Trio represents county
SLIPPERY ROCK — Venturing onto a disc golf course is nothing new for Chris Lachendro, Cody Winget and Michael Speaker.
“I've probably played the Moraine State Park course 650 times in the past six years,” Lachendro, 32, of Butler said.
Winget, 30, of Butler, said he's played in 25 disc golf tournaments in the past year alone.
Speaker, 47, of Cabot, has been a disc golf player for 16 years and has played the course at Knob Hill, near Cranberry Township, more than 100 times.
But when the trio took to their respective courses at Slippery Rock University and Knob Hill Tuesday, things weren't quite the same.
“Definitely a different feel,” Speaker said. “This is a whole new level of play. The courses are designed to play tougher.
“And ... Oh, yeah, we're up against the best players in the world.”
Lachendro, Winget and Speaker are the only Butler County competitors among the 408-player field at the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) World Championship this week. The entire field will play daily through Friday on courses at Moraine State Park, Slippery Rock University, Knob Hill and Deer Lakes.
After Friday's round, the field will be pared. The semifinals and finals will be played Saturday at SRU. The final round begins at noon.
“There's an advantage to knowing the local courses better than anyone else,” Speaker said. “But if this was regular golf, it'd be like playing against Tiger Woods. The other guy is playing at a much higher level than you are.”
Overall, 47 states and provinces, along with 14 countries, are represented in the tournament field. Disc golfers have come in from Germany, Sweden, Thailand, France, Japan and Denmark, among others, to seek the world title.
And they are doing so on world-class courses.
“By length, degree of difficulty and design, these courses are among the best,” said Greg Meitus, tournament director at the SRU course. “An area has to bid for this tournament just like countries bid to host the Olympics.
“Moraine's course is among the top 10 in the country. Slippery Rock's course just got completed for this event, and it's among the toughest I've seen.”
Meitus has been a disc golfer since 1990. A former Pittsburgh resident, he's lived in Syracuse, N.Y., for the past seven years.He came to town as a volunteer worker for the tournament. There are 200 volunteers working the event, with only six PDGA officials being paid to run the tournament.At the SRU course, golfers had to sail discs around buildings and over bodies of water at times to eventually reach the destination of landing a shot in a chain-link basket.Wind is a factor as well.“A headwind tends to tip your disc over while a tail-wind makes it sail farther,” Winget said. “You have to account for that.”While most of the field is competing in the men's open division — available to any age — age-protected divisions begin at 40 and over. Six golfers in the event are over 70 and three are over 80.“Growing up, we used to make up our own games, aiming frisbees at trees, signs and other objects,” Speaker said. “When I lived in Cranberry Township, I heard of the course at Knob Hill and went to check it out.“I got involved in the local club and have been playing ever since.”Speaker played his first round Tuesday with two disc golfers from California and one from Colorado. He played with contestants from Virginia and Massachusetts during the afternoon.“I've met a lot of friends through disc golf and it was enjoyable playing with those guys today,” Speaker said. “We all share a common interest here.”Lachendro said his uncle introduced him to disc golf, “and I played five times in the first week after he got me a set of discs.“I'm fairly athletic, and I enjoy being outside. This is an active sport.”Lachendro has been a disc golfer for six years. Winget has been playing for five. Both qualified for the world tournament through accumulating points from tournaments over the past year. A golfer must accumulate 750 points to qualify.While Winget played in 25 tournaments, Lachendro played in 36, primarily within a two-hour drive from home.“I was in a bar one day and wanted to buy a Frisbee,” Winget said. “The guy asked me if I wanted a frisbee or a golf disc. I said, 'what's a golf disc?' I've been hooked ever since.“I never played a regular round of golf in my life, but I'm addicted to challenges. And this is definitely a challenge.”Play continues daily at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. through Friday at all four courses.The event is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.“There's no charge to watch the final round Saturday, either,” Meitus said. “That day will be crazy.”
