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2021 LEDGESTONE INSURANCE OPEN – ROUND 1 RECAP

By August 6, 2021November 29th, 2022No Comments

The Ledgestone Insurance Open, DGPT Elite Series event in the Midwest kicked off on Thursday, with the MPO starting at the famed Eureka Lake Temp, and FPO with the ultra challenging Northwood Black.  The feeling in the air was electric as loads of spectators, volunteers, and staff came to watch the top players in the sport compete for the over $130,000 payout.

Some great golf was played today, with a strong showing from the days leaders.  We have Ricky Wysocki and Drew Gibson  leading the pack with a (-11).  Gibson played a bogey-free round  with a 88% C1X putting.  Wysocki highlights include 100% C1X putting and a near ace, that splashed out on the “bridge hole” number 9.

We have a three-way tie for third place, with Paul McBeth, Chris Dickerson, and Cole Redalen all shooting (-10).  When comparing the top leaders on the day, only McBeth and Gibson shot bogey-free rounds.  But with a stroke separation this close, the next round at Northwood Black, will be crucial to keep clean scorecards.  Nate Heinold wanted to have a course design to be the most difficult in the world with punishing rough and tight fairways to hit.

 

Co-Leader at the end of day 1. Ricky Wysocki

 

Besides the top feature card there are a handful of players within 2 strokes on the chase card.  Calvin Heimburg sitting solo 6th place at (-9), including a 311ft field ace on a par 4.  Eagle McMahon, Andrew Marwede, and Kyle Klein all tied up at (-8).

MPO Round 2 Feature Card – Ricky Wysocki (-11) | Drew Gibson (-11) | Paul McBeth (-12) | Chris Dickerson (-10)

MPO Round 1 Notes:

  • Ricky Wysocki (-11) has the highest birdie rate at 72%, 13 birdies.
  • Zach Arlinghaus hit an 275ft ace on hole 7.  Other notable throw-ins were Calvin Heimburg (311ft, hole 2) and Joey Temali (256ft, hole 16)
  • Eagle McMahon and Andrew Presnell both were 100% from C2; Eagle 1 of 1, Andrew 3 of 3.
  • Calvin Heimburg was best in strokes gained Tee to Green at 8.52, with Dickerson just behind him at 8.46

 

On the FPO side, they began their tournament at Northwood Black.  We have a familiar name at the top here with Paige Pierce leading the pack with a (-4).  Hailey King is right behind her with a (-1), and Maria Oliva comes in 3rd with a (+1).  Oliva is coming off a top 10 finish at the Preserve Championship and looking to secure another good finish here.  Rounding out the feature card we have Sarah Hokum with a (+2).

Northwood Black is a new course this year for the event, and it is playing as tough as advertised.  Hole 14 at 731ft, is playing the hardest on the day with a 5.85 avg.  Only Paige Pierce and Macie Walker scored birdie 4s on this hole.  Comparing the top four leaders, Maria Olivia is leading in fairway hits at 71% but Paige Pierce leads the field in birdie rate at 44%.

Round 2 will be played at Sunset Hills for the FPO division, which is a bit more open than Northwood Black.  We have the chance to see the big distance throwers make up some strokes here.  We also saw Sarah Gilpin continue to dazzle with her putting performance, leading the field with a 80% C2 putting (4 of 5).  Gilpin also leads in C2 gained at 3.18

FPO Round 2 Feature Card – Paige Pierce (-4) | Hailey King (-1) | Maria Oliva (+1) | Sarah Hokum (+2)

FPO Round 1 Notes:

  • Paige Pierce (-4) leads the division in 10.77 strokes gained Tee to Green and 3.88 strokes gained C1X.
  • Heather Young and Lydia Lyons are the only players with a 100% C1x putting rate.
  • Heather Young leads in putting strokes gained at 4.51, followed by Sarah Gilpin at 3.97

Paige Pierce, leads the field with a (-4)

Turn in tomorrow for the Round 2 action on the Disc Golf Network at 10:00 ET, follow the live scoring at UDisc Live, and check out all of the post-production of Round 1 from JomezPro, Gatekeeper Media, and GK Productions.