After a successful inaugural event last year, Throw Pink returns to Rock Hill, S.C., where women and girls can learn disc golf while helping put an end to breast cancer.
The female only event is from 9 a.m. to noon, Oct. 10th at Fewell Park in Rock Hill. The cost of $15 includes a skills clinic, 12-hole disc golf round, Throw Pink t-shirt, bag tag, sticker, pin, a ticket to the final round of the USDGC, and a charitable donation to Throw Pink.
Throw Pink is a series of disc golf events across the country that take place from March to October with the goal of raising money for breast cancer charities, while encouraging women and girls to learn and play disc golf.
Last year more than 60 women and girls, many learning disc golf for the first time, took part in the Rock Hill Throw Pink event, which has a casual and relaxed atmosphere.
“It’s a great way to learn something new and have fun with the option to improve your skills with pro disc golfers available,” said event coordinator Kelley McIntosh.
Following the brief skills clinic, attendees can test out their new skills with some fun and games, followed by a 12-hole round. Attendees can play the round with whom they wish. Gift certificates will be awarded to the best finishers.
The clinic will be led by a host of pros including: 5-time World Champ Elaine King, 3-time World Champ Valarie Jenkins, Debbie Scott, Madison Walker, and Krystin Nowicki.
Register online at Disc Golf United. Discs will be provided if you don’t have any. Snacks and refreshments will also be available. Plus, Throw Pink merchandise will be for sale.
Direct any questions to Kelley McIntosh at (803) 366-5028 or Kelley@innovadiscgolf.com.
Also, check out the Throw Pink Rock Hill Facebook page.
During the Performance Flight’s Round 2 on Thursday, Jeffrey Spring beat his projected 78 by 15 strokes and is now beating his projected by a total of 19 strokes, trailing flight leader Noah Meintsma by only two strokes. Meintsma again beat his projected 76, this time by five strokes, and is besting his projection by a total of 21 strokes.
Others near the top of the Performance Flight are: Ezra Robinson (-16), Edward Schenkenfelder (-14), and Holly Finley (-13).
Anthony Siefker (-12) was in second place after the first round, but didn’t have the round he wanted on Thursday. He shot an 82, beating his projection by one.
“All in all I didn’t have a bad day, I just caught some rough breaks,” said Siefker.
Though he said, “it did make me respect the course more.”
Siefker will set out Friday with the same game plan that worked for him on Wednesday, with the hopes that the breaks he sees are mostly good.
Always stay on top of the freshest scores, by bookmarking usdgclive.com. The PDGA results page can be found here: Open Flight | Performance Flight.
Make sure to tune in to The Insider Show at 10 pm (ET) on The SpinTV's YouTube Channel. See full video release schedule here.
Check out also the updates from today and for the days to follow from our twitter account, facebook page & instagram.
For official photo galleries from USDGC 2015, see here. All official videos will also be posted here.
It was a tale of two Nates, as both Nate Doss and Nate Sexton battled during Round 2 of USDGC on Thursday and both ended up deadlocked for the USDGC lead at (-16). Trailing our co-leaders are: Alex Geisinger (-11), and Zach Melton, Richard Wysocki, and Paul McBeth are all at (-10).
Doss, who shot a 62 (-5) entered the round with a three stroke lead over Sexton and Eagle McMahon and increased it to four strokes after Hole 11. However, Sexton, who shot another 59 (-8), cut at Doss’s lead until he took the lead for the first time after Hole 15. There, an amazing sidearm roller off the tee led to a straddle putt for birdie while Doss struggled for bogey.
Doss then tied it up with an easy birdie after he laced a drive down hole 16. But, Sexton regained the lead the following hole when his sidearm drive landed him safely inside the island green and he hit his putt, while Doss laid up for par. Up by one, Sexton, however, had to settle for par on Hole 18, while Doss’s backhand again was true on his approach and landed him on the green and led to a birdie, tying it all up for Round 3.
