Liberty Disc Golf Places Second in Dean’s Cup

The Liberty disc golf team started its season off with a bang, finishing second in one of the biggest disc golf tournaments on the East Coast to open its 2021 campaign. 

The Dean’s Cup is the collegiate portion of the United States Disc Golf Championship (USDGC). It features a smaller lineup of schools this year due to COVID-19, but the competition still features a very talented group, including Georgia, who won the Dean’s Cup last year, Missouri S&T and Texas A&M.

The Cup is set up as a team competition with each school competing against each other. It is a team doubles competition with four players to each team. 

Each team is split up into two two-athlete pairings. Both of those pairs will work together throughout the course to make one collective score for the team. 

Liberty’s team is made up of Tristin Lambert, Justin Rosack, Steven Curry and Spencer Ellingston, three of whom are returning players. Head Coach Steve Bowman stated his enthusiasm for this group.

“We’re excited with those guys, three of those guys were on the team last year, so they have something to prove,” Bowman said.

The sport of disc golf is one of the quickest growing sports in America. It is a relatively new sport, especially to Liberty, establishing a place in the Flames’ program in 2011. As the sport continues to grow, however, the competition will grow with it. 

As every player improves during the season, the competition will grow into more entertaining matches. For some reference, the current leader in the USDGC is Paul McBeth, who is leading the field with a score of 26-under-par. In 2016, the leader in the same tournament was averaging 60-over-par in each round of competition. 

“Stepping foot on campus… most of my players are 50 to 80 points higher, which is [a] tremendous amount of volume difference versus what is was when we started the team,” Bowman said.

The Flames progressed to the final but finished as runners-up to Missouri S&T. They tied initially in the final but lost on the fourth playoff hole.

The Flames will be back in action Nov. 6 when they compete in the Liberty Flamethrower Championships in Lynchburg, Virginia 

To keep up with the Flames, fans can follow the team’s Instagram @libertydiscgolf or find statistics and scores on pdga.com. 

Palsgrove is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @AaronPalsgrove.