Chasing Crows is a one-day tournament that was held on Saturday November 18th 2023 in Varaždin as the 10th round of the Croatian Disc Golf League in the 2023 season. This was the 4th edition of the tournament, and 53 players from Croatia, Austria and Slovenia participated.
The conditions for the game were excellent with sunny weather and no wind, and the tournament was played in such a way that the players were divided into two groups that played in different times. Players in the MPO, Red and Green categories played their rounds at 8:45 and 12:15, while players in the FPO, Purple and junior categories played at 10:15 and 13:45. The competition ended with the Winners ceremony around 16 o'clock.
In the MPO open category, 14 players participated, and the victory was won by Aleksandar Bato Sudžukovic with an excellent -28 compared to a course par. Second place was shared by Vjeran Tuhtan and Aleksandar Aki Vuckovic, 10 strokes behind the winner.
In the women's open FPO category, 7 players participated, and the winner was Danica Pajtak with an excellent -17, which would place her in 4th in the open MPO category. Second place was taken by Maja Šimenc with -9, and third was shared by Ira Molnar Goricki and Tina Šimenc with -8.
In addition to the elite open categories, the competition also took place in junior categories and in three lower categories according to the standard of the PDGA world players' association, which are open to players of both genders - the highest Red, the lower Green and the lowest Purple.
In the category for Boys up to 6 years old, Noah Tuhtan was the best with +77, for Girls up to 8 years old Kaja Gorički won with +51, for Girls up to 12 years old Tajna Šop with +70, and for Boys up to 12 years old Adrian Dimovski with + 44.
In the Junior under 18 category, Petar Mikić won with +12, second was Lovro Brkan (+36), and third was Antonijo Kusaković (+47).
In the Red category for players rated up to 900, 6 players participated, and Austrian Philipp Friedl won with -24 ahead of Raško Mikic (-20) and Slovenian Andrej Kozic (-17).
In the Green category for players rated up to 850, 6 players participated, and here, after two rounds, Antonio Grigić and Josip Magdalenic were tied at the first place with -10, so they continued the competition in the sudden death tiebreaker. As there was no winner after first hole, the winner was decided by a CTP play on hole 1 where Antonio was better and took the title. Third place was won by Adrian Liber with -9.
In the beginner's Purple category for players rated up to 800, 13 players participated, and here, too, after two rounds of play,Tin Kruhak and Mario Birchbauer were tied at the first place with -11. After two holes of the sudden death tie breaker, the winner was not decided, so the two of them joined the CTP on hole 1, where Tin was more skilled and took the win. Third place was won by Marko Pavlović with -4.
Side events were Ace pool and CTP.
There was €29 in the piggy bank for the Ace pool of previous tournaments, and in this tournament 31 players paid the ace pool fee, so the amount of the potential prize was €70. During the first round of play, Wolfgang Steinmetz hit an ace on hole 1 and took home a nice cash prize.
CTP (Closest to the pin) was played on the hole 1/10, and the award was won by Borna Vardić, whose disc ended up 10 cm from the basket.
After the awards ceremony for the best in all categories, a tournament raffle was held in which prizes with a total equivalent value of €70 were awarded. Players who were drawn in the raffle could choose some of the prizes (water bottles, disks and gear, etc.). Mateo Zović, Philipp Friedl, Zvonimir Janković took the prize and they cannot win the raffle at the next Lagoda tournament.
The results of the competition can be found on the PDGA website.
All photos taken at the tournament are published in the Google Photos Album and you can download them and use them for social networks.
When posting on Instagram, preferably use #chasingcrows #vodovodnadiscgolf #varazdin and tag Lagoda Disc Golf @lagoda_disc_golf and the local tourist board @volim.varazdin
