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Brad Schick Repeats, Bennett takes 2nd at 9th Annual Wright Brothers Open

Dayton, OH has long been present in the history of disc golf and the PDGA. With its first course installed in 1982, Dayton’s Eastwood Park DGC became a Midwest staple among the just developing disc golf scene. In 1989, then Dayton resident Steve Wisecup won the Disc Golf World Championship in Waterloo Iowa, and (although a current California resident) has since added to his disc golf resume an induction into the Disc Golf Hall of Fame and two United States Masters Disc Golf World Championships. 1991 brought the Disc Golf World Championships to Dayton, and the Gem City catered to 160 Pro golfers that week, including eventual winners Ken Climo (2nd World’s win) and Elaine King (1st World’s win).

Almost 10 years later, an annual event was born; The Dayton Disc Golf Association’s Wright Brothers Classic. Since renamed as the Wright Brothers Open (WBO), the event has been an annual B-tier favorite among regional discers who play the Ohio circuit, and is also included in Ohio’s 5 tournament USDGC qualifying point series. A PDGA sanctioned tourney since 2002, the 2008 WBO was again a great success.

This past weekend, in its 9th year, the annual WBO took place at Sycamore Trails DGC in nearby Miamisburg, Ohio and Arthur O. Fisher Park in Dayton. Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with spectacular weather as temperatures in the upper 70’s and low 80’s (with crystal clear sunny skies) provided perfect conditions for the field of 65 from OH, IN, KY, and MI.

First round action at Sycamore Trails saw some players struggle with the always difficult Miamisburg course. Developed by committee over a 3 year period to ensure a proper challenge, the course can easily break you down initially, then bring you up towards the end with intelligent play. While no one scored in the 40’s, Discraft sponsored Brad Schick posted the hot round 50 in the Pro division, with local Daytonion Scott “Phenom” Burnett close behind at 51. Tyler Horne, Geoff Bennett, and Chris Wojchiechowski rounded out the top 3 Pro scores at -1 53. In the Masters division, Bo Nash and Jeff Eades had +1 scores of 55, while Jim Ferrara, Jack Fouts and Steve Orlando were at +2 with rounds of 56. Columbus’s Zac Biberstine held a solid lead of 2 in the Advanced division heading into the 2nd round with some very smart golf at even 54.

The second round at Sycamore saw two unprecedented course record scores of -8 46’s from both Brad Schick and Geoff Bennett as they pulled far ahead of the rest of the Pro’s. These -8 rounds were unofficial 1059 rated and were obviously jaw dropping scores to some of the locals who play this course weekly. Though Jeff Eades was leading the Masters pack with two holes left, he had a difficult time on the heavily wooded holes 1 and 2, leaving Bo Nash and Jim Ferrara with rounds of 55 at 1st and 2nd place going into the second day. Dayton native Nick Snyder posted the only under par Saturday round in the Advanced division at 53, putting him atop the Advanced Men’s leader board.

On Sunday, players were granted a generous 10am tee time with only one 24 hole round available at Arthur O. Fisher DGC to take advantage of their current standing within respective divisions. Designed by Bo Nash, the course was very well manicured and has seen many developments and improvements over a 6 year period (including 6 new holes in 2007). Columbus Pro Brad Schick had a 3 stroke lead over 2nd place Michigan native Geoff Bennett, while Geoff held a comfortable 6 stroke lead over current 3rd place contender Scott Burnett. Right off the bat, Schick birdied 8 of his first 9 holes, and although leveling off, never looked back to secure a repeat of his 2007 WBO win by 4 strokes at -12 for the day. Bennett posted a -11 61 to maintain his second place spot, while David Cox jumped ahead of both Tyler and Scott to take 3rd place. Bo Nash took advantage of some home course advantage with a -4 68 en route to a 1 stroke lead over Jim Ferrara for the win in the Masters division, as Jeff Eades battled back to 3rd with a -3 59. In the Advanced division, Aaron Trimmer had the hot score of the day and overtook Biberstine and Snyder to grab 1st. Biberstine took 2nd as locals Ryan Bohardt and Nick Snyder tied for 3rd.

Overall, the 9th Official WBO was well represented from the region and heralded as a good time for all. Tournament Director and Dayton Disc Golf Course Liaison Sean Meier ran a very smooth event with help from various volunteers from the DDGA. White Allen European Auto in Dayton was the title sponsor, while Flywear Apparel was on hand to provide tournament t-shirts and merchandise, and local vendor Poor Boy Discs provided payouts and other prizes.

The WBO tournament thanks all of the sponsors, contenders, spectators and friends for making the 2008 event another successful tournament. We look forward to seeing you next year!

See a full list of results in all divisions at:
http://www.pdga.org/tournament/tournament_results.php?TournID=7459
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***All photos were graciously provided by and are a © of Tournament Director Sean Meier