USDGC 2007

[CEValkyrie]

And the fun begins!
http://www.charlottedgc.com/usdgc_07/USDGC_MQ.htm

[CEValkyrie]

I think they are taking 5 of the Monday Qualifiers.

My prediction.
Craig Leyva
Brad Hammock
Nikko Locastro
Cale Leiviska
Phil Arthur


I did see a former local player Zach Newhouse is trying to qualify.

[tacimala]

With only a few hours left you are only 1 for 5 and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't agreeing with you at the beginning of the day!

[reg-waters]

I think they are taking 5 of the Monday Qualifiers.

My prediction.
Craig Leyva
Brad Hammock
Nikko Locastro
Cale Leiviska
Phil Arthur


I did see a former local player Zach Newhouse is trying to qualify.

well hey Phil is also a former local player with game and a real nice guy to top it off just my 2 cents i hope he makes it as well

[tacimala]

He didn't

[CEValkyrie]

Disc Golf TV has some great video. Feldberg's in the bag is great. He has over 40 discs in the bag. I also like the discussion with the group. www.discgolftv.com


Scores
http://www.usdgc.com/leaderboard/

[Dan Michler]

What a surprise, Climo dominating at USDGC again.  He just owns that course.  This will be his 5th win.  He has also finished 2nd to Barry 2 times.  The other 2 times the tourney has been played he finished 8th and 6th.  I really thought Doss might step up in this event this year, but a bad 3rd round took him out.  Once Climo got the lead in the 2nd round though, I said it was over.  He is just unstoppable as a frontrunner.  Similar to Tiger in golf.  If you make him come from behind then he doesn't seem to put up the monster rounds, but once he has his grip on the lead, he does not let go.

[skipache]

what amazes me is how 1000 rated rounds only gets you like 50th or 60th

[Dan Michler]

1st place prize up to 15k this year and 6k for 2nd.

Alot of big scores taken on some holes out there with all the OB.  Barry had a 9 on a hole, Micah Dorius was about to have a pretty good finish but then took a 13 on the island hole 17 in his last round.  One thing I heard players complaining about on some of the audio was that the art of getting out of trouble is kind of taken away at Winthrop since bad shots are mostly OB and can not be recovered from.

It didn't matter how the course was setup this weekend, Climo was on fire.  If he wouldnt' have bogeyed his last hole he could have finished with a course record 55.

[jack]

I meant to post this sooner, but I've been busy catching up, both at work and at home. I hope that noone minds the delay and at least someone finds it interesting.

I put in a good 2 months of training before USDGC. There are a few things I'll change in preparation for next year, but overall I was happy with the work I did to prepare. Unfortunately, I was swamped with a perfect storm of circumstances that limited my playing time during the 2 weeks prior to the event, and I think that really hurt my focus before the tournament. I expected to finish in the top 50 and thought top 30 was realistic if I got a few breaks.

My favorite part of the week was the way we were treated by the event staff. The cart ride from the practice area to the first tee where the starter reads your name, on the course when the spotters wave the red and green flags, when you turn in your card at the scoring trailer, and after the round in the clubhouse enjoying some of Sammy Poole's ice cream (the best!) all made me feel like a professional.

The course is beautiful and challenging. All of the special rules, mandos, and drop zones make the caddy book an absolute necessity for the first round. The way the course is set up, it's farily easy to shoot between 68 and 72. The first two rounds, I played safe, let it happen, boring golf. My problems started in the thrid round because I realized these scores wouldn't be good enough to meet my goal of being in the top 50, so I started going for birdies. Although most of the holes at Winthrop are wide open, there is so much OB that going for birdies often leads to bogies. I thought the only cure for a bogey was a birdie, which only led to more bogies. Talk about a disappointing round! I came back with a 69 on Saturday, which was a relief. After the players party on Friday night, I didn't think I had 70 shots in me on Saturday morning!

It was a great experience, and I feel fortunate for having been able to attend. It was great to see some old friends and make some new ones. Speaking of which, I think the person who got the most of the USDGC was Brian Schwebeger. He was at the course from the first tee time until the last group came in every day. I'd never really spent any time around him, but I now see why he is such a favorite on the tour.

Oh, one last thing that might be of interest: One of the PDGA higher ups and I talked for over an hour about disc golf in Illinois and the possibility of an A-tier event coming here in the future. The exciting part is that he approached me about it. Cool stuff!

[SIUFrolf]

any mention of where it was to be held or when?  having an A tier in IL would be totally awesome.

[CEValkyrie]

any mention of where it was to be held or when?  having an A tier in IL would be totally awesome.

Having 2 would be even better!