Waterloo disc golfer takes aim at Foxwood Open title
Jonah McPhee still finds time most weeks to get out and play a round or two of “ball golf.”
On other days, the Waterloo resident dedicates his time to “disc golf,” a sport he discovered near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through hours of hard work and training, he has become one of Ontario’s top players.
He even has a Professional Disc Golf Association profile and is listed as No. 983 in the world rankings, with three tournament wins to his credit and $2,250 in career earnings.
All in all, not too shabby for a player who is only three years into the sport.
“My buddy Owen Malo got me into it near the start of COVID. He told me to watch a disc golf YouTube video, which I did, and then I went out to Columbia Lake, a disc golf course at UW, tried it and loved it,” said the 21-year-old McPhee.
“And then I’d spend six hours on the disc-golf course every day during lockdown. It was what I’d do to pass the time.”
McPhee has been a regular at Columbia Lake in recent days as he makes final preparations for this weekend’s Foxwood Open, a PDGA A-Tier tournament and qualifying event for the Oct. 5 to 8 United States Disc Golf Championship and Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship in Winthrop, S.C.
This year’s Foxwood Open, at Foxwood Golf Club in Baden, will showcase 229 of the best amateur and professional players from across North America, and has a projected pro payout of more than $10,000.
Intermediate players will be competing on the par-65 White course, which measures 8,195 feet in distance, and advanced amateurs and professionals will be competing on the par-63 Gold course, at 8,535 feet.
McPhee was a multi-sport athlete at Waterloo Collegiate and ended his time there by winning male athlete of the year honours in 2020. He was part of the school’s golf team that played at the 2018 all-Ontario (OFSAA) championship — carrying a handicap of “about three or four” while playing Westmount — and also excelled in basketball, volleyball and track and field.
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My buddy Owen Malo got me into it near the start of COVID.
JONAH MCPHEE
He moved on to Western University after high school and is currently an intern, as a financial analyst, at a Cambridge real estate company. He’ll return to the Ivey Business School in September for his fourth year of university.
Disc is serious business
McPhee’s approach to disc golf is just as serious as the other sports he has played. “A lot of people think of disc golf as just a bunch of hippies going out smoking weed, but, at the top, it’s very competitive, and people put a lot of time and effort into this game,” said McPhee, who has a sponsorship deal with Kitchenerbased Big Disc Energy.
“The top guys put their whole life into this and are very serious about it. The top guy (Paul McBeth) signed a $10-million contract (with Discraft in 2021), so the sport is definitely growing.”
There’s something about the discgolf culture that is especially appealing to McPhee, as well as the sport’s affordability and variety of shotmaking options.
“The sport is so easy to get into; you don’t need to spend 500 bucks on a club, you can just go to a store, pay 15 to 20 bucks for a disc and then just go out and play for free, so that’s a big draw,” said McPhee, who carries about 25 discs in his bag. “I’d also say there are so many different ways to throw a disc as opposed to golf, where you either draw, fade or hit it straight. In disc golf, you can curve the disc in so many different ways. You can even roll it.”
McPhee missed last year’s United States Disc Golf Championship because of school but is attempting to qualify for a third straight year. He’ll compete against 35 others in the mixed pro open, including David Finch of Waterloo, Bryan McDonald of New Hamburg and Joe Vander Veen of Waterloo. McPhee’s good friend Malo is playing, too.
The Foxwood Open, a collaborative effort between Grand River Disc Golf, Innova Disc Golf, GolfNorth and Explore Waterloo Region, runs Saturday through Monday. Play gets underway at 7:30 a.m. each day. Spectators are welcome all weekend.
McPhee’s approach to disc golf is just as serious as the other sports he has played
Spring Classic starts Sunday
The Golf Ontario championship season continues Sunday with the Spring Classic for junior boys at Wooden Sticks in Uxbridge and the Spring Classic for junior girls at FireRock in Komoka. Both Under-19 tournaments are 54-hole competitions with several Waterloo Region players in the field.
In Uxbridge, the local contingent is Andreas Diogenous (Whistle Bear), Brayden Card (Galt), Dylan Weber (Galt), Jameson Staab (Players Club, Kitchener), Rylan Hall (Whistle Bear) and William Drewery (Westmount).
In Komoka, Claire Roberts (Whistle Bear), Ela Jones (Galt), Hannah Lee (Cambridge) and Mia
Truong (Whistle Bear) are participating.
Chip shots Westmount’s Rob Cowan finished second in the senior men’s division of the Ontario Champion of Champions tournament at Deer Creek in Ajax. Cowan fell in a playoff to Rob Gibson of Cedar Brae in Toronto ... Deer Ridge pro James Skrypec, Galt pro Victor Ciesielski, Garrett Rank of Elmira, Brendan Leonard of Cambridge, Austin Ryan of Kitchener and Jack Deighan of Cambridge advanced to final qualifying for next month’s RBC Canadian Open at Wednesday’s regional qualifier at TPC Toronto (North). The qualifier is Sunday, June 4, at Coppinwood Golf Club ... Wilfrid Laurier’s Matthew Whitehead, from Cambridge, advanced to the same qualifier on Monday in Oshawa, the only local to do so.
MARK BRYSON IS A WATERLOO REGION-BASED REPORTER FOCUSING ON SPORTS FOR THE RECORD. REACH HIM VIA EMAIL: MBRYSON@THERECORD.COM