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Pierce and Wysocki Reign Supreme at a Rainy Maple Hill Open Final Round

Pierce and Wysocki Reign Supreme at a Rainy Maple Hill Open Final Round

Monday, June 29, 2015 - 03:03

It’s rare, but sometimes not making the cut can end up being a blessing in a weird way. They didn’t cash, but at least they can say they went to an amazing event and played one of the best courses in the world during back-to-back-to-back days of incredible weather. It’s been more than 15 hours since the first card teed off this morning at a cold, windy, and rain-plagued Maple Hill, and it’s STILL RAINING.

It wasn’t even legitimate rain. We've seen plenty of that on the PDGA National Tour and this was much more annoying than usual. It was the kind of endless drizzle that doesn’t soak your clothing but somehow manages to keep your socks and shoes uncomfortably moist, ruin your disc-grip, and cause endless unease on the tee pads. To add to that, the temperature was 20 degrees lower than the days of competition leading up to today’s final round, with steady 20-30 MPH swirling and gusting winds.

Despite the unfavorable conditions, the 2015 Maple Hill Open final round went off without a hitch. That simply wouldn’t be possible without the unwavering dedication of the incredible staff and volunteers that were ready to give up their weekend, week, or even month to help make sure that players and spectators alike had the best experience possible. Whether they were maintaining the course, spotting, entering live scores for every player all weekend, pulling players' discs from the water hazards, and everything in between, they all did an outstanding job. On behalf of all parties that benefited from their blood, sweat, and tears, we thank you.  

Open Women’s Division

After back-to-back days of 3:30pm tee times, the Open Women’s division lead card took to the course bright and early at 9:15am. The worst meteorologist in the world would have been able to tell you that it would be rainy this morning but despite the blatantly obvious change in climate that was forecasted, it seemed that many players weren’t mentally and/or physically prepared for just how drastically different it turned out to be (myself included).

It was 55 degrees when the ladies teed off this morning into a swirling unpredictable wind as the rain pummeled the grounds of Maple Hill. The rain eventually died down, but as stated previously it continued in some form for the entire round. Leading at the time was Paige Pierce #29190, joined by Catrina Allen #44184, Val Jenkins #17495, and Jessica Weese #50656 on the lead card, with Pierce four strokes ahead of Allen.

Jessica Weese nails a birdie putt on Hole 2 in the cold, wind, and rain.

With the conditions being the way they were, it was no surprise to see scores much higher than usual. The best score on the lead card through the front nine was +5, thrown by Weese. Pierce headed into Hole 10 at +7 and still managed to gain two more throws on Allen, giving her an overall lead of six with nine holes remaining.

Despite having given up two strokes on the last two holes, 2X Pro Women’s World Champion Paige Pierce tapped in on the 18th green to win the Maple Hill Open for the second time in a row, this time with a five stroke margin over 2nd place finisher Catrina Allen. With this win, Paige's disc golf resume now boasts 12 PDGA National Tour titles, six PDGA Major titles, countless A-Tier wins (six already this year alone), all at the young age of just 24 years old.

Jessica Weese shot the hot round in the cold and wet conditions, finishing +8 and as the only woman to shoot in the 60s for the final round. With that score she was able to swap places with Val Jenkins to finish in 3rd. Val held on to finish in 4th place just ahead of Sarah Hokom #34563 and Paige Bjerkaas #33833 in 5th and 6th, respectively.

Open Division

 “Are you serious?! It’s my day, man! It’s MY time! LET'S GO!” Those are the words that Ricky Wysocki #38008 spoke after being told that his drive on Hole 5 skipped off the top of the seawall and on to the green, avoiding the water hazard and a throw from the drop zone by mere inches. It turns out, he was right.

Wysocki left Maple Hill last year with a bitter taste in his mouth after his approach on the 18th kicked off a rock inside the green and rolled backwards off the green into the roped-off out-of-bounds grass. This gave 2014 Maple Hill Open winner Jeremy Koling #33705 a chance to tap-in for one stroke victory, as he had already landed safely on the green a few minutes prior.

 

 

A video posted by PDGA (@pdga) on

 

Wysocki's unfortunate final round roll-away on the 18th green of the 2014 Maple Hill Open.

Wysocki spent the first three days of the event doing everything in his power to make a run at the leader, Paul McBeth #27523. McBeth fought back at every turn, finishing the first two rounds with a score one better than Wysocki, giving him a two stroke lead heading into Round 3.

Wysocki and McBeth, joined on the lead card by Gregg Barsby #15857 and David Wiggins Jr #24437 in 3rd and 4th place, finally out-played McBeth on the third day, finishing with a 52 against McBeth’s 53. The same four men would take to the battlefield that is the Maple Hill Gold course as the lead card once again for the nail-biting final round that took place this afternoon.

