Team Discmania’s presence at every notable PDGA tournament in 2018 continued this week at the PDGA National Tour’s Glass Blown Open. Eagle McMahon took down his second straight NT event as he battled hard to take home the win by just one stroke.
Team Discmania was heavily represented on the leaderboard with Simon Lizotte (fourth), Grady Shue (sixth), and Colten Montgomery (eighth) all finishing strong.
Pressure Was No Match For McMahon
Eagle McMahon gives a speech after winning the 2018 Glass Blown Open. (Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen)
At the end of the first round, McMahon found himself in a five way tie for first place which included Lizotte and Shue. They all shot a 53 (-10) to set the pace for the tournament.
Playing on the Emporia Country Club course for all three rounds, you had to know when to attack and when to play safe. Many shots call for monster drives and even tougher approach shots with little rooms or error.
In round two, McMahon had a bit of a slow start with only three birdies on the front nine. Lizotte on the other hand started out hot with six birdies to start out his second round.
The momentum shifted on the back nine as McMahon was faced with a 380 foot second shot on Hole 14. McMahon went with a sidearm approach and let it skip in for the eagle-two on the par four.
Two holes later on Hole 16, McMahon’s drive would fall just short on the island hole. After a long discussion, it was determined that McMahon’s disc was in fact out of bounds. He would take his penalty stroke and card a bogey. A pair of birdies to finish out the round would put McMahon in a tie for the lead going into the final round.
The third and final round featured a battle between McMahon, Drew Gibson, Simon Lizotte, and Ricky Wysocki. Gibson came out of the gate quickly to grab an early lead while Wysocki was on a chase card and gaining round on the leaders.
While McMahon only had three birdies on the first nine holes, he was bogey free. The lack of bogies would prove to be the difference down the stretch.
After Hole 11, the trio of McMahon, Wysocki, and Gibson were tied for the lead. For the next four holes they would exchange birdies and pars to shift the lead back and forth. Then came the tough island on Hole 16.
Gibson and Wysocki saw their drives find the water which put pressure on McMahon. A safe drive here would give him the opportunity to go from one behind the pair to the lead. A big hyzer off the tee landed safely on the green and McMahon would clean up the birdie. Combined with bogies from the other two, McMahon held a one shot lead with two holes to play.
McMahon would match Gibson and Wysocki shot for shot down the stretch and could sink his 20 foot putt for the win on the final hole.
Lizotte, Shue, Montgomery Join the Party
Simon Lizotte throws at the 2018 Glass Blown Open. (Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen)
After sitting out a few tournaments to help his back recover, Lizotte was in the mix from the start. While the birdies were frequent for Lizotte, a number of errant throws, some by just inches, caused a few too many penalty strokes throughout the tournament.
Thanks to seven birdies over the final nine holes, Lizotte was able to hang onto fourth place.
Grady Shue lines up a shot at the 2018 Glass Blown Open. (Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen)
Shue, who was the early clubhouse leader and ended day one tied for the top spot, wasn’t able to keep the momentum going in round two. As the pars piled up, and even a few bogies, Shue didn’t back down. He was six shots back in a tie for seventh going into the final round. Thanks to a bogie free final round, Shue’s 55 (-8) was good enough to put him in sixth place all by himself. His strongest finish yet in National Tour event.
Colten Montgomery prepares to throw at the 2018 Glass Blown Open. (Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen)
Lastly, Montgomery saw his scores improve every round to help him move up the leaderboard. His 62 (-1) in round one saw him a ways down the leaderboard, but with 36 holes reminding, Montgomery knew he had plenty of time to get work done.
His 56 (-7) in round two saw him jump 32 spots into a tie for 14th. The bogey free round saw Montgomery attack when needed and play safe to save the strokes.
Montgomery used the final round for his best round as his 54 (-9) pushed him up to eighth for the tournament. 11 total birdies, six on the back nine, helped Montgomery card a NT best finish as well.
Team Discmania Results
1. Eagle McMahon (-26)
4. Simon Lizotte (-21)
6. Grady Shue (-19)
8. Colten Montgomery (-17)
T27. Bart Kowalewski (-6)
T78. Nate Perkins (+8)
T106. AJ Carey (+13)