After a heated day of competition, both figuratively and literally, 16 new champions emerged at the 2015 PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships presented by Bell’s Brewery. The 760 boys, girls, men, and women that spent the last eight days here in Kalamazoo were blessed by amazing weather and an incredibly well run event thanks to Tournament Director Larry LaBond #6903 and his enormous team of staff and volunteers.

When a tournament has 17 divisions, the final day is bound to be hectic. Nine different divisions began their semi-final rounds in the morning on three different Kalamazoo-area courses (Oshtemo, Spinski’s, and Vicksburg) with another seven divisions skipping the semis and going straight to finals at Timber Ridge. Thanks to immaculate planning and organization, everything ran smoothly. As the seven morning finals were finishing up, the players from the semi-finals courses were already en route to Timber Ridge to compete in finals of their own.     

Hour by hour, in the blazing heat and humidity, more and more 2015 Am Worlds champions were crowned. Some of the battles were close, while some were legitimate runaway victories in which a Final 9 or even a Final 18 wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

Small Divisions, Huge Accomplishments

As stated above, seven different divisions went straight to finals at Timber Ridge in the morning with the first group being the Junior Boys 10 & Under at 10:30am EDT. A different division teed off every 15 minutes until the Advanced Grandmasters Women at 11:45am rounded out the morning tee times. 13 of the 16 divisions with final rounds played from the short tees of the Timber Ridge Final 9 layout, including the seven listed in the table below. Only the Advanced Masters, Advanced Women, and Advanced divisions would take on the monstrous Timber Ridge Final 9 Long Tee layout, but that wouldn't come until much later in the day.    

The "Scorecard" link displays the hole-by-hole scores from each division's final round.

These. Kids. Are. Ridiculous.

The morning finals started with a bang with the first division going up and down the ski slopes of Timber Ridge being the Junior Boys 10 & Under leaders, Anthony Anselmo #56579 and Alexander Muniz #60959. Muniz started the round down by six and brought it to within three in the first three holes. When it was all said and done, Anthony Anselmo held on to his lead of three and tapped in as the first Amateur World Champion of the day.

In many of the Junior divisions that followed, the real battles were for second and third. The boys and girls that started those final rounds as the leaders had created such large gaps between first and second that there was virtually no chance of the world title slipping away. In fact, the only other Juniors division (during the morning finals) with a single-digit margin of victory was Junior Girls 19 & Under, where Kaylee Campbell #59624 tapped in for par on the last hole to finish ahead by seven over Alexis Mandujano #62880.

There are some really incredible kids playing disc golf these days. It's hard to believe your eyes when seeing 10 year old boys and girls like Anthony Anselmo #56579 and Ava Victor #68051 ripping backhands and forehands down the fairways, as if they've been playing for years. What's even harder to believe...they HAVE been playing for years. For many of us, playing disc golf at 6 or 7 years old wasn't an option, but we're certainly glad to see that it is for these young guys and gals.

Southern Domination

On the other end of the age scale, the Advanced Legends division was turning out to be a real nail-biter. 5X Disc Golf World Champion (4x Advanced Legends, 1X Legends) Pete May #12700 had been trading the lead with friend and fellow Augusta, GA resident Chuck Hornsby #25232. Pete held a lead of one going into the finals but would watch it disappear quickly as Chuck carded birdies on Holes 5 and 6.

Chuck slipped up on the hole that followed, taking a bogey against Pete’s par. Pete’s drive on Hole 8 sealed the deal, giving himself a tap in birdie to take the lead from Chuck one last time. With all four men on the card tapping in for par on Hole 9, Pete had won his sixth Disc Golf World Championship, his fifth in Advanced Legends.

And then came along perhaps the funnest group of disc golfers of the entire day, the Advanced Grandmasters Women. Joined by the three women that didn't make the cut for finals, you could hear how much fun the seven of them were having as they came down the fairway of Hole 8. Candy Roque #37777 of Tampa, FL held a lead of four when the round started. Four isn't enough to guarantee a victory with nin holes to go but as their hole-by-hole scores began showing up on pdgalive.com it was clear that she wasn't going home without the coveted 1st place trophy.

Before teeing off on Hole 9, they took advantage of a great photo opp. Shortly after, Candy tapped in for par to claim the title of PDGA Amateur Disc Golf World Champion for the first time.

Semifinals Highlights

Knowing there's one last chance to move up in the rankings or make the all-important finals often brings out the best in true competitors. In the case of the Saturday morning semifinals, several players made some seriously noteworthy moves.

In the Advanced Masters division, Jerry Dobbins #28843 of Lexington, KY shot the hot round at Spinkski's Champion DGC, jumping from the bottom of the second card to make it to the finals. In a similar fashion, Gavin Rathbun #60436 of Oswego, IL secured his place in the Advanced division finals, coming from the chase card as well.

Gavin shot the second lowest score in the Advanced division (matched by a few others) during the semi, playing from the long tees at Vicksburg to secure his place in the finals. But he wasn't the only one making moves at Vicksburg. Anthony Barela started the round in 2nd place down three to Izak McDonald and finished with the hot round of 49, unofficially rated at 1030.

