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All-Star Cast Crowned in Emporia

All-Star Cast Crowned in Emporia

The End of the Worlds Part 2

By: Marty Gregwah #28647
Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - 11:46

The dust has settled and the competitors from all over the world that made their way to Emporia, Kansas for the 2016 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships presented by Dynamic Discs have most likely made it back home by now. In Part 1 of this piece, we covered the Semifinals and Final 9’s of the Open and Open Women’s division, where Ricky Wysocki #38008 won his first World Title and Val Jenkins #17495 won her 4th. There were seven others that went home on Saturday with a world title, all of which deserve the same amount of credit.

Semifinals

Of the seven divisions that had a Final 9 showdown that were not covered in Part 1, three of them first faced a full 18-hole Semifinal round in the morning where only the top players in the field battled for a spot in the coveted top four. The Masters division played Peter Pan DGC alongside the Open Women while the Grandmasters and Senior Grandmasters took on Jones West.

Masters

The Masters division lead card for the Semifinal round included a name that had been surprisingly missing for the previous four rounds; 15X World Champion Ken Climo #4297. Climo, “The Champ”, spent most of the week on the cusp of the lead card, finishing each day a few strokes back from whoever was holding 4th at the time. By the end of the week, his round of eight under par at Jones East on Friday finally put him back in the spotlight, tied with Chris Sprague #16425 for the 4th place spot.

Unfortunately for The Champ, Sprague wasn’t about to let his spot on the Final 9 slip away. Sprague shot the hot round at Peter Pan on Saturday morning during the semis finishing at eight under par, and the other three that had been on the lead card all week, JohnE McCray #9852, Shasta Criss #28597, & Chris Smith #19983, continued their excellent play to hold down their top positions.

Going into the Final 9, McCray and Criss were tied for the lead with Smith and Sprague tied for 3rd place, three strokes back.

Slow-mo backhand roller by Ken "The Champ" Climo at Peter Pan Park, hole 4.

Grandmasters

The biggest shakeup in the Grandmasters division during the Semifinals also came from the fight for the 4th place spot. Ron Convers #9648 spent the entire week with a fairly significant lead with Eric Rainey #41947 and 2016 Disc Golf Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mela #2607 on his heels. Bruce Knisley #5079 joined them at the bottom of the lead card in the Semifinals at Jones West knowing he would have to play perfect golf to hold on to the spot for the Final 9.

The shotgun start format left the Grandmasters lead card teeing off on the back nine. Catching up to Knisley a few holes in, it was clear he wasn’t happy, stating that he had already missed a few putts from well inside the circle that he knew was going to cost him.

In the end, he was right, as both Dean Tannock #4028 and Sweden’s Hans Tegebäck #11234 caught up to him by the end of the round, forcing a three-way sudden death playoff for the 4th place spot for the Final 9. The playoff was over as soon as it started, with Dean Tannock emerging as the winner with a birdie on the first hole.

Senior Grandmasters

The Senior Grandmasters division might as well have been renamed to the “Hall of Fame” division, as we saw epic battles between several members of the Disc Golf Hall of Fame all week. Heading into the Semifinals, North Carolina’s Alan Beaver #1213 lead by the narrowest of margins over Dave Greenwell #962, Mike Cloyes #3306, and Dr. Rick Voakes #2632.

The end of their Semifinal round would see the same four names heading into the Final 9, but in a different order. Alan Beaver dropped to the 4th place spot after finishing one under par, allowing Cloyes and Greenwell to move into a tie for the top spot, four strokes ahead, and three ahead of the new 3rd place contender, Rick Voakes.

Final 9

Legends & Senior Grandmasters Women

While the Semifinal rounds were finishing up, some of the divisions that went directly to Finals were already underway on the nine-hole layout at Emporia Country Club. California’s John Kirkland #100 was well on his way to becoming the 2016 World Champion in the Legends division, playing his Final 9 against Ohio’s Michael Gates #1706. Kirkland tapped in on Hole 9 to win by four, getting his first world title.

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Michael Gates (left) and John Kirkland (right) after their Final 9 in the Legends division. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

The Senior Grandmasters Women would follow playing in another two-some that included Sandy Gast #6440 and Kathy Hardyman #19150. It was more of a celebration loop than a competition, as Sandy had built up a very significant lead heading into their Final 9. Gast tapped in to win by 16 strokes to become a 2X PDGA Pro Women’s World Champion (Grandmasters Women 2013, Senior Grandmasters Women 2016).

Sandy Gast tapping in for her world title in the Senior Grandmasters Women's division. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Grandmasters Women

As one division was finishing up another was already underway. Grandmasters Women were right on their heels, playing in a foursome that included Susan Stephens #10977, Donna Barr #7980, Pam Reineke #6439, and Christine Hellstern #3722. Much like the Sr. Grandmasters Women, the leader had built up a significant cushion throughout the week and went into the Final 9 with little to nothing to worry about. That leader was Susan Stephens, and the real fight would be for the 2nd and 3rd place positions.

