The unlucky 13th Drava Forester was held

The unlucky 13th edition of the Drava Forester was held from Friday, October 31st to Sunday, November 2nd, with side events already taking place from Wednesday, October 29th. This year's organizing team consisted of Maja Šimenc, Dinko Šimenc and Adrian Liber.

Although, true to the unlucky number 13, there were some unforeseen situations – for example, one of the four main organizers, Tina, was unable to take part in running the event at all, Dinko took on a new job at WFDF 15 days earlier, which significantly reduced his available preparation time, and the main sponsor Phillip (brand unicorn) was prevented by injury from preparing the tournament souvenirs as in previous years – the tournament ultimately took place in almost ideal conditions and with an excellent atmosphere.

The tournament was jointly organized by Lagoda Disc Golf and the travel agency Vall Tours, with the support of the City of Varaždin and sponsor unicörn.

This year's Drava Forester featured 61 players from eight countries – Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany and Croatia.

Accommodation and start of the program

Most of the participants who chose official accommodation stayed at the Hotel Park (12 people), a smaller group at the Maltar Guesthouse (4 people), while the others opted for individual private accommodation.

The program started on Wednesday with a welcome dinner at the restaurant Family, owned by the head coach of the Croatian national football team, Zlatko Dalić. The restaurant also serves as a small football museum, which gave the evening a special charm. Fourteen participants arrived in Varaždin early enough to attend the dinner, choosing dishes from the restaurant’s regular menu. The friendly atmosphere continued even after the meal.

Tournament opening and team building

Thursday brought slightly cloudier weather with a few drops of rain, but this did not stop anyone from playing a practice round – or several of them.

Thursday’s dinner also served as the official tournament opening, held at the tournament centre in the Varaždin Arena. After dinner, at 19:30 there was a players’ meeting, followed at 20:30 by the traditional team building games.

At the meeting, the basic rules and schedule of the tournament were explained, and the birthdays of two participants – Ingo and Derek – were celebrated. Each participant received a small players pack: 1 dl of rakija from local producer OPG Mađar and a coupon for the tournament raffle.

Due to the absence of unicörn, there were no usual tournament T-shirts, so the entry fee was reduced to the minimum amounts - 25€ for basic entry and 130€ for full package including three lunches and 3 dinners..

A total of six teams with 32 participants took part in team building. The organizers carefully arranged the teams to mix players from different countries, clubs and skill levels, encouraging socializing and new connections.

The games included making and throwing paper airplanes, building a tower out of Jenga tiles, hitting a beer crate with balls, catching pencils, identifying fruit wine, and tabletop “curling bowling”. The winners were the team Birthday Boys (Derek, Ingo, Vanja, Ari, Stani and Eetu), who won a bottle of fruit wine and mini rakija.

Course layout

The tournament was played on two course layouts – the long one for the MPO division (49 players) and the shorter one for FPO (12 players). The course was temporarily set up, with artificial turf on the tee positions and Disc Golf Park baskets.

The long layout was designed so that experienced players with throws over 100 m could chase birdies on most holes, while the women’s layout was tailored to players rated around 800, with hole lengths from 65 to 85 metres (par 3).

The long layout played as par 61 (5× par 4 and 1× par 5), while the short layout played as par 62 (6× par 4 and 1× par 5).

Day 1 (Friday)

Friday started off cloudy, but within an hour the sun appeared and stayed with the players until the end of the tournament, so many were playing in shorts and T-shirts.

Rounds started at 10:00 and lasted between 2:30 and 3:30 hours, depending on the group. Groups were formed manually, separated by division and mixed according to player rating, with an emphasis on avoiding players from the same clubs or countries playing together, in order to encourage meeting new people and socializing.

The best score was recorded by Stanislaus Amann with -11 (unofficial rating 1044), while on the women’s side the best scores were shared by Marjo Huhtala, Cornelia Hackl and Elizaveta Chul with +6 (rating 833).

After lunch, the first round of the Team Game followed, played in groups of three on nine holes in a format similar to doubles, but with an extra dose of relaxation and fun – since it does not count as a PDGA event. Fifteen teams took part.

Dinner was again organized at the Bedem restaurant, with 22 participants attending, and afterwards there was Halloween face painting in a separate room and then a trip to the Halloween party at the pub Medina Škrinja (the old “Bear Bar”, but at a new location). Around fifteen more players joined, and the fun lasted until 23:00.

Day 2 (Saturday)

Saturday brought another perfect day for playing. MPO groups played with four or five players, and FPO with four. Rounds lasted between 2:50 and 3:20 hours.

