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Arizona A-Tier Kicks Off the 2016 Season

Arizona A-Tier Kicks Off the 2016 Season

2016 Maricopa Meadows Open presented by Latitude 64

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - 12:58

The 2016 disc golf season unofficially kicked off this past weekend in Arizona as Dave Feldberg #12626 and Latitude 64 hosted the first PDGA A-tier of the year, the 2016 Maricopa Meadows Open. Feldberg and his hard working staff provided 135 players with great golf, players packs, food, entertainment, and of course, beautiful weather that only Arizona can offer in mid-January.

The PDGA tier for the 2016 Maricopa Meadows Open was split, with the amateur divisions being run as an A-Tier and the professional divisions being run as a B-Tier. Feldberg took home the gold in the Open division, averaging round ratings of 1047, unofficially. Rising talent and current PDGA Amateur World Champion Anthony Barela #44382 finished in 2nd just six strokes back. Barela accepted cash for the first time this weekend, officially making him a disc golf professional. Having just turned 16 a couple of weeks before the event, he is definitely someone to keep an eye on this year.

In the Masters division, Shane Dehner #39169 of California had a come-from-behind win by two over locals Rex Rogers #29154 and Jeff Wilson #41217, who finished tied for 2nd place. Harvey Brandt #299 finished as the winner in the Grandmasters division, an all too familiar result for him on the Arizona disc golf scene.

Next Generation Tour

The 2016 Maricopa Meadows Open, which also served as a fundraiser for the Mountain View Community Food Bank, was the first of a 12-part event series created by Latitude 64 called the Next Generation Tour. The 12 events in the series, which Feldberg describes as a “new kind of tour, run by professionals, for amateurs”, will be ran by either Feldberg or JohnE McCray #9852.

Feldberg/McCray will be announcing the dates, prizes, and points system over the next two weeks, but some information has already been leaked, including the grand prize for the overall series winner in Advanced being a free trip to Europe!

The second event on the Next Generation Tour is expected to be in Northern California in March. Check the Latitude 64 website and Facebook page for Next Generation Tour updates and info.

Next Generation Tour Leaders

Advanced

  1. Kris Linscott #39147
  2. Matthew Rotunno #70297
  3. Fernando Barela #46401

Advanced Women

  1. Trina Lettig #48345
  2. Tina Stanaitis #68076
  3. Jennifer Morris #62226

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Dave Feldberg giving Adv. Women's champ Trina Lettig one of her prizes.

“Every event on the Next Generation Tour will benefit a local charity. It’s important that we remember to maintain great relationships with the local communities as we grow in 2016. Raising a truckload of food for the Mountain View Community Food Bank was a great start”, said Feldberg.

Terry Miller #10738 was on site all weekend filming for his renowned YouTube channel, The Disc Golf Guy. Coverage videos will be available soon and will be posted to PDGA.com. As you’ll see in the videos, Arizona is definitely the place to play disc golf this time of the year!

The next A-Tier on the 2016 PDGA Events Schedule is the 2016 Gentlemen's Club Challenge presented by Innova Champion Discs in Las Vegas, NV. See you in Sin City!