Colten Montgomery has been touring in the Maniac, Discmania’s RV, for a few months now and after hitting a handful of tournaments in Texas, Montgomery was looking forward to some new scenery and it looks like a trip to Arkansas was exactly what he needed.
While fighting tough weather conditions, Montgomery finished in a tie for third place at the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s Jonesboro Open. Discmania teammates Eagle McMahon returned to tour with a seventh place finish as Bart Kowalewski used a strong final round to end in a tie for 23rd.
Three Strong Rounds Propel Montgomery
A common phrase in sports is “consistency is key.” For Montgomery, that was exactly the path he took en route to his third place finish.
After shooting a 56 (-8) in round one, Montgomery didn’t let the unexpected cold and snowy weather play a role in his game as he carded the hot round with a 54 (-10). This was thanks in part to hitting birdies on six of the last nine holes in the round.
While landing on the lead card for the final round, Montgomery again kept things consistent and capped off the tournament with a 55 (-9).
Throughout the 54 hole tournament, Montgomery only carded three bogies. By staying out of trouble and playing consistent golf, all the pieces fell into place for the top three finish.
Colten Montgomery made his 2018 Jonesboro Open appearance in bold letters.
Interview with Colten Montgomery
We asked if the 3rd place 2018 Jonesboro Open was the most significant finish by far on Colten's career. Here's what Colten said:
"I believe this was my most significant finish so far. I won the 303 Open A-Tier back home in Colorado last year where there was a few 1000+ rated players/touring pros, this was more significant in my opinion. With a field of 104 players, 34 being 1000+ it was awesome to prove to myself that I truly can compete with the best in the world. I think this tournament was a turning point in my career."
We're confident Colten will gain several top 10 finishes this season, but a podium finish this early in the season surprised us. We asked Colten what made him do so well last weekend.
"I believe what helped me succeed at Jonesboro this past weekend was the distance, elevation and temperature. Distance has always been a strong suit in my game and the course had a lot of long holes where you had to still be accurate. Being from Colorado and playing mountain courses, I am used to elevation changes, which again, the course had a lot of. Furthermore, in Colorado we don’t always have the pleasure of playing year round so playing in the winter and cold is something I am kind of familiar with. I definitely feel like those three things gave me a slight edge this weekend. "
We also asked what were the main discs he trusted in at the tournament:
"The most important discs for me this weekend were hands down the new Metal Flake C-Line PD, C-Line PD2 and the Color Glow MD3. My C-Line PD2 helped be get down the long fairways, allowing me to have easier upshots. The MF PD allowed to me to still get far down the fairway but with a little bit for control and not as much finish left. And the Color Glow MD3 really made my upshot game a lot easier this weekend. I was able to trust it on whatever line I threw it on."
McMahon Challenges Early, Kowalewski Charges Late
Eagle McMahon took a few weeks at home before returning back to the tournament scene and came in hot. McMahon was in a tie for second after the first round when he shot a 52 (-12). The momentum wasn’t there in round two as his 60 (-4) sent him down the leaderboard. He was able to rebound in the final round with a 56 (-8) to finish in seventh for the tournament.
Bart Kowalewski, who is currently traveling with Montgomery, finished the round with a strong 58 (-6) to jump from 38th to 23rd to end the tournament.
Lizotte Stays Home
Simon Lizotte played it safe and opted to not enter the Jonesboro Open after talking with his trainer and doctor. Lizotte is recovering from a sore back and hopes to be back on the tournament scene soon.
Team Discmania Results
T3. Colten Montgomery (-27)
7. Eagle McMahon (-24)
T23. Bart Kowalewski (-11)
T28. Thunder Schultz (-10)
T47. Nate Perkins (-3)
T51. Dylan Lhotak (-1)