After the round, Sexton said Round 2 was quite the roller coaster, “Through 13 holes I think I only had one par on the scorecard. I had three bogeys and nine birdies and one par through 13, so kind of a strange round. I was playing aggressive and that says something. I’m happy with that.”
Fans at home may be wondering when Grand Slam chaser Paul McBeth will turn on the "Beast Mode". After shooting another 62 (-5), the four-time World Champ still finds himself among the pack at (-10) for the Championship.
“I feel good. I’m still making a lot of mistakes out there,” McBeth said after the round. “I had half good holes and half bad. There is a lot of room for improvement. Another 62, another 5 (shots) down. My putting was on point today. Made every putt inside the circle and some outside. Just bigger numbers today, made some mistakes, too many bogeys.”
Cameron Colglazier, who is at (-9) for the Championship, was at (-10) before taking a 7 on Hole 18, which cooled him down to 60 (-7).
Colglazier said he’s happy with how things went, “I play aggressive wherever I go and the shots were flowing and I was keeping them inbounds and making putts until 18. I threw out of bounds on my second and third shots and took a seven…I feel good moving into Friday. I’ll continue to be aggressive.”
Zach Melton, shooting (-10) for the Championship, made some moves on Friday also with a 60 (-7).
Friday’s Round 3 is a big one. We’ll see if McBeth can turn it on or if it will continue to be the Nate Doss and Nate Sexton show? Or, will dark horses like Alex Geisinger continue to work their way up?
Current Leaders:
1. Nate Sexton (-16)
1. Nathan Doss (-16)
3. Alex Geisinger (-11)
4. Zach Melton (-10)
4. Paul McBeth (-10)
4. Ricky Wysocki (-10)
7. Cameron Colglazier (-9)
7. Jeremy Koling (-9)
7. Nikko Locastro (-9)
7. Michael Johansen (-9)
11. David Feldberg (-8)
11. Teemu Nissinen (-8)
11. Henrik Johansen (-8)
11. Eagle Wynne McMahon (-8)
15. Barry Schultz (-7)
Other notable competitors:
20. Steve Brinster (-5)
25. Will Schusterick (-3)
25. Ken Climo (-3)
Always stay on top of the freshest scores, by bookmarking usdgclive.com. The PDGA results page can be found here: Open Flight | Performance Flight.
Make sure to tune in to The Insider Show at 10 pm (ET) on The SpinTV's YouTube Channel. See full video release schedule here.
Check out also the updates from today and for the days to follow from our twitter account, facebook page & instagram.
For official photo galleries from USDGC 2015, see here. All official videos will also be posted here.
The EDGE program continues to lead the way in introducing disc golf to the next generation. Started in 2001, EDGE (Educational Disc Golf Experience) is a non-profit that introduces disc golf to students by providing disc golf curriculum and equipment packages to schools.
With the support from the USDGC, Innova, and additional funding provided by the PDGA, the EDGE grant program has reached all 50 states.“Considering the increasing number of school partners since EDGE was founded, the number of students exposed to disc golf through EDGE is incalculable,” said EDGE Coordinator David Shope. In the last three years alone, EDGE has provided more than 25,000 discs and nearly 40 permanent courses to school campuses.
Each year at the USDGC, hundreds of students visit the EDGE Village to gain disc golf skills and learn how to spectate the event. This year some students will travel more than 100 miles to participate.For the volunteers and competitors, having these young folks is one of the highlights of the week, says Shope. A special thanks goes out to the volunteers who give up their time each year to share the joy of disc golf to these students.
Shope says he’s confident the EDGE program will help enrich the education of today’s students and generate some talented disc golfers in the process.
“One of my disc golf dreams is to hear a man or woman give a USDGC victory speech and state that they were introduced to disc golf in school,” said Shope.
Visit EDGEdiscgolf.org, for more information.
