Originally published at: https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2021/10/08/tpwdgc-carey-makes-moves-into-second-pierce-holds-onto-lead/
Deann Carey at the 2021 TPWDGC. Photo: PDGA
The story was looking like a lot of the same on the second round at Winthrop during the Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship, but a couple late missteps kept day one’s leader from building an even larger margin over the field.
- Paige Pierce’s five stroke lead remains, and had it not been for a slow back 9 it could have been larger. After a early releasing on her approach on hole 11 into the hazard and saving par with an 80+ foot jump putt, Pierce was 3-over par for the remainder of the holes with two double-bogeys and finished her round at even par and 7-under par for the event. After avoiding OB on Wednesday, she had five OB strokes on Thursday and didn’t reach Circle 1 in regulation over the final six holes. Through 36 holes she is still top tree in C2 and C1 in regulation, fairway hits, parked shots, and strokes gained from tee-to-green.
- Tying Ohn Scoggins (T-6th) for the hot round with a 999-rated, 4-under par was Deann Carey, who jumped six spots up the leaderboard into solo second place at 2-under par total. With the exception of three two-putts on the back 9, Carey’s round was pretty clear of mistakes and only saw a single OB stroke. She was second best in the field in both strokes gained from tee-to-green and finding C1 in regulation.
- Heather Young seemed to struggle with the course once again with another roller coaster round. Five birdies were accompanied by six bogeys to tally her round at 1-over par. Four of her bogeys were due to the treacherous OB, while still catching fairway at a rate of 73%. Although her round is up and down, she is totally dialed on the greens. Young converted 100% of her C1X putts for a second day in the row and cannot seem to miss from inside 33-feet. Young sits a single stroke back from Carey at 1-under par.
- After opening the round with three birdies back-to-back, Valerie Mandujano’s back 9 was not as flashy as her front. After a pretty consistent beginning, Mandujano bogeyed or worse on four out of her last seven holes. The silver lining of her round was her consistency off the tee’s finishing second in fairway hits at 91%. A 2-over par on the round places her in sole fourth place rounding out the lead card entering moving day.
- Scoggins tied Carey for the hot round with only one bogey on the round which resulted in the least number of blemishes from the field. Her putter caught on fire where she buried eight C1X putts in a row with a success rate of 82%. Her highlight moment, similar to Carey, came on hole two as well where she threw it in, this time from 80-feet. She sits at 2-over on the week which is tied for 6th.
- Catrina Allen continues to struggle throughout the week. After a promising 4-under front 9, she shot bogey or worse on three of the last four. Her putting woes still seem to haunt her at just 52%, but steady driving off the tee keeps her around. Her even par round sees no overall improvement to her 6-over par day one, where she sits in 12th.
Statline
Kat Mertsch holds the statline of the day after a remarkable display from close range. She tied with Heather Young at 100% C1X putting but was able to make some ground up leading the field at 4.29 strokes gained putting. Her C2 putting also rounded out amongst the top four with a success rate of 33%. She sits tied for 14th, but that putter could make her a threat down the stretch.
Heard
“No, because I do it every weekend so it’s gonna be just another day.” – Deann Carey, on whether she would have any lead card jitters during round 3.
“Going into the round tomorrow I am not going to think too much about the back 9 and being scared of it. I feel very comfortable on the whole course, it’s just making sure that I stay confident and feel like I am in control when I’m on the tee pad.” – Paige Pierce, on her mentality going into day three.