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Issac Extends Lead, Izak Trying to Catch Him

Issac Extends Lead, Izak Trying to Catch Him

Friday, July 15, 2016 - 07:58

Isaac Robinson #50670 teeing off on Hole 1 at Hiestand as the leader in the Advanced division. Photo by AJ Risley.

Three days, four rounds, and four courses down, and yet there is still so much action and excitement coming up here at the 2016 PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships in Madison, Wisconsin! Today will be the last chance for the many individuals on the cusp to move up, or get cut, as Semifinals and Finals are all that will remain after today’s rounds.

The story of the day in the Advanced division was all about the 15 year old kid named Isaac. Wait…is it Isaac or Izak? Doesn’t matter, it’s both. 15 year old Isaac Robinson #50670 from Georgia started and finished the day as the leader while 15 year old Izak McDonald #49631 shot a lights out 1043 rated round in the afternoon at Hiestand Park to put himself within three of the lead, now tied in 2nd place with current US Amateur Champion Gavin Rathbun #60436.

If the name Izak McDonald doesn’t ring a bell, it should. Izak is the highest rated player in the entire event coming in with a PDGA Player Rating of 995 and he certainly isn’t new to the spotlight and the pressure that it brings. As a 14 year old, Izak finished in second place at both the 2015 US Amateur Disc Golf Championships and the 2015 Am Worlds, losing in close battles to now professional player Anthony Barela #44382.

Izak started his afternoon round on the fourth card and started moving up right out of the gates, running off an incredible nine birdies in a row. The streak came to an end with a double bogey on Hole 14, but he kept his composure and picked up three more birdies before the round ended. His round of 46 (-10) was matched by no one, beating out the next best rounds by four or more.

Izak McDonald #49631 hitting his seventh birdie in a row at Hiestand Park.

Isaac Robinson had a target on his back all day, but it never slowed him down. “You know that feeling when you’re having a great round and you step up to every shot knowing that you can hit whatever line you need,” said PDGA Board of Directors member and fellow Georgia disc golfer Kevin McCoy #9453. “That’s the kind of confidence he is playing with right now. You can see it every time he steps up. 40 foot putt into a headwind through the trees? Boom. No problem.” Isaac actually extended his lead after two rounds yesterday and will tee off last this afternoon leading by three.

Isaac and Izak will be joined by Gavin Rathbun, tied for second place, as well as North Carolina’s own Chris Hawks #67596, who at only 25 years old is somehow 7-10 years older than his lead card companions.

In the Advanced Women’s division, Kristy Moore #56553 started the day one ahead of Sai Anada #58303 and apparently was not satisfied. Playing at the 27-hole Vallarta-Ast DGC @ Token Creek, Kristy turned on the burners. Watching her play though, you would have never realized how quickly she was gaining strokes on the field or what kind of round she was on pace for.

Kristy stayed calm and collected throughout the round, picking up seven birdies in the first nine holes alone. Kristy finished the round bogey-free, and picked up another seven birdies before the round came to a close to finish with an amazing score of 74 (-14), putting her a whopping 11 strokes ahead of the rest of the field.

Oregon’s Jennie Cartwright #56145 is the only other woman that finished with a round score in the 70s, and her score of 78 shot her all the way up to the lead card, now six behind second place holder Sai Anada. Rebecca Heiam #68592 will round out the lead card as they head into their round this afternoon at Bird’s Ruins.

There are close battles in so many different divisions that it’s hard to keep track. One of the few non-US players, Michael Kobella #77622 of Germany leads by a handful in Advanced Masters. Wisconsin’s own Kim Keen #23386 leads by only one in the Advanced Masters Women’s division over Colorado’s Karen Sattler #55307. Mark Hauser #13459, James Elkins #31524, and Mark Reid #49642 are all tied for the lead in Advanced Grandmasters. Gary “Tree” Camp #22115 leads by just one in Advanced Senior Grandmasters over Jim Banbury #33708. Logan Fiske #67474 leads by one over Nicholas Duran #28359 in the Junior I Boys division (19 & Under). The list goes on and on.

Cuts for Semis and Finals  

It’s “Moving Day” for many, as the field is cut down significantly for the semifinals and finals that will take place tomorrow at Vallarta-Ast DGC @ Token Creek. See the table below for details.

Semi-Finals Criteria

  • All divisions with a minimum of 16 participants will have a cut to the semis with the top competitors playing in a semi-final.
  • Depending on the field size the cut may range from 25 to 40 percent of the field.
  • Divisions with less than 16 participants will not participate in the semi-finals round.
Pool Div # Notes on Required Tie-breakers in Preliminary Rounds Semis
ABC MA1 216   72 Max
M MM1 71   24+Ties
G MG1 72   24+Ties
S MS1 36   12+Ties
L ML1 3 Ties for First Place must be broken immediately following Friday PM round at Bird's Ruins -
W FA1 40   12+Ties
W FM1 11 Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Friday PM round at Bird's Ruins  
X FG1 7 If Second and Third Place are still tied after Friday, we will take all three to Finals. -
X FS1 4 Ties for 2nd Place must be broken immediately following Friday PM round at Bird's Ruins -
H MJ1 34   12+Ties
I MJ2 32   12+Ties
J MJ3 19   6+Ties
J MJ4 3 Ties for 1st Place must be broken immediately following Friday AM round at Bird's Ruins -
K MJ5 0   -
K MJ6 1 World Champion at conclusion of prelims, no Semis or Finals -
W FJ1 4 Ties for 2nd Place must be broken immediately following Friday PM round at Bird's Ruins -
J FJ2 6 Ties for 2nd Place must be broken immediately following Friday AM round at Bird's Ruins -
J FJ3 3 Ties for 1st Place must be broken immediately following Friday AM round at Bird's Ruins -
J FJ4 4 Ties for 2nd Place must be broken immediately following Friday AM round at Bird's Ruins -
K FJ5 1 World Champion at conclusion of prelims, no Semis or Finals -
K FJ6 0   -

Finals Criteria

  • All divisions with a minimum of 8 participants will advance only 4 competitors to the Finals. Ties for the 4 spots must be broken by sudden-death play-off immediately following the division’s last round of play prior to the Finals.
  • All divisions with 4 to 7 participants will advance only 2 competitors to the Finals. Ties for the 2 spots must be broken by sudden-death play-off immediately following the division’s last round of play prior to the Finals.
Pool Div Semis Notes on Required Tie-breakers in Semis Finals
ABC MA1 72 Max Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Bird's Ruins 4
M MM1 24+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Hiestand 4
G MG1 24+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Hiestand 4
S MS1 12+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Token Creek 4
L ML1 -   0
W FA1 12+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Token Creek 4
W FM1     4
X FG1 -   4
X FS1 -   2
H MJ1 12+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Token Creek 4
I MJ2 12+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Token Creek 4
J MJ3 6+Ties Ties for 4th Place must be broken immediately following Saturday AM round at Token Creek 4
J MJ4 -   0
K MJ5 -   0
K MJ6 -   0
W FJ1 -   2
J FJ2 -   2
J FJ3 -   2
J FJ4 -   2
K FJ5 -   0
K FJ6 -   0

Coverage

Hole-by-hole scores will be up and running all morning and afternoon on pdgalive.com with updates, pictures, and videos coming in via @pdgalive on Twitter. The Advanced round lead card round will go live from the PDGA Facebook page starting at approximately 2:00pm CDT/3:00pm EDT. Who will make the semis? Who will make the finals? Only time will tell!