Casey Hanemayer took down the win at the Ontario Provincial Disc Golf Championships in Bourget, Ont. on August 22 to 23, the first A-Tier win for this newly 1003 rated professional disc golfer.
“Ontario Provincials was an event that Jesse Tomalty let me know about, he had a cabin near the course there and I was very grateful for his hospitality,” Hanemayer said. He recently helped with the designing of a brand-new disc golf course that Tomalty put in at Nipika Mountain Resort.
“I was really excited to play in a sanctioned event and try to increase my rating in my first event in Ontario.”
READ MORE: Video profile of Casey Hanemayer, Cranbrook’s touring professional disc golfer
Surpassing the 1000-rated mark is something Hanemayer has been striving to achieve since he started playing disc golf competitively, and he is now a member of an elite group of players who can boast that high of a rating.
A player’s rating indicates how close their average round scores are compared to the course rating, called the Scratch Scoring Averages (SSA), of the courses they play in competition— according to the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA).
Players who average the SSA on courses played will have a rating of 1000 and are considered “scratch players.”
Hanemayer is currently the sixth-ranked player in of Canada, according to www.acerunners.ca
“Felt good to hit my goal but now it’s on to the next level,” Hanemayer said. “It is awesome to see how many people are getting higher ratings in Canada, it just means that disc golf here is becoming a bigger sport.”
In addition to attaining a career-high rating and taking down his first A-Tier tournament win, Hanemayer also secured a major sponsorship deal with Prodigy Disc Sports, whose international team includes some of the best players in the world.
“Colin Fitchett of Prodigy Canada approached me with the opportunity,” Hanemayer said. “Everything happened fast and I was appreciative of the opportunity.”
After throwing primarily Innova discs for much of his career, Hanemayer said switching to the new plastic was smooth, but it did take some getting used to. Some of the go-to discs in his bag include the D2, H1, F1, A2 and P Model S putters.
“The main disc companies now have many of the same discs or lots to choose from. You can find what you are looking for it may just take some time,” he explained.
After a big season last year and a new sponsor, Hanemayer was looking forward to tackling some big tournaments, essentially every weekend this season, including some larger events in the U.S.
“COVID really put a hitch in my plans for the summer,” he said. “I was going to be playing in the World Championships down in Utah and travelling around the U.S. for a couple months, it would have been an awesome experience.”
Looking ahead to the future, Hanemayer said his goals are to run an A-tier tournament here in Cranbrook, with the intent of showing off the area’s top-level courses to players from around the country and beyond. He also hopes to hit some of the bigger events down in the states to see how his skills stack up, once the borders open up again,
“The disc golf scene has become big in Cranbrook, but most people still down know about disc golf and that is why I want to run a big event here to show off the courses we have,” he said. “Along with that we need to get more people playing in the community, but this year I believe we have got a bunch of recognition in the community and I want to keep that rolling into next year.”
Most recently, Hanemayer competed Falcons Flight 11, a B Tier tournament in Sundre, AB. from Sept. 5 to 6 and managed to win the event for the second year in a row.
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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