DeLaveaga. It’s either your favorite course or your least favorite course, depending on the day. But more importantly, it is home to the one and only “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup, a historical event on one of the most challenging courses in the world. It’s not often that shooting even par earns you a 1002-rated round, but it happens here year after year. DeLa may seem unforgiving to some, but for every unfriendly kick or roll-away, there is someone else on the other end of the spectrum with an errant throw magically kept inbounds.

To finish well on such a precarious course means avoiding bogeys more than anything else. Although always welcomed, birdies are few and far between for most. Getting up and down is the name of the game. If your goal is to shoot a 1000+ rated round, just finish with a par on every hole. Sounds simple enough, right?

The competitive nature of the game is what DeLa thrives on. Are you considering running that putt? Or going for that dangerous green from the tee? The choice is yours, but if you miss your line, you will more often than not pay dearly for it.

Coming off of back-to-back-to-back victories at all three of the 2016 PDGA National Tour events, it’s fair to say that Catrina Allen #44184 was a favorite going into the round. Her performance this afternoon lived up to the hype, despite an unfavorable finish in the last few holes. However, as we’ve seen time and time again, Catrina is not sitting alone at the top of the leaderboard. Her round of four over par (76) was matched by the current “Steady” Ed Memorial Masters Cup champion, Paige Pierce #29190.

The competitive rivalry between Paige and Catrina is something we’ve all come to know and love over the years. We’ve lost count of how many times the two of them have been duking it out one hole at a time towards some sort of exciting finish. But this is DeLa, and there’s a lot of golf yet, not to mention a very competitive field and a course that’s never been used before for the final round.

Catrina and Paige will both start the round tomorrow with a four stroke cushion over Paige Bjerkaas #33833 and Zoe Andyke #39504. Bjerkaas and Andyke have several others in range, including Val Jenkins #17495 who shot the same score, Melodie Bailey #34751 one back, as well as Nicole Bradley #51229 and Madison Walker #59341, both one off of Melodie.

Catrina Allen's drive off the tee of Hole 16. #steadyedmasterscup pic.twitter.com/Qaoz3qCU47

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) May 20, 2016

Catrina Allen teeing off on Hole 16, after parking her drive on Hole 15.

The Open division was dominated by none other than Steve Rico #4666. As a southern California native, who knows how many times Rico has stepped foot onto DeLa, but one thing is for sure, he played the course today like it was his own. Rico’s bogey-free round included 10 birdies, seven of which came in streaks, carding four straight in the middle of the round and then finishing with three straight to end the day.

Rico’s disc golf company, Legacy Discs, turns five years old next month. What better way to celebrate its success than to compliment it with success at the highest level of the sport on the competition side? “Things were just clicking. I got a couple good breaks, but I also had a lot great par saves to stay bogey free,” said Rico.

If finishing bogey-free at DeLa with 10 birdies doesn’t put you at the top of the leaderboard after Round 1, well…actually let’s just go ahead and say that it will. Pretty much always. Only one player shot a -10 at the Masters Cup last year, Paul McBeth #27523. But, it wasn’t bogey-free and it was only after playing two full rounds on the course in the days prior.

Speaking of McBeth, he’s on a mission to win his fourth straight Masters Cup title and he will be starting Round 2 tomorrow in 2nd place, two off the lead. Joining McBeth will be two new names to the lead card, at a National Tour event anyway, Dustin Keegan #35187 and Ray Johnson #10355, both of which are one behind McBeth. Keegan and Rico were the only two of the twenty Open division players being live scored today to shoot bogey-free. It’s no coincidence that they are both on the lead card.

Despite the sporadic cell phone signal, live scoring will continue tomorrow on pdgalive.com with updates, pics, and videos coming in when possible via @pdgalive on Twitter. Coverage videos will be posted to the 2016 Masters Cup Scores and Coverage page as soon as they are available tomorrow afternoon.

Tee times begin bright and early in the morning for Round 2, with the Open division lead card scheduled to tee off at 1:20pm PDT and the Open Women’s division in the spotlight teeing off last at 2:10pm PDT.

See you at DeLa!

Top of the World tee shots from McBeth, Sexton, Evans, & Doss. #steadyedmasterscup #discgolf pic.twitter.com/3cFXibVgEc

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) May 21, 2016

"Top of the World" tee shots from McBeth, Sexton, Evans, and Doss.