USDGC Vet Ready to Take On New Style

After earning the top USDGC qualifying spot at the DiscGolfPlanet.tv People's Championship on May 14th-15th, Devin Frederick is ready to exact his revenge on the Winthrop Gold Course come October.

In his past three trips to the USDGC, the 998-rated Frederick, of Hellerton, Penn., hasn't exactly lit the course on fire. He said that although he's always enjoyed the experience, there were always those few holes that sullied his performance.

“Every year I wish I would play better,” said Frederick, whose best finish was 83rd in 2007.

This year when it comes to USDGC time, he's hoping to duplicate the results from the People's Championship in Bethlehem and Scherersville, Penn., where his play went largely to plan. Frederick ended up beating his projected score by 11 total strokes and also managed to win the open division over long-time pro Mike Moser.

About 150 attended the B-tier event that acted as the USDGC's Region 8 qualifier, which includes all states located in the northeast, plus Virginia and West Virginia. Disc Golf United's Performance Leaderboard, adapted specifically for 2011 USDGC qualifying, is conducted separately from the tournament standings.

Look to the insert below to see how 2011 USDGC qualifying works.

Qualifying Method Explained:
The 10 disc golfers with the best "Performance" from each regional qualifying tournament receive invites to the 2011 USDGC this October. During regional qualifiers, each player with a PDGA rating of 850 or higher who plays the same course layout as the open division is eligible for USDGC qualifying. Eligible players receive projected scores for each round through a combination of their player rating and the course's layout. After each round, players are ranked regardless of division according to how their projected score and actual score compare.For a full listing of qualifier events and Performance Leaderboard results, visit the Regional Qualifying Results page.

Others making the cut were: 970-rated pro Nick Tiligadas (-8), advanced Jeff 'Crawdaddy' Manatt (-8), advanced Zachary Anders (-7), advanced Ben Siffel (-7), intermediate Bill Charron (-4), pro Earl Frazier (-1), advanced Darrell Zimmerman (-1), advanced Dustin Leatherman (Even), and intermediate Greg Van Nest also at (Even).

During the tournament, Frederick battled back and forth with Moser, who has been the man to beat in the northeast for many years. With two rounds in the books, Frederick had a five stroke lead, but then Moser fired back in the third round, setting a new course record at the Jordan Creek Parkway course to take a two stroke lead. Frederick, a local who has honed his skill on the tourney's courses, said Moser's dominance on his home course lit a fire inside him for the final round and propelled him to the win.

“It was a really shining moment for him,” said tournament director Mike Solt.

Frederick, who has won several C-tier events, said the People's Championship win means the most since he's had such a long history with the tourney's courses.

“I've played those two courses since I was 12,” said the 26-year-old, who now tans hides for a living.

Solt said the tournament's excitement was amped up this year because of the 10 USDGC spots determined by the DGU Performance Leaderboard.

The TD went to great lengths to keep players abreast of their qualifying status. After crunching the first day's scores into spreadsheet form on Saturday night, he posted the qualifying status on Facebook. The next day, qualifying status was also available before round three on Sunday.

“I had a bunch of people come up to me and see where they were at,” said Solt, who was running his first USDGC qualifier.

Prior to the tournament, Frederick didn't think he had a shot at qualifying. He said he didn't quite understand the process and thought that his higher player rating would make qualifying out of reach. However, that was not the case. As he found out, anyone – even the highly ranked players - who get in a zone can find a way in.

With this year's USDGC champion determined by performance scoring, Frederick said he will likely alter his style to rely more on his mid-range shots in order to stay clear of any stroke and distance penalties.

With players from five states making the trip to Pennsylvania, Solt believed his tournament was a success.

“It really brought all people from all of the region like the regional qualifier is supposed to,” said Solt, who plans to attend The Championship in October.