In August 2014, disc golfers from all over the world took their talents to the Portland, Oregon area to play in the PDGA World Championships. Two of the main courses for worlds were Milo McIver East and West, which are a couple of the most beautiful and well-designed courses in the world. This past weekend, the disc golf world returned to Milo for the next National Tour stop, the 2015 Beaver State Fling. The Men’s, Women’s, and Master’s professional divisions were all tight battles, but in the end Paul McBeth, Jessica Weese, and Scott Stokely all won in dramatic fashion.

Paul McBeth can’t be stopped in 2015

So far through 2015, it seems like we could write many of the MPO recaps before the event even happens. Paul McBeth has been tearing through all kinds of events throughout the season and it just doesn’t seem like there’s much anyone can do to stop him. That doesn’t mean the competition isn’t tight, though.

Milo seems to have a way of evening the playing field for the top tier of players. The pros played two rounds on Friday (one at Milo East and one at Milo West), one round at Milo West on Saturday, and one final round at Milo East on Sunday. Throughout the tournament, there were a mix of players on the lead and chase cards well within striking distance of a big NT victory. We saw guys like Nate Sexton, Gregg Barsby, Nate Doss, Ricky Wysocki, and Steve Rico all hovering around the lead all the way up to the final hole. However, it didn’t look like anyone was going to be able to keep up with Will Schusterick, not even McBeth.

Milo West proved to play a bit tougher than Milo East throughout the weekend. Because both courses were played on Friday, the top of the leaderboard was cluttered with big name players heading into moving day. After two rounds, Will Schusterick found himself with a narrow lead over Paul McBeth, Gregg Barsby, and Nate Sexton, who would join him on the lead card Saturday.

After the third round, the leaderboard looked much different than it has throughout the 2015 season. Will kept clinging to his 1 stroke lead, but Wysocki, Rico, and Sexton were the ones who kept him honest heading into championship Sunday. The big different in the tournament was McBeth, who struggled a bit (by his standards, anyway) and only shot a 1016-rated 57. McBeth’s third round slip landed him 4 strokes behind Schusterick and a handful of other players. If you want to see how the round played out for the lead card, check out Central Coast Disc Golf’s coverage, here:

Championship Sunday is Paul McBeth’s day. It doesn’t seem to even matter if you shoot well on Sundays. Paul McBeth will find a way to storm his way to the top. In the final round, Will Schusterick shot a clean 1034-rated 54, with just one costly bogey. There were only two people that were able to shoot better than Schusterick, and they were both behind by 4 strokes. Nate Doss came up 1 stroke short of a claim to the top spot, tying Ricky Wysocki who also had a chance to claim his share on the final hole. McBeth’s hot round of 50 was good enough to regain all 4 strokes that Schusterick had on him heading into the round. If Schusterick hadn’t taken his first and only bogey on hole 17, he would have been the champion. But he faltered, and we found ourselves in a familiar place.

At the 2014 USDGC, McBeth and Schusterick battled in a two hole playoff for the victory. If the two eagles (the only two of the round for the entire field) McBeth carded in the final round were any indication, the three-time champion was coming for some USDGC redemption. Central Coast Disc Golf recorded McBeth’s impressive round, but you’ll have to watch McFly’s lead card coverage until it’s ready:

Playoff time. McBeth came storming back and he had all the momentum as Schusterick held on for dear life. We’ve seen the three-time USDGC champ beat McBeth in a playoff, but McBeth wasn’t going to be denied at the Beaver State Fling. Despite his best efforts, Schusterick wasn’t able to repeat as BSF champion. Another weekend, another Paul McBeth victory. Want to see how the playoff unfolded? Central Coast has you covered:

Jessica Weese wins her first NT event

Even before the women’s cards started to play, there was one big piece of news. Paige Pierce was not able to play in this NT even due to a rumored injured ankle. Pierce not playing an event would be the equivalent of McBeth missing a big tournament on the men’s side. It was anyone’s tournament to win heading into the 2015 BSF.

After the first round, this seemed to be a two-horse race as Val Jenkins and Jessica Weese jumped out to the lead with 987-rated 61s. Even though Catrina Allen struggled early on Friday, shooting a 69, she bounced back in the second round to pull herself back into the running for the lead. Allen won the 2014 PDGA Worlds, so she definitely shouldn’t have been counted out at Milo.

After the third round, the tournament was as tight as ever. Val bounced back from a rough second round to tie Weese for the lead heading into the final 18. After another solid round, Catrina found herself just 3 strokes back and well within striking distance.

Let’s fast forward to the final 3 holes of the tournament. Weese built up a 3 stroke lead over Jenkins and it seemed like she was in the driver’s seat. She shot a clean set of pars on the final 3 holes, but Jenkins wasn’t about to let up. After taking birdies on 16 and 17, Jenkins was just 1 stroke behind Weese and had all of the momentum. As close as she was able to get, Weese and Jenkins both took pars on 18 and Weese went on to take the one stroke victory, her first career NT win. Catrina Allen shot the hot round again, but was only able to gain 1 stroke on Weese, finishing in third.

Scott Stokely wins in a Masters division playoff

As if the MPO and FPO competitions weren’t dramatic enough, the Masters division featured a hard-fought battle that had to be decided on a playoff hole.

We’re used to seeing Patrick Brown dominate in the Masters division of big events. He throws a mile and does all of the little things right. But Scott Stokely is an old-school legend and he’s decided to take his talents to the Masters division for big events now. In the first round, Stokely fell short of a 1000-rated round and gave up 2 strokes to Brown. However, he was able to make up one stroke in the second round and another one in the third to tie things up heading into the final 18.

The final round was a back-and-forth battle between Stokely and Brown. Even with three full rounds and 17 holes completed, the event was going to come down to Brown’s performance on 18. Brown stepped to the tee with a one stroke lead over Stokely. Stokely took his par on 18, but Brown ran into some trouble and took a bogey, sending the two to an extra hole. While Schusterick and McBeth needed three holes to decide the victor, Stokely only needed hole 1 to take the championship. A dramatic victory well-suited for the ever-entertaining Scott Stokely.

Looking Ahead

Next week, we’ll get back to the usual A-tier schedule as pros will head off to Missouri, California, or Canada to get their fix of big events. We’re in the thick of the 2015 season, so the pros will take next week to prepare for the Maple Hill Open that will take place the following weekend.

 

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