A weekend that celebrated the life of a legendary disc golfer came to an end yesterday as 14 players became Tim Selinske US Masters Champions. With many of the divisions in close races heading into the safari-style layout for the final round of 18 at Oak Grove Regional Park, we knew we were in for a treat.

Tee times began at 9:00am PDT and continued on throughout the morning and afternoon, with groups teeing off in eight-minute intervals. The layout for the final round used holes from both the Gold and Purple course, plus a few that were designed specifically for the finals, including a 900’ par 5 to finish.

Despite the added length, the course played fast, and by noon it felt like a new champion was being crowned every few minutes. Donald Parker #30178, 2016 Advanced Legends World Champion, was the first player to claim the title of US Masters Champion, his second PDGA Major win of the year. A few groups later, Paul Wright #32290 tapped in for the one-stroke victory in the Advanced Senior Grandmasters division.

The groups continued to pour in, marching down the 18th fairway towards tournament central where food, drinks, music, and disc golf merchandise awaited the players. With all eyes on live scoring, we soon saw a tremendous battle in the Advanced Masters division. Through 16 holes, a three-way tie for the lead had emerged between TJ Goodwin #26305, Jeff Milburn #65219, and Noah Zeller #61969.

We arrived on the scene just in time to see TJ take the only birdie on hole 17 with a drive that left him inside the circle for a 20’ putt. Four safe but accurate throws later, TJ tapped in on the par 5 hole 18 to claim his first PDGA Major victory.

TJ Goodwin is your #2016USMasters Advanced Masters Champion! pic.twitter.com/xrP3ZY0kZC

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) September 11, 2016

TJ Goodwin taps in on 18 to become the 2016 US Masters Champion in the Advanced Masters division.

Jim Schultz #11741 pulled off a tightly contested victory in the Sr. Grandmasters division, holding on through the final round to edge out Stan Hubbard #46853 by just two strokes. Shortly after, Mike Ward #36593 tapped in to win the Grandmasters division by four after teeing off on the 18th with a lead of just one over Roger Reyes #14240.

Only two divisions remained, the first being Masters Women, where 5X World Champion and Disc Golf Hall of Fame member Anni Kreml had been chasing after the wire-to-wire leader Carrie “Berl” Berlogar #13815. Slowly but surely, Anni chipped away at the lead during the final round, throwing great lines and hitting huge putts, but Berl pushed on.

Berl’s lead of six to start the round was down to three heading into the 18th, and it would remain at three as they both tapped in on the custom purple DGA Mach X basket. With her win this weekend, Berl is now a 2X World Champion and a 5X US Masters Champion.

Carrie Berlogar is your #2016USMasters Women's Champion! Suzette Simons is your Grandmasters Women's Champion! pic.twitter.com/8BTh0K1DMs

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) September 11, 2016

Suzette Simmons & Carrie Berlogar tap in on 18 to become 2016 US Masters Women's & Grandmasters Women's Champion

Speaking of wire-to-wire, there was simply no catching Patrick Brown #25713 in the Masters division. Coming in as the highest rated player in the event, he was a likely favorite for finishing at the top of the leaderboard, and he did, with style. Patrick’s three rounds prior to the finals averaged an unofficial rating of 1035, leaving the other players in the division in the dust. He went into the final round with a lead of eight or more over the lead card group; Jon Baldwin #18114, Shasta Criss #28597, & Noah Rodriguez #21215.

Patrick’s lead was never truly contested during the final, staying well ahead of the rest of the division for most of the round. A couple of mistakes on 15 and 16 left him with bogeys, but by then it was too late. He followed it up with a birdie on 17 and tapped in for par on the 18th in front of the gallery to claim his first PDGA Major title, 2016 Tim Selinske US Masters World Champion.

These guys crushed their drives on Hole 12 #2016USMasters pic.twitter.com/D1ES7LaAhG

— PDGA Live Scoring (@pdgalive) September 11, 2016

A huge thank you goes out to the Tournament Director Criag “Krash” Gustafson, the tournament staff, volunteers, and the City of Stockton for making this such a great event. Congrats to all of the 2016 US Masters Champions, listed below!