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Blistering Start

Blistering Start

2023 Throw Pink Round 1 Recap

Thursday, October 5, 2023 - 23:47

Eveliina Salonen tees off Thursday at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA

The field came out swinging at Winthrop to open the 2023 Throw Pink Women’s Disc Golf Championship on Thursday.

Nineteen players finished under par, the best collective round in the short history of the TPWDGC and one of a few records broken as a whole, according to StatMando.

At the top, three Europeans and a 16-year-old lead the way.

Eveliina Salonen is on top of the leaderboard with a blistering 11-under start in Rock Hill, South Carolina for the third edition of Throw Pink. Fellow Fin Henna Blomroos followed suite with a 10-under round.

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Henna Blomroos lines up a shot during Round 1 of the TPWDGC. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA

Both avoided the OB at Winthrop, a standalone feat of its own. Blomroos went bogey-free and Salonen carded just one bogey, coming on the first hole.

Salonen went 6-under through a five-hole stretch, including one of just three eagles on the do-or-die ninth, and she finished 5-under over the final seven holes. Overall, Salonen hit 91% of the fairways and putted 75% from C1X, according to UDisc.

On the same card to open the four-round event, Blomroos was the only player in the field to birdie the first three holes. She added two more turkeys at the turn, going 6-under through seven holes from holes 8-11.

In third, three strokes out of the lead, is Kristin Tattar, who exploded for seven-straight birdies from 5 to 11. Tattar had three OB strokes and two bogies.

The three European players led in the top driving statistics, with Salonen and Tattar leading in strokes gained tee-to-green, according to UDisc, at 7.06 and 6.81, respectively. They were also the top three in Circle 1 in regulation.

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Rounding out the lead card is Eliezra Midtylng, the reigning FJ18 PDGA World Champion and the winner of the distance competition at the 2023 PDGA Pro Worlds, a title she took down on her 16th birthday last month.

Midtylng recovered from a bogey-bogey start with a strong 8-under run through 10 holes. She capped her stellar round with an eagle on the 18th, becoming the only player to card the three in the short history of Throw Pink.

She’s two strokes clear of a five-way tie at 4-under.

Live coverage of Round 2 kicks off at 8:30 a.m. ET on the Disc Golf Network. Active PDGA members receive a 50% discount on their DGN subscription.