Barr and Reineke were tied up in 2nd place after Round 3, and followed it up by remaining tied after Round 4, meaning they were going directly to the Final 9 right where they were two days ago as Round 3 ended. So why not stay that way? Reineke gained a stroke on hole 1, but gave it right back on hole 2. Barr gained a stroke on hole 6, but gave it right back on hole 8. They finished with the same score on the last hole and split the prizes for 2nd and 3rd place. The 2012 Masters Women World Champion Susan Stephens finished the round six ahead to get her second world title, this time in Grandmasters Women.

Senior Grandmasters Final 9: Dave Greenwell, Mike Cloyes, Dr. Rick Voakes, & Alan Beaver (left to right).

Susan Stephens hits her winning putt in the Grandmasters Women division. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Senior Grandmasters

The Senior Grandmasters were up next, with Greenwell and Cloyes tied for the lead heading into the Final 9. As they rounded the course one thing became clear, birdies weren’t going to win it, pars were. While others made mistakes and were forced to go for birdies to make up for their bogeys, Dave Greenwell finished hole after hole, with birdie and bogey free.

Cloyes was first to slip up on hole 3 with a bogey, but carded a birdie on hole 6 to tie it up again with Greenwell. It was the last two holes that made all the difference, where Greenwell once again took pars, while Cloyes took bogeys on both. Greenwell finished the round to become an 8X World Champion.

Greenwell now has two world titles in Masters (1993, 1998), four in Grandmasters (2003, 2004, 2007, 2009), and back-to-back wins in Sr. Grandmasters (2015, 2016). Greenwell is also the only disc golfer to have competed in every single PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships since the inaugural event in 1982.

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David L. Greenwell taps in for the win in the Senior Grandmasters division. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Masters

The Masters division saw two fan-favorites tied for the lead heading into the Final 9; JohnE McCray and Shasta Criss, three ahead of Chris Smith and Chris Sprague. In front of a large gallery, McCray and Criss stayed neck and neck for the first six holes, with neither of them giving up a single stroke. But then….hole 7 happened.

Hole 7 is normal Country Club’s hole 15, a 430’ downhill tee shot to an island green, island green being the term that made all the difference. JohnE McCray not only made the island, but left himself with a very manageable birdie putt. Shasta’s story was heartbreakingly different, missing the island green off the tee, and then missing a run to save par from the drop zone. JohnE made his birdie putt, and Shasta had to settle for a double-bogey 5. A three-stroke swing with two holes to go meant trouble for Shasta.

Shasta was left with no choice but to run every shot remaining and he finished bogey-bogey to end the round. JohnE tapped in for bogey on the last hole in front of the crowd, elated to take home his first world title.

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JohnE McCray celebrating his victory in the Masters division. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Grandmasters

The story in Grandmasters was plain and simple, Ron Convers. Convers went wire-to-wire for his first world title, averaging a round rating of 1021 for the five full rounds that led up to the Final 9. No one was going to stop him, and no one ever got close. Joe Mela made a run at Eric Rainey in the battle for 2nd place, shooting four better than Rainey in the Final 9, but still fell one short of catching him. Congrats to Ron Convers. We can only expect to see more world titles added to his resume in the years to come.

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Left to right: Dean Tannock, Joe Mela, Ron Convers, Eric Rainey. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Masters Women

The last division to make their way up the fairway of the last hole of the Final 9 was another all-star card of Masters Women players. The foursome consisted of 3X Open Women’s World Champion Des Reading #15863, 5X Open Women’s/1x Masters Women World Champion Elaine King #3090, 2X US Women’s Champion Lesli Todd #13526, and Texas’s Danielle Vargas #18131.

Des and Elaine both opened the World Championships by carding a three under par (54) at Jones West. From there, Des gained three strokes in the second round and then one additional stroke during each of the next two rounds that followed. Reading would come into the Final 9 up by five over the ever steady King who was two ahead of Todd. This year was Reading’s first appearance in the Masters Women division, having spent the last 15 consecutive years competing in the Open Women's division at Pro Worlds. Throughout the years, specifically 2002-2010, Des placed in either first place or second place at every single one of the Professional Disc Golf World Championships.

Des opened the Final 9 by quickly gaining another on Elaine with a par to Elaine’s bogey on hole 1 and never looked back. A birdie to Elaine’s bogey on the par 4 hole 6 all but sealed the deal. Reading led wire-to-wire to win her first Masters Women's World Championship by seven, her fourth world title overall. King held off a late charge by Todd to remain in second, finishing two ahead of Todd.

Des Reading's winning putt at the 2016 Pro Worlds. Final 9 hole-by-hole scores »

Congrats to all of the 2016 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Champions and thank you so much to the City of Emporia and Dynamic Discs for making it such a phenomenal event! We can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

View all current and past PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Champions »

2016 Pro Worlds