European Open Final
European Open Final
European Men & American Women “Finn-ish” 1-2 at the European Open
Team Latitude’s Jesper Lundmark and 3 time reigning World Champ Val Jenkins both overcame early deficits to win the PDGA Major Titles in Tampere Finland today. For Jesper it marked the 2nd straight year he beat USA’s finest players at the PDGA EuroMajor. In the process Latitude 64, whose discs Jesper recently switched to, became the 3rd manufacturer to have a team player win a Major event.
Jesper Lundmark of Sweden is the 2009 European Open Champion
Val quickly fell from tied for the overnight lead to 5 back of teammate Carrie Berlogar when she missed the hay bales twice on 1 and then doubled hole 2. However, after Burl took a 7 on hole 3 for the 2nd time in 3 days, and then doubled hole 6, Val regained a share of the lead with a 30’ birdie putt on 11. When she birdied 12 the lead was hers to stay and she won by 1, matching Burl’s birdie on 18 to secure the title. Finland’s Anne Matilainen finished 3 off the pace in 3rd, and Sweden’s Anki Frantz secured last cash with the ladies’ best score of the day by 4, a 1 under 59.
In the Open division the crowd of 400-500 was expecting a battle royale and for a while it looked like the lead would see-saw back and forth between Jesper, 4 time Major winner Dave Feldberg, and the “Champ,” Ken Climo. On hole 1, Jesper was forced to re-tee after his opening throw skipped out long, giving Feldberg an early 2 shot advantage. However on 2, Dave’s approach slid OB long by less than a metre, and his 21’ putt to save par was always low. When “Borg” bogeyed 3 with 2 more OB shots, and Kenny and Jesper hit 33’ and 39’ birdie putts respectively they briefly became joint leaders. Only KC missed 4 to slip into a tie with Dave at 1 back, following which Jesper seized control with the lone birdies on the tough 117m/384’ #5 from 29’ and the even tougher 137m/449’ #6 where his Blitz came to rest just outside the circle and he banged the putt dead center.
Val Jenkins of the United States is the 2009 European Open Women's Champion
Feldberg’s head and day were basically done after he missed #s 10 & 11. Kenny was only 2 off Jesper’s pace coming into the water hole #13. But his tee-shot there was always low, and while his disc appeared to have barely made the bank, it settled OB wet. Jesper then stepped up and drilled his drive to within 20’ to seal the deal. He would finish with a 10 down 50 and a -38 total, good enough for a 5 shot victory and an €2500/$3589 payday.
The best round of the day belonged to the 10 time Finnish Champ, Timo Pursio. His sensational, bogey-free 49 vaulted him from top of the 2nd card into a tie with KC and a share of 2nd place. Feldberg hung onto 4th but just barely.
Completing the day’s final group and coming in 5th was the teenage sensation, Simon Lizotte. Almost predictably his most pressure filled round in disc golf to date started off unsteadily. After 6 holes he was 2 over par and 10 strokes off the lead. But unlike Dave, the kid kept his cool and, as a result, his luck. On hole 12 Simon’s poorly executed approach was well wide of the gap but managed to miss enough trees to make it to within 45’ from where his putter was money. All told Simon birdied 9 of the last 11, including a tournament best -7 on the back 9. He got up and down from almost 400’ on #16 after a shaky drive, banging in a fearless, dead straight 56 putt with OB lurking behind the bucket. Simon’s future is nothing but bright.
Val Jenkins (1st), Carrie Berlogar (2nd) and Anne Matilainen (3rd)
Timo Pursio (3rd), Ken Climo (2nd), and Jesper Lundmark (1st)
All in all it was a wonderful week at Epila Park, hosted by Jussi Meresmaa, family, and friends. We all can only hope we are fortunate enough to be able to return to Finland in 2 years time for the 4th edition of the European Open.
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