Feldberg and Jenkins Lead Woodchuck Drive for the Championship NT Points Series.
At a time in disc golf when fans and players alike are celebrating the rise of a great talented pool of young players, the 2010 PDGA National Tour points series finds two familiar faces atop the standings...and in a most convincing manner. Both Dave Feldberg and Valarie Jenkins have forged formidable leads at the top of the 2010 Woodchuck Drive for the Championship points standings with their four and five National Tour wins this season, respectively.
Though David Feldberg has recaptured his 2008 PDGA Player of the Year form this season on the National Tour, it seems that he has had to work harder for it. This is where the likes of Nikko Locastro, Paul Ulibarri, and Nate Doss come in. This younger disc golfers have helped push Feldberg’s disc golf game to a level even he may not have been aware actually existed. But the Portland, Oregon resident has responded by capturing four National Tour titles (The Memorial, The Majestic, The Carolina Clash, and, most recently, The Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain), which has helped him max out the total number of points he can possibly attain from the NT portion of the Drive for the Championship. Such dominance has not been achieved during the four years of the Woodchuck series, until Feldberg accomplished the feat this year. His 28 point lead over Nikko Locastro means that a mere top-ten finish at the USDGC would earn Feldberg the Woodchuck points title, though he certainly will find it hard settling for anything less than another win at this most prestigious event.
Valarie Jenkins too has found the 2010 National Tour much to her liking, as well, though things were not always so rosy. The number one-ranked female disc golfer in the world began this year’s season on the sidelines nursing a twisted knee that she sustained during a practice round in Arizona. And combined with an off-season appendectomy, Jenkins was indeed pondering how rapidly things can change in the life of a professional athlete. Yet, with great restraint and rest, Jenkins was soon able to return to the National Tour. And her return was with authority, as she won five of the remaining eight NT events after the Memorial Championship (Sunshine State Shootout, Carolina Clash, Minnesota Majestic, Brent Hambrick Memorial, and the Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain). Though her PDGA World Championship string was broken at three, Jenkins did finish in third-place, which was good enough to give her a sizable 17-point cushion over Liz Carr that she will take into the US Womens Disc Golf Championships in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
For a complete listing of the Woodchuck Cider Drive for the Champoinship points standings, visit the PDGA National Tour page.
#####
