The 2010 PDGA National Tour winds down this weekend at the Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain in Palmerton, Pennsylvania. 

When most people conjure up imagery of golf in their mind’s eye, it usually is filled with peaceful landscapes of vernal fairways, sloping greens and slightly bending trees tilted towards the action, as if interested in the outcome of each shot. 

[Queue the needle scratching across the vinyl record on the turntable.]

Yet, when the rapidly emerging sport of disc golf is combined with the ruggedness of a ski mountain, all serenity is not just lost, it's wrestled down to the ground in MMA fashion and forced to tap out. 

The last stop of the PDGA’s 2010 National Tour is at the Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania this weekend, and the planet’s best players are finding the challenge of this extreme form of disc golf taxing all their faculties-mental, physical, and spiritual. 

At the end of the day, however, it was most of the likely suspects who kept the harsh effects of the ski resort’s gravity, terrain and foliage at bay to best navigate the 26-hole menagerie of uphill, downhill, wooded, and field holes. Nikko Locastro from St. Louis seems to have found a late tour rhythm, leveraging his Vibram Open National Tour title from two weeks ago into a first round lead at the Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain.  Locastro finds familiar rival and World number one-ranked David Feldberg (Springfield, Oregon) hot on his heels only one throw off the pace.  Regional pro Steve Brinster (Hewitt, New York) also managed the course with deft skills to join Feldberg in second-place. 

The trio of Jason Dore (Skowhegan, Maine), Avery Jenkins (Santa Cruz, California), and last week’s winner at Solitude Mountain in Utah, Paul Ulibarri (Scottsdale, Arizona) are knotted in fourth place. 

In the women’s open division, Valarie Jenkins (Santa Cruz, California) rode the strength of a 989-rated afternoon round to the top of the leader board and outdueled her top rival, Des Reading (Wimberley, Texas).  Reading carded a morning 994-rated round to gain the early advantage, but gave back three throws to Jenkins on the mountain course. 

Reigning Men’s Masters World Champion, Brad Hammock (Decatur, Georgia) and Jay Reading (Wimberley, Texas) are locked into an epic disc golf battle on the mountain courses and share the top spot in their Masters division.  Also, Bridgewater, New Jersey’s Don Thoms leads the Grandmasters.   

The over 15,000 feet Skylands Classic layout is clearly one of the most demanding throughout the entire National Tour and will be in play again as nearly 80 competitors from around the nation look to take advantage of the optimal weather for the event.

For complete coverage of the Skylands Classic at Blue Mountain, make sure to stay on http://www.pdga.com  or visit http://www.skibluemt.com. 

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