A competitor takes aim during the 2016 Chains on the Links disc golf tournament in Soddy- Daisy. (Contributed photo)The fourth annual Chains on the Links disc golf tournament, being held Oct. 28 on the Montlake Golf Course in Soddy-Daisy, sold out within hours of signups being made available online. Red Bank resident Colby Hale, a member of the Chattanooga Flying Disc Club who assisted in setting up the tournament, wasn’t surprised.
The Belch’n Turkey, the longest-running disc golf tournament in the region, is coming up in November near the Chickamauga Dam. Hale said it sold out even faster than Chains on the Links.
“A few years ago, we probably had 200 to 300 regular players in the community. Now, just from being out and talking to people, we’re close to 1,000,” said Hale. “And that’s just in Chattanooga. That’s not even counting the people who come up from Dalton or come down from Dayton.”
So it’s frustrating that everyday local players only have access to one 18-hole course in the county, Hale said, referencing The Sinks on North Access Road.
Tournaments like Chains on the Links and the Belch’n Turkey are only possible because of private landowners allowing the club to rent out their space to set up a temporary course, said Hale.