Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Tournament continues to grow
Oct. 5—FAIRMONT — After more than a decade, the Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Tournament is still growing, changing, and continuing to serve the memory of its namesake.
The 12th annual Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Tournament wrapped up Sunday after three days of competition by the roughly 200 participants at Morris Park. Within Morris Park, the tournament took place in the disc golf complex that was built in honor of Seth Burton, who passed away in 1999.
"It's really incredible," Phil Burton, Seth's father and assistant tournament director, said during play on Saturday. "We've been building this tournament for years. We had 150 last year, and changed the format so we could take more. We got right around 200 this year, and we're very excited.
"It's a wonderful thing for our community, everybody's having a good time. We were able to raise the funds that we needed from the community to show everybody a good time, so we're just thrilled."
The tournament saw professional and amateur competition divided further by male and female divisions. Brad Schick, Ellen Widboom, Oz Mert, Jonathan Baldwin, Donna Griest and Das Loomis each came in first place in different professional divisions after the end of three days of play.
In total, over $20,000 in merchandise and cash were given out to pro and amateur winners in the tournament.
The tournament started with 20-25 people, but with the playing field ballooning to around 200, the tournament took a new form this year. Instead of the usual all-at-once shotgun-start, groups were assigned tee times, one round a day for three days to space out when players would be on the playing field.
The change has been one of many that has made the competition a smooth process for the tournament-runners.
"This is the first year we've done tee times instead of a shotgun start, and it's been way easier to manage," Phil Burton said. "Everything's online now, they keep score online, it's gotten rid of a lot of tasks at the end of the day that we used to have to do. We're just amazed at how smooth it's gone, and thrilled with how it's working out."
And the extended duration has meant more downtime for competitors, too.
"Players have had time to enjoy Fairmont, have had more time to spend in the area," Tournament Director Josh Smith said. "We're drawing people from all over, there's people here from Colorado, Florida, Connecticut. It's a great time, and we appreciate them coming and spending some time here in Fairmont."
The success of the tournament has gone back into the course throughout the years — and has brought it national acclaim.
"There's been long strides and a grassroots effort to build two amazing disc golf courses here in Fairmont, West Virginia," Smith said. "And to be able to host such a big PDGA event at this level, it means a lot to us.
To learn more about disc golf competitions in the future, visit the Fairmont Flyers Disc Golf Club page on Facebook.
Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.
