2012 USDGC

[CEValkyrie]

Only 58 pros at the USDGC? There are three 1000+ rated pros playing the performance flight. It just shows even the (former) biggest event of the year can be taken down by a whacky concept.

[pickax]

Illinois Players Tee Times:
Dana Vicich 8:50
Mike Krupicka 12:10
Roman Korol 1:10
Spencer Wilken 1:20

I was just talking with Jonathan Poole about the number of players in the open flight. He said part of it was just getting the right number of qualifiers dialed in to fill the Open Pool. I imagine there will be a couple more qualifiers next year.

[Tom McManus]

Good luck to all the Illinois players.  Keep us posted on your experiences.

[CEValkyrie]

Good luck crew! Keep them between the ropes.

[jasonc]

Roman is sitting at a -1, tied for 8th.     

[stpitner]

Roman tied for second with a -7.  Very interesting format.  I kind of like it.  Suddenly feel like I'm in a bowling league again watching these handicapped scores.

Since I didn't see the link to the live scoring in this thread, here it is:
www.usdgclive.com/leaderboard/performance

[pickax]

Wow. Round 1 done. I started off with a birdie on hole 1, sinking a 50 foot putt. By the time I got to the back 9 though, I was getting tired. My grip was slipping and I missed putts that are in my make all day range. I guess all day stopped around hole 15.

My projected score based on my rating is 95 (which is what I shot). Since I'm below the rating floor they are using 88 for my projected as far as scoring goes. Based on how I played today, I know I have the ability to beat that (I did at least for the front nine). I need to manage my energy level and make a couple other decisions based off what I learned during the round.

They definitely treat the players well here. From driving us in carts to/from the parking lot, to the food, to the friendly spotters on many of the holes, the USDGC is an awesome experience. It shows what a lot of volunteer man power can do to make something special.

[Tom McManus]

Wow. Round 1 done. I started off with a birdie on hole 1, sinking a 50 foot putt. By the time I got to the back 9 though, I was getting tired. My grip was slipping and I missed putts that are in my make all day range. I guess all day stopped around hole 15.

My projected score based on my rating is 95 (which is what I shot). Since I'm below the rating floor they are using 88 for my projected as far as scoring goes. Based on how I played today, I know I have the ability to beat that (I did at least for the front nine). I need to manage my energy level and make a couple other decisions based off what I learned during the round.

They definitely treat the players well here. From driving us in carts to/from the parking lot, to the food, to the friendly spotters on many of the holes, the USDGC is an awesome experience. It shows what a lot of volunteer man power can do to make something special.

Thanks for the update Mike.  It is always nice to hear first hand accounts of big events.

[pickax]

Today was fun. When we were on hole 6, there was a crowd of kids watching us approach and putt. After a little prompting from Joe Rotan they were clapping for each of us as we made our putt. As we approached 7 there was another group that asked if we could stop and talk to them for a minute. One kid had a disc where he was collecting autographs. First time I've ever done that. :-) The kids were excited to be there and meet some of the players.

I threw the same total as yesterday. I know I can throw better, but just can't seem to make it happen. Two more days to try. Tomorrow I have an 8:10 tee time. Even though I'm an early bird, that will be an early start.

We stuck around for the clinics today. Jeremy Koling did a good job with a sidearm clinic. He even stuck around to help a few players and give critique and pointers as people threw. Roman was getting his money's worth as Jeremy worked with him.

[pickax]

One of the other things I really like about this tournament is a side-effect of it being a major. No smoking during the rounds. For me that is a very nice thing.

[pickax]

Illinois is doing well. Roman is on the top card and Spencer is on card #2. I improved three strokes over yesterday.
Dana has the dream card: Climo, Doss and Schultz!

Another little attention to detail done at the USDGC. Each morning they are mowing the fairways keeping the grass short. This has the side effect of knocking the dew off the lawn. Very nice when you have the early tee time.

[CEValkyrie]

Looks like fun. Can you find out what they are using for the tee pads on #6 and 18? I'm looking for alternative pads across the street at Bevier.

[pickax]

I liked those pads quite a bit. Some said the were slippery, but I had no problems with them.I thought they were a lot better than fly pads. On 6 they were mounted on the existing cement tee pad, on 18 they were screwed to the decking. I think these would need to be installed on a flat surface where they could be securely mounted. They were something like this: http://www.katom.com/094-KM1100.html

I will try to get more detailed info on them tomorrow if I can.

[CEValkyrie]

Interesting. Thanks Mike! Glad you are having a good time.

[Dan Michler]

Don't get the payout structure they used at USDGC.  Payed down to 36th of 58.  Last cash was $800.  Brian McRee and Seppo Paju finished 1 shot out of that last cash. The difference from 36th to 37th is $800.  That must have been crushing for those 2 guys.  The difference from 36th to 10th was $390. 

I wonder if the Pros liked this sort of extremely flat payout.

[DougEDawg]

Interesting format for Roman and Mike.  Are these rounds going to be rated?

[pickax]

They will be rated, but we won't get to see them until the October update. Chuck is contradicting himself again. Gotta love it.

The performance format was a lot of fun. They set the floor above my rating and so the projected that was used for scoring was lower than if they used my actual rating. Officially, i was +17. If they used my rating I would have been -11. Thus I felt pretty good about the way I played. I haven't sat down to figure out what my unofficial ratings are yet.

I really appreciated the opportunity to play in an event like the USDGC. I've been paying attention to this event for years and seen video footage for just a couple of holes. Actually playing holes like 888 and 18 are very different than just seeing the pics or the diagrams.

I also learned a lot about what an event could be (given enough money and volunteers). With the good cooking going on in the players area, I'm surprised I didn't gain a few pounds. It also reinforces how much I appreciate having food out at the course.

I love some of the attention to detail that I saw out on the course. On 888, there were a couple of breaks in the curb for drainage. They placed retaining wall blocks there to keep discs from sliding in bounds on a fluke. On some culverts, they put a tarp over them to keep discs from accidentally going into the drainage pipe. These are little things, but it shows that they paid attention to all of them.

Having also played that course with just a distance penalty, I may make some changes to the course rules for some tournaments I run. While it was a bummer to go out of bounds, it never felt like a huge drain on the psyche for me. Of course that may have just been the euphoria for being in Rock Hill and being on the competitor side of the ropes.

Dan, on the payout structure...
Originally they had planned on making a cut at 36 for the Open Flight. Make the cut, get paid. Since they miscalculated the number of qualifiers needed to get a full field, they opted to let everyone play on Saturday, but still kept the same payout schedule.

[DougEDawg]

Mike,

Are you saying the scores were hadicapped, or were you playing eachother straight up?

[pickax]

The performance flight was essentially handicapped. They compute your projected score based on your rating and then your score as far as ranking goes is +/- your projected score. Roman had a projected score of 78, Spencer 72, and they used 88 for me.

Performance flight results are here: http://www.usdgclive.com/leaderboard/performance/
If you click on a player it shows their hole by hole projected score and how they did each round.