International disc golf tournament coming to Colchester Campus

Eighty players from ten nations will be competing in the World Team Disc Golf Championship, being held from 23 to 27 August at our Colchester Campus.

The event is being organised by Nige Williams and Charlie Mead from the World Flying Disc Federation. It will be a homecoming for tournament Technical Director, Charlie, who worked at Essex in the 1980s and established the University’s disc golf course.

Charlie said the decision to host the event at Essex was an easy one: "Essex is the premier disc golf course in the UK for running world events. It has the best facilities and best course, and has just re-equipped itself with world-class disc golf baskets."

Disc golf is played in a similar way to traditional golf but with the golfers using flying discs instead of clubs and balls. Players start each hole from a teepad and aim to get their disc into a basket in as few throws as possible. The 18-hole, par 61 course at Essex is one of the oldest in the country and set in the mature grounds of Wivenhoe Park, which recently won a prestigious Green Flag award.

Wivenhoe Park will be open as usual and students, staff and members of the public are welcome to come and watch the players in action. The tournament schedule lists the match timings.

So, who does Charlie think are the teams to watch? "Canada, Finland, New Zealand and the USA are the top seeds, but the tournament format means that any individual from any country can have a significant impact on the results in Round 1."

Dave Parry, Director of Sport at the University, commented: "It’s great to see international sporting events making the most of our outstanding range of sports facilities. As well as maintaining and improving established facilities like our disc golf course, we’re investing £11m in the new Essex Sport Arena which will further raise our profile in sport in the UK."