Higinbotham leads Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open after 12-under opener

Landon Higinbotham wasted no time separating himself at the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open, firing a 12-under opening round at Knob Hill Park to grab the early MA4 lead. Theodore Anastasi sat three shots back at 8-under, with Caroline McCrea at 7-under and Jane Sileo and Jacob Harris tied at 6-under, a top five that immediately put pressure on the rest of the field.

The numbers told a bigger story than one hot round. Knob Hill’s Red tees played as a par-63, 4,088-foot layout, and the course rewarded clean, disciplined golf without allowing the field to coast. A cluster of players also sat at 5-under and 3-under, which meant the standings were crowded enough that one birdie binge or one careless bogey could change everything when the tournament moved on to Deer Lakes Park and then Lakeview DGC at Moraine State Park.

That matters in an amateur B-tier like this one because it points to more than a single standout score. It suggests lower divisions are arriving better prepared, reading layouts faster, and converting scoring chances earlier in the weekend. Higinbotham’s cushion was real, but Anastasi and the rest of the chase group were close enough to make the opening round feel like a measurement of current form rather than a final verdict. In a field that listed 115 of 192 players registered, the strength at the top hinted at how deep the amateur side has become.

Knob Hill also gave that scoring spike some context. Pittsburgh Flying Disc says the course opened in 1994 and later expanded into Red, White and Blue tees with three pin positions per hole. Its downhill shots, open grassy fairways, water hazard and hardwoods still demand accuracy, but the Red layout is shorter and more approachable than the Blue-tees versions used in recent years. In 2025, the amateur field played Knob Hill Blue as a par 65, and in 2024 it played Blue as a par 64. That makes the 2026 Red-tee par-63 setup look distinctly friendlier, even if the top of the board still showed players going well under.

The 36th Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open runs June 5-7 as a PDGA Amateur B-Tier presented by Pittsburgh Flying Disc, with amateurs scheduled across Knob Hill Park, Deer Lakes Park and Lakeview DGC at Moraine State Park. The caddy guide listed a Large Insulated Kooler Tote player pack valued at $25 and said amateur payouts would be completed Sunday at Moraine State Park, while tee times could be moved up if Saturday evening thunderstorms threatened the schedule. However the weekend unfolds, the opener already showed a field capable of pushing scoring lower and faster than a typical amateur stop.