Chasing Sparrows 2024

Chasing Sparrows is a one-day tournament that will be played on Saturday 17.2. 2024 in Varaždin, in the format of two rounds of 18 tracks. This tournament is the perfect opportunity for all beginners in disc golf to try a more "serious" competition, because the courses are relatively short (45 to 65 meters), there are practically no bushes where discs could be lost, and in each round of the same 9 courses, two are played times, so it is easier to overcome the terrain or correct mistakes. One round of the competition lasts about 90 minutes.

This tournament will be the 4th edition of Chasing Sparrows. First tournament was played on June 27th 2021 with participation by 19 players from Croatia. As of 2022 the tournament is played in February, and second edition was played by a full field of 45 players. The last, third Chasing Sparrows was played by 40 players.

Registration
The event will be played in the following divisions:
• MPO (open to male and female players)
• FPO (open female)
• Red (players of both genders PDGA rated up to 900)
• Green (players of both genders PDGA rated up to 850)
• Purple (players of both genders PDGA rated up to 800)
• Junior divisions will be open upon request for every registered junior

the registration fee for the MPO, FPO, Red and Green division is €15, and the registration fee for the Purple division is €10.
Registration fee for junior divisions is not charged.
Junior divisions are female or open up to 6 years, up to 8 years, up to 10 years, up to 12 years, up to 15 years and up to 18 years.
Example - If a junior is 10 years old and turns 11 in 2024, then his PDGA age is 11 for that entire year, and therefore he plays in the category up to 12 years old.

The number of participants is limited to 45, that is, the competition will be played in a maximum of 9 groups of 5 players.
In the case of a larger number of registered competitors, there is a possibility to adjust the format of the tournament in such a way that up to 90 players can participate. A decision on this will be made in case the number of applications exceeds 50 players.

Players who are not PDGA members and do not have personal rating can play the Purple division only if they have not played PDGA tournaments so far, or have played PDGA tournaments and the last 6 rounds (or less if they have not played 6 rounds) are not worth more than 800 rating points on average. If those rounds are worth more than 800 then they can play the Green, Red or MPO / FPO division. A player who has no rating and the last 6 rounds (or less if 6 rounds have not been played) is worth more than 850 rating points cannot play the Green division but can play Red or MPO / FPO.

The registration fee includes the organization of the tournament, a fee to the Croatian Flying Disc Federation, a small trophy and small prize for the winner in each division, small prizes for players ranked 2nd and 3rd in the MPO and FPO divisions, Overachiever prize, CTP prize and raffle prizes.
In the Red, Green and Purple categories, only the winner receives a trophy and a small prize.

Registration fee should be paid to the Lagoda bank account before the event. When making the transaction use the following data:
Lagoda j.d.o.o., Varaždin, HR6323400091110550349
If you do not pay the registration fee in advance, it will be possible to pay in cash at the tournament.

To sign up for the event open the REGISTRATION PAGE.
The list of registered players will be updated to the PDGA event page.

Weather
You can follow the weather forecast for Varaždin on the Yr.no page. In case of bad weather, you can follow the lightning radar or the precipitation radar display.

In case of extremely bad weather forecast (very cold weather, strong wind combined with rain) there is a possibility to change the date of the competition. In this case, players who have paid the registration fee and cannot participate in the tournament on the new date have the right to a refund minus bank fees.

Communication with participants
All registered participants will be contacted via e-mail no later than 5 days before the tournament with basic information and news related to the upcoming competition.
For communication during the event, a WhatsApp group will be created in which all news will be published throughout the duration of the tournament, and through it the participants themselves can communicate with each other (and, for example, arrange to meet up for a practice, going out for a dinner or similar)

Parking
Participants can use the Varaždin City Cemetery parking lot, which is about 350 m from the meeting place. Please do not park in Vodovodna Street to avoid potential problems with the residents of that street.

Toilet
As there is no toilet at the course we suggest going to one of the two nearby cafes located at the opposite end of the parking lot - Strauss Tree or Gossip bar (400-500 m on foot), or to the Konzum shopping center ( 700 m on foot, 1 minute by car).
During the lunch break, we will plan a trip to the Šanjek restaurant or Familija bistro, where you will also be able to use the toilet.

