Ryan Monn and Lucas Carmichael set the pace with 5-under rounds in the opening round, which featured swirling winds, sporadic showers and intermittent sunshine, for the 148 players to kick off the 22nd running of this PDGA Major.
With a history of producing the next big names of the sport, the 22nd United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship on Friday at the famed Toboggan Course in Milford, Michigan.
You know the names of the previous winners of this PDGA Major — David Wiggins Jr., Benjamin Callaway, Anthony Barela, Gavin Rathbun, Kyle Klein and Robert Burridge, among many others — and at the end of three days on the demanding hills in Michigan, you'll learn a new name.
With back-to-back clean scorecards, Mulder followed up Friday’s blistering opening round with another bogey-free day to extend his lead to five strokes heading into Championship Sunday.
Ryan Mulder tees off during Round 1 of the 2023 USADGC in Michigan. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA
The 2023 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships started off hot as the top amateurs in the country played their first round on the Toboggan Disc Golf Course in Milford, Michigan. After just one round, two players have already beaten last year’s hot round to get themselves to the top of the leaderboard at the end of day 1.
This PDGA Amateur Major is one of the best chances for U.S. amateurs to perform at the highest level of competition and get a taste of professional life. Winning the USADGC has jumpstarted the professional careers of players like Benjamin Callaway (2011), Colten Montgomery (2014), Anthony Barela (2015), Gavin Rathbun (2016), Kyle Klein (2019), and Robert Burridge (2021).
Robert Burridge is the 2021 USADGC Champion. Photo: Mike Downes / PDGA
Touted as one of the last stops in the disc golf amateur ranks, the United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships has helped spark the professional careers of a number of players in its 20-year history.
We couldn’t have asked for a more exciting finish to the 2016 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship (USADGC), although we certainly wouldn’t have minded more favorable weather. With lightning delaying the event for nearly an hour in the early stages of the day, all we could do was cross our fingers and hope for smooth sailing throughout the afternoon.
“You should be writing about the minorities here,” said 26 year old Mike Conlee #41267 after his round with a smile. “Us old guys,” he said, referring to the fact that he is one of the few in the top 15 that isn’t a teenager. Going into the final round, in a similar fashion to last year’s USADGC, the lead card consists of a 15 year old, two 17 year olds, and one 18 year old.
Round 1 of the 2016 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship (USADGC) made one thing very clear - course experience doesn’t necessarily matter. All three of the competitors that are sharing the lead heading into Round 2 tomorrow have never played the Toboggan outside of a couple of practice rounds prior to the start of the event. Despite the course being incredibly difficult and unforgiving, players far less familiar with the course than others rose to the occasion, finishing their rounds at seven under par (55), unofficially rated at 1012.
It must be the first weekend in June, because here we are, back at the renowned Toboggan DGC. Playing up, down, and across what is normally only used for toboggan sled runs in the cold winters of Michigan, there’s no denying that this is one of the most, if not the most, unique courses in the Midwest. For the 130 best of the best amateur competitors that have earned the right to be here at the 2016 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships (USADGC), the steep slopes should be the least of their worries.
When the second round of the United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship presented by Discraft started this afternoon, we knew that the four people on the lead card probably wouldn't be the same four to start the final round on Sunday. Why? For starters, if you checked the results from round one you would have seen seen at least 20 competitors within striking distance of the leaders. And the fact that the course being played is the Toboggan Championship course only reinforced the issue.
The first round of the United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship (USADGC) presented by Discraft has to come to an end here in Milford, MI on the formerly brutal Toboggan Championship course in Kensington Metropark. Over 140 of the best Ams from the United States and Canada were lucky enough to qualify for this prestigious event and they teed off, one-by-one, down the absurdly steep fairway of hole 1 to start their rounds.
Every year thousands of amateur disc golfers compete in tournament after tournament after tournament with the hopes of qualifying for the United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship presented by Discraft. Of the thousands that try, only 148 are honored with the chance to play in such a prestigious event. A victory at the USADGC is often the first major stepping stone to a successful career in the disc golf world. It brings with it the possibility of sponsorship from disc golf companies and provides the keys to many of the doors that a touring professional disc golfer needs to succeed.
