By Bobby Mathews, sports editor
JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE — Trussville’s Tim Keith won the Professional Disc Golfers Association 60+ world championship by three strokes, beating Eric Rainey (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma), Eric Vandenburg (Durham, North Carolina) and Jeff Fiedler (Berkeley, California) in the final round.
Keith, who created the Greg Carter Memorial disc golf course in Trussville and now works for Trussville Parks & Recreation, had come close to winning on three other occasions.
“Basically, I try not to play the other guys, but play the course,” Keith said. “I really felt like this was going to be the year I won it.”
Keith led the competitors in his age bracket with a 10-under score and a four-stroke cushion after the first day at Harmon Hills, a private course. The following day at Winged Deer, a public course, he lost some ground.
“I gave up a few strokes,” he said. “I ended up losing the lead and was two strokes down at the end of the round.”
Keith reclaimed the lead by three strokes, a margin he held on through Friday’s final round of the top four competitors.
By claiming the championship, Keith earned $3,200 in prize money.