Weston Isaacs of Elizabethown, Tennessee was the surprise winner of the putting competition on Sunday evening at Renaissance Park in Charlotte helping to make for a rather dramatic show. David Frazer of Morgantown, Indiana employed quite a bit of strategy in his initial defeat of the three-time Women’s World Champion, Des Reading of Wimberley, Texas, to win one of the two final spots in the event. In the first round against Carl Cubbedge of Toms River, New Jersey, Frazer’s strategy paid off once again. Cubby attempted to throw for the big points and came close a number of times, but couldn’t quite make it into the basket, while Frazer went nine out of nine with five pointers, not missing a shot until his tenth throw, causing the host and referee, Billy Crump, to refer to him as “The Machine.”

Frazer defeated Cubby with his 11th shot to get the 50 points that would take him to the second round where he would face Isaacs who had taken a surprise defeat over Jay “Yeti” Reading, the 2008 World Putting Champion, in the first round.

18-year-old Ryan Conto of Jackson, Wisconsin was extremely impressive facing veteran Don Smith out of Santa Cruz, California. With excellent form, Conto made several long shots to come out ahead with the win, advancing to the championship round against Isaacs.

Neither Isaacs nor Conto were predicted to be the players battling it out for the title of 2012 World Putting Champion, yet it all came down to the 18-year-old Wisconsinite and the 23-year-old Tennessean. With the championship round coming down to the wire, it was Isaacs who was able to score the first 50 points to be crowned the 2012 World Putting Champion, with the crowd of spectators in the stands obviously impressed by both players.

Sunday evening’s drama was a great way to start the live coverage for Disc Golf Planet TV, the exclusive broadcaster for the World’s, with more to come Monday afternoon starting with a live press conference at 2 p.m., followed by the World’s Preview show and the Opening Ceremonies starting at 6:30 p.m., EDT. Don’t miss it!

Written by: K.C. Dermody

Photo by: Lauren Lakeberg