[phoenix]

On March 3, Liberty hosted the Liberty FlameThrower Collegiate Qualifier. LU disc golfer Joses Merat had the low score for singles, and Liberty tied for second in doubles for an overall second place in the tournament, three behind first place East Tennessee. Appalachian State received the invitation at this tournament by tying with LU for second since both East Tennessee and Liberty had qualified for nationals previously. Nationals will be held April 12-15 at the Hippodrome Disc Golf Complex in North Augusta, SC.

The LU team is currently ranked 34 in the nation.

[Sly Fox]

These guys have gotten their program off to a great start.

[TDDance234]

A little more info: here.

[Purple Haize]

Whos the coach? We had some competitive games back in the day where I went to school! Until the soccer coach told us to get off the field!

[phoenix]

Disc golf is now ranked 6 in the nation! Looks like the tourney on the mountain wasn't factored into the ranking I posted the other day.

http://www.ncdgc.com/rankings.htm

{edit to add} And I posted that right before I looked at the link TDD posted

[phoenix]

Nationals start Thursday and run through Sunday. Liberty is ranked 7th in the nation as of March 13th (the last time the rankings were updated, looks like). 6 rounds played over 4 courses (the layouts look intense - and LONG). 2 doubles rounds and four singles rounds.

Discgolfplanet.tv used to do a live stream of the collegiate nationals, but they aren't this year. There is usually YouTube video after the tournament for those who are interested, but watching disc golf is a lot like watching paint dry if you don't play.

[phoenix]

Looks like DiscGolfPlanet will be broadcasting SOME of the collegiate championships. Problem is that there's a fairly major tournament this weekend in Texas, so they're doing split coverage between the two.

{edit to add} Also just noticed that LU is one of only three schools to field a women's team. I like our chances there!

[BJWilliams]

Update from SC: LU men are in 10th place after the first doubles round, 6 shots out of the lead. Women 6 shots off the lead as well

[phoenix]

Looks like LU has three teams competing -- they've got an Open Men's team (who shot -8 in the first round), the women's team (+21 in round 1), and an Advanced Men's team (Even par in the first round).

Team Competition standings
Individual Competition standings

[phoenix]

Liberty is in a tie for 13th after 2 rounds of medal play and one round of best-shot doubles. The LU women are in third (out of three). Two more rounds of medal play and one round of doubles still to go. Looks like the Advanced men's teams only play doubles. Individual scores haven't been posted yet on the PDGA site (which is notoriously slow anyway).

[BJWilliams]

Liberty unfortunately missed out on making the final day finishing 27th, but Joses Merat was named an All American on the men's side in singles.

[Sly Fox]

Congrats to Joses!

[phoenix]

This first-year team did an outstanding job this year at Nationals! The Hippodrome courses are some TOUGH disc golf courses, and they hung with some tough competition. I think they'll be a perennial contender at Nationals, and it won't be too long before they win their first national championship.

[BJWilliams]

Agreed...it was super windy out there too from the webcast. Add that to some very tough hole placements and thatll lead to some pretty high numbers...but to perform like they did as a brand new program I agree is outstanding

[phoenix]

Every time I caught the webcast, it was coverage of the Glass Blown Open, so I never got to see the collegiate championships. LAST year they had bell to bell coverage, including the distance competition and everything, but with the GBO happening at the same time it wasn't going to happen this year