On a daily basis, DeLaveaga breaks the spirits of many. But even this beast of a course can be conquered. It’s fair to say that luck plays a factor, sure, but luck won’t get you to the top of the leaderboard in an event like the “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup. If that were the case, the list of previous winners wouldn’t be stacked with some of the most talented disc golfers in the world. Luck can only get you so far. Skill always prevails in the long run.

Open

A few weeks ago during the live Q&A pro panel at the 2015 Glass Blown Open, one of the questions that was submitted by a disc golfer online was “What one tournament would you like to win that you have not won already, not including world championships or the USDGC [United States Disc Golf Championships]?”. Nate Doss #11794 immediately grabbed the mic and answered as follows:

Well, that’s an easy one for me. The Masters Cup in Santa Cruz. There’s just no doubt about it. I put pressure on that tournament like you guys would not believe. I’ve been watching that tournament since the very first time I ever played disc golf and it’s been so close, so many times, and it hurts almost. I could probably retire if I win that one. Hey, hopefully this year, maybe I can retire! Okay I’m just kidding about that, but definitely Masters Cup.

Not only is Santa Cruz Nate’s hometown, it’s also home to a recurring PDGA National Tour event that’s yet to be won himself, or by any Santa Cruz local, on the pro side of the event anyway. Doss is one round away from fulfilling his dream, teeing off tomorrow afternoon as the leader in the Open division for one final round at what was once his home course.

It won’t be an easy task by any means. Just one stroke behind Nate is the winner of the last three Masters Cup events in a row, the most dominant name in contemporary disc golf, Paul McBeth #27523. Paul is no stranger to final round comebacks. In fact, if you look at what place he was in going into the final rounds of his National Tour victories over the last few years, it’s almost as if he prefers to be positioned for a comeback win.

Open Women

Although the Open Women’s lead card started out with four competitors in a close battle, it wouldn’t end that way. Val Jenkins #17495 and Paige Pierce #29190 started pulling away from the field halfway through the round, carding some very impressive birdies and par saves. Val began the round tied for first place with Catrina Allen #44184, joined by Paige and Jessica Weese #50656, both of which were sitting two throws back, tied for third place.

Paige started the round with a bang, carding a birdie with a 20 foot putt on hole 1 while the others could only lay up for par. Hole 9 was the true turning point. Catrina had managed to gain a two throw lead with Paige and Val tied in second place. However, Catrina’s double bogey on the hole allowed for a 3-way tie for first place between herself, Paige, and Val.

By the time we got to the final stretch, the fight for the lead was very clearly between Val and Paige. Catrina and Jessica had run into trouble too many times to manage a chance at topping the leaderboard. Going into the last hole, the “Top of the World”, they were still tied. Paige’s approach left her with a low-ceiling par putt from the edge of the circle and she missed, allowing for Val to tap in to end the day as the lone leader of the Open Women’s division.

Coverage

Hole-by-hole scoring on pdgalive.com will begin tomorrow afternoon at 11:10am PDT for the Open Women’s division. We’ll also have live scores for at least the top two cards of the Open division, starting at 1:45pm. More videos from The Disc Golf Guy, Central Coast Disc Golf, and Prodigy Disc will be available for viewing tomorrow morning, but don’t waste time looking for them on YouTube. As soon as they become available, we’ll add them to the 2015 Masters Cup Media page. Bookmark it!

High-resolution pictures from Round 1 and Round 2 are available for viewing and downloading on the PDGA Flickr page and don’t forget to follow the PDGA on Twitter and Facebook for updates, pictures, and videos.

One more day at DeLa. Sad, but exciting nonetheless. We can’t wait to see how it all pans out!