Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2018/09/16/hokom-shoots-hot-take-delaware-lead/
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Sarah Hokom shot the hot round on moving day to take a one-stroke lead at the Delaware Disc Golf Challenge. Hokom 982-rated 4-under par 68 puts her at 6-under par 138 total for the tournament.
Paige Bjerkaas shot 2-under par 70 and sits in solo second place at 5-under par 139 for the tournament. She held her lead from day one for the entire round until a bogey on hole 18 to Hokom’s birdie caused a two-stroke swing and late deficit. Bjerkass still leads the field in birdie rate, 36-percent, and fairway hits, 80-percent for the weekend.
Estonian Kristin Tattar carded 3-under par through eight holes before taking a double bogey on the 555-foot par 4 hole 9. She then carded three more birdies, along with another double bogey and single bogey to end up at 1-under par 71 for the day and 1-under par 143 total for the tournament. She remains in third.
Catrina Allen started the day hot, carding three birdies on the first three holes. Ultimately, she ended the round with a 2-over par 74 to put her at 4-over par 148 total for the tournament and in solo fourth place. Allen is ranked 12th out of 15 players in Circle 1 putting.
Elaine King collected a birdie on hole 5, but also carded four bogeys that resulted in a 3-over par 75 for the round. This puts her at 5-over par 149 total for the tournament and in fifth place.
Putters Heat Up
After some lower than usual putting numbers for Hokom and Bjerkaas in round one, round two saw them both increase their Circle 1 putting to 90-percent, up from 71-percent and 79-percent respectively on Friday. Tattar wasn’t far behind at 86-percent putting in round two.
All three players combined that with 33-percent birdie rates in round two to continue their pursuit of the tournament title on lead card.
Hole 17 Woes
Hole 17 has proven to be the most difficult hole to par on the course for the field in both round one and two. In round two, it played almost two strokes over par, with no one taking a par on it.
Even with a well-defined fairway off the tee, it is very tight with trouble to be found with any slightly errant throw. King, in her commentary on round one, stated that the fairway is actually slightly more open after player feedback. Both King and Hokom agreed on the commentary that it takes three or four “mashes” to even hope to find the basket.
All of this sets up for a late challenge and potential for an exciting finish in the final round of stop five on the National Tour.
The lead card of Hokom, Bjerkaas, Tattar, and Allen tees off at 9 am local time. Follow scoring on UDisc Live, and post-round coverage will be released Sunday.