Once again, the best score in the MPO division was posted by Stani Amann (-9, rating 1024), while on the women’s side the best result was achieved by Ira Molnar Gorički (+4, rating 846), which brought her into the tournament lead.

After the round there was lunch, a group photo and the second round of the Team Game.
The winners were Knock Knock (Japi, Samuli, Eetu) with -5, followed by Signing In (Ari, Jouni, Erkka, -2) and Grilled Squid (Domen, Mario, Blaž/Andrej) and Aut2 (Stani, Barbara, Trondi) at +1.

In their free time, players could also join two side events – the Park It! Contest (three discs thrown from 39 m, to be parked as close to the target as possible) and the 3-in-a-row putting contest, where the goal was to make three putts in a row from the greatest possible distance.

Players Party

Saturday night was reserved for the Players Party with a dress code in the colours purple, white and yellow, chosen a year earlier by the 2024 Drava Forester Model – Andreja Bernjak.

The program started at 18:30 with a pizza dinner, included in the basic entry fee for all players, at the pub Medina Škrinja, followed by a raffle with 13 prizes.

The most valuable prize was a disc golf backpack, and everyone received one free ticket. Those hoping for more luck could buy additional tickets for €2 each. As usual, Bato bought a large number of tickets (10–15) and won three prizes, but the main prize went to Jouni.

Next came the Drava Forester Model contest, a mix of style, humour and talent. The finalists were Conny, Barbara, Lisa, Marjo, Derek, Ingo and Elias & Lilia as a pair. Each finalist drew a question and answered it in their own way, and the audience reacted most strongly to Barbara’s witty answer: to the question “If you had the power, whose element of the game would you erase from the history of disc golf?” she said “Forehand Ohn Scoggins”.

In the talent segment, Lisa sang beautifully, Marjo sang fiercely, Derek showed frisbee freestyle, Conny toasted with beer, Ingo connected two thumbs together, Elias and Lilia performed a lift with Lilia in the air, and Barbara – to everyone’s surprise – “swallowed” her own fist. It was precisely this originality, together with fulfilling the other criteria, that earned her the title of Drava Forester Model 2025.

For next year, the winner Barbara Palaoro chose the players party colours – pink and petrol, and the organizers added silver as the third colour.

At the party, the winners of the Team Game were announced and given a small prize, and the gathering continued with karaoke and fun until 00:30.

Day 3 and finals (Sunday)

The final day once again brought perfect weather with a light wind. The best men’s round was played by Japi (-9, rating 1029), ahead of Erkka (-8), while Stani, after a long karaoke night, shot -3 and dropped to second place in the overall standings. On the women’s side, the best round was played by Monika Braun (+3, rating 859), which brought her up to third place.

The Park It! Contest final was reached by Frank Kelz, Ari Pentalla, Aki Vučković and Nino Đurak, and since Frank was unable to play, he was replaced by Nenad Nikolić. In the first round, Aki was eliminated, followed by Nino, and in the final Nenad defeated Ari and won a prize of €1.

As always, the Drava Forester final was played on six special holes in front of the hall, so that everyone interested could follow the action live.

The women’s final featured Elizaveta Chul and Ira Molnar Gorički at +18, Monika Braun at +21 and Conny Hackl at +25. In the final stretch, the best performance came from Ira, who ultimately took the win, second place went to Elizaveta, and third to Conny.
Memorable moment of the finals was a great throw by Ira on hole two that ended in the chains but unfortunately fell out of the basket.

The men’s final included the top five: Erkka (-24), Stani (-23), Japi (-22), Eetu (-14) and Sauli (-6). Erkka confidently held the lead and did not allow any changes, so he became the overall winner. Japi finished second and Stani third.

Full results can be found at the PDGA event page.

At the awards ceremony, prizes were presented to the best players, as well as the Rookie of the Year recognition for a player who participated in the tournament for the first time and particularly stood out. This year, that was Lisa Ulbing, who received a bottle of sparkling wine and a free full entry package for 2026 (value around €150).

Final evening and conclusion

The tournament officially ended with Sunday lunch, but some participants stayed in Varaždin until Monday. For them, a final dinner was organized at the Bedem restaurant, together with a Paint Disc Golf & Drink workshop led by academic painter Laura Sajko. Eleven participants joined the program and painted their own pieces of disc golf art.

The best women’s round of the tournament and the layout record were set by Raphaela Narath (-2, rating 906), while the best men’s round was again delivered by Stani Amann (-11, rating 1044).

The basic tournament entry fee, which included play and the core services, was €25, while the full package with three lunches and three dinners cost €130. The Wednesday and Sunday programs were paid for separately.