DeChambeau to Top Field in Disk and Traditional Links Format
Rick Langberg
The highly celebrated golf freak is coming to town, so protect your kids and loved ones and prepare for 400-plus-yard tee shots and loud, boisterous cheers.
Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who has captivated the links world with his unusual diet, fitness regimen, and Ben Hogan-like, often technical expertise, will cap a field as part of International Two.
The event is scheduled for late August, and will permit limited fan attendance.
Only this time, Bryson will alter his fitness workouts to prepare for frequent frisbee throws. “I probably will have to eat more fish and not as much meat to prepare for the altitude. But I will be ready for Colorado,” said an enthusiastic DeChambeau.
Shining Mountain in Woodland Park will host a combined format of traditional golf and disk golf, an event sanctioned by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahen.
“We want to bring back the International in some format. And Woodland Park won’t attract the crowds normally associated at Castle Pines. It will be a different style, as we realize the popularity of disk golf,” said the commissioner.
“This will be great for Shining Mountain and the area,” said owner Greg Brownie. “Those pro golfers better prepare to party, as disc golfers like to have a good time and have established quite a tradition.”
The event will attract much interest in the region, and end a lackluster festival year, marred by the pandemic. “This will end all the controversy over the Salute to American Veterans Rally,” said Jeff Masher, marketing and special events director for the city of Cripple Creek.
Shining Mountain has gained quite a reputation as a disc golf hub, with three frisbee golf areas, and for offering one of the more challenging shorter traditional courses in the state. Both the disc golf and the regular layouts are renowned for tight landing areas and plenty of obstacles. Shining Mountain is one of the few courses in the state that actually has a disk layout, running alongside a regular course.
But the big talk is circulating about Bryson DeChambeau’s preliminary entry into the tournament.
DeChambeau, who underwent a major fitness transformation, now hits drivers that would make the old booming tee shots of Tiger Woods resemble child’s play. Some have stretched over the 400-yard mark on a regular basis. He has won major tournaments, such as the U.S. Open, on his brute strength.
His technical wiz has baffled and confused golf television analysts, whose criticism is bluntly silenced by the results. His antics have combined the best of science, fitness, technology and skill.
The International tourney once put Colorado on the golfing map. But the tournament got hit with the Great Recession and suffered from frequent scheduling changes. Plus, tournament organizers couldn’t seem to attract the interest of Woods, who only competed several times during the two-decade history of the event.
The format will continue the Stableford golf scoring method, often used by amateurs.