Juliana's Disc Golf Stuff: Michiana Open Results

This was the first supertour event in the state of Indiana. It was also the site of the 1996 Professional World Championships which was the first pro worlds that I attended. It was nice to be back and play the courses again. My perceptions have changed drastically since 1996. There were holes that I couldn't reach back in '96 that I am now throwing with a midrange or putter.

Jason Samuel was the tournament director for this event and it was obvious that he had done his research. He chose to have the player's meeting Friday night at the host hotel instead of having 3 separate ones at the courses prior to the first round Saturday. Shawn and I much prefer this method. It also lends an air of excitement to the event with all the players getting together the night before.

Nearly every day of the week prior to this event saw rain. Thankfully, the forecast for the weekend was for dry cooler weather. Saturday morning was actually quite chilly as we started our first round at Rum Village. This course is in a beautiful park with rolling hills and big majestic trees. The course itself is incredibly short and very easy. For the tournament, all the courses were extended to 24 holes. Saturday morning, Lesli had the hot round for the women shooting 7 under par. I was one back of Lesli and Sue Stephens was one behind me. In the men's division, Brian Schweberger shoots a solid round of 15 under par (note, Brian didn't get his first birdie until his 7th hole. He then had 9 birdies in a row). There were also a few 14s and Shawn was close behind with a 13 under.

We had plenty of time between rounds to get to the next course which was Ox Bo. This course is carved through trees and underbrush. It has a few long holes, but for the most part it is also a short course. It is much harder, and calls for all kinds of trick shots to get you out of trouble or through the brush and trees. I was hoping to shoot par on this course and I came close with a score of 3 over par. I had some yips with the puts at the end of the round which was a frustrating way to end. Lesli played quite well and carded a one under par which put her 5 strokes in front of me. I extended my lead on Sue and Michelle Bovin who where tied 8 strokes behind me.

In the men's division, I'm still not quite sure what (or how it) happen. Shawn ended up shooting 4 under and was fairly pleased with that until he saw the other scores. There was an eleven under and 4 people shot 10 as well a number of people at 8 and 9. These are unbelievable scores for this course. There are a number of holes on this course where I had no idea how to throw towards the basket due to the trees and undergrowth.

Sunday morning was chilly again and the forecast called for 20 mile an hour winds. I started out playing OK and managed not to get into too much trouble. I gain a couple strokes right away then slowly gained a stroke her and there. By about half way through the round I had caught up with Lesli. We stayed neck and neck for the rest of the round. With 5 holes left I was leading by one. By now the wind was blowing quite strongly. I birdied hole 14 and gained a stroke. Lesli then came back on 15 with a birdie and got that stroke right back. 16 is 430 ft over a valley. We all took threes on it. Hole 17 plays 273 feet to a basket on the point of a ridge at the highest point on the course. It is tricky enough when it isn't windy, but we were facing a howling right to left crosswind. Lesli's drive hyzered into the building short left of the basket and landed behind the building. I threw my midrange low and flat. It looked good but as it slowed down it caught the wind and blew 40 feet left of the basket and down the ridge. Michelle was next on the tee and hit the pole with her Valkyrie! It was an incredible shot. Lesli had to hyzer around the building on her upshot. It was a difficult shot as she had to show the bottom of her disc to the wind. The wind did take her disc and blew her into the building again. This time it gave her a somewhat favorable kick and she landed shot right of the basket with an uphill tailwind putt. Sue was next up with a 50-60 foot uphill putt that she drained. It was huge. Now it was my turn. Like I said, I was only 40 or 50 feet from the basket, but I could just see the top of the basket over the ridge that I had to throw to the top of. I threw my putter and it just made it over the top of the ridge, but it was still to tall as the wind caught the bottom of the disc and pushed it way up in the air and to the left. I was still out with a 25-30 foot putt. With the wind on that ledge, I just wanted to put it as close to the pole as I could. I kept it low and stayed about 10 feet. Lesli then attempted her uphill putt which the wind got under and pushed 20 feet past the basket. She missed her next put and took a 5 as I dropped in my 4. Finally it was time for Michelle to drop in her put for an easy 2. Now we have one hole left to play and I have a 2 stroke lead. The hole is only 273 feet and it is down hill, but it was playing right into the strong headwind. Michelle was first on the tee and the wind turned her drive over immediately so that it hit the ground rolling. Sue was next throwing her drive out wide with a lefty hyzer. It was a good line, but the wind knocked it down. I was next and threw low and flat. It went long left, but left me with about a 40 foot putt. Lesli ended up about 40 ft right of the basket. We all ended up with threes. It was an exciting finish.

Shawn had a tough time with his putts that round and finished tied for 16th shooting 21 under par for the tournament.

Pro Women ( total 7)
		Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Total
1.	Juliana Korver	66	75	72	213
2.	Lesli Herndon	65	71	79	215
3.	Sue Stephens	67	81	75	223
3.	Michelle Bovin	70	78	75	223
5.	Barrett White	75	76	75	226
6.	Jonna Tury	80	86	85	251
7.	Jen Dombrowski	80	95	82	257

Pro Men ( total 60)
		Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Total
1.	Brian Schweberger	57	63	62	182
2.	Barry Schultz	61	62	60	183
3.	Ron Russell	58	64	62	184
4.	Todd Branch	62	62	62	186
4.	Matthew Blakely	62	61	63	186
5.	Mike Randolph	62	64	63	189
7.	Bob Hoffman	58	66	65	189
7.	Kevin McCoy	60	66	64	190
9.	Mike Raley	63	62	65	190
9.	Cameron Todd	63	64	63	190