Americans take the lead after a hot Round 2
If the opening day of European Open was dominated by Europeans and rain,
Friday’s second round was the opposite. Americans took the lead in (in
Finnish terms) scorching heat.
Paul Ulibarri took the lead after a solid round of 55. David Feldberg shot
the best round of the day – same as K-J yesterday - and is in second place
together with Nate Doss, who also played convincingly. According to David,
playing in the same group with Nate helped them both to play better.
- The ability to play under pressure, together with other experienced
players, meant a lot today, said David.
Denmark’s K-J Nybo is the fourth name on the lead card, only 2 strokes
behind the leading American trio. Simon Lizotte (GER) astonished the crowd
on hole #13 by landing his drive less than ten meters away from the
basket, and is in fifth place with American Will Schusterick.
Players who are particularly happy about their second round include Avery
Jenkins (USA), Juho Rantalaiho (FIN), and Markus Källströn (SWE), whereas
Nikko Locastro (USA) and Seppo Paju (FIN) were not content after an
average round.
American players also dominate the women’s division. Valarie Jenkins
repeated her score from the first round, 70, and Paige Pierce improved her
game as expected, and is now in second place together with Melody King.
However, Anne Matilainen is only one stroke behind, so anything can happen
on the third round.
The competition continues with the third round on Saturday. The weather is
expected to be about five degrees celcius cooler than Friday, and there is
a chance of rain.
Check out the standings after Round 2 at:
http://opendiscgolf.com/en/leaderboard/open
Once again, lets finish the day off with some snapshots from Round 2:
Round 1: Team Europe strikes back
After a defeat in Presidents’ Cup on Wednesday, Team Europe players
stepped it up and came back to the course to play the first round of
European Open with unforeseen determinance. Round 1 saw some phenomenal
play from Denmark’s Karl-Johan Nybo (-11), as well as from Simon Lizotte
(-9), Ville Piippo (-9) and Seppo Paju (-7), who will all be playing in
the top two pools on Round 2 tomorrow.
KJ set the course record at 53. Will we see even better scores on Friday?
America maintained their solid play and good touch on the Nokia course
during the first round, with Paul Ulibarri as the best US player on the
second place at a convincing -10. The rest of the spots in the top two
pools tomorrow will be manned by Nate Doss (-8), David Feldberg (-7), and
Nikko Locastro (-6).
In women’s division, Valarie Jenkins (+6) took the lead with Anne
Matilainen on the second place (+8) and Melody King (+9) on the third.
Check out the final scores after Round 1 at:
http://opendiscgolf.com/en/scoring/open/1
Better weather expected for Friday
During the first round, the weather kept everyone on their toes, and a
thunderstorm halted play for an hour and a half around 1pm. The delay
caused the last pools of the day to finish their rounds as late as 8:30pm,
but at least the last ones got to enjoy the beautiful evening sun that
came out after a day of rain.
The European Open week continues tomorrow Friday with the second round.
Day 2 will show who has what it takes to play consistently on the
challenging European Open course. Some players – among them Nikko Locastro
– will certainly be hungry for even better results, so we are expecting
another great day of disc golf in Nokia. The weather will be clearing up
and there is no rain expexted for Friday.
To commemorate Thursday’s rough weather here’s a couple of snapshots that show the course and it’s surroundings at their worst:
All photos © Jenni Riutta & European Open 2011
Presidents Cup: Team USA nominated!
The last qualifying tournament for Team USA, Beaver State Fling was played last week and now that the dust has settled it’s time to announce the Team USA line up in the prestigious Disc Golf Presidents Cup:
The obvious conclusion here seems to be that team Europe has a rocky road ahead trying to beat these Disc Golf superstars. Maybe home soil will work as favoring factor in this year’s Cup, you’ll never know until it’s over.
One more member will be later added to the Team USA by Captain’s Choice and Captain Dave Greenwell sure has the material to choose from, especially with names like Paul Ulibarri, Ken Climo, Avery Jenkins and Eric McCabe still available.
Team Europe will find it’s final roster after this weekends Stockholm Disc Golf Open. The current standings can be found from the Presidents Cup website.
Presidents Cup standings updated!
Team USA starting to shape up
With one more qualifier to go on both sides of the Atlantic, Team USA players Nikko Locastro and David Feldberg have already secured their places in the U.S. team in this years Disc Golf Presidents Cup. Other players close to getting the spot are Paul Ulibarri (currently standing at 230 points), Paul McBeth (215) and Steve Brinster (210). Bubbling under are names like Doss, Climo, Anthon and Schusterick and all of them still have a solid chance of making the team. The final Team USA roster will be sorted out at the Beaver State Fling, so be sure to keep an eye on the latter mentioned names at Milo McIver!
In Womens division 3-time World Champ Valarie Jenkins has already secured her spot in the team, while the second available spot is still open with Paige Pierce and Liz Lopez just 20 points apart on the 2nd and 3rd place currently in the standings.
Team Europe roster still wide open
On the Old Continent Markus Källström is so far the only one with a secured place in the Presidents Cup Team. Below that there’s still more than 10 players with theoretical chances on earning the spot in the Team Europe, as Jussi Meresmaa won’t be playing in the Presidents Cup since he is the Tournament Director. Stockholm Open in the start of July will define the final shape of the Team so make sure you check back on that.
In Womens division no one is still safe, as many players still have a solid chance of earning the spot, especially as the leading lady, Team Discmania’s Angelica Frantz will not be attending the Presidents cup and European Open.
Team Captains revealed!
In addition to 5+2 spots both teams get by qualification process, there’s one available spot in both teams that will be determined by Captain’s choice. This year we’re proud to announce that the Team Captains will once again be Hans Tegebäck for Team Europe and David Greenwell for Team USA.
Quick links:
-> Presidents cup -site
-> Qualification Standings
-> Trailer for Presidents Cup 2010
-> The European Open -website
