Over the weekend of Feb. 4 and 5, Concordia’s disc golf team had an opportunity to attend the Southwest Collegiate Regional Tournament, the first ever disc golf tournament that Concordia has attended. 

“While we didn’t place super highly, we didn’t get last, which is a big success for a first time out,” said sophomore Brody Rezen. “We were all pretty excited that we were all able to pull something like this off. The fact that we were there at all was a big positive for us.”

The flagship tournament couldn’t have happened without a lot of effort and work by its team, which consisted of Rezen, senior Preston Leptich, sophomore Logan Werner, and junior Sam Schult.

“It took a lot of logistical work to get us registered for the tournament, and we have to thank Mike [Ottenad] for doing such a great job with that,” said Werner. “There was also getting into tournament shape in the weeks before which took some extra practice.”

“Our club president Preston put in a lot of work fundraising and thanks to a lot of really amazing donations from CU Give Back we were able to make the trip happen,” said Schult. 

“We were able to raise $580 through CU Give Back from generous donors and an additional $300 through a club funding proposal to the Senate,” said Leptich. “Our club advisor Michael Ottenad was able to get us a rental van and drive us to the tournament as well as provide camping gear from CU Active.”

“We played well as a team the second day, it was cool getting to work together with those guys,” Rezen said of their performance. “We also got to compete with some bigger schools.”

The group was pitted up against teams like Northern Arizona University, Grand Canyon University, University of Arizona, Oklahoma State University, University of New Mexico, Arizona State University and OBU Bison. 

“I would say that the biggest highlight for me in the tournament was the overall improvement that we had as a team throughout the weekend,” said Werner. “By the last day, we were truly working as a team and making smart shots on an extremely difficult course. It was really fun to see how we learned to use each other’s strengths together.”

“Hole five was one of the highlights for this round because we were able to change what discs we had to throw over the out-of-bounds to reach the proper landing zone in the field,” said Leptich. “Sam and I both had good drives that landed in the best spot for Brody and Logan to throw approach shots. It was great to see how our team improved throughout the weekend.”

The team bonded in more ways than one, including spending time together while camping in the area near the tournament.

“The highlight of the tournament for me was just being with all the guys at the campsite grilling hotdogs,” said Schult. “It was a super fun couple of nights camping and it really brought us all closer together.”

The team plans to continue their tournament attendance into the future, Werner confirmed, adding, “It was great to get the first one under our belt, and with that experience next year we plan to climb higher up the ratings.”

“We would love to keep the momentum going as a club and continue to build and improve,” Schult concluded.

Those interested in joining the team can reach out to Preston Leptich at preston.leptich@eagles.cui.edu, and good luck to the team at their next tournament!

 

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