Noah Meintsma of Minneapolis, MN, blasted atop the Performance Flight field when he shot a 60 that bested his projected score by 16 strokes. After Wednesday’s Round 1, Meintsma leads the flight by five strokes. Not far behind is Anthony Siefker who is beating his projection by 11 strokes, followed by Braden Coolidge (-8), and Ben Shinn and Chas Ford are both at (-7).
This was Meintsma’s second official time playing the Winthrop Gold Course and he shot a round that many Open Flight players would be quite pleased with.
One of the keys to his round was being careful around the rope. Whenever he was close to danger, Meintsma said he threw trusty forehand and backhand lay up shots.
Meintsma came close to qualifying for the Open Flight during the Monday Qualifier, but had a rough ending on holes 17 and 18.
“I stayed away from OB. That was what separated my round today from Monday,” said Meintsma.
He said he’ll keep the same game plan for tomorrow. We’ll see if others from the Performance Flight can catch him on Thursday.
Always stay on top of the freshest scores, by bookmarking usdgclive.com. The PDGA results page can be found here: Open Flight | Performance Flight.
Get the recap of the day from The Insider Show at 10 pm (ET) on The SpinTV's YouTube Channel. See full video release schedule here.
Check out also the updates from today and for the days to follow from our twitter account, facebook page & instagram.
For official photo galleries from USDGC 2015, see here. All official videos will also be posted here.
One of the main rewards to making birdie on Hole 4, besides conquering a tough hole, is getting your picture taken by longtime USDGC volunteer Rock Searle, who annually spots that hole along with his wife Pat.
It’s not a long photo shoot – only a quick snapshot from Rock’s iPhone before the player or players make their way to Hole 5’s tee. But Rock’s little birdie photo op (which he later uploads to the USDGC’s Facebook page) has become another USDGC tradition that many players look forward to.
“They’ll say, ‘Rock, I got a birdie.’ Or they’ll say, ‘I got a shot here for birdie so get ready to take a photo,” recalled Rock, 65, who is now living in Washington after years of living in Fairhope, AL.
Rock and Pat have volunteered for the USDGC for 15 years, 12 of those years they’ve spotted on Hole 4, where their duties include: flagging OB shots, keeping spectators at bay, and notifying players when it’s safe to drive. And even though Rock’s the one that snaps the photos, he makes it clear that Pat’s role on the hole is just as vital.
Getting your picture taken by Rock isn’t an easy task. Only 18% of Open Flight players made birdie last year on the 448-foot par four.
Tee shots have to fly long enough uphill to provide a good angle around the mando tree for your approach, which must turn sharply in order to enter the green that’s partially surrounded by Leland cypress trees.
“I think for a (right-handed) player without a sidearm, it’s pretty difficult,” said eight-time USDGC competitor Nate Sexton, a proficient forehand thrower, who uses a forehand off the tee, then again around the mando to reach the green.
Regardless of how you throw the hole, players who card a three here must be pretty stoked. That’s probably why when you look through some of Rock’s birdie pics, you don’t see many frowns. In fact you don’t see any.
“Of course they’re happy. They just shot a birdie at the USDGC. They’re ecstatic,” said Rock, who at 6’5” is hard to miss on the hole.
That’s certainly true of a 2013 pic consisting of 3-time US Champ Will Schusterick, Matt Dollar, Brian Schweberger, and Tim Skellenger, who are all smiles after their star frame birdie, which Rock says is quite rare.
Some players do get hot on the hole and end up with multiple pics from Rock. Last year, according to Rock, five Open Flight players scored birdie on the hole three times. They included: Patrick Brown, Nathan Sexton, Pasi Koivu, Matt Dollar, and Matt Bell.
From Rock’s experience on the hole, he remembers only one player, Nick Schneider (2007), making birdie all four rounds. However, that was before the hole’s layout changed in 2009 to include a mando before reaching the green.
Rock also noted that Geoff Bennett was the only one he knew of that eagled the hole (2006), which was also prior to the hole’s current layout.
Rock isn’t exactly sure what compelled him to start his tradition, but back in 2008 when he first got an iPhone he began snapping photos of players after they carded birdies. Since then he’s snapped more than 300 photos. A few times, players wanted him in the pic too (like Paul Ulibarri did in 2012).
Over the years, Sexton has definitely gotten his share of Hole 4 birdie pics, which he estimates to be between 10 and 15. Sexton says he enjoys the unique photo op and chatting up Rock even as he competes for a major championship.
“I think for me, it’s a nice little fun moment in an otherwise serious round,” said Sexton.
Playing in his first USDGC last year in the Performance Flight, Matt Loyd of Arkansas, had his heart set on a birdie photo after following the tournament for so many years.
“I only had one goal going into last year and that was to really let myself enjoy the full USDGC experience. I told myself that getting my picture taken by Rock was a huge part of that USDGC experience and I had to try to get it at least once,” wrote Loyd.
Loyd had a strategy for every hole except Hole 4, where the only plan was, get a birdie pic. During the first round a 50-foot putt sealed his birdie on Hole 4 and his tournament was made.
To Rock, his birdie documentation is just a little something he can offer the players in a tournament that’s quite selective in its cash prizes.
“We have the best event on the planet, there’s plenty of opportunity to present them with a memory or memento of the time they spent here,” said Rock.
The past four years Rock has done crowd control for the lead card during the last two rounds – so, he asks his spotter replacements to assume the birdie pic duties. Some of his replacements are squeamish about photographing players, but others step right up, he says.
One of Rock’s favorite pics actually came from one of his stand-ins last year. Filling in for Rock, USDGC staffer John Metzelaars took a photo of lead card birdie takers Johne McCray and Patrick Brown as they high-fived – no doubt, a cool moment captured as the two men competed for a US title.
In other sports or even other disc golf tournaments, you probably couldn’t get away with Rock’s photo op, and Rock will tell you he never expected it to have taken hold so well. But it is gestures like this that make the Championship special. Now Rock’s photo op is just as much a part of the USDGC as anything else.
2008 US Champ Nate Doss took early control of the USDGC leaderboard during Wednesday’s Round 1 after his blistering 56 (-11), while defending US Champ Will Schusterick skidded hard concluding his round and finished with a 69 (+2).
Wednesday's pleasant weather was a far cry from conditions in the days leading up to the event. Others near the top include: Nate Sexton and USDGC rookie Eagle McMahon, who both shot 59 (-8); and Michael Johansen 61 (-6).
With his 62 (-5), four-time World Champ and Grand Slam chaser Paul McBeth finds himself among the pack along with Richard Wysocki, 5-time US Champ Ken Climo, James Proctor, and others.
Doss was definitely enjoying his USDGC kick off after turning in his 56 (-11), which included only one bogey on Hole 17 when he laid up off the tee, then tossed into the island, but missed his putt.
“I came into the tournament basically saying if I could shoot in the 50’s I thought that would be amazing. And when I just did my scorecard I wrote down 56 - I was really a little bit surprised,” said Doss.
Schusterick certainly didn’t have the start he wanted to defend his US Title. After being three under through 12 holes, he got bogeys on holes 13 and 14, and then scored a triple bogey and a double bogey on holes 17 and 18 respectively.
When asked what his thoughts were after the round, he replied: “Just a lot of mistakes, way too many. I think it’s probably my worst round in the last five years at this tournament.”
Jeremy Koling said the day’s first tee time slot treated him mostly well, finishing with 63 (-4). He started off six under on the front nine, but then lost some of those birdies down the stretch. With his best USDGC finish in the 20’s, Koling’s goal is to make the lead card so he’s dialed down his aggressive strategy of the past.
“I was looking at this more: ‘How can I keep it more in the ropes, especially on the holes with stroke and distance’ (Holes 9, 10, 12, 17, and parts of 13)”, Koling concludes.
