Torrential rain and thunderstorms have plagued a majority of the PDGA National Tour and Major events thus far in 2014. All signs and forecasts predicted a full day of rain and wind for the second round of the Maple Hill Open presented by Vibram and unfortunately it was one of the few occasions where the meteorologists were dead on. By 11:30AM, the rain started coming down. When the women’s lead card teed off at 3:30PM, it was still going strong. Hurricane Arthur provided a continuous downpour for a solid 10+ hours here in Leicester with the only upside being the exciting shifts on the leaderboards.

It’s hard to say what day should be considered “moving day” at a four day event. If yesterday wasn’t the purest definition of the term, then we don’t know what is.  For starters, the player who shot the hot round with a 52 (-8), Devin Frederick #16287, finished round one in an 11-way tie for 49th place with many of the 48 players ahead of him also gridlocked in ties. Where is he sitting now after shooting an unofficially rated 1082 round through four hours of rain? Well…on the lead card of course.

Until Frederick’s score was turned in towards the end of the day, the hot round was held by Christian Dietrich #27984. Christian was the only player to shoot a 54, unofficially rated at 1068, propelling him from 79th place all the way up to 15th going into round 3. By the end of the day 117 of the 168 competitors in the field had turned in scores that were the same or worse (or much worse) than their scores from the day prior. For those that played better in the elements, moving up was inevitable.

The Open Women’s division lead card will be last to tee off again today at 3:20pm. Paige Pierce #29190 is now in the lead but only by a single stroke. Sitting in a 3-way tie for second place are Catrina Allen #44184, Val Jenkins #17495, and Sarah Hokom #34563. Hokom played a great round yesterday, moving her up from 12th place all the way to being tied for second. Des Reading #15863 started the day on the lead card but was edged out by Hokom’s hot round of 65 (also shot by Pierce). 

David Feldberg #12626 started on the lead card yesterday and would be the only one of the four to remain there going into the round today. Feldberg sits alone at the top with a three stroke cushion between himself and the rest of the card.  Joining him will be three of the four players tied for second place: Jeremy Koling #33705, Steve Brinster #10628, and Devin Frederick. Josh Childs #13007 completes the 4-way tie for second place, but will start at the top of the chase card after the shuffle. They will tee off at 2:00PM EDT. 

The conditions at Maple Hill today are sunny, warm, and thankfully precipitation-free. However, a new element will test the competitors today….wind. The gusts have already ripped pop-up tents out of the ground, knocked over signs, and flipped over stable drivers for many of those who have already teed off this morning down the valley of hole one. 

Live streaming coverage of the Open division’s lead card via SmashBoxxTV will start today at 1:00PM EDT on their YouTube channel. Live hole-by-hole scoring for every single competitor can be seen once again today on PDGALive.com with commentary, pics, videos, and updates from @PDGALive on Twitter in the feed on the side. 

Follow along as we find out which players will make the cut for the finals tomorrow. Only the top 72 men and 12 women (plus ties if applicable) will make it through. It’s hard to say whether or not the wind will render scores better or worse than yesterday’s conditions. Only time will tell.