Generally there are a few weeks between National Tour stops, but we are mid-summer and that means the disc golf season is about to get really busy. Last weekend we enjoyed the competition at the Kansas City Wide Open and next week is one of the most anticipated disc golf events of the year—The Maple Hill Open presented by Vibram. Disc Golf professionals all over the country took part in tournaments in order to prepare the next National Tour event. This week, we’re taking a look back at four A-Tiers: King of the Lake, Delaware Disc Golf Challenge, Silver Cup XIV, and the 30th Annual Mid-America Open.
King of the Lake (Kings Beach, CA)
Photo: Facebook
Five rounds. Five courses. 6,000 feet of elevation. The King of the Lake tournament takes advantage of the bustling disc golf setting surrounding Lake Tahoe and gives the highly competitive California disc golf pros a venue to not only test their skills, but also their fitness. Multiple 1000-rated disc golfers attended this year’s King of the Lake event, but Matt Bell captured the crown.
On Friday, the pros took to Bijou Community Park in the morning and Zyphyr Cove Park in the afternoon. Matt Bell was not able to develop a lead, but managed to stay in the mix. Despite shooting two 1000-rated rounds, Bell was bested on day one by Shasta Criss, Nicholas Long, Jere Eshelman, and a slew of other players who were just one stroke ahead. With three rounds and two days ahead, there was still plenty of golf left for Bell to make a move, and he took full advantage of it.
Day two brought the field to Sierra College’s disc golf course in the morning and Truckee River Regional Park in the afternoon. Many players lost the consistency they played with on Friday and gave way to Matt Bell’s impressive performance. He tied for the hot round at Sierra College with a 1044-rated 49 and went on to gain at least two strokes on nearly the entire field with a 1024-rated 46. Such impressive rounds might usually lead to some separation at the top of the standings, but Matt Bell would go into the final day with just a one or two stroke lead over the lead card.
After an exhausting two days, Matt Bell had to go to Lake of the Sky disc golf course to defend his slight lead. With little room for error, Bell did not disappoint as he tied for a 1034-rated hot round of 50. It may not have been an easy road, but Matt Bell took the podium and claimed his crown after a grueling five rounds.
On the women’s side of the event, the tournament seemed like Leah Feltenstein’s to take after she had built a 5-stroke lead over Amanda Zaccone heading into the fifth and final round. As we have seen so many times, though, anything can happen in disc golf, and Feltenstein opened the door for Zaccone at Lake of the Sky. Zaccone would tie for a hot round of 63, making up all five of Feltenstein’s strokes in order to force a playoff. In the end, Zaccone would prove victorious after her resilient comeback.
The results may say that Patrick Brown won by 8 strokes over an impressive Masters field, but it wasn’t until the final round the Brown truly separated himself. In round four, Brown showed his first signs of weakness when he shot his only sub-1000 rated round. When he arrived on Sunday, though, he came ready to play. Brown dominated the competition at Lake of the Sky, shooting an amazing 1061-rated 47. His fifth round performance was good enough to solidify his victory, but also would have beaten the hot round in the Open division by three strokes. Patrick Brown has been tearing through tournaments this year in the Masters division, and it’s clear that he is not slowing down.
Delaware Disc Golf Challenge (Newark, DE)
Last week, we talked about the Amateur side of the Delaware Disc Golf Challenge, but this week the pros took to Iron Hill and Brandywine Creek to compete in an East Coast A-Tier prior to the Maple Hill Open. Big names such as Matt Dollar, Steve Rico, Devin Frederick, and Max Nichols made up a 42 man Open division, but it would be PDGA veteran, Mike Moser, who would prove victorious.
Brandywine Creek’s par 55 course did not prove to be a major separator in the Open Division, but Matt Dollar’s consistent play gave him two sub-50 rounds and a narrow three stroke lead over Mike Moser heading into day two. After the first round at Iron Hill, Matt Dollar had picked up another three strokes on Moser and things were looking grim for the veteran. Again, though, anything could happen in disc golf.
