For the third year in a row, Jeremy “Big Jerm” Koling took home first place in the annual High Country Throwdown disc golf tournament held at Ashe Park.

Koling, a former Amateur World Champion in 2008, won the tournament by an incredible 16 strokes. Koling shot 28-under par while second place Henry Childres was 12-under. Terry Gallops and Matthew Keatts shared third place at 6-under par, Zeb Campbell finished fifth with a score of 5-under par with Jeff Baldwin behind him at 3-under and Brad Smith at 2-under.

In the Masters division, Kevin Vinez grabbed first, shooting a 6-over 185 to win the division by 18 strokes. James Nichols took second at 24-over par while Chris Tuten grabbed third and Justin Menickelli finished fourth.

Two Grandmasters also competed in the High Country Throwdown. Thomas Williams finished first with a tournament total of 9-over par and Perry Hardison finished second shooting 18-over par.

In the Advanced division, four golfers finished at even par or better. Tyler Propst took the victory by shooting 5-under par. David Gebhardt and Chad Goodwin tied for second at 2-under and Aaron Graff finished the tournament at even par.

There were three other divisions that also competed at the event last weekend. Two golfers faced off in the Advanced Women division where Michelle Horn held on to first place with a final tournament score of 38-over par. Second place went to Kim Fisher. In the Advanced Masters division, Charles Sealey took first by shooting 17-over par. Second place went to Scott Jones at 21over. Peter Gebhardt finished third at 26-over, Jeff Braun finished fourth at 28-over and Richie Piser and Barry Sealey rounded out the top five, both shooting 30-over par. Finally, in the Intermediate division, Bruce Reynolds was the only golfer to finish under par as he won the division by seven strokes with a 2-under finish. Second place went to James Yancey with a 5-over total and third place went to Skeet Scienski with a score of 8-over. Michael Shugart and Bret Moore finished out the top five shooting 8-over and 9-over respectively.

The story of the day, however, was Koling’s outstanding rounds that carried him to the three-peat.

“Jeremy Koling is a disc throwing machine. He really is the total package; young, strong, fearless, dedicated and has a great forehand, sidearm, and putts solid,” said event organizer Todd Patoprsty.

“He’s playing some great golf right now and I expect him to be one of the best in the sport for many years to come. He set a new blue course record out at Ashe Park, shooting a hot 53 (8-under) not just once, but twice,” added Patoprsty.

For any questions involving disc golf here in the High Country, contact Todd Patoprsty by phone at 336-649-0888 or by email at mountaintodd@gmail.com.