By Anders Madsen
Day One at the Brent Hambrick Memorial Open started out in what could be considered as the perfect conditions for Disc Golf. With perfect temperatures and absolutely beautiful surroundings just outside of Columbus, Ohio at Hoover Dam Park, it did not take long before the competition took flight. No more than 30 minutes into the first round, Avery Jenkins set the tone with a sidearm bomb on the East course’s Hole 3 that went straight into the basket - boom!! - first ace of the day! Not a bad start, and surely one to remember. Avery was followed by three more players to hit aces - Paul Ulibari (Hole #15 West), Jeremy Koling (Hole #2 East) and Dan Busick (Hole # 13 West,) an exciting start to the BHMO that will hopefully continue on day two.
After nearly two rounds of play in what became blistering heat and high humidity, the 1st day was subject to a 40 minute delay due to a thunderstorm that rolled over the facility, but the round was picked back up and successfully finished in time before darkness enveloped the Hoover Reservoir.
In the MPO division, Paul Ulibarri has taken the lead with a -23 in front of Nikko Locastro at -17, Jeremy Koling at -15, and David Feldberg and Barry Schultz both at -14. Paul Ulibarri’s hot score of 40 in the second round broke the previous course record and garnered him an amazing unofficial round rating of 1106.
In the FPO division, Valerie Jenkins has taken the lead with a +6 in front of Paige Pierce’s +7, and Elaine King’s and Sarah Stanhope’s +10. Paige had taken the early lead with her 982-rated hot score of 85 in the first round, but Valerie’s 55 in the second round edged her into the lead at the end of Day Two.
In the other divisions, MPM is led by Patrick Brown at -5 over Chris Barbo’st -3; Jim Ferrara leads MPG at -4 over Dr. Rick Voakes’ +2; and Lisa Warner leads the FPM division by 4 strokes over Karen Farrell.
Be sure to stay tuned to www.PDGA.com for live scoring for the BHMO Final 9 round later today.
Full Scores from Day One of the BHMO can be found at: Brent Hambrick Memorial Open Scores
