Senior Clayton Lewis, shown driving off the tee during last season's Flamethrower National Qualifier, placed third in singles Saturday at 3-under-par. (Photos by Ted Allen)
Disc golf competes in Mid-Atlantic Regional event, qualifies men’s D2 team, women’s tandem for CDC Nationals
10/24/2023 12:15:00 PM | Disc Golf
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Liberty's Division 1 and 2 men tied for fourth overall in a field that included 28 four-man teams from 17 different colleges and universities.
Playing in extremely windy conditions at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in Beaver Creek, Pa., over the weekend, Liberty University's men's Division 2 team finished first in its tier and tied with the Flames' Division I squad and Penn State for fourth overall with combined singles and doubles scores of 4-under-par.
Meanwhile, Liberty graduate Julia DiMartino and senior Maggie Presley teamed up for a 3-under-par showing to win the women's division by four strokes over a pair of players from Redeemer University in Ontario, Canada.
The strong showings qualified the Flames and Lady Flames for the College Disc Golf (CDG) National Championships in Rock Hill, S.C., in April. Meanwhile, the Flames' D1 squad finished one spot out of qualifying and will need to make the cut at either the SECO Tournament in Appleton, Ga., in early March or the Flamethrower Invitational hosted by Liberty at four courses in Bedford County later that month.
That tournament will use two courses that will be the primary playing fields for the Professional Disc Golf Association's (PDGA) World Championships next August — the New London Tech course designed by six-time world champion Paul McBeth and another 20-hole layout on the back nine of Ivy Hill Golf Course.
Head Coach Steve Bowman said the conditions at the Faylor Lake Disc Golf Park, site of the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, were very difficult to play through after rain dampened the course during Friday's practice event.
"There were 30-35-mile-per-hour gusts at times on Saturday and 15-20 (mph) on Sunday, so it was challenging," he said, noting that a few players lost discs in the course's water hazards. "We play in a lot of wind on our East Campus course and when we practice on the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. But when the pressure's on the line, you can't always replicate that."
Liberty D2 men's players, including Greyson Lifto, front, walk the New London course.
The D1 and D2 men battled the elements equally well, but wound up on opposite sides of duels with Cincinnati's D1 and D2 foursomes. Liberty's D2 quartet of sophomore Evan Riley, junior Greyson Lifto, senior Sam Vilcek, and graduate Noah Bailey edged the Bearcats D2 team by one stroke while the Flames' D1 squad featuring graduate Tim Schmidt, senior Clayton Lewis, junior John Weathersby, and sophomore Jonah Burdick finished eight shots back of the first-place Bearcats, five back of North Carolina State, and three behind Toledo.
Lewis tied for third out of 112 players through singles play with a 7-under-par round on Saturday, followed by Riley who tied for sixth at 6-under as well as Lifto and Vilcek, who tied at 2-under for 23rd.
DiMartino and Presley, who sank a 45-foot putt, made up five strokes on Redeemer's duo over a five-hole stretch of doubles play on Sunday to surge into the lead. Complete results are available online.
"The (Mid-Atlantic) Region is pretty strong, and there were seven teams there that finished in the top 10 at nationals last spring," Bowman said, noting that Liberty plays in the Blue Ridge Conference, which includes teams from Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. "So it was encouraging to see we were right there, and we had a shot."
