Some of the best disc golfers converge on the Twin Cities for the 25th Annual Minnesota Majestic, June 22-24. Among the touring pros will be St. Paul’s own 29-year-old disc golf phenom Cale Leiviska who finished fifth in the world in 2011. Besides being one of top professional disc golfers, Cale is an all-around athlete who played shortstop with catcher Joe Mauer on Cretin Derham Hall’s high school baseball team. To top that off, he’s also the nephew of MLB Hall of Famer Paul Molitor!
 
Last year Cale played mano-a-mano with Nikko Locastro, the 2011 PDGA National Tour Series champion. After the 81st and final hole, it came down to Nikko winning by the slimmest of margins, one single throw. This year the two rivals—and good friends—are both excited about a rematch. Cale: “My most memorable moment in disc golf would have to be winning the Minnesota Majestic in 2006. I had so much support and enthusiasm from the Minnesota crowd. I remember hitting a big putt on the third-to-last hole and hearing the crowd just erupt. It’s something I will never forget.” This year another huge gallery is expected for the finals on Sunday at Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area in Bloomington.
 
Members of the Minnesota Frisbee Association are again hosting the Majestic, a PDGA-sanctioned A-Tier event and one of the “must” stops on the Tour. The Majestic, celebrating its 25th year, started in 1987 as a small regional event. Today it has grown to its A-tier status on the PDGA Tour. Next month some 200 players, men and women, are expected to compete. Reigning 2011 Women’s PDGA World Champion Paige Pierce, along with Nikko Locastro and Dave Feldberg (the world’s two highest rated players) will be among the field of top pros playing in this year’s 25th anniversary event, including legendary,13-time World Champion, Ken Climo.
 
Tournament Director John Solberg believes this year could be the best ever: “The 2012 Minnesota Majestic is going to be great! We will be featuring the Tour’s top pros on the best courses in the Twin Cities metro area: Blue Ribbon Pines in East Bethel, Kaposia in South St. Paul, The Valley Disc Golf Course in Inver Grove Heights, and Hyland SSA. We are adding over $10,000 to the pro purse and increasing payouts and player packages for the amateurs.”
 
The 2012 Majestic is sponsored by Minnesota’s Gotta Go Gotta Throw, the country’s largest independent distributor of disc golf equipment, along with Surly Brewing, the Majestic’s exclusive beer sponsor. Disc Golf is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. From its origins in the mid-1970s as one event in the world of competitive Frisbee, today over a million people play the game on some 4,000 disc golf courses worldwide.