Penfield disc golf tournament draws 80 players for charity fundraiser

Penfield’s Chasing Chains for Charity turned Shadow Pines into a fundraiser built around the kind of format that pulls in both seasoned competitors and newer players. More than 80 disc golfers took part in the second annual event on Sunday, May 31, at the 18-hole course in Penfield, with the day structured as a two-round, best-shot doubles tournament that kept the competition social as well as serious.

Chris Bull hosted the event, and Benjamin Casper was listed as assistant tournament director. The tournament, which organizers said was previously known as Aaron’s Adventures, featured Amateur, Mixed and Advanced divisions. The payout structure reflected the fundraiser-first setup: only Advanced teams and the top three Mixed teams were scheduled to receive cash payouts, while the rest of the field played for the larger cause.

That cause was split between Dream Factory of Rochester and the Rotary Club of Penfield. Local coverage said the tournament aimed to raise $10,000, and more than $6,000 had already come in through business sponsorships before the raffle wrapped up. The event also folded fundraising into the scorecard itself. For every $50 a team raised, one stroke came off its final score, a twist that rewarded off-course support as much as clean play on the fairways.

The day’s two rounds were set for 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., making the event as much a community gathering as a traditional tournament stop. Players could also add to the total through a 50/50 raffle, Ace Pool, mulligans and raffle baskets, giving the event multiple entry points for donors and competitors alike.

The nonprofit side gives the tournament its weight. Dream Factory of Rochester says it was chartered in fall 1998 and fulfilled its first local dream in May 1999 for Autumn, a 7-year-old girl from Brockport with spinal muscular atrophy. The organization says it has now fulfilled more than 350 dreams and currently has a waitlist of 13 children. The Penfield Rotary Club describes itself as a multi-generational service organization, with public projects that include creek cleanups, bunk-bed builds, school-supply drives and scholarships.

Shadow Pines has become a fitting home for that mission. The Town of Penfield purchased the property in 2018, approved renovation plans in 2020 and opened the disc golf course in August 2022 in partnership with the Greater Rochester Disc Golf Club. On a course built for public use and mixed skill levels, Chasing Chains again showed how disc golf can function as competition, gathering point and fundraising engine all at once.