Cranbrook women disc golfers had a fantastic summer, with two athletes placing first in the Women’s Global Event (WGE) tournament, and the Kootenay Crush tournament hosting players from Canada and the U.S.

Kristy Shields of the Cranbrook women’s disc golf club says that August was an “amazing month” for women in disc golf in Cranbrook.

The WGE tournament saw over 3000 females playing, world-wide, on their local courses.

“[Locals] Lynette Eliason and Morgan Reedyk placed first in FA70 and FJ12 respectively. We had lots of fun field games, such as closest to the pin, long putt and even furthest from the pin to keep it light,” said Shields. “Despite the players in this tournament not being too concerned about their score, it was really awesome how close it was in each division.”

The Kootenay Crush tournament took place at the tougher Cranbrook courses, Wycliffe and College of the Rockies, with players from Montana, Alberta and the B.C. Interior competing.

“Having Parked Pro from Invermere on board has been incredible,” Shields said. “We wouldn’t be where we are, without his support, year after year.”

She adds that the crush tournament was originally inspired by Carrie Neal’s A-tier Women’s event that was planned in Kamloops before the pandemic hit.

“Carrie and I are now working together with Parked Pro to try and keep the crush going in different cities. There are many ladies here, who are really active in their communities – like Brenda Page in Calgary – that seem keen to take it on, so that is really exciting,” said Shields. “It might be a couple of years before the crush comes back to Cranbrook, but this is a good thing. And when it does come back, it will be bigger and better than ever.”

Shields said that the crush is a big event that is special to all players. She noted that there are so many people working behind the scenes to make sure the event runs smoothly. She thanked the sponsors, her team and all of the dedicated volunteers.

“To the spotters who spent the whole weekend in the heat making sure the ladies didn’t have to search for discs in the woods, those caddying for the ladies and to those just cheering everyone on – we all felt the love,” Shields said. “To see so many of my mentors in disc golf, who do so much in their communities, come from afar to support our event and make genuine connections with our Cranbrook community of disc golfers, both players and volunteers, was so…