The Open division lead card had far less precipitation to deal with than those that played earlier in the day, but they had just as much wind (if not more) and the same slippery tee pads and disc-grip issues. It was apparent right out of the gate, as the drives down the hill of Hole 1 flew on unpredictable lines crashing down what we can only imagine is no where near where they were hoping to land. The scores were once again all over the place, with the only player really holding it together being Gregg Barsby.

Barsby's first of many birdies during the Maple Hill Open final round. (Hole 2)

Actually, to say that Barsby was “holding it together” is quite the understatement. He was shredding Maple Hill as if it was a calm, sunny day. He came through the front nine bogey-free with five birdies while the others were struggling to (or failing to) keep their round score at even par.

The front nine was particularly brutal. McBeth’s one stroke lead diminished into a four stroke deficit to Wysocki by the end of Hole 5 after taking back-to-back bogeys against Wysocki’s back-to-back birdies. McBeth was unexplainably missing his lines and missing his putts in a way that we haven’t seen in a very long time. In fact, it wasn’t until Hole 12 that McBeth would card his first birdie. This gave way to a new but equally exciting no-holds-barred fight to the finish.

Wysocki vs Barsby

Starting the round with four strokes to make up between himself and Wysocki, Barsby would need to play near-perfect golf to catch him. It didn’t seem possible given the weather conditions, but as stated so many times before, anything is possible at Maple Hill.

Barsby continued to dominate the course, playing bogey-free golf and carding birdie after birdie after birdie. Sitting one stroke back from the then leader Wysocki through Hole 10, Barsby hit dead center chains to snag the only birdies of the group on Holes 11 and 12, both of which are very difficult par 4s, especially when considering the precision involved when teeing off at full power with 25 MPH wind gusts.

In an attempt to tie it up, Wysocki hit a huge putts on Holes 13 and 14. The gallery went from silent in anticipation to roaring with excitement as Barsby stepped up each time, under an unimaginable amount of pressure, and did exactly the same, nailing his birdie putts dead center to hold on to his one stroke lead with four holes to go.

And then, a turning point. Barsby’s drive on Hole 15 hit a tree and landed at the bottom of a valley forcing him into a blind approach with 200+ feet to the green. Wysocki’s drive hit a tree as well but had traveled far enough down the fairway to put himself in position for a drop-in par after a manageable approach. Barsby’s upshot flew into the bushes behind the green, with no reasonable way to save par. With Barsby's bogey and just three holes remaining, they were deadlocked.

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Barsby's second blind approach lie in a row, this time on Hole 16.

The momentum swing proved to be a powerful force. Barsby’s tee shot on 16 once again hit a tree and he was forced into another bogey situation while Wysocki hit his putt from 30’ for par. The drama filled the air and Ricky Wysocki was now in the lead by one with only Holes 17 and 18 remaining between himself and a long sought after Maple Hill victory.

With Barsby at the back of the box and Wysocki’s drive already in the fairway positioned for an easy approach to a birdie putt on the par 4 Hole 17, Barsby let go of a drive that he likely knew would be the end of his chances at becoming the Maple Hill Open champion. The disc hyzered out far too early and crashed into a small cluster of Christmas trees, leaving him with yet another nearly impossible upshot, throwing from a knee. Wysocki tapped in for birdie as expected and Barsby was left putting for par, regrettably heading into Hole 18 down by two.

Wysocki wasn't about to take any risks this time around and wisely played two safe shots: a medium-powered forehand off the tee and a soft backhand up the fairway for his approach. He wasn’t about to relive the pain and disappointment he dealt with the year prior. Wysocki was left with an easy upshot to the island green followed by a 10’ putt for the win. As the crowd roared, Wysocki lined up the putt and Tournament Director Steve Dodge #22042 began to announce him as the 2015 Maple Hill Open champion, timing his name perfectly as his putter smashed into the chains.

 

Congrats to Ricky "Sockibomb" Wysocki and Paige Pierce, your 2015 Maple Hill Open champions! It's a tradition for the winners to jump into the pond on Hole 1 at Maple Hill. Despite the chilly conditions, they went for it anyway and pulled it off beautifully! Thanks to Paul Oman for the video!

Posted by Professional Disc Golf Association on Sunday, June 28, 2015

The wins for Pierce and Wysocki were made official as they jumped into the pond on Hole 1, a long-standing tradition of Maple Hill. Thank you once again to the staff, volunteers, players, spectators, the awesome live video coverage by SmashBoxxTV, the crystal clear 4K post-production videos filmed by Prodigy Disc, and everyone else that helped make this yet another incredible PDGA National Tour event!

We’ll leave you with this video of Dave Feldberg’s final round ace on Hole 3, which grabbed the #2 spot on Sportscenter’s Top 10 Plays this evening on ESPN! 

 

Disc golf makes the SportsCenter Top 10 again! Dave Feldberg's ace at the #2 spot! Congrats Dave! That's 4 out the 5 NT's this year on ESPN!Side note: He isn't mispronouncing his name. It's a joke from Seinfeld.https://youtu.be/6Lyp0B4b5Mc

Posted by Professional Disc Golf Association on Sunday, June 28, 2015

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