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Local disc golfer takes first

Briana Ainsley won the open women’s division at the Gerry Boomer Memorial tournament
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Briana Ainsley.

A professional Squamish disc golfer has claimed victory at the Gerry Boomer Memorial tournament.

Briana Ainsley took first place in the open women’s division.

“Really motivated,” the 27-year-old said, when describing how the win made her feel. “Just being able to come in mentally it was a bit of an emotional day as well.”

On March 24, tournament day, it all boiled down to a winner’s mindset.

“Just believe that you cannot miss,” she said. “I was just in that mentality where I just felt like I could just do anything that I wanted to do.”

And the effort paid off — it shows on the scoreboard.

Ainsley captured a total score of 110 while her two other opponents finished with totals of 139 and 141, respectively.

It was one in a series of well-played tournaments that Ainsley has found herself in.

Before the Gerry Boomer, she captured third and fourth place in international tournaments in Thailand. In the tournament where she captured fourth, she was up against the top female disc golfer in the world.

Not bad, for an athlete who was a stranger to the game just five years ago.

Ainsley got her start when her mother’s boyfriend developed an interest in the sport.

Her mom started badgering her to give it a try, and despite the fact that Ainsley turned her nose up to the idea, she eventually gave in.

Ainsley tried playing a game, and within a few shots, she fell in love with the sport.

Since then, Ainsley started putting in the time. She learned fast, given her prior extensive experience playing sports in high school.

Around four years ago was a turning point — in 2014, she placed well in a series of pro-am tournaments, and soon after made the switch to professional.

“I just wanted to just always get better and try and the best that I can possibly be,” Ainsley reflected.

It also helps to have a little friendly competition. As it happens, the sport seems to run in the family.

Ainsley’s little brother is Erik Wendland, who’s also an accomplished local disc golfer.

However, competition aside, the main draw for Ainsley is the sense of community around the sport.

“It’s just turned into such a community,” she said. “Everyone that I know that’s in it, if they’re moving, it's disc golfers that are helping them move, if they’re having a baby or something, it’s disc golfers that are coming around….It’s a lifestyle for a lot of people.”

However, there are still things to improve on.

Ainsley said that Squamish is still lacking a reliable field for disc golf.

One place that used to be a regular disc golf location has been thrown into uncertainty because of development, she said.

“I’m a touring pro and I don’t have a course to play on promote the sport with or introduce the community to,” she said.

“It would literally be just giving us space, giving us baskets,” she said.

The disc golf community will take care of the rest, Ainsley said.

She also added that she would like to thank her sponsors for their support.

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