at the Spa Hills Disc Golf course in Toplice Sveti Martin.
This was the fourth edition of the tournament. Jingle Hills was played for the first time on December 7 and 8, 2019, when one of the best players in the world participated in it - multiple world champion Paige Pierce, and a total of 35 players from Austria, England, Hungary, Croatia, USA and Canada. After the Covid break in 2020, the tournament was played for the second time on 4th and 5th December 2021 with the participation of 39 players from Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, and the third edition was held on 3rd and 4th December 2022 with the participation 46 players who, again, arrived from Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
More than 60 players were registered to participate in this year's tournament, but due to the extremely bad weather forecast that predicted rain, wind and cold weather throughout Saturday, almost 20 participants withdrew from the competition in the days before the tournament, so the final number of competitors was 45 and they arrived from Croatia, Austria and Slovenia.
The event was played through three rounds of 18 holes, and it started with the first round on Saturday at 9:15. During the first round, the weather was rainy with mostly light wind, and temperatures just above zero what has made the play difficult. The last group finished the play by 12:33, and after the lunch break, the game continued with the second round at 13:45. The rain stopped during the break and the competitors could put away their umbrellas, but as time went on it started to get dark and the play was suspended around 16:00 - 16:10 although not all groups completed all of the holes. The three groups that played a bit slower did not play from 1 to 6 holes, and they completed them on Sunday morning starting from 9 o'clock.
The last third round of the competition was played on Sunday from 10:30 to 13:30. The playing conditions on Sunday were ideal, with clear blue skies, no wind and the sun that was shining and warming the players.
Four players participated in the women's open FPO category, and after the end of the third round, Danica Pajtak and Raphaela Narath had the best score (+33) and entered the sudden death playoffs to determine the winner of the tournament. After they have had the same result on holes 1 and 9, the winner was decided by the CTP game on hole 9, where Danica was better, thus defending the title from 2022. Tina Šimenc and Jelena Gecek shared the third place with +50.
18 players participated in the men's open MPO category. The victory was won by Stanislaus Amann with a total of -13 compared to a course par, which was his second victory in this tournament (after the victory in 2021). The second place was won by Blaz Petrovic (-6), while the third player on the podium was Zack Bevelacqua (+1).
7 players participated in the lower Red category. The winner was Michael Narath with a +9. Second was Andrej Kozic (+10), and third was Matic Blaž with +17.
9 players participated in the lower Green category. The winner was Antonio Grigić with +13, ahead of Eduard Reicht (+16) and third was Kevin Koller (+32).
7 players participated in the lowest Purple category. Marc Lugitsch won with +45. The second was Julian Fink (+53), and the third was Mario Birchbauer (+56).
The best men's round of the tournament was 52 (-6) played in the second round by Blaž Petrović (unofficial rating 999), while the best women's round was Raphaela Narath (66, +8, unofficial rating 857).
Side events to the tournament were Ace pool, Overachiever and CTP.
The CTP game was played on hole 9 throughout all three rounds of the competition, and the best result was recorded by Danica Pajtak, whose disc came to rest at 25 cm from the basket.
Ace Pool fee 1€ was paid in by 40 people in this tournament, but the ace was not scored, so the amount is transferred to the next tournament organized by Lagoda - Merry Forester 2023.
The Overachiever award is given to the player who played the tournament the most above his PDGA rating, with the fact that the competition includes only players who already have at least 20 rounds included in the rating, because it is a bit easier for those who have just started playing disc golf to play well above their own rating, unlike those who have been playing disc golf for many years. Jelena Geček took third place with +33, Dino Harambašić took second with +36, while the best was Antonio Grigić who played the tournament 72 above his personal rating.
After the Winners ceremony, a tournament raffle was held in which prizes with a total equivalent value of €40 were awarded. The players who were drawn in the raffle could choose some of the prizes (a metal water bottle, a cookie box or a shoe dryer). The prize was taken by Boštjan Lotrič, Mario Birchbauer and Markus Rosenblattl, and they cannot win the raffle at the next Lagoda tournament (Merry Forester).
The results of the competition can be found on the PDGA website.
All the photos made at the tournament have been added to the Google Photos Album and players freely use them for social networks.
When posting on Instagram, please use #jinglehills #discgolfsvetimartin @lagoda_disc_golf @visitmedimurje
