READY TO THROW DOWN

Black Gully Reserve is home to Toowoomba’s disc golf course.

The tree-lined fairways are among the toughest to navigate in Queensland, if not Australia, but the field contesting this Sunday’s inaugural Garden City Open should be up to the task.

The Toowoomba contingent will have local knowledge and experience on their side, and the rest of the field includes a state champion and a former world champion.

LOCAL knowledge and course experience could be a key factor in Sunday’s Garden City Open.

With its tree lined fairways, Toowoomba’s Black Gully Reserve Disc Golf course is one of the toughest in Queensland, if not Australia.

The standard of play in Sunday’s inaugural Garden City Open is expected to be good though, with a state champion and a former world champion signed up to compete.

“We’re expecting up to 70 competitors from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Townsville,” Toowoomba Disc Golf member Keron Redman said.

“The current state champion is making his way here, and we have Bruce McNaughton who is a former world champion in his age bracket.”

The rules and play style of disc golf are essentially the same as regular golf with the objective being to get around the course in as little throws as possible.

How the player throws is entirely up to them.

“The Garden City Open is the inaugural tournament to be held in Toowoomba,” Redman said.

“The course went in about a year ago.

“We have a permanent nine-hole course, but because we have such a big field competing we’re setting another nine temporary holes.

“We’re very proud to say that Toowoomba has one of the most difficult courses in Queensland, if not Australia, because of the trees and the wooded lines.”

Despite the complexities of the course, Redman said the sport was easy to pick up, and the Toowoomba club hoped to see a crowd of supporters at the Open.

“It really is something everyone can pick up easily and enjoy,” he said.

“Being our inaugural tournament, we’d love to see a crowd of people here to have a look at the work.

“We started as a small group and as the sport has grown so have we.”

Play starts at 9am on Sunday and is expected to go for most of the day.

Picture: Kevin Farmer Disc golf competitor Keron Redman gets in a few practice throws on the Black Gully Reserve disc golf course.

Disc golf competitor Luke Jackson.

Disc golf competitors Luke Jackson (left) and Keron Redman check out the trophies that will be presented to the winners of the Garden City Open. Pictures: Kevin Farmer