On Saturday February 18th 2023, the 3rd edition of the Chasing Sparrows disc golf tournament was held in Varaždin. The competition was played on a semi-permanent course set up on a green area between Vodovodna street and the City Cemetery, with the field of 40 players from Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia. The weather was suitable for mid-February, cloudy and with a light wind of up to 4 m/s, but not too cold, so the players could show the best of their game.
The competition started at 10:3, took place in two rounds of 18 holes each, and ended with the winners ceremony 16:30.
In the MPO open category, 6 players participated, and after the completion of two rounds, three of them were tied for first place with a score of 21 throws under par - Aki Vucković (DGK Varaždin), Aleksandar Bato Sudžuković (DKG Varaždin) and Tomislav Gorički ( Flying Disc club Zagreb). All three entered the sudden death tiea breaker, where Sudžuković was the most accurate and won, while Vucković and Gorički shared second place.
In the women's open FPO category, five players participated, and the victory was won by Danica Pajtak (DGK Varaždin) with an excellent -15 and rounds worth 896 and 906 rating points. Second place went to Ira Molnar Gorički (FDK Zagreb), and third to Tina Šimenc (DGK Lagoda, Varaždin).
In addition to the elite open categories, the competition also took place in three lower categories open to both genders according to the standard of the PDGA – the highest red, the lower green and the lowest purple.
Three players participated in the Red category for players rated up to 900, and the interesting thing is that all three were variations of the name Tom - two Tomislavs and one Tommy. In the end, all three finished within two points, but Tomislav Ćavar (FDK Zagreb) won, while Tomislav Kačavenda (DGK Stubaki) and Tommy Vacca (Austria) shared the second place.
In the Green category for players rated up to 850, 10 players participated, and here Josip Magdalenić (FDK Nova Gradiška) and Borna Vardić (DGK Varaždin) fought for victory until the end of the last hole. In the end, Magdalenić won, Vardić took second place, and Toni Denona (DGK Varaždin) placed third.
In the beginner's Purple category for players rated up to 800, 16 players participated, and Patrik Grof (DGK Lagoda) won with an excellent -8 ahead of Luka Kruljac and Danijel Belančić (both from FDK Nova Gradiška).
Side events to the tournament were Ace pool and CTP. The pot for Ace pool already amounted to €25 from earlier tournaments, and in this tournament it was paid by 28 players, so the amount of the potential prize was €53. Since the ace was not scored, the stated amount is transferred to the next tournament organized by Lagoda – Mars Springs. The CTP (Closest to the pin) game on hole 4 was won by Bato Sudžuković whose disc ended up 42.8 cm from the basket.
After the winners ceremony, a tournament raffle was held, in which prizes with a total equivalent value of €130 were awarded. Players who were drawn in the raffle could choose some of the available prizes (disc golf backpack, hoodie shirts and souvenirs with the tournament logo, etc.). The winners were Tomislav Ćavar, Tina Zrinski, Jurij Ivanovski, Davor Galic, Patrik Grof and Adrian Liber.
The results of the competition can be found on the PDGA website.
