PDGA ROY and POY Candidates

Who's in the hunt for Player or Rookie of the Year?
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Click on the pic above to see the charts better.

The current standings for the 2009 PDGA Players & Rookies of the Year have been updated. Seven men and seven women have the best Average Ratings in their seven best events for Player of the Year (POY) for events thru the USDGC. Six men and six women have the best Average Ratings in their five best events toward Rookie of the Year (ROY) thru the USDGC. The top 7 (POY) and top six (ROY) players with the best Average Ratings in their best events by yearend will make the finals before the final calculations determine the POY and ROY award winners for 2009. These players are on top so far. You can click on the above pic to see it better. Full details for each candidate and the calculation process have been posted here.

The Women rookies with Average Ratings in red do not yet have the minimum five events needed by the end of the year to qualify as finalists. So they need to play well in qualifying events the rest of the year to keep up with Haley Konrad who is technically in the lead right now. All of the other players in the four tables already have the minimum number of events needed. They can still improve their Average Rating if late season events are better than ones already included.
Almost three months of events have not yet been reported. Positions can still change within the top candidates. Other players just out of the top six or seven can still get in with many events to go. However, only events that are B-tier or higher where at least 54 holes are played can count toward the standings.
In addition to their Average Rating shown here, the finalists' Average Rating at Worlds and Finish Percentage (100% is best) in their best events are part of the final awards calculation. For POY only, Head-to-Head peformance against the other finalists will be included.

In the Bag - Nikko Locastro

2009 USDGC Champion Nikko Locastro is sponsored by Gateway Discs, but they allow him to throw a mixed bag of all manufacturer's discs. So here's a video showing what's in the bag for Nikko.

Disc Golf Course #3000!

This comes from the PDGA Website:

A Milestone for Disc Golf!

by Michl Priester #34623(Introduced by Dan “Stork” Roddick #3)
Just recently, Cliff Towne, keeper of the PDGA Course Directory, reported that he had registered the 3,000th disc golf course. This was particularly exciting because the course, which is the Schmitten Discgolf Parcours, is the first to be registered in Austria. To put this milestone into some perspective, do remember that the first permanent disc golf course in the world, at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena, California, was established by Ed Headrick and Wham-O in 1974. Disc golf had been played for a good many years at tournaments prior to 1974, but this was the first permanent installation. So… it’s been 35 years from the first to the 3,000th course. That may seem a long time to you, especially if you’re under twenty. But, if we take a look at our much older cousin, ball golf, we see an interesting comparison of development. The first mention of golf was way back in 1452 when King James (not of Cleveland... King James II of Scotland) banned the playing of golf because it was cutting into time spent on archery practice. So, we know the game was being played informally for many, many years before the Society of St. Andrews Golfers got it together to form the first club in 1754, which would later become the Royal and Ancient. It’s hard to find a good timeline of global ball golf course development, but we do know that the 3,000th course did not get built in the U.S. until 1916. So, it took the grand old game roughly 450 years from inception to 3,000 courses. Or, more realistically, 162 years from the first club to that point of development. Given that, our 35 years is pretty darn impressive. We got traction on this game very quickly. Now, do remember that ball golf has continued to grow and now boasts over 31,000 courses worldwide, with about 17,000 of them in the U.S. It’s also estimated that there are about 50 million ball golfers on the planet… and of course there’s been one on the moon.
But, back to our 3,000th course, which is special in several ways. For one, because it’s the first registered course in Austria, it’s emblematic of the global burst of interest that has hit disc golf.

For more on this course and a run-through of the course catch this link;

Course #3000

Final Round Video from USDGC

Nikko is Champ!

This is from the USDGC site by Todd Harrell

Disc golf fans around the world, thanks to this year’s Internet TV production, witnessed a changing of the guard as the young gun Nikko Locastro overtook veteran Dave Feldberg and claimed the United States Disc Golf Championship with (-34).

Locastro, 21 years old, produced a bogey free round and ended with a 57 (-11), while the 5-time major champion Feldberg logged in a 62 (-6) and lost by two strokes.

During the awards ceremony following the round, Feldberg, who won the 2005 Open, commended Locastro on his first major tournament win.“Nikko Locastro now proved he is one of the top players of the world,” Feldberg said.

Until Saturday, Locastro’s biggest win was at The Memorial, a national tour event held earlier in March.“I’ve been looking for a big win to satisfy my hunger,” a delighted Locastro said after the round.

When asked if winning the Open was as sweet as he’d dreamed for so many years he said, “Yeah, It feels even better.”

Although the Missouri resident had respectable rounds on day one and two with a 62 and 61 respectively, it wasn’t until round three, when he shot a 58, that Locastro positioned himself within reach of Feldberg. And, when Locastro got his shot at the lead card he made the most of it.

He said in order to get into striking position he had to remain focused, play smart and “get aggressive when it was time to be aggressive.”

After leading the entire week, Feldberg could not stop the surging Locastro. He tied Feldberg after hole 7 when Feldberg failed to convert his birdie attempt. Then on the next hole, Feldberg’s drive hit a tree and went out of bounds, and later led to a bogey. Locastro, however, birdied the par four hole and took a two stroke lead.

Feldberg rallied and gained a stroke back on Locastro on hole 9 and then tied it after he eagled hole 10. Also on hole 10, Locastro’s initial drive went into the bunker, resulting in no penalty. On his second drive, he delivered a beauty that allowed him to eventually collect a birdie. Locastro then took the lead again after making a birdie on hole 11 and charged on, while Feldberg failed to make another rally.

Spectators were eating up the drama. Their numbers had swelled to at least 300 by the time the lead group arrived at hole 16. When Locastro, who placed 27th last year, nearly parked his drive the fans erupted in applause. Then as he walked down the fairway, an enthusiastic supporter yelled “Nikko!” to rally the player forward.

Crowd numbers were surely boosted by the fair weather. Yesterday forecasts had called for storms.Spectator, Kim Theesen, of Lincoln, Neb., was in Atlanta for the week and wanted to stop by and the see the Open for the first time.“These guys are really good,” Theesen said.
Droves of spectators world-wide also watched in anticipation. The tournament’s Internet TV production collected 7,700 viewers Saturday.

Although Feldberg was struggling to rally late, he did sink a big putt on hole 18 to claim sole ownership of 2nd place above Josh Anthon, who had a scorching round of 53 (-15). Anthon’s phenomenal round brought him to 3rd place and the course record.“Good luck trying to beat that new course record,” Anthon said during the award ceremony.

After the round Feldberg gave credit to Locastro for his solid play.“The kid earned it,” Feldberg said, adding that he commended Locastro for relentless practice in order to get to this point.
He said that after his disappointing performance he’s going to rededicate himself to tournament play.

As for Locastro, after the round he was soaking it all in. As he began signing the first of what would surely be dozens of autographs, he seemed on top of the world.“I’m honored and very satisfied,” said the 2009 Open champion, who also collects a $15,000 check.

Any Fringe Freaks out there?

I am - I love that show.

Nikko Locastro is your 2009 USDGC Champion!

Even with Josh Anthon breathing down his neck shooting a course record of 53, Nikko keeps is cool and wins with a -34 under par. Dave Feldberg 2nd, Anthon 3rd, and Doss 4th. There were some mixups on the online leader boards so I hope I got this right. Earlier they had Anthon and Feldberg tied.