Ritskes wins tight battle for 2022 MVP Space Race Swift Current

Swift Current's Riverside Park Disc Golf Course hosted its 2022 MVP Space Race on 
Nov. 12 with a full field of competitors from across Saskatchewan.
(Photo: IG @ironwolf4579)

Swift Current athlete Isaac Ritskes punched a minus-15 in early-winter conditions to win the 2022 MVP Space Race at Riverside Park Disc Golf Course on Nov. 12.

Ritskes was a member of a packed field of 36 hardy competitors attending the satellite event. Mild conditions leading up to the event suggested players would get one last chance at a snowless 2022 tournament. Instead, about four inches of snow fell during the lead-up week, forcing players to reach into their bag of tricks for winter golf earlier than expected.

"It surpassed my expectations, definitely," said Swift Current Space Race tournament director (TD) Patty Putts. "There was a lot of commitment to come play from the out-of-towners and within our small community despite the time of year, the weather."

Ritskes charged to the front of the pack, catching on quickly to the tournament's official discs - the glow MVP Hex mid-range and MVP Pilot putter. Evan Zimmer of North Battleford and Mat Bircher of Swift Current followed one stroke behind at minus-14 to claim second.

Moosomin's Mangy Coyote, Adam Bolig of North Battleford, Arlen Nickel of Regina, and Clint Bueckert of Saskatoon took the final podium position by shooting -13.

"I threw a lot of risky shots that didn't pay off for birdies that night, but I hit the top band on 18 and the basket on 10 for the Space Race portion," Patty Putts said about his own play during his inaugural tenure as TD.

"I was impressed by how everyone else played and the fact there were three aces - two on a hole I thought no one was going to get. Seeing everyone else have fun was a major factor in my enjoyment."

The Space Race includes a points category earned by golfers hitting the basket (metal, chains or ace) from the tee of a shortened Riverside Park layout. Regina's Shawna Alysia crashed an ace and hit metal for a total of six points, enough to win the division.


Swift Current's Isaac Ritskes shot minus-15 to win the 2022 Swift Current Space Race
by one stroke.
(Photo: IG @ironwolf4579)

Patty Putts put the tournament together to further promote the local disc golf club and raise funding for glow golf basket lighting. He played at several tournaments throughout the province this summer and was motivated to put together an event for his own club.

"I see how much work Evan Zimmer and his team do for disc golf all over Saskatchewan and in their own communities," he said. "I'm definitely inspired by that along with what I saw elsewhere in how they grow the sport, like Melville's Saskatchewan Open (2021) and the events Mangy Coyote, Arlen (Nickel) and Jeri-Anne (Brownbridge) hosted. You are all a huge inspiration personally and to what our disc golf community can become."

Shawna Alysia of Regina potted one ace and a metal shot to earn six points and the
2022 Space Race points division. 
(Photo: IG @ironwolf4579)


Swift Current's 2022 Space Race, sponsored by MVP as an annual circuit event, was held three and a half months after the city hosted its first PDGA event, the Saskatchewan Open provincial championship.
– Mangy Coyote

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