James Murphy

MOUNT Gambier’s Crater Lakes disc golf course will play host to some of the country’s top players this October.

The Eruption disc golf tournament will be held as the South Australian major on the 2022 Australian Disc Golf Tour and positions are filling up fast.

Registrations opened last week and were timed perfectly with the recent reopening of the 18-hole Pro Layout, following a six-month closure due to the fire which ripped through the Valley Lakes area in January.

Tournament director Michelle Schulz said there will be no shortage of talent on show over three days of competition.

“We have 13 pros at the moment,” she said.

“They are from across different areas of Australia – mostly the eastern states and South Australia as well.”

Among those are Western Australian young-gun Blake Houston, who will attempt to defend his Eruption title.

The 16-year-old has been ranking well in the Australian tour and will be one to watch again at the Crater Lakes course.

Registrations are filling up quickly and those interested in competing are encouraged to do so in a timely manner.

“We have already reached 100 registrations and we did that in the first 48 hours,” assistant tournament director Ryan Nicholson said.

“In the past that is something you would be aiming for towards the start of the event, not three month’s prior.”

At this stage registrations are limited to 144, but under the right circumstances could be expanded.

Nicholson puts the influx of players down to the rapidly growing popularity of the sport.

“The sport has been booming massively over the last two-to-three years,” he said.

“We are seeing a lot of other major events across Australia capping out.”

The event itself will be run from October 28 to 30 and will be the drawcard event in South Australia this year.

“Each state gets to host one major on the Australian tour and we have the Eruption this year,” Nicholson said.

“We had a conversation with the Adelaide Disc Golf committee and approached them to suggest we were hoping to take on the major this year.

“They were really happy to see that happen – the Adelaide community is very supportive of what we do down here.”

Nicholson said that comes down to the quality of the Mount…