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Wysocki & Allen Continue Stacking Up National Tour Victories

Wysocki & Allen Continue Stacking Up National Tour Victories

By: Marty Gregwah #28647
Monday, June 13, 2016 - 21:25

The Beaver State Fling presented by KEEN is widely known as a “can’t miss” event, each and every year. The combined beauty and difficulty of the Riverbend Disc Golf Courses housed within Milo McIver State Park is enough to pique the interest of most, but the quality of the event itself is what really sets it apart. The staff, volunteers, sponsors, and vendors all join forces to put on a tournament that is so good, in every way, that whether or not you will come back for it again the following year isn’t even a question.

What emerges from the months of prep work is an always-exciting competition. And there was certainly no shortage of that on Sunday for the final round.

The Open division and the Open Women’s divisions teed off at the same time in the afternoon, with the men playing Milo East and the women playing Milo West. The two courses are fairly similar, with the West being considered slightly more difficult by most.

Ricky Wysocki #38008 began the round with a lead of two over Philo Brathwaite #26416, joined by Kyle Crabtree #25596 and Nate Sexton #18824 on the lead card, right on their heels. With the difficulty of Milo, being two off the lead is a great position to be in. But, with Ricky playing the way he has been this year, even if you manage to catch him, you might not be able to keep up the pace.

A bogey on Hole 1 for Philo with Ricky taking a birdie was bad news, but he followed it up with back-to-back birdies to stay within two strokes. Ricky turned up the heat, carding three birdies in a row to Philo’s three pars, planting the seeds of a runaway victory. 

With just six holes to go, all Ricky had to do was play clean and safe. He did just that, winning by three in front of a huge gallery.

Ricky Wysocki taps in for the win.

When the Open division finished on Milo East, the Open Women’s division was still in full swing. Paige Pierce #29190 and Catrina Allen #44184 were trading the lead early on in the weekend, but Catrina pulled away during Round 3, starting the final round with a lead of five. Paige Bjerkaas #33833 and Melodie Bailey #34751 held the other two spots on the lead card, battling for 3rd place.  

Paige began the final round with a bogey on Hole 1, giving Catrina an even bigger cushion, but it wouldn’t last long. Paige brought the deficit down to five on Hole 4 with a birdie. One hole later, a birdie to Catrina’s bogey brought the deficit down to three.

Paige continued chipping away, gaining strokes whenever possible. After a turkey on holes 12-14, and a par on 15 to Catrina’s bogey, Paige had not only caught up, she was leading by two with three holes to go.

Catrina was frustrated, understandably, but she kept her composure and pushed on, quickly parking her drive on Hole 16 for birdie to gain one back. She followed it with what appeared to be an errant drive off the tee of Hole 17, but the driver got sneaky, fighting through leaves and branches to make it to 20’ short of the basket.

And just like that, it was tied up again. Perfect drives and approaches on Hole 18 meant we were all in for a treat…sudden death. Paige finished the round with an unbelieveable 1027-rated 56 (-5), something only a handful of the Open division did on Milo West in the days prior. 

Sudden Deaths

Hole 1 was all it would take, a par 4 with a slight dogleg to a narrow green guarded by OB road on the left. Paige’s drive left her in a tough spot on the left side of the fairway, forcing her to pitch out. Catrina’s line off the tee left her in great position to run the risky upshot to the green. Risky or not, she went for it and got to the green clean, 45’ short of the basket.

Paige played a perfect anyhzer approach over the OB road on the left and was parked for par, putting the pressure on Catrina. The gallery held their collective breath.

Catrina Allen wins the playoff with a high-pressure birdie putt.

And that’s all she wrote, or so we thought. 

As soon as the Open Women's playoff ended, another was about to begin in the Masters division. Patrick Brown #25713 and Ken Climo #4297 were tied after 72 holes of golf and were forced into a sudden death playoff, starting on Hole 10 on Milo West.

Their sudden death was short-lived as well, Climo had the better drive off the tee, but looked to be stuck in the rough on the left with no real look at a putt. To the surpise of Patrick, who just played a safe upshot to under the basket, Ken Climo had a look for birdie. He stretched out for a low-ceiling right-to-left straddle putt. 

Ken Climo ends the sudden death playoff on Hole 1 with a tricky birdie putt.

Doing what he’s done so many times before, Ken “The Champ” Climo, sealed the deal with ease.

Congrats to all of the winners at the 2016 Beaver State Fling presented by KEEN, and thanks once again to the staff and volunteers for making it such a memorable weekend!

Open Division - Lead Card - Front 9 - Wysocki, Brathwaite, Crabtree, Sexton - Central Coast Disc Golf

2016 Beaver State Fling, BSF, Milo McIver, 2016 National Tour

Comments

Catrina Allen's putt makes Climo look like an amateur, jumping around like someone that's still learning the game. Jump putts and step putts should be illegal. And where are the Mach 3 baskets originally installed on the course? Are they still there or are they only on the east course? Am I the only one to remember who got the state of Oregon to install the course. Of course I know the designers. But than I was the third person to play the original course.

Sorry Michael, butI we have no idea where the baskets are that you speak of. That'd be a question for the local club, or perhaps the tournament directors.