FOREST, Va. — The Gallaudet University Disc Golf Club made a return visit to Forest, Virginia, this past weekend, competing in the Liberty Flamethrower Collegiate Regional Championship on March 6-7. After competing in the Mixed Collegiate Division 3 (MC3) tier last season, the Bison moved up to the Mixed Collegiate Division 2 (MC2) to test their endurance and toughness.
The tournament was held at the New London Tech disc golf course, a venue designed by professional legend Paul McBeth. This course is known as one of the toughest stops on the professional circuit. For the Bison, the course played and presented a difficult challenge for the three-round event.
The Bison lineup featured seniors
Donovan Holmes (Valley Springs, Calif.) and
Jaylen Johnson (Redlands, Calif.), who were joined by first-year
Darius Zarembka (Riverside, Calif.) and graduate student
Connor Baer (Cheverly, Md.).
All eyes were on Baer, who was making his collegiate debut. Although new to the college circuit, Baer already performed like a veteran, as he achieved a 940 rating in the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA)-sanctioned play. He met expectations in Saturday morning's opening singles round, which was played on the 9,500-foot layout. Baer had a +4, earned a 930-rated round and finished 25th in a deep field of 63 participants.
Holmes (+6), Zarembka (+7), and Johnson (+15) rounded out the scores for the Bison. The team averaged a combined 8-over-par (78) in the singles portion and entered the team rounds tied for 12th out of 16 programs.
The difficulty intensified as the tournament turned to team play. The second round on Saturday afternoon used mixed tees, while the final round on Sunday morning moved to the massive 12,100-foot layout.
After a challenging second round on Saturday, in which the Bison shot +2 (placed 16th for the round), the team showed remarkable grit on Sunday.
In the final round, the team found its rhythm on the professional-length layout and rallied to shoot +4. This resilient effort was the sixth-best score in the division for the final round, which allowed the Bison to climb back up on the leaderboard. Gallaudet finished the championship in 12th place with a total score of +14. The host school Liberty University ultimately won the top spot in the MC2 division.
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UP NEXT
Bison will travel to Rock Hill, S.C., for the 2026 College Disc Golf National Championship from April 8-11. The team heads to South Carolina with a goal to improve on their performance from last year, when they placed 24th out of 47 schools in Division 3 (MC3).
