Where Dreams Are Made...Or Crushed
Where Dreams Are Made...Or Crushed
The 2014 United States Disc Golf Championship Preview
The 2014 United States Disc Golf Championship presented by Innova Champion Discs officially begins tomorrow morning at 8:40am EDT in Rock Hill, SC with the players set to tee off on one of the most infamous courses in the world, Winthrop Gold. Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no way to argue against the fact that the course is on a level of difficulty all its own. On top of being manicured and prepared to the highest of standards in the sport, it also brings with it interesting rule modifications that have helped it become one of the most talked about courses in the history of disc golf.
For those that have played or will be playing Winthrop for the first time, there is one simple lesson to take away. Stay away from ropes! Whether it’s red or yellow, it isn't your friend. Red rope is used to designate what disc golfers would consider a standard out-of-bounds area. Yellow rope is used to mark off a “hazard” area, meaning you still throw from where the disc came to rest in the hazard area, but with a one-stroke penalty.
Essentially, yellow rope means you’re technically not out-of-bounds, but you’re taking a penalty stroke anyway. It’s one of the many ways that this course takes disc golf to a new level of difficulty. The image below of Hole 6 taken from the official caddy book is a great example of how a hazard area can easily come into play.
Click to enlarge.
And it doesn't end there. Winthrop also has several holes where the standard rules of an out-of-bounds throw don’t apply. For example, take a look at the par 5 hole 13 below. The Hole Specific Rules section states “Shots that land OB are limited to previous lie only. This includes shots from the tee and from the fairway. In order to advance, a shot must come to rest either in-bounds or in Hazard”. The precision and accuracy required is matched by no other course or event in disc golf.
Click to enlarge.
In its 15 year history, the USDGC has only seen 7 different champions, the most recent of which was Steve Brinster #10628 in 2013. He’ll have to defend his title against perhaps the toughest field of competition the event has ever seen. After setting the single round course record last year with an unbelievable 15 under par (rated 1094 ), you can bet that 3X World Champion Paul McBeth #27523 will be looking to add his name to the list of USDGC champions. Just to give you an idea, there are 15 different competitors in the field with an overall rating of 1030 or higher. Of the 61 total competitors, only 13 have a rating under 1000.
DiscGolfPlanet.TV will be streaming the entire event live online and if you can’t catch that there are plenty of other ways to keep up with all the action. We've listed a handful of them below. Good luck to everyone in the Open Flight and Performance Flight fields of the 2014 USDGC! See you in Rock Hill!
USDGC Media
Other
- The Disc Golf Guy on YouTube
- HukLab Tumblr (featuring photos by Stuart Mullenberg)