The inaugural edition of the Nickel City Open was hosted last November at the Twin Stacks Golf Course in Coniston as the Nickel City Disc Golf Club welcomed pros and amateurs from across the province to Sudbury.

The 2026 version was held this past weekend and based on the glorious weather the participants were treated to, one would have to think that these dates will be cast in stone, moving forward.

On Saturday and Sunday, more than 80 avid disc golf players – three quarters or so from out of town – gathered for the two-day event.

The top brackets featured the Mixed Pro Open and Women’s Pro Open divisions, with Joe Vander Veen (New Hamburg) and local Alicia Hums claiming top prizes respectively. Finishing with a two-day total of three under par, Vander Veen edged out Martin Hendel (St Thomas) by just one shot, with Ottawa native Jacob Mainville in third (+4) and Thomas Hums (+7) next in the ten player assembly.

“I played this tournament last November,” said Mainville, the product of a Covid-related introduction to the sport who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Sunday. “This weekend was beautiful. The wind was, for all intents and purposes, pretty minimal.”

Playing in the local ice-breaker last year, Mainville expected to be more in the top-end mix this time around, having both learned from his first shot at the course as well as continuing his progression in the sport that is growing in popularity.

“I think I have put on a little more distance this year, so with this course being a longer course, I was able to attack a lot more with the par threes and even some of the par fours,” he said. “I knew coming into the tournament I was going to be able to be a little more aggressive on some of the holes that I wasn’t last year.”

Mainville did not start playing disc golf with a tournament goal in mind, though he noted that searching out resources that can lead to improvement in play is not all that difficult at all.

“There are a lot of good You Tube tutorials – and friends who play can teach you in person,” he said. “Once you get involved with your local disc golf scene, it really just takes off from there. It’s as much as you want to put into the sport.”

Fighting his way back to third place in a group of eleven entries in the Mixed Amateur 3 classification, long-time Sudbury resident Brandon McBain is proof of all that Mainville shared.

Living within walking distance of the Lions Club course near Selkirk Park, the 32 year old who now competes in tournaments throughout the province was swayed fairly easily when first approached by a friend.

“It was an easy excuse to go out for a two hour hike with your friends and have some fun along the way,” said McBain, a fairly avid skateboarder in his youth. “This reminds me a little of the skateboarding community of people: age doesn’t really affect anything. Everyone is there just to have a good time.”

Assessing his play on the weekend, McBain does not sound terribly dissimilar to those who partake in standard golf events of a competitive nature. “It was a roller coaster on Saturday,” he said. “I checked halfway through my round and I was in third last place in my division.”

“I got a little mental fortitude and played better and finished in fifth after the first round – and today, I ended up third.”

Following is a breakdown of the various divisional champs:
Mixed Pro 40+ - Nathan Kaye (-5)
Mixed Pro 50+- Jeff Malton (-5)
Mixed Amateur 1 – Jeremy Brister (-8)
Women’s Amateur 1 – Chelsea Pike (+13)
Mixed Amateur 40+ - Jason Kroeker (-3)
Mixed Amateur 50+ - Robert Dault (+11)
Mixed Amateur 60+ - Vern Lepine (-1)
Mixed Amateur 2 – Cody Connely (-15)
Women’s Amateur 2 – Julia Donovan (+13)
Mixed Amateur 3 – Mason Raymond (-7)