First round co-leader Eric Oakley #53565  (photo by John Hollingshead).

The 2016 Glass Blown Open (GBO) is in full swing with Round 1 in the books and Round 2 underway. Wednesday night’s torrential downpour left many of the courses wet and soggy, but no one would have predicted the chaotic flooding that ensued at Peter Pan DGC.

Water levels at the Marion Reservoir, 60 miles west of Emporia, rose 18 feet because of the storms, causing the Cottonwood River that runs along the south end of Peter Pan to do much of the same. What was once a small creek that weaves its way through the park quickly began to overflow on to the course. By Wednesday afternoon, several holes were completely engulfed, and the water levels were still rising.

We arrived Thursday morning before dawn, hoping to see that some of the water had receded. Unfortunately, what we found was just the opposite. There were now roughly six holes that were unplayable, with water up to the tee signs on a few. We were left with no choice but to make some drastic changes, working by flashlight to plan out new holes, move baskets, and lay down temporary tee pads.

This is the bridge that goes over the creek to get to Hole 6 at Peter Pan. Yikes. #GlassBlownOpen pic.twitter.com/MgawTex2O4

— PDGA (@PDGA) April 27, 2016

The professional men and women that teed off throughout the day were understanding and appreciative, but slightly frustrated as well, as they would be playing several holes they’d never seen or practiced before. It was unfortunate to see all the hard work of the GBO staff get washed away, but everyone understood the severity of the flooding as soon as they got a peek at the holes that Mother Nature had deemed unplayable.

The Open Women’s division teed off in the morning, facing cold temperatures and a breeze that was preventing anyone from warming up even though the sun was shining down. Catrina Allen #44184, Paige Pierce #29190, Hannah Leatherman #45396, and Paige Bjerkaas #33833 teed off as the featured card, doing their best to play smart golf with frigid hands and gusting winds.

The front nine holes saw only seven birdies, with three of them coming from a bogey-free Catrina Allen, giving herself a cushion of two or more heading into the back half of the course. Allen continued to play smart golf, carding par after par with precision driving and upshots. Her only damaging mistake of the round was a double bogey on Hole 18 that took her from a 3 under par to a 1 under (55) for the round, but she would be the only woman to beat par on this day.

The featured card didn’t know at the time that several other women on the course were making big moves. Allen’s score of 55 remained the hot round, but two new players will join her and Bjerkaas on the lead card for Round 2. California’s  Ellen Widboom #58276 finished the round with the only 56 and now sits alone in second place just one off the leader. Utah’s Karina Nowels #48518 finished the round with a 57, tying Bjerkaas in 3rd place for her spot on the lead card.

Beautiful approach from Cat after an OB drive. She'll tap in for par. (par 4) #GBO2016 #PeterPanDGC pic.twitter.com/QrsMhA8gvJ

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) April 28, 2016

Hours after the women finished, the last two cards of the day in the Open division teed off featuring Paul McBeth #27523, Will Schusterick #29064, Simon Lizotte #8332, Cale Leiviska #24341, Ricky Wysocki #38008, Drew Gibson #48346, Jeremy Koling #33705, and Nate Sexton #18824. Reading those names you’d have to wonder which one of them would rise to the top by the end of the day. The answer? None of them.

In fact, out of those eight names, only one of them would play well enough to secure a spot on the lead card for Round 2. Half way through the round, the clubhouse was reporting two blazing hot rounds of 11 under par (45). The first was thrown by none other than the 2001 World Champion, Cameron Todd #12827 and the other by Discmania’s own Eric Oakley #53565. They could only sit back and watch as the top players on the planet made their way through the course trying to beat that number.

By the time the featured cards were finishing up their last 5 or 6 holes, only Wysocki had a chance to match or beat the rounds shot by Todd and Oakley. But it didn’t happen. Ricky’s par on Hole 18 meant he would finish with a 46, just one off the lead. His round was matched by Canadian Dynmic Disc team member, Zachary Newhouse who will round out the lead card teeing off at 4:00 PM EDT Friday.

Oakley and Todd have targets on their backs heading into Round 2, with 30+ competitors four or less strokes away from tying it up at Jones Park (East) so be sure to tune in to PDGA Live to follow along with live scoring throughout the day!