Gavin Rathbun has been crushing it off the tee. It's 630' downhill and he definitely went long. #2015AmWorlds pic.twitter.com/txPND3YSwK

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) July 25, 2015

Gavin Rathbun #60436 drives it past the green on a 630' par 4!

The semifinals were essentially the finals for Austin Turner #54049 of Mint Hill, NC. Starting the round at Oshtemo as the leader in the Junior Boy 19 & Under division, we highly doubt he was considering the possibility that'd he be heading into the finals with 10 or more throws separating him from the rest of the group. That feat was accomplished with an insane, bogey-free 13 under par (48) at Oshtemo. The round came in rated at 1052 unofficially; the single highest rated round put up by any of the 760 competitors at the 2015 Am Worlds.

Having gained eight throws on then second place holder Mason Frumkin #64269 during the semis, Austin had to have known he was heading into the Final 9 without much to worry about. Whether he was worried or not is a moot point now, as Austin easily cruised his way to his first PDGA Am Worlds title during the finals. It was a stress-free victory, and well-deserved one after the performance he put up at Oshtemo.

Jessica Hill Wins Without Worry

Jessica Hill #64874 of the Advanced Women’s division was another one of those runaway victories we talked about earlier, heading into the finals with an unbelievable margin of 30 throws separating her from second place finisher Samantha Socia #55347. Jessica was the leader after each and every one of the seven rounds they played before the finals, finishing with the hot round during four of those seven, and averaging an unofficial rating of 916.

At the end of each day, Jessica put herself farther from second place than the day prior. There was simply no catching her. She tapped in for her Am Worlds title in front of the gallery at Timber Ridge Ski Lodge, accomplishing a truly astonishing feat, as she’s only been playing disc golf for 15 months!   

AB vs Izak: Take 2

The Advanced division final round was last to take the stage. A huge gallery followed them around for their nine-hole epic battle, with 14 year old Izak McDonald #49631 and 15 year old Anthony Barela putting on one of the most exciting performances in Am Worlds finals history. During the final nine alone, the lead changed seven times, just to give you an idea.

Izak quickly gained the lead on AB on Hole 1, carding a birdie while Barela took a par. Keep in mind, Hole 1 of the finals was actually Hole 10 of the normal Timber Ridge layout, which was played as a par 5 all week. So it;d be fair to say that Izak's putt was technically for eagle. AB tied it back up with a birdie on Hole 3, but Izak gained the lead again with a birdie on Hole 4. But wait, there's more...

On hole 5, it felt like the tables had turned as AB canned a birdie putt against Izak's bogey. The two-throw swing gave AB the lead once again now with only four holes to go. But it wasn;t going to be that easy for AB. Izak tied it up again with a birdie on Hole 6. After perfect drives from both of them on the uphill dogleg right Hole 7, Izak carded an eagle with a throw in from 100 feet to take the lead yet again!

Wow. Just....wow. Izak McDonald with a super clutch eagle putt. #2015AmWorlds pic.twitter.com/kgifNkAL1q

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) July 25, 2015

Wow. Just....wow. Izak McDonald with a super clutch eagle putt on Hole 7! #2015AmWorlds

Heading into the last hole, an insane 810’ par 4 that plays from top of the steepest ski slope all the way down to the bottom, McDonald held a lead of one over Barela. As they waited at the top of the hill for the Advanced Women’s group to finish up, the suspense was palpable. Once we were given the all clear from the staff at the bottom of the hill, Izak took to the tee in front of a silent gallery holding their breath.

Izak ripped his drive, but it quickly starting turning over, flying over the OB ropes on the right with so much speed and power that there was no way it was going to fade back to the green for a putt. He was OB, and not only that, he OB on the right side, instead of long where he might have a chance to save a putt for birdie.  

Next up was Barela, also known as simply “AB”. Growing up playing mountain courses in Arizona, he’s throw this type of hole hundreds of times. And it showed. His drive flipped up over the right side of the slope and within a few seconds it was obvious that it was going to fade back towards the green. It seemed like minutes before his disc came down to earth and the longer it flew the more it looked like he was going to be parked. The crowd that surrounded the green erupted as the disc spiked into the green, perfectly in line with the basket and 20’ short. He had a perfect opportunity for an eagle putt and the outright win!

AB's drive. IN THE CIRCLE!!! #2015AMWORLDS pic.twitter.com/GVeP8TrE1y

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) July 25, 2015

The tension builds as AB's drive flies down the ski slope of Finals Hole 9, with the crowd erupting as the disc lands in the circle!

Izak had no choice but to go for it from the OB rope on the right, still several hundred feet away, but in doing so he went OB long behind the basket. Game over. Izak tapped in for a double-bogey 6 while AB dropped in for a 3 and a two-throw victory.

Listed below are all the 2015 Am Worlds champions that played both a semifinal and a final round.

The "Scorecard" link displays the hole-by-hole scores from each division's final round.

Congratulations to all the 2015 Am Worlds winners! Watch The Disc Golf Guy's video coverage of the Advanced finals below! See you in Pittburgh at the 2015 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships!