Nathan Queen Leads Charge in DGPT Championship Round 1

Nathan Queen's masterful play on the putting green catapulted him to the forefront of the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship, presented by Guaranteed Rate. On Thursday during Round 1 at Hornet's Nest Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, Queen pulled off a remarkable comeback with a scorching hot round.

Queen's stellar performance was marked by an impressive average putt distance of 24 feet and a remarkable 71% conversion rate from Circle 2. He showcased his accuracy with three crucial putts within 40 feet, including a 49-foot connection on hole 9 and a majestic 60-foot shot on hole 10. The crowning jewel of his round was the decisive 90-foot throw-in on hole 18.

As the day progressed, Queen found himself in a position where he had to wait for the rest of the field to finish before knowing if he would advance to the quarterfinal round. However, his score stood tall as the hot round of the day, securing him a spot alongside Chris Clemons, Gannon Buhr, and Emerson Keith.

Clemons, Buhr, and Keith were also notable performers, overcoming early struggles to book their spots in the next round. Clemons faced a setback with a bogey on hole 2 but managed to bounce back. Buhr started strong with two consecutive bogies before producing a flawless scorecard. Keith, meanwhile, wrapped up his round with three impressive birdies on the final five holes.

The top performers will be pitted against each other in the quarterfinal round, which is scheduled for Friday at Hornet's Nest Park. The first group to tee off will consist of Queen, Clemons, Buhr, and Keith, who will take their places on the course from 2 p.m. ET. Other notable matchups include Drew Gibson, Andrew Marwede, Matt Orum, and Garrett Guthrie facing off at 2:34 p.m., while Nikko Locastro, Chris Dickerson, Ezra Aderhold, and Joel Freeman are set to begin their rounds at 3 p.m.

In the FPO (Females Professional) category, quarterfinal action will kick off on Friday morning. Juliana Korver, Kat Mertsch, Madison Walker, and Holly Finley will tee off first at 9 a.m. ET. Later in the day, Heather Young, Deann Carey, Rebecca Cox, and Ohn Scoggins will take to the course from 9:30 a.m., followed by Hailey King, Jessica Weese, Kona Panis, and Lisa Fajkus at 10 a.m.

Only the top four scores in each category will move on to the semifinal round, which is scheduled for Saturday. Fans can catch live coverage of the FPO action starting from 9:30 a.m. ET and the MPO (Males Professional) broadcast beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/news/queen-sets-pace-opener-charlotte