Round 2 of the 2015 Scandinavian Open, presented by Latitude 64º, was indeed survival of the fittest. The weather forecasters had predicted a 100% chance of rain throughout the day and they were 100% on target with that prediction. A steady rain fell through the night and all day today testing the mettle of all competitors on the already saturated course of Discgolf Terminalen. Given the wet conditions, cold temperatures, and steady winds, the competitors kept a positive outlook but approached the round cautiously and with survival as the utmost priority.

This couldn’t be truer of the ladies on the Open Women’s division lead card, all four of which played the course with true professionalism despite the ultra-challenging conditions that faced them today. Reigning world champion Catrina Allen #44184 began the day leading by three over Sweden’s Sofie Sandström #35321 and Sarah Hokom #34563 of the United States with Val Jenkins #17495 just one throw behind. Allen played steadily and consistently with the exception of the par four Hole16, leaving one short and in the pond, carding a double bogey. She eventually posted a +5 for the round (72) to extend her lead to seven.

Hokom again holds the second place spot after the round, this time without a tie. Her round today was only three throws higher than her opening round; a pretty amazing feat given the weather. Furthermore, she played better than her score might indicate. On a course like Discgolf Terminalen, a few small mistakes can lead to highly undesirable hole scores. A triple bogey on the 350m/1148ft Hole 1 (plays as a par 6) put her in an early hole and double bogeys on Hole 7 and Hole 16 made it tough for her to make up that lost ground.

Sofie Sandström and Val Jenkins struggled somewhat, finishing with round scores of +13 for the day. However, their scores kept them from dropping in the ranks, finishing the day overall in 3rd and 4th place respectively with just one throw separating them. As we head into Friday’s Round 3, “moving day”, the Open Women’s division lead card remains the same with Allen at +7, Hokom at +14, Sandström at +18 and Jenkins at +19.

The soaking wet conditions of Discgolf Terminalen during Round 2 of the 2015 Scandinavian Open.

In the Open division, Round 1’s leader Nikko Locastro #11534 couldn’t maintain yesterday’s hot streak but still managed to finish the day with a respectable round of -7 (60), carding only one bogey. Locastro remains the overall leader of the event, but now sharing the lead with Jeremy Koling #33705.

Koling posted the hot round of the day, and considering the conditions, arguably the most impressive round of the tournament thus far. His bogey-free round of -11 (55) allowed him to jump from a tie for 8th place after Round 1 to the now co-leader with Locastro. Koling put up six birdies on the front and another 5 on the back, including an impressive and unmatched birdie run on Holes 12-15.

3x PDGA Professional World Champions Paul McBeth #27523 and Nate Doss #11794 reminded everyone why you can never count them out at a PDGA Major. They both posted the hot round score of -8 (59) to round out the lead card, now in 3rd and 4th place, respectively.

The weather is expected to improve as we move towards the weekend however it is unlikely that the course will have enough time to fully recover. Despite the record amounts of rain the course has seen this year, the tournament organizers have done an excellent job addressing issues as they arise and they are to be commended for their diligence and hard work. Weather is just one of those things that cannot be controlled.

Locastro, Koling, McBeth, and Doss will tee off last tomorrow for Friday’s Round 3 with just three throws separating the leaders from 4th place. Clearly, we are in for an exciting battle! And what’s even better? We get to watch it all live online thanks to the hard work of Tournament Director and Disc Golf Hall of Fame member Tomas Ekstrom #4573, Latitude 64, Dynamic Discs, and a slew of other local media personnel.  

Hole-by-hole scoring will be up and running once again for tomorrow’s rounds on pdgalive.com starting with Open Women’s lead card starting at approximately 7:00am EDT. Live streaming coverage of the Open division lead card starts shortly after, tentatively scheduled for 9:00am EDT. Exact times for both will be posted shortly, so be sure to follow the PDGA on Facebook and Twitter for links to the videos and various other updates.

Only two rounds remain of the 2015 Scandinavian Open, presented by Latitude 64º, and that’s only for those that make the cut after the Round 3 scores come in tomorrow night. Stay tuned for coverage of Round 3, live from Discgolf Terminalen in Skellefteå Sweden!