Top Tier Open

The Hi-Line Hyzers Disc Golf Club out of Glasgow held their second PDGA sanctioned tournament at The Fortress Disc Golf Course (Fort Peck) on Saturday, Aug. 20. The tournament was titled the Top Tier Open as Top Tier Disc Golf out of Billings was the primary sponsor for the event. A total of 37 players came from many parts of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and as far as Idaho (who took two days to travel to northeast Montana) to compete. This total includes nine members of Top Tier Disc Golf's sponsored team. The other major sponsors from the tournament included Grip Equipment, a disc golf bag retailer out of Kansas, Prodigy Disc Golf out of Georgia, and Glasgow's Canna Organics.

The Hi-Line Hyzers Club leadership committee stated that they "are so very thankful for all of the sponsors who have not only helped us build The Fortress to be the course it is right now, but have stood with us as we've hosted multiple high-quality sanctioned tournaments right here in northeast Montana."

The 37 players covered seven divisions between Professional and Amateur divisions. The tournament was played over two rounds, one on each of the two course layouts at The Fortress. Much like ball golf, the lowest total score over the two rounds determined the winners of each division.

In the Mixed Pro Open division, Helena's Austin Fonk took the win shooting a 12 under par through the tournament and taking a cash prize of almost $300. He was followed by Fort Peck's Kevin Vogel, who shot 7 under par. In round 2, Open player David Silver, of Watford City, N.D., cashed in on the $155 ace pot on his first shot of the round and recorded the first hole in one (officially) at the Fortress on the 225 ft hole 3, dubbed "The Bailey." Williston's Oscar Vega took the Pro Master's division with a 6 under par, and Karen Brown of Sheridan, Mont., won the Women's Pro Masters division with a 16 over par score for the tournament.

As for the Amateur side of the tournament, the victor of the Advanced Amateur division was Travis Truax, of Bozeman, who shot a blistering 19 under par tournament, including a new course record on the first round of 13 under par on 18 holes. Following Travis was Helena's Ben Slakey, who shot 7 under par for the tournament. In the Intermediate Mixed division, James Cooper, of Miles City, took the easy win shooting 9 under par. He was followed by Tanner Reiter, out of Billings, who shot 3 under par. Intermediate Woman's division was handily won by Kimber Cooper, of Miles City, shooting 24 over par. Finally, in the Recreational division, Randy Kleindorfer, a gentlemen who spends his summers in the Glasgow area, won by a massive margin, shooting only 4 over par for the tournament. Second place went to Rudyard's Daniel Mikulecky, who shot 21 over par for the tournament.