Disc golfers in South Carolina for Dean’s Cup, setting stage for USDG Nationals
10/7/2022 4:20:24 PM | Disc Golf
Liberty University’s disc golf team, which enjoyed record numbers at tryouts after experiencing one of its strongest showings at last spring’s College Disc Golf (CDG) National Championships in Marion, N.C., carried four of its men’s players and two of its women to this weekend’s U.S. Disc Golf Championships at Rock Hill, S.C., to compete in the four-team Dean’s Cup.
In Saturday’s first round, the Flames’ second-seeded men’s team — graduate Spencer Ellingson, seniors Clayton Lewis and Tim Schmidt, and junior Tristan Lambert — will compete against four players from No. 3-seeded North Carolina State, teeing off at 7:50 a.m. along with top-seeded, defending national champion Missouri and fourth-seeded Clemson. Then at 8:20 a.m., the Lady Flames’ fourth-seeded women’s pairing of senior Julia DiMartino and sophomore Maggie Presley, a transfer from Georgia Southern, will challenge No. 1 Missouri.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will play in doubles before the winners meet in Sunday’s finals and the losers compete in the consolation match.
“It’s a great way to start the year,” Liberty Head Coach Steve Bowman said. “Three years out of COVID, it’s a massive turnout for the tournament, so it is great to have the spectators and the players here. The Dean’s Cup is a neat atmosphere for a college to participate on a big stage like that. This is the first year that they’re inviting the ladies to come in and play. We’re focused on really doing well that first day, to set the tone and not look back.”
He said the level of competition in preseason practices has been stronger than ever, with five women’s players and 17 men in the mix.
“It is good to have who we have competing and fighting for spots, and we are excited to see where the program’s going to go,” Bowman said. “We kept eight new student-athletes for the travel team and four on the developmental team, and we returned 15, and they will all be traveling some. We want to be competitive at all levels and I think we’ll be as strong as we were last year, if not stronger.”
Liberty’s annual Flamethrower Invitational National Qualifier and Regional Championship will be pushed back to March, the month before the CDG National Championships. By that time, Bowman is hoping to get new tee pads and baskets in place for the East Campus and Hydaway Outdoor Center courses. He also wants to showcase some of the courses in the area, such as those at New London, Independence and Falling Creek in Bedford, and Sandusky Park in Lynchburg.
This semester, he wants to travel to either NC State or Clemson as well as Marian, N.C., to allow his players the opportunity to play the Gorge, Boulders, and River Run courses where nationals will be staged again this year.
Bowman is collaborating with other college programs to try to establish the Blue Ridge Conference, which will prospectively include Virginia Tech, Virginia, Eastern Mennonite, and other schools from Virginia, as well as Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
“There are 19 regions and conferences set up by College Disc Golf, and we are trying to build that environment around us and find schools that we could partner with and help grow the (Blue Ridge) Conference,” Bowman said.
Lewis and Lambert are looking forward to another successful spring as they gear up for this weekend’s Dean’s Cup tournament.
“Last year was a blast,” Lambert said. “Being back here is definitely very exciting for me, especially being with the team, just the atmosphere of being able to practice together, grow in our faith, and grow as friends, not only playing disc golf … is awesome.”
“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back that we’ve got a lot of experience with and talent there,” Lewis added. “It’s exciting to see all of the new guys, just a lot of excitement for disc golf and the program growing … (with) a lot of ladies coming in.”
Bowman believes the program will continue to grow along with the sport.
“Disc golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the world,” he said. “The fall is a great time for us to … get to know each other, get some throws in, and really represent how we come together as a team, how we perform, how we build that culture of excellence within the sport itself and in our own selves.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media