Junior Worlds Starts Off Hot
Junior Worlds Starts Off Hot
Round 1 Recap

A card from the FJ10 division, posing before teeing off
High temperatures of 95F. The sun beating down. The spirits just as high.
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Kids from all over the world teed off on Tuesday at the 2025 PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Championships, and the action was just as hot as the temperature and excitement on the courses in Emporia, Kansas.
Gatekeeper Media's feature card for the MJ18 division didn't yield a single competitor to the lead card for round two.
It's not that the highest rated MJ18s didn't play well, the opening round was just that sizzling for the rest of the field.
Zeb Kaylor, who was on the feature card, shot just above his rating with a 1000-rated (-5) round. He sits tied for fourth. Owen Masse of Limerick, ME shot the hot round at -7, Caleb Tucker (putting champion) and Gabriel Von Aschen both shot 6-under to tie at second, and Drake Sauls won the lower PDGA number contest to round out the feature card. Noah Feil and Isaiah Baptista are also tied for fourth.
Owen Smith (MJ18) threw in the first ace of the tournament on the 316-foot, hole 11 at Champions Landing.
In FJ18, Virginia Polkinghorne did Virginia Polkinghorne things (see our article from yesterday to understand that if you don't already) and shot a 9-under at Peter Pan, putting her in the lead by four strokes. Shelby Cowen, the highest rated player in FJ18 and winner of Saturday's putting competition, shot just under her rating at 910 (she is rated 913). Shelby sits at -5 going into round two. Rounding out the lead card for round two is long drive winner Ann Deputy at 4-under and Chloe Caviness at 2-under. Tied for fourth place with Chloe is Grace Dykema and Tomoka Aranami of Japan. Coverage from Ace Run Productions has already been added to their YouTube.
Finn Etter of Burlington, VT, shot not only the hot round for MJ15, but the highest rated round in the tournament so far with a 1025 -9 at Jones East. Nikolai Wotan Heel of Austria shot a 7-under and sits in second. Colton Lawless and Josiah Barlow each shot a 6-under to tie for third and to round out the lead card going into round two.
In FJ15, Alison Tweedie of New Zealand leads the pack with a 975-rated bogey-free 10-under at Peter Pan. Hailey Huber, the highest rated girl in the tournament with an impressive 923 rating, is in second place with an 8-under. Irene Cisneros and Eden Fletcher share third place and round out the lead card with a 6-under.
MJ12 has a tie for the lead with Jaxton Taylor and Elijah Kresge, both shooting an 8-under at Peter Pan. Nathan Brewer, putting champion, sits at solo third just one stroke back. Tied for fourth is Isaac Crawford (who wins the lower PDGA number competition for lead card) and Arlington Kaiser. Nathan and Isaac were the only two in MJ12 to go bogey-free.
Eva Lutsenko, currently the highest FJ12 player in the world, leads the FJ12 pack with a 919-rated, 5-under at Jones West. She is looking to defend her world title, having won the FJ12 division in 2024 in Tulsa. She also has two USWDGC titles in the FJ12 division. Hayden Harper (2022 FJ08 WC, 2x USWDGC FJ10 champion) followed with a 4-under. Genevieve Davis, this year's long drive champion and the 2023 FJ10 world champion, shot a 1-under for third place. Madison Stubbs shot a 3-over and rounds out your lead card for round two.
In MJ10, Hudson Kasper of Wichita, Kansas leads with a 5-under at Jones West. Preston Hunt shot a 4-under. Arian Jenkins (yes, that Jenkins — Avery Jenkin's son) sits tied at third with Rylan Haag. Cody Buker, the 2024 MJ08 world champion, is one stroke off the lead card at 1-under and tied for fifth.
Our favorite highlight putter, Sarah Wadsworth of New Zealand, leads the FJ10 pack. If you missed her accolades from the article yesterday, Sarah is the highest rated *J10 in the tournament. She holds the record as the highest rated FJ10 of all time at 876. The long drive and putting competition (playing up a division in FJ12) winner shot the only bogey-free round with a 3-under at Jones West. Hailey Fitzgerald, the only other FJ10 to hit a birdie, sits at 3-over. Keely Bain, 2024 FJ08 world champion, is five throws back from Hailey with an 8-under. Taylor Samuelson wins a spot on the lead card with the lowest-PDGA number over Jolene Mathis, who she is tied with at 21-over.
In MJ08, James Read shot a 2-under for the lead. Marky LaValley, long drive winner, shot a plus-1 at Jones West (special layout for just the *J08s). James Alldritt, the only propagator in the *J08 divisions and the putting competition winner, shot a 4-over for third, and Rohan Kiser shot a 6-over for fourth.
In FJ08, with just four competitors, everyone gets to be on the lead card all week. They are led by Nora De Jong of Florida. Five throws back from her is Ellie Lohmeyer of Oklahoma. Evelyn Tabor of Georgia and Harper Sieniarecki of Kansas round out the division.