The 5-time USDGC Champion Ken Climo is also in pace of the lead with his 62 (-5) for the day. "I'll come out a little more aggressive tomorrow. I played a little tentative today and will be aggressive tomorrow and hit my lines exact.", says the 12-time MPO World Champion.
Patrick Brown, who finished 4th last year, said he felt pretty good about his performance 64 (-3) despite difficulty warming up. He was also pleased the course fared well during last week’s storms.
“I’m very grateful that the course didn’t get destroyed from all of the flooding that happened south of us,” said Brown.
Always stay on top of the freshest scores, by bookmarking usdgclive.com. The PDGA results page can be found here: Open Flight | Performance Flight.
Get the recap of the day from The Insider Show at 10 pm (ET) on The SpinTV's YouTube Channel. See full video release schedule here.
Check out also the updates from today and for the days to follow from our twitter account, facebook page & instagram.
For official photo galleries from USDGC 2015, see here. All official videos will also be posted here.
Ace Alert: Henrik Johansen started off the day right with an ace on Hole 1.
Take a peek at the 2015 USDGC Player Pack, with a value of $400. One of this year’s big-ticket items is a personalized InnColor Innova Roc3.
Here's a listing of the contents:
Alex Geisinger, of Lakeville, MN, dethroned Simon Lizotte and became the 2015 U.S. Distance winner on Tuesday with a crush of 739 feet.
Lizotte, who won the competition the last two years, came in second with a 722-foot drive. He was followed by Juho Parviainen and Eagle McMahon, both throwing 673 feet.
All four of these long bombers will now be heading to the Big Arm Big Heart Distance Showcase Saturday soon after the final round ends.
They will each have several discs to bomb over the Winthrop Lake. Fans will have the opportunity all week to purchase these throws for a $20 donation to Throw Pink. Each disc will be autographed by one of the four throwers, and if it makes it across the lake, the donator can bring it home. Donate early in the week at the USDGC Pro Shop to ensure you’re a part of the action.
One Dark Horse competitor will also join the four throwers.
Click here to learn more about Big Arm Big Heart and the Open Lake Launch Pad prior to the showcase.
Discmania has provided S-Line DD2 discs for the showcase.
If a shot lands inside the one pink-banded DISCatcher Pro target located across the lake, then $25,000 will go toward ending breast cancer via Throw Pink. If that happens, a DISCatcher Pro target will be awarded both to the fan that paid for the throw and the thrower.
Each year the USDGC Banquet is a who’s who of the disc golf world featuring not just talented disc golfers, but also the many dedicated volunteers that make the tournament and often the sport run.
It also acts as a rallying point for player and staff alike on the eve of the big event.
Not long after it started on Tuesday evening, volunteer coordinator Paul Bergey led the USDGC staff onto the banquet’s stage as they were met with applause from the already gathered players. Players were on their feet as the staff huddled together and recited a rowdy U-S-D-G-C cheer.
That was followed by USDGC Media Coordinator Jussi Meresmaa, who outlined all of the media offerings surrounding the event including The SpinTV’s Insider Show after each round at 10 p.m. (ET), and live third and final round coverage from the The SpinTV and SmashboxxTV. Learn more about coverage here.
Next, Meresmaa, who is also the CEO of Discmania, unveiled the Disc Golf World Tour, a new series of the highest caliber pro events across the globe. Read more about the Disc Golf World Tour here.
Following Meresmaa’s announcement, USDGC Event Director Jonathan Poole called up each of the former US Champions including 2014 Champ Will Schusterick, who received his Championship ring from last year.
“I really feel privileged to play here year after year,” said Schusterick.
The Golden Rake was then awarded to Ken Rollins. Read more about Rollins here.
As always, the announcement of the much awaited player tee times concluded the event. Those lucky/unlucky enough to get the first a.m. tee times were: KJ Nybo, Jeremy Koling, and Lassi Hakulinen.