2021 Worlds Day 1 Recap (test)

Here we are: Worlds 2021. I don’t know about you, but I thought this moment would never come, yet here we are. A new year brings new competition and that new competition is popping off left and right: Dallin Blanchard is tied for third, Kade Filimoehala is tied for 20th and Kyle Klein and Mason Ford are tied for sixth along with Connor O’Reilly. However, this new year has also brought with it familiar names not so common nowadays in the likes of Cameron Colglazier, Dan Hastings, Zackeriath Johnson, and Dion Arlyn.

While that is all fun and good, I am going to take a slightly different approach to this recap and it may not be as long as others. I am going to test writing this with the exact tones and vernacular with which I would speak it. Nevertheless, on with us.

We will start this recap at the top and work our way on down to the point where we run out of newsworthy names. Ricky Wysocki and Nate Sexton are tied for first after round one. Both played consistent golf and netted themselves only a bogey each on the day. Kevin Jones, Calvin Heimburg, Dallin Blanchard and Thomas Gilbert are all tied for third place, the initial two names being in my predicted favorites for the title this year. All shot -9, just one stroke behind the leaders (-10).

There are 11 players tied for seventh place at -8 and there is not a single chance I am going to write them all down. However, Paul McBeth, James Proctor, Anthony Barela and Cameron Colglazier are all tied at -7 and because of this, I am terrified of the number 7. That may be the scariest card we see all tournament and Nate and Ricky are going to struggle to keep ahead of them. You heard it here first. And this is after McBeth absolutely ‘chundered’ hole eighteen.

But the scores aren’t the fun part of writing this recap, no. I get the distinct pleasure of informing you why Anthony Barela could have a three stroke lead if it weren’t for mild inaccuracies and some awful luck. AB threw six, yes SIX, shots out of bounds, four of which were during his last six holes. Yikes, you hate to see it.

Now onto the only division people should care about, FPO. Paige is in the lead, oogedy boogedy nobody saw that coming, and Hailey King is in second, just one stroke back of Paige at -2. Sarah Gilpin and Valerie Mandujano will round out the lead card tomorrow and the list of women who shot under par today. Lisa Fajkus, Cat, Madison Walker, and Kristin Tattar are all tied for fifth place at even par for the day. Despite the fair scores, Fort Buenaventura proved to be a big challenge for some big names. Household names such as Kona Panis, Alexis Mandujano, Vanessa Van Dyken, Holly Finley, and Missy Gannon all shot well outside their second standard deviations and are set to provide an entertaining series of comebacks as the week progresses. I cannot wait to watch some women’s disc golf this week.

Massive shoutout to Paul and Paige for showing humanlike sentience on the final hole of the round.

Thank you to the PDGA for slapping their name on Worlds for yet another year and to Grip6 for keeping the competitors waistbands above the pelvic region.