Ilkin Groh lifts his arms in celebration after emerging from a seven-hole playoff to become the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA

Scrolling down the list of former champions, you see the names of future Pro Tour stars: Kyle Klein, Anthony Barela, Colten Montgomery– to name a few.

And so, it is only natural that, when attending a United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship, one looks around to see if they can spot, among the hopeful unknowns, glimmers of the next Klein, Barela, or Montgomery.

This year, we may have found more than one as Ilkin Groh and Paul Krans, 17-year-olds born just two days apart, continuously elevated their game under pressure – at first to catch Round 2 leader Zachary Tesone – and ultimately to contend with each other through a thrilling seven-hole sudden-death playoff.

Complete Scores & Coverage of the 2022 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship»

Tesone’s Hot Start

Zachary Tesone played smart, consistent golf to hold the lead for most of the 3-day tournament. Photo: Conrad Meyer / PDGA

Tesone, who at 25 years of age had the presence of a veteran compared to his 17-year-old rivals, made an emphatic statement on hole 1 when he put his forehand to about 30 feet from the pin and sunk the birdie to extend his lead to three.

He extended the lead again on hole 3 with two methodical backhands and a confident putt, looking very much like a man who was not going to bend under the pressure of the moment.

On hole 4, Tesone birdied again, but this time he had to work to get it -- hitting an uphill putt from about 45 feet after leaving a routine approach shot short.

It was the first sign of any volatility in Tesone’s game, despite allowing him to maintain his four-shot lead. Meanwhile, both Krans and Groh also birdied hole 4, and they did it in more comfortable fashion.

Groh further turned up the pressure on hole 5 by hitting a circle’s edge birdie putt that was so true out of the hand that he stopped watching it halfway through its flight, taking a stroke on the card.

Then the tables turned on holes 6 and 7, where errant backhands off the tee from Tesone – the first pulled too far right, and the second coming out early left – as well as one of the very few circle 1 misses for the weekend, left him with back-to-back bogeys.

Krans, meanwhile, manufactured textbook birdies on each of those holes, picking up four strokes in two holes to grab a share of the lead, with Groh just one back.

Tesone’s seemingly comfortable four-throw lead had evaporated over the course of just three holes.

Back Nine Brawl

Paul Krans (left) walks alongside his father who caddied for the 17-year-old during the tournament. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA

A ten-hole, back and forth struggle ensued between the top three with Tesone striking first, hitting a circle 2 putt for birdie on hole 9 and another birdie on hole 10 – the second-hardest hole on the course, to take back control with a two-stroke lead.

But Groh and Krans struck right back, cutting the lead back to one when Tesone’s circle 2 birdie attempt on hole 11 came up just short.

The trio held par until hole 15 – a 960-foot monster par 4 that played as the most difficult hole of the week --, when Tesone took a bogey after squaring up a tree on a forehand approach. It was a tough break for Tesone, whose drive landed in the center of the fairway but in a grove of trees that made for a tricky angle.

Krans was now the co-leader, with Groh one srtoke behind.

The trio pushed with pars on the gettable par-3 hole 16 before arriving at the pivotal moment on hole 17 where a par from Tesone and birdies from Krans and Groh finally unseated Tesone, who had owned at least a share of the lead since round 1.

It was now Krans with a one-shot lead over Tesone and Groh with one to play.

Hole 18 measures in at just 315 feet, but with 52 feet of elevation gain to go along with a low-hanging branch that knocks down would-be floaters, it is an extremely technical hole that favors a power forehand.

Krans, whose proficient forehand doesn’t quite measure up in power to that of Groh or Tesone, opted for the backhand turnover that came out just a bit high and caught the guardian branch.

Tesone, opting for the forehand, also left his high and inside, catching the branch and falling to outside of 100 feet of the pin.

Groh, whose lanky frame and prodigal power on the backhand and forehand wings is reminiscent of a young Scott Stokely, sent a high-sailing forehand hyzer out around the trees, settling 38 feet from the pin.

With one last opportunity to birdie and catch Krans, Groh fired off a step putt into the left side chains, pumping his fists to the cheers of the gallery and sending the 2022 USADGC into a sudden-death playoff.

On the Knife’s Edge

Ilkin Groh clears out a putt as he find himself in a sudden-death playoff for the USADGC title. Photo: Justin Anderson / PDGA

The rules for the playoff were set forth: Groh and Krans would play the loop of hole 1, hole 17 and hole 18 until someone was able to win a hole outright. As there were only two players, all calls would be made by PDGA Rules Marshall, Robert Leonard.

With a flip of the coin, Krans would be first to tee, with Groh first to tee on the next hole if it were to go that far and continuing to alternate as such.

On hole 1, the tone for the tightly contested playoff was set when both players threw forehands to about 60 feet. It was so close, in fact that they had to use rangefinders to determine which player would need to throw first – a crucial determination in a sudden death environment.

Both players just missed the basket on this first exchange in the putting duel that was to ensue.

On hole 17, the second hole of the playoff, the players had the basket – which sits atop a steep hill – surrounded, with Krans about 30 feet short and downhill from the basket and Groh about 20 feet long but buried in a bush at the base of a tree.

Krans connected on his putt, barely sneaking it over the front rim of the basket and putting all the pressure on Groh to connect from within the bush, which he somehow did – finding a small window and sneaking it around rim on the left side of the basket.

On hole 18 and again on hole 1, Krans had opportunities to win it with 50-footers but came up a little high and left on both attempts.

On hole 17, the fifth hole of a playoff that had the players (and media!) slogging up and down some of Toboggans steepest slopes, Groh somehow appeared to be growing stronger as he absolutely smashed his drive. It was one of the only drives of the weekend on the 840-foot hole to clear the long grass while maintaining a direct line to the basket.

Both players put their upshots to similar position just at circle’s edge with uphill looks at the basket. Krans, putting first, found the left side of the chains to convert the birdie and put all the pressure on Groh with a must-make shot.

Like he had done earlier in the round on hole 5, Groh threw a putt that was so confident and true that he didn’t bother watching it sail into the chains. A no-doubter right out of the hand.

On hole 18, the sixth playoff hole, both players threw to within circle 1. Krans was out, hitting center chains on a 30-footer and forcing another must-make on Groh. This time, Groh’s 25-footer caught high left chains and stalled on the left rim of the basket before falling in.

Back to hole 1 for the seventh hole of the playoff, Groh and Krans again put their drives to almost exactly the same distance of about 60 feet from the pin.

After checking the rangefinders, it was Krans that was first to act. His bid appeared on point, barely climbing over the right-side rim of the basket and tickling the chains before turning on its edge and falling out.

Groh, from the same distance, threw a step putt right on line and, chasing it toward the basket pumped his fists in celebration for the final time in this epic battle.

“I wasn’t really thinking,” Groh said afterward.  “The whole playoff was a blur – it feels like it started a second ago. To win it in this fashion – where so many big putts were made. It. was one of the most exciting playoffs that I’ve ever seen or witnessed and I was able to partake in it. It’s so ridiculously amazing – I’m so grateful.”

Up Next

Even though it will be Groh’s name joining the list of U.S. Amateur champions, both he and Krans earned a rightful place among the greatest performances in the tournament's 22-year history.

Both young stars, along with Tesone, will be making a quick return to major championship action as they will all be back on the course for the 2022 PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Championship this week in Evansville, Indiana.