ANCASTER, ON. On Saturday, October 5, The Redeemer Royals Disc Golf Team kicked off their season at the Haute Goat Regional Qualifier at Haute Goat Disc Golf Course in Port Hope, Ontario. This Royals-hosted event became the first sanctioned Collegiate disc golf tournament in Ontario.

This competition featured the Redeemer Royals Men's A and B teams and Women's A team competing against the Rochester Institute of Technology Men's A and B teams for one Division 1 and two Division 2 qualifying bids for the 2024 College Disc Golf National Championships, which will be held in April of 2025 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

Heading into the tournament, the Royals Men's A Team, featuring returning players Adam Beatty, Jake Voskamp, and Seth Brouwer, as well as incoming star freshman Kalan Schat, looked to build on their successful inaugural 2023 season which saw them compete in two qualifying tournaments, including a thirteenth place at the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Regional Championship in Beaver Springs, Pennsylvania, and a massive victory in Surrey, British Columbia at the Trinity Western University Spartan Regional Qualifier which earned them a Division 1 spot at the 2023 College Disc Golf National Championships in Rock Hill. At Nationals, the Royals followed up these strong qualifying performances with another successful tournament, finishing 39th in a strong Division 1 field.

The Royal's women's team, featuring returning sophomore Leah Don and rookie Joy Sikkema also headed into the tournament coming off of a strong 2023 campaign, which saw the dynamic duo of Leah Don competing alongside her sister Sarah Don, who has now graduated. In Pennsylvania, the Women's team finished second behind a strong Liberty University team, and Leah took down the singles competition by two strokes, with Sarah also finishing in a strong fifth place. In British Columbia, the Women put together another huge performance, claiming second place again, this time behind Trinity Western. At Nationals, the Women capped off their season with another great performance, finishing seventh in a loaded field of 28 teams. 

Lastly, the Royal's Mens B team, featuring rookies Jeremiah Della Foresta, Liam Schat, John Kok, and Ben Brouwer came into the tournament with no prior competition experience and a blank slate upon which to build their 2024 season. Unfortunately, prior to the tournament, Schat, a fifth-year senior, was forced to withdraw due to illness, leaving the Men's B team short-handed.

In round 1, the Royals Men's teams came out hot in the singles competition, claiming the top four spots. Rookie freshman phenom Kalan Schat took down the victory with a scorching 8 under par, followed by A team teammate Jake Voskamp in second with a strong 6 under, B team standout and rookie sensation Jeremiah Della Foresta shooting 4 under in his first Collegiate disc golf round, and fifth-year senior Adam Beatty closing out the top four with a strong 3 under par. Other Royal's team finishes include returning fourth-year A team member Seth Brouwer in tenth, B Team rookie John Kok in twelfth, and B team rookie Ben Brouwer in fourteenth. 

The Women's team also had a strong round 1 performance, with Leah Don taking down the victory in the singles round and rookie Joy Sikkema claiming second place in her first-ever Collegiate competition. 

Going into the second and final round of the tournament, the Royal's teams looked to build on their strong singles performances heading into the team competition. After averaging out the team scores from the singles competition, the Royal's Mens A team entered round two with a whopping seven-stroke lead over Rochester Tech's A Team in second, the Royals B team in third, and the Rochester Tech B team rounding out the field in fourth, one stroke behind the short-handed Royal's B team. 

In round two, the Royal's Men's A team put together a blistering round of 15 under par, including two eagles on holes five and eight, to extend their margin of victory to fifteen strokes over the Rochester Tech A Team, stamping their ticket to Division 1 Nationals in convincing fashion. The short-handed Royal's B team, despite a valiant effort to make up for missing team member Liam Schat, fell just three strokes short of third place and the second of two Division 2 qualifying bids, and will instead content themselves with a Division 3 bid for nationals, where they hope to redeem their performance with a fully healthy squad. The Women's team followed up their strong singles performances with a stellar round of five over par, also claiming their spot in Division 1 Nationals.

The Royal's next competition will be the College Disc Golf National Championships in April in South Carolina, where the Men's and Women's A teams will compete in Division 1 and the Men's B team will compete in Division 3. The Men's A Team will look to improve upon last year's 39th place finish on the backs of returning star Jake Voskamp and incoming freshmen phenom Kalan Schat, who will also both look to compete for a singles title, while the Women's A Team will hope to follow up their excellent 7th place performance with another strong finish at this year's competition led by sophomore sensation Leah Don and rookie Joy Sikkema.