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Wysocki Shreds Milo East to Take the Lead at Beaver State Fling

Wysocki Shreds Milo East to Take the Lead at Beaver State Fling

Saturday, June 11, 2016 - 03:19

 It’s rare these days to see two rounds in one day at a PDGA National Tour event. At the Beaver State Fling presented by KEEN, no one seems to mind. After all, two rounds in one day means more time spent at Milo. A few extra hours playing disc golf at one of the most scenic and challenging courses on the planet -- who would complain about that?

One person you definitely won’t hear complaints from, Ricky Wysocki #38008. Ricky’s first round of 54 (-7) on Milo West left him in a three-way tie for 3rd, as Nate Sexton #18824 and Devan Owens #25168 both finished one stroke better at 53.

Milo East and Milo West are surprisingly similar. Both courses have a total par of 61, with one par 5 and four par 4s scattered throughout the layout. Milo East measures in as the longer of the two courses at 8,697 feet, but the difference of 186 feet is negligible.

As statistically similar as they may be, the general consensus among the top touring pros is that the East course is much more “gettable”. Playing in occasional rain and swirling winds, Ricky Wysocki was on a mission to show the world just how gettable Milo East can be during his second round.

Joining Ricky on the Round 2 chase card was Kyle Crabtree #25596, Ray Johnson #10355, and Nikko Locastro #11534. Ricky quickly pulled ahead of the group, snagging two birdies in a row to get the round started. Another birdie on Hole 5 meant Ricky was now tied for the lead, and then….this happened.

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Click on the image to view all the hole-by-hole scores from Round 2.

Ricky went on a tear, carding seven birdies in a row on Holes 7-13, an astonishing start of ten under par through his first 12 holes. His pace slowed down shortly after, but with a bogey-free finish with 11 birdies (unofficially rated 1071), no one was gaining any ground.

As more and more scores came in it was clear that Ricky was going to be alone at the top of the leaderboard heading into Round 3. Nate Sexton now sits in 2nd place, three off the lead, having played tremendously as well, shooting a 53 (-8) for Round 1 and a 54 (-7) for Round 2.

Kyle Crabtree, Devan Owens, and Philo Brathwaite #26416 are all tied up in the 3rd place slot. Devan will be teeing off at the top of the chase card, as Kyle and Philo both shot better Round 2 scores, 53 (-8) and 54 (-7), respectively.

The Open Women’s division saw Paige Pierce #29190 taking the lead after Round 1, edging out Catrina Allen #44184 by one. What makes that a bit more interesting is the fact that Paige still wasn’t sure if she would be playing at all in the days leading up to the event, not knowing if her injured right hand would be up for the challenge.

Paige pulled out of the 2016 St. Jude Disc Golf Charity Invitational two weeks prior due to the injury, and has been letting it heal ever since. Two days before the event began, after some minor aches and pains just a few holes in to her practice round, she decided to leave the course and stop by a local doctor’s office to have it looked at one last time, hoping she would get the OK to continue throwing.

Whether or not the doctor cleared her play, we’ll never know. What we do know is that she is here now and appears to be playing like the Paige we’ve all come to know.

Paige and Catrina were joined by Zoe Andyke #39504 and Paige Bjerkaas #33833 for Round 2, and the dynamic foursome will play together once again for Round 3 on Milo East this afternoon. After a strong second round, Catrina now leads by one over Paige Pierce, with Zoe and Paige Bjerkass tied in 3rd place nine strokes off the lead.

Catrina Allen saving bogey on Hole 8 of Milo West in swirling winds.

Saturday and Sunday will see only one round played each day, both with tee times. Both the Open and Open Women’s division lead cards are set to tee off at 12:40pm PDT/3:40pm EDT, with the women playing Milo East and the men playing Milo West.

Scores will be up and running on pdgalive.com as usual, with updates, pictures, and videos coming in via @pdgalive on Twitter, PDGA on Instagram, and PDGATour on SnapChat. Former touring pro Liz Lopez #31162 has joined the PDGA Media team and will be bringing you live video from the PDGA’s Facebook page towards the latter end of the round.

Look for round coverage videos from The Disc Golf Guy as well as Central Coast Disc Golf on YouTube, and as always, photos are available for viewing and/or downloading on the PDGA Flickr page