Moraine hosts college disc golf championships
PORTERSVILLE — For the second time this year, the Lakeview Beach disc golf course at Moraine State Park played host to a major tournament. Over the weekend, 13 college disc golf clubs from six different states descended upon the park for the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Championship.
Trophies were awarded in four different classes: three classes for mixed groups of four, and one class for ladies’ doubles.
“In D1, you can only have one team. Your four best players would be in division one if they were that caliber of a player,” said Jason Samuel, coach of the team from Goshen University in Indiana. “You can have one D1 team, one D2 team, and as many D3 teams as you want. Think of it like varsity and JV.”
Taking first place in mixed D1, the most prestigious class, was the foursome from Liberty University consisting of Daniel Perry, Tyler Peterson, Addison Sells and Ryan Mulder.
Liberty teams also took first place in the mixed D2 and D3 classes as well. In total, Liberty sent six different teams to this weekend’s tournament, including three in the D3 class.
In the ladies’ doubles class, the winners were the University of Pittsburgh duo of Annie Lordi and Kayla Hess, who finished 12 under par — 23 strokes ahead of second place.
“I didn't really come in with any expectations, but I'm really happy with how we did,” Hess said. “I thought we were going to shoot well, but I didn’t know it was going to go that well.”
There were additional stakes for the mixed D1 and D2 teams, as the top three finishers in each of those categories receive an automatic bid to the College Disc Golf National Championships in Rock Hill, S.C. in April 2027.
Disc golf is not an official NCAA-sanctioned sport; the event is sanctioned by a separate organization called College Disc Golf. Although it isn’t a big-revenue sport on the level of college football, college disc golf clubs are still willing to travel long distances to compete at events.
“Some (clubs) will have collegiate transportation. That could be like an extended van,” Samuel said. “Some will get motor coaches. A big team like Liberty has a motor coach because they've got 30 players here. There’s a lot of different levels of commitment to the sport.”
“We’re a club sport at Liberty University, but Liberty does a great job of taking care of their club sports, so we traveled up by bus, and we've had a great time,” Sells said.
The Lakeview Beach course at Moraine State Park, which currently holds a 4.7 rating on disc golf enthusiast site UDisc, received rave reviews from players and coaches alike.
“It really will test your entire game. Not just your physical, but your mental game,” said Samuel. “That's why a lot of big events are held here.
“The woods and the lines are fair, so if you get off the fairway you still have the ability to scramble and you can still try and save the hole, and it's not too rough out there,” said Hess.
Co-hosting the tournament along with Moraine State Park was the disc golf course at Slippery Rock University, which hosted all events on day one and part of day two.
“We were playing (the Slippery Rock course) blind, but it was really fun. Lots of wide-open shots,” Sells said. “The two courses were completely different, and that made it a lot of fun.”
A moderate rain battered the players for much of Sunday morning, but play was never interrupted.
“We will play through heavy downpours, all the way up until there’s thunder and lightning,” said tournament director Rich Longer.
