Cover photo of Catrina Allen #44184 by Stuart Mullenberg of The Flight Record.

Ugh. That’s the only word that can describe how it felt when we stepped outside this morning before heading to Jones East for Round 2 of the 2016 Glass Blown Open (GBO). We had all the fixins’ for an “ugh” kind of day. Overcast, check. Wind, check. Low temperatures, check. Weather conditions aside, the day went off without a hitch. Great disc golf was played and the competition moved forward leaving only what should be an incredibly exciting final round of action tomorrow.

The Open Women’s division teed off first thing in the morning. It was cold and windy, but at least it was dry. Catrina Allen began the round as the leader with Paige Bjerkaas #33833, Ellen Widboom #58276, and Karina Nowels #48518 on her heels. That’s where that part of the story ends, because Catrina was about to go on an all-out rampage.

Despite cold, stiff hands, Catrina shredded the par 62 Jones East DGC, carding one bogey and six birdies, four of which were in a row on the front nine to finish a five under par 57. None of the other women would come remotely close to that pace, as the second best round of the day was thrown by Paige Pierce #29190 who finished with a one over par 63. For the second day in a row, Catrina would be the only woman to shoot under par for the round.

Pierce carded four birdies for the day, but three bogeys and a double-bogey on the very tricky Hole 7 meant she would start the final round tomorrow in 2nd place with nine strokes separating herself from the leader. Paige Bjerkaas and Des Reading #15863 will join them on the lead card tomorrow, sitting at 11 and  14 from the lead, respectively.

Catrina’s round of 57 was bested by only 12 of the 156 players in Open, where the best score of the day was only a few strokes lower at 53. One must consider that although Catrina’s round was cold and windy, a majority of the Open division competitors faced the same temperatures plus an absurd amount of rain, a lightning delay, and even higher wind speeds. Regardless, what she did today was beyond impressive.

360' and over the water, slightly uphill. Catrina says, yeah whatever. No prob. #GBO2016 pic.twitter.com/rfEa6jyNvK

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) April 29, 2016

Speaking of rain…

At 1:00pm, the cats and dogs started coming down. With the temperature hovering around 50 and steady wind, this was not a fun sight to see. And it definitely was not fun to feel. But as they say, the show must go on. And it did, for a while anyway.

Three hours later, it was still raining, with the not-so-fun sound of thunder slowly creeping in. By 4:15, we were left with no choice but to call a lightning delay. A severe thunderstorm swept through Emporia and Olpe in a flash. So fast in fact that the players were back on the course an hour later.

The lead card in the Open division had two names never before seen on the lead card at a PDGA National Tour event: Eric Oakley #53565 and Zachary Newhouse #30259. Oakley was sharing the lead with 2001 PDGA World Champion, Cam Todd #12827, with Newhouse and Ricky Wysocki #38008 tied for 3rd just one off the lead.

Yesterday’s round at Peter Pan DGC left 30+ of the best players in the world within four strokes of the lead. No one was safe. In the cold, windy, and now slippery course conditions, the ability to compete in the elements and play smart golf was the key to climbing up on the ladder on “moving day”.

Ricky started the round with seven straight birdies, a feat matched by no other player. He stumbled a bit through the middle of the course, but still finished with a 57 (-5) to remain on the lead card for the final round at the Emporia Country Club tomorrow.

Ricky throws. Seems like he likes it. Hole 3. #GBO2016 #JonesEast pic.twitter.com/DPSuJljvbK

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) April 29, 2016

Cam Todd matched Ricky’s round of 57 to remain on the lead card as well, one ahead of Ricky, now tied for 1st place with none other than Paul McBeth #27523, who jumped up from the fourth card today. McBeth’s last hole of the day was the most impressive by far, a 530’ par 4 with tall trees lining the entire right side of the fairway and parking lot OB on the left side. Paul repeated what he did last year, purposely crushing an anhyzer so that it crashed into the trees 500’ down the fairway. Hitting his putt for eagle inside the circle, he certainly earned his spot as the co-owner of the top of the leaderboard.

Nate Wegryn #54885 will round out the lead card after shooting the third best round of the day, carding a 55. The hot round of the day was shot by Kyle Webster #28977 who, much like Wegryn, made a huge move today. Webster will tee off first on the chase card, joined by Miles Seaborn #29264, Jared Roan #49210, and Eagle McMahon #37817.

Results and tee times are posted. Hole-by-hole scoring starts with the women’s round in the afternoon and will continue until the last putter hits the chains at the Emporia Country Club for the final round. SmashBoxxTV will be live streaming the Open division lead card on YouTube, and we’ll be bringing you updates, pics, and videos via @pdgalive on Twitter.