The 2018 United States Disc Golf Championship at the famed Winthrop Gold Disc Golf Course in Rock Hill, South Carolina is a tournament that takes extreme amounts of skill and a little bit of luck to finish on top.
With tight fairways lined with OB and chances for error on every hole, you have to be on top of your game in order to finish at the top. In addition to that, you also have to remember that one bad round might play a smaller factor than you realize.
That was the case for Team Discmania’s Eagle McMahon after a less than ideal start to this year’s USDGC ended with a sixth place finish.
At the end of the first round, McMahon found himself nine strokes behind the leader, and eventual winner, Paul McBeth. While McMahon only had three bogeys, he could only find seven birdies during his 63 (-4) to start the tournament.
The second round on Thursday saw much of the same as McMahon’s 62 (-5) was a hair better, but still filled with many pars on the difficult course.
Friday’s third round is where McMahon was able to make up some ground and push himself up the leaderboard. Jumping six spots from 12th to 6th place, McMahon ran off 11 birdies in the round and just two bogeys (Hole 6 and Hole 18). He was able to keep his drives safe took advantage of any opportunity in front of him. McMahon’s 58 (-9) was the third best score of the day.
On the chase card for the final round, McMahon was able to go bogey-free in the final 18 holes while shooting a 59 (-8) to close out the tournament. He finished eight shots behind the winner McBeth.
Round One, Hole One: Ace for AJ Carey
Starting off any tournament with an ace is certainly a nice feeling, but starting out the USDGC with an ace has a little extra behind it.
That is exactly what Team Discmania’s AJ Carey did on the second card of the tournament. His first throw of the day skipped off the wet morning grass and found the chains!
Team Discmania Results
6. Eagle McMahon (-26)
T34. Nate Perkins (-8)
T38. Leo Piironen (-5)
52. Simon Lizotte (+1)
T53. Grady Shue (+2)
T53. Colten Montgomery (+2)
T65. AJ Carey (+7)
T78. Bart Kowalewski (+15)
109. Bohdan Bilek (+47)