Looking down at the fairway from the tee of 501 Disc Golf's hole 10. Photo: Matt Gregoire, PDGA

The opening round of the 2019 Tim Selinske US Masters Championship is in the books, but with three rounds remaining it’s still anyone’s tournament to win. With 208 competitors spread out across three courses in the greater Worcester, Massachusetts area there’s still no telling where things will end up after the back-to-back shotgun-start rounds on Saturday.

The top professional divisions were treated to one of the most beautiful and intimidating courses in the state to kick off the event, 501 Disc Golf in Warren, MA. For those familiar with Iron Hill in Newark, Delaware, widely considered one of the most challenging courses in the country, the scene would look very familiar.

Much like Iron Hill, the fairways are cluttered with boulders and towering trees. What wouldn’t look familiar are the extreme elevation changes. Hole 10, for example, tees off 40 feet above the fairway and plays down to a basket 520 feet away. Getting down the stairs to the fairway is a feat in itself.

Two men rose to the challenge of 501 in the Masters 40+ division to finish tied for the lead, master of the woods Michael Johansen and reigning back-to-back Pro Masters World Champion, Dave Feldberg. Their 4-under par 54s were enough to put them at the top of the leaderboard but they are trailed closely by the lefty Alan Hermosillo who finished one stroke behind. Mike Moser and Barry Schultz ended the day tied for fourth, two off the lead.

The US Masters is chock-full of legends of the sport. Moser, for example, known by many as “The Delaware Deucer”, recently passed Schultz in the career wins category, now sitting two ahead of Schultz at 243. In addition to two Pro Worlds titles (2003, 2004) and two Pro Masters Worlds titles (2013, 2017), Schultz is coming into this weekend’s event as a six-time Tim Selinske US Masters Champion.

“I think seven out of nine would be pretty good,” Schultz said with a smile while practice-putting at 501. As a very close friend to the man the event is named after, Tim Selinske, Schultz plays the US Masters from the heart. Having only missed the event once and with a long history of not only playing well in the woods, but playing well at Maple Hill, where the third and fourth rounds will take place, Schultz is certainly in contention to get his seventh US Masters victory.

While we’re on the topic of legends, let’s talk about Elaine King. No one in PDGA history has more wins than King at a ridiculous 274, and to no one’s surprise, she’s already on pace for 275 after finishing her round at 501 five strokes ahead in the Masters Women 40+ division.

For all 12 of the divisions competing for the title, Saturday will see two rounds of disc golf squeezed into a very short period; one at Newton Hill and one at Maple Hill. Follow the scores at pdgalive.com and make sure to subscribe to Gatekeeper Media on YouTube for the upcoming video coverage of the Masters 40+ division’s third and fourth rounds at Maple Hill.