In the fourth and final round of the weekend, Mike Moser, a Delaware native himself, demolished Iron Hill. Moser shot the highest rated round of the weekend, a 1048-rated 63 on the par 72 course. Matt Dollar only managed to shoot even, so Moser was able to storm back from six strokes down to capture first place. We often talk about consistency being the key to the game, but with such heated competition, Moser had to step up in the final round to prove that he deserved top honors.
Many of the well-known female pros, such as Paige Pierce, Sarah Hokem, and Ragna Bygde, made up the 11-woman field. One of the more local women, Hannah Leatherman, kept the competition interesting, but ultimately Paige Pierce proved to be too much once again as she claimed a 7-stroke victory. Unlike the men’s division where Iron Hill created separation, Paige Pierce’s consistency on both courses is what put her ahead. Even though Sarah Hokem was able to match Pierce at Iron Hill, the 8-stroke deficit from Brandywine Creek was too much to overcome. Leatherman also played consistently, but just couldn’t match Pierce’s impressive play that we’ve become accustomed to witnessing. She’s clearly riding the momentum into the Maple Hill Open, and we’ll see if she can take first place this year.
Silver Cup XIV Presented by Rollin’ Ridge (Manitowoc, WI)
Photo: Facebook
The touring pros would ultimately reign supreme at this Wisconsin A-Tier. Seventy pros would compete at Silver Creek (28 holes), Rollin’ Ridge (18 holes), and Lower Cato Falls (18 holes), but the five touring pros in attendance would take the top five spots. Garrett Gurthie would eventually take first place, but he had to beat the likes of Cale Leiviska, Dana Vicich, JohnE McCray, and Jay Reading.
Gurthie and Leiviska got out to an early tie for the lead after round one, shooting 1027-rated 75’s. Later in the day, though, Gurthie would shoot an even more impressive 1032-rated round to open up a three stroke lead over his fellow Prodigy player. Not to be denied, Dana Vicich moved into second place after an even more impressive 1042-rated 47, the hot round. He was poised to overtake Gurthie and Leiviska, but their proved to be too much in round three.
The two Prodigy players ran away with the competition in round three, but Leiviska was able to shoot the only sub-60 round in order to cut Gurthie’s lead to just one stroke heading into the Final 9 showcase. Vicich and McCray joined them on the Final 9, but the race for first belonged to Gurthie and Leiviska. Even though Leiviska was able to make up the last stroke and tie, Gurthie would go on to win in a playoff. In the end, the top five spots belonged to touring pros as they put on a show for the Wisconsin natives at Silver Cup XIV.
30th Annual Mid-America Open (Columbia, MO)
Devan Owens went down to Missouri and took a wire-to-wire victory at the Mid-America Open. After tying Ron Convers for the lead in round one, Owens would not relinquish his part of first place. His consistent 1000-rated play would hold off resilient local, Grant Hodges, who would cut Owens’ lead to just one stroke heading into the Final 9.
The Final 9 is where Owens really proved he deserved first place. After relinquishing three strokes over the prior two rounds, Owens came out and shot an impressive 1051-rated Final 9 to pick up an extra four strokes on Hodges. In the end, Owens came out with a five stroke victory over Hodges, and ten strokes over the next two closest competitors.
Looking Ahead
The Maple Hill Open presented by Vibram kicks off on Thursday, so stay tuned for some All Things Disc Golf coverage of the event. With no A-Tier events competing for attention over the holiday weekend, all eyes in the disc golf community will be on Leicester, MA and Maple Hill Disc Golf Course. The Maple Hill Open is the fifth of eight National Tour events and there is sure to be some movement in the points series after this weekend.
The post Weekly A-Tier Recap: Matt Bell, Mike Moser, Garrett Gurthie, Devan Owens all prove victorious appeared first on All Things Disc Golf.