Lunch
During the break between the 1st and 2nd round, we will organize a lunch at the Familija bistro. (don't confuse it with The Family restaurant 200m away).
The price of the lunch is €10, and includes the main course and salad. Meat and vegan options are available.
All registered players will be contacted by e-mail about the pre-order.

Concept of Play
The competition will take place in the following format:
Round 1 - groups will be formed with mixed categories and according to strength groups determined by the PDGA rating. We will try not to put players from the same clubs/countries in the same groups in the first round, so that through the game they can socialize with players they don't see regularly.
Round 2 - groups formed by result, without mixing categories.

The course
The 9-hole course is set up at the location along Vodovodna Street, and in each round all 9 holes will be played twice. The course is suitable for beginners and the holes are 45 to 65 meters long.
You can download the course map on this page in PDF format.

This layout of the course has been played in 9 PDGA tournaments so far, and the currently valid records are the men's 37 (-17, rated 1.050) played by Bato Sudžuković, and the women's 42 (-12) played by Wiebke Jahn, twice in the tournament. the Wedding of Tina & Dinko" (rating rounds 976 and 968).
You can find a list of the best course results in the PDF document.

Photos and social networks
All the photos we take at the tournament will be added to the Google Photos Album at the end of each day and you can download them and use them for social networks.
When posting on Instagram, if possible, use #discgolfvodovodna #varazdin @lagoda_disc_golf @volim.varazdin

Ace Pool game
All players who wish to do so can pay €1 in cash, which is placed in a special piggy bank.
The player who hits an ace in the tournament becomes the winner of the entire prize fund of the Ace pool. If two or more players hit an ace in the same tournament, they share the ace pool. If no player hits an ace, the ace pool is carried over to the next Lagoda tournament, and so on until the ace pool is paid out in one tournament.
A player who wants to participate in the Ace pool must pay €1 before the start of the first round. If a player hits an ace and has not paid in the ace pool before the start of the first round, then he is not entitled to the prize.
As in several previous Lagoda tournaments, an ace was not scored in the ace pool's piggy bank before the Chasing Sparrows tournament, there is €85.

CTP Game – Closest to the pin
On hole 8 / 17 there will be an additional competition in "who threw the disc closest to the basket" during the play in the 1st and 2nd round. There will be a tape meter next to the basket post, and the player whose disc comes to rest near the basket can measure the distance from the post to the disc. The player whose disc has the smallest distance from the basket after the completion of the second round of the competition wins the prize.
For the result to be valid, the disc must be 5m or less from the basket, and you should send a photo from the distance shown on the meter to the official tournament WhatsApp group and indicate the distance in centimeters to the basket.

Overachiever Award
The award is given to the player who played the tournament on average the most above his rating (according to the current ratings on the PDGA website). All tournament participants who have a PDGA number and an active membership participate in this competition, but they need to have at least 20 rated rounds included in their rating.

Prizes and Tournament respect raffle
At the tournaments we organize, smaller prizes are awarded to the best three players in the MPO, FPO and to winners in Red, Green and Purple division, while we additionally reward all players through a raffle. The raffle is held at the end of the tournament, after the Winners ceremony. The usual top raffle prize is a disc golf backpack.

In order for a player to win a raffle prize, he must:
1. Be present at the Players meeting
2. Pay the registration fee in advance or during the tournament (no later than the beginning of the Winners ceremony)
3. Complete all rounds of the tournament
4. Register on time (mandatory check-in) if this is stated in the tournament schedule
5. To be present at the Winner ceremony

If a player is drawn in the raffle, but has not met all five criteria, he cannot claim the prize, so the next player is drawn instead.

The same player cannot win a raffle prize in two consecutive tournaments.
In the Chasing Sparrows 2024 tournament, the prize cannot be won by players who won it at the Frosty Hills 2024 tournament - Marijan Krištofić, Primož Belčič, Philipp Friedl, Tomislav Kačavenda and Eric Osterwinter.