Sunday was a day stuffed with shocking finishes at the Professional Disc Golf Association “Steady Ed” Memorial Masters Cup Sunday. Scott's Valleys Jon “JB” Baldwin won the over 40 (masters) division in sudden death and the Delaveaga course record was nearly broken by a Floridian on fire.
As the masters division world champ and now Masters CUp winner, JB is set to go on the national tour heavily this summer.
Nate Doss of Capitola—the defending open division world champion—fell short of Paul McBeth from Clearwater, Florida, who could not be stopped. McBeth shot a bogey free 13 under par to take down the title, and led at one point by seven shots.
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Capitola's Valarie Jenkins—the top ranked woman in the world—tied with Catrina Allen of Pheonix, Ariz. in second place six strokes behind Idaho's Sarah Hokom who lead from day one.
The Steady Ed Memorial Trophy was awarded to the Jenkins family, an award for being outstanding ambassadors for the sport invented by Ed Headrick. It was a first to have a group receive the honor rather than a single player, but it makes sense with three of “team Jenkins'” four members holding world titles. Leroy Jenkins holds several PDGA National Tour titles to go along with his wife and children's combined seven world championships.
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The family recently moved to Santa Cruz where disc golf seems to be reaching a critical mass. Many pros said that disc golf tournaments feel like family events, but there has been a lot of talk on how to get that family to grow, and to increase the crowds at tournaments.
“If I knew the answer to that I probably would have done it already,” said Doss. “I'm sure that if someone who had never played before came out to one of these [tournaments] they would be impressed and want to play.”
People can catch the action at the 2012 Jelly Jam at Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course in Montery May 25 to 27 before players leave for Kansas City. Amateurs and professionals play the same weekend in Monterey with pros teeing off in the late morning to early afternoon.
