PDGA Championship Tees Off with a Bang Despite Delays
Date Published
The highly anticipated PDGA Championship finally got underway on Friday afternoon, after a morning of rain and cancellations threatened to disrupt the event. However, as the skies cleared and the sun broke through the clouds, the competition kicked off at the International Disc Golf Center in a spectacular fashion.
A total of 117 players took to the courses, with the Open Pros and Women's Pros tackling the challenging Jackson course, while the Advanced men and women played on the Warner course. The Open Pros boasted an average rating of 1004, while the Women's Pros averaged 934, and the Advanced men and women notched averages of 934 and 835 respectively.
As the tournament got underway, several top players made their presence felt. Dave Nesbitt, President of the PDGA Board, briefly took the lead in the Open division with a birdie on the first hole, but his advantage was short-lived as David Feldberg soon surged ahead with an impressive birdie 4 on the monster par 5 hole 8.
Meanwhile, other notable players such as Avery Jenkins and Cam Todd were also making waves, each carding low scores of 56 and 57 respectively. The trio of Nate Doss, Will Schusterick, and ROY candidate Ricky Wysocki followed closely behind with scores of 58 apiece.
In the Women's Open division, Paige Pierce was leading the charge, holding a two-stroke advantage over Valarie Jenkins, with Sarah Hokom and Stanhope lagging four strokes further back. Heather Damron dominated the Advanced Women's field, leading by four strokes over PDGA staffer Sara Nicholson, who had earned her spot in the Championship through her victory in the Global event.
Among the Advanced men, Bryan Gort of Macon, GA took an early lead, edging out James Fellows of Fairborn, OH by two strokes. The trio of Ryan Adams, Brian Earhart, and William Taylor were hot on their heels, tied just one stroke back.
In a thrilling moment, Gary Suarez achieved the rare feat of acing the 333 ft downhill hole 6 on the Warner course, marking his first throw of the tournament.
As the competition enters its final stages, Ams and Pros will take to the courses for two rounds on Saturday and one more on Sunday. The top players will then face off in a Final 10 showdown to determine the National Champion for 2011. The Open Pro champion will be crowned as the National Champion, while the other division winners will be declared PDGA Champions.
Fans can keep up with all the action through live scoring and photo galleries available on the PDGA Media page.
This article was compiled from disc golf coverage with AI assistance. Source: pdga.com — https://www.pdga.com/2011-pdga-championships-day-one-summary