Sarah Hokom #34563 teeing off on Hole 1 at Maple Hill during a practice round. Photo Credit: Don Smith #16831

It was an exciting day at the opener of the 2016 Vibram Open, both on and off the course. On top of having a majority of the best disc golfers in the world on site ready to take on one of the best courses in the world, today was also the inaugurat of the Disc Golf Pro Tour and the first round of the sixth stop on the PDGA National Tour.

The festival-like experience that Tournament Steve Dodge has created for the Vibram Open makes Maple Hill an entertaining event for competitors and spectators alike. While players are on the course, spectators that are on their way in or on their way out are engulfed by disc golf mini-games, food and beverages, disc golf vendors, and more. Even the players coming off the course disappointed in their round can finish with a smile, as Maple Hill boasts one of the most fun and unique finishing greens in disc golf.

The featured group of the day was the Champions Card, a tradition at Maple Hill where the tournament winners from the last three years play against each other, joined by the current year’s Advanced division winner during the Vibram Open Am Side event, typically taking place a week or two prior.

The Am Side winner this year in the Advanced division was Tony Cavalieri #66016, a local 20-something from Merrimac, Massachusetts, a small town that sits an hour and half northeast of Maple Hill. Having never even competed in an A-Tier, Cavalieri got to play on the main stage with the likes of Paul McBeth #27523, Ricky Wysocki #38008, and Jeremy Koling #33705.

"That was probably the best experience a non-touring pro could ever have," said Cavalieri. "It's amazing to be able to battle with the top pros. I played well and tried to just play my own game, but at the same time I wanted to be a little aggressive and make some big shots for the people watching the footage."

Tony Cavalieri, Advanced division winner at the 2016 Vibram Open Am Side, earned the honor of playing with the past Vibram Open champions.

Julie Ferdella #52861 was the Advanced Women’s division winner, another Massacusetts local, from the very town that claims home to Maple Hill, Leicester. And yes, it is in fact pronounced “Les-tah”, in much the same way that the neighboring town of Worcester is pronounced “Woo-stah”. Ferdella got to play with women of equal stardom: Catrina Allen #44184, Paige Pierce #29190, and Val Jenkins #17495.

Returning to the sport after an eight week hiatus due to a shoulder injury, no one was really sure how Sarah Hokom’s round would fare. However, Maple Hill fits her game better than most, as she has always excelled on courses where precise lines are required off the tee. Tight, wooded fairways give her a leg up, but after such a long break from competitive play, very few would have predicted the outcome of the first round.

Sarah Hokom didn’t just play well, she is in the lead! Her round of even par (60) that included four birdies and only four bogeys allowed her to restart her disc golf season with a score that is unofficially rated at 996.

Catrina Allen is in 2nd place, three off the lead at 63. Val Jenkins and Paige Pierce will join them tomorrow on the lead card for Round 2, reuniting a foursome that we’ve grown so used to watching over the last five years.    

When the Open division Champions Card began, Brad Williams #31644 had already set the bar high, finishing with a seven under par (53) that included an ace on Hole 5 and only one bogey. The easily identifiable screaming and yelling that aces cause was heard several times today, as Hole 5 was aced once and Hole 8 was aced not once, not twice, but thrice! Congrats to Zackeriath Johnson #50312, Matt Dollar #26045, and Nikko Locastro #11534 for their Hole 8 aces!

Nikko Locastro's ace on Hole 8 of Maple Hill Gold - Video by The Disc Golf Guy

McBeth and Koling got off to blazing start, but that never means much at Maple Hill. Each hole is seemingly more difficult than the next, as fatigue and frustration can, and often do, slowly chip away at the mental game of even the best players. The middle of the course is where things started to take a turn in McBeth’s favor. McBeth continued picking off birdies whenever possible, while Koling and Wysocki struggled.

With McBeth pulling away, the real story became whether or not he could finish strong enough to match the two players that were now in the clubhouse at eight under par, one better than the previous leader Brad Williams; Devan Owens #25168 and Alex Geisenger #52063.

With back-to-back birdies to finish the round, McBeth tied it up, securing his spot on the lead card. Playing one card ahead of him, Nate Doss #11794 also finished at eight under par, meaning that we have a four-way tie for the lead to kick off Round 2 tomorrow afternoon.

Scores and Coverage

The Disc Golf Pro Tour has partnered with UDisc to bring in a slew of scoring statistics, both per player and per hole that are similar to what we’ve seen already this year the Disc Golf World Tour’s “Disc Golf Metrix”, but with a few additional statistics that we’ve never seen in the past. The UDisc “Instant Stats” can all be seen on udisclive.com for Round 1, and will continue for the rest of the weekend. If you are having issues viewing the scores on udisclive.com, worry not. There are hole-by-hole scores for the top cards on pdgalive.com as well.

Click on the image to view all of Sarah Hokom's stats on udisclive.com.

The SmashBoxxTV crew is on site doing live video coverage on the Disc Golf Pro Tour YouTube channel for the lead card each day, so make sure you are following the DGPT on Facebook and Twitter for updates and links about their coverage for the next three rounds, schedule to start at approximately 2:45pm EDT.

Last but not least, you can always follow the live updates, pics, and videos via @pdgalive on Twitter. Photos from the day are available for viewing and/or downloading on the PDGA Flickr page.

Follow along for Round 2 of the Vibram Open with the lead card women teeing off at 8:30am EDT and the lead card men teeing off at 3:00pm EDT.

2016 Vibram Open - Round 1 - Front 9 - Koling, McBeth, Wysocki, Cavalieri - Video by Prodigy Disc