Garrett Gurthie was dominant as he pulled away to win the Santa Cruz Masters Cup. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- After a weekend of gray, dreary conditions, the sun finally broke through the clouds Sunday afternoon at the DeLaveaga Golf Course. It was a fitting bit of symbolism to accompany the champion who was also about to emerge.
Catrina Allen took home her fourth career Santa Cruz Masters Cup victory. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Catrina Allen's hot 2019 season couldn't be dampened by a weekend of coastal rain, as the Minnesota pro pulled away during Sunday's final round of the Santa Cruz Masters Cup to win her third straight tournament.
Garrett Gurthie secured the first PDGA National Tour victory of his career at the Santa Cruz Masters Cup. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
We've got a first-time champion and a four-time champion, as Garrett Gurthie takes home the biggest win of his career and Catrina Allen stays hot during the final round of the Santa Cruz Masters Cup. Catch up on all the action from the last day of the third PDGA National Tour stop of 2019.
Garrett Gurthie is seeking his first career PDGA National Tour victory. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Garrett Gurthie first turned pro in 2004, and has since played in 248 tournaments, including 35 on the PDGA National Tour circuit. Sixteen seasons into his career the Florida pro has yet to notch a victory on that elite stage, with his best finish coming in 2013, when he came in second place at the Discraft Great Lakes Open.
Roll Tide: Matt Orum made the move of the day at the Santa Cruz Masters Cup. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
The rain came to play during round 2 of the Santa Cruz Masters Cup, but so did Garrett Gurthie and the upper tier of the Open Women's field. Steve Hill is back to break down the action from a soggy moving day on another episode of Chain Reaction!
Ricky Wysocki closed with a turkey -- and the hot round -- during round one of the Santa Cruz Masters Cup. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Most competitive disc golfers won’t admit to watching the scoreboard -- at least not during the first of a three-round tournament.
Catrina Allen overcame an early double bogey to end Friday atop the Santa Cruz Masters Cup leaderboard. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- As a three-time Santa Cruz Masters Cup champion, Catrina Allen is well versed in the ups and downs of the DeLaveaga Disc Golf Course. So when disc golf’s hottest women’s player started with a double bogey on the second hole Friday morning to kick off this PDGA National Tour event, she didn’t panic.
Instead, she let it roll away like a low putt off the cage.
Camille Skweir (center) is tied for second place after the opening round of this PDGA National Tour event. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
Steve Hill breaks down opening round action from the Santa Cruz Masters Cup on this episode of Chain Reaction, with player news and insights from Ricky Wysocki, Garrett Gurthie, Catrina Allen, and surprise performer Camille Skweir.
Changes abound at the Santa Cruz Masters Cup as local organizers aim to preserve a jewel of the disc golf world. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- There’s a fine line between honoring history and leaving it behind. As disc golf has continued to evolve and welcome a more modern era, the club responsible for the Santa Cruz Masters Cup has continued to deftly straddle that gap, aware not only of the 34-year-old event’s place in the pantheon of quintessential professional tournaments, but also where it wants to go.
Paul McBeth took home his 22nd career PDGA National Tour victory at the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- Paul McBeth has been arguably the hottest player in disc golf since mid-March, racking up four victories and a single runner-up showing in the last six weeks. But on Saturday at the Emporia Country Club, the Midwest wind did its best to knock him off course during the final round of the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open.
Catrina Allen took down her fourth career Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open title in dramatic fashion. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- The Emporia Country Club's 16th, a 262-foot island hole for the Open Women's field, was designed to inflict added pressure on competitors and sow chaos on scorecards.
An army of purple-shirted volunteers managed large galleries at the Glass Blown Open. Photos: Alyssa Van Lanen
The second PDGA National Tour stop of 2019 is in the books, as the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open featured two dramatic final rounds. Catrina Allen staved off hole 16’s island -- and Paige Pierce -- to take home her fourth Open Women’s title, while Paul McBeth needed all of the insurance strokes he came into the round with the hold off the wind and his competition. Check it all out on this week’s final installment of Chain Reaction:
And just like that, Eagle McMahon's lead at the Glass Blown Open has become a deficit. Catch up on all the action from a wild moving day on the PDGA National Tour with insights from McMahon, Paul McBeth, Catrina Allen, and Paige Pierce on this episode of Chain Reaction!
Eagle McMahon fired off a 1077-rated hot round as the wind picked up in Kansas on Thursday. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- The Open lead card combined to go 20 shots over par Thursday at the Emporia Country Club, amassing a whopping 26 out-of-bounds strokes as the wind whipped up havoc on the leaderboard.
That left a window open for the defending Glass Blown Open champion to soar through.
Catrina Allen kept it positive, and it resulted in a seven-shot advantage at the GBO. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- Sometimes as a disc golfer, you can live a charmed life: Maybe that pesky tree gives you a generous kick up the fairway, or that putt you should have missed just somehow manages to stick to the last available bit of chain.
Catrina Allen lived her own version of fortune Thursday at the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open, as her circle 1 putting success dropped 51 percent from her round one performance but her lead still grew by 133 percent.
It was all smiles for Joel Freeman, who leads the Glass Blown Open after an 11-under par showing Wednesday. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- The 2019 season hasn’t exactly started the way Joel Freeman hoped it would.
The Colorado product brought high expectations into his second full year on the road, and he hasn’t quite lived up to them yet. Sure, he has three top-five showings at A-Tiers, but he hasn’t cracked anything better than 25th at PDGA National Tour and Disc Golf Pro Tour events, and that left him searching for answers as he came into the Glass Blown Open.
Little did he know that he’d find those answers by simply doing less searching.
Two-time Glass Blown Open Champion Catrina Allen got hot late Wednesday at the Emporia Country Club. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
EMPORIA, Kansas -- Catrina Allen wasn’t going to let a sluggish start slow her down Wednesday at the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open.
After a 15-minute backup on hole 2 found her playing hacky sack instead of disc golf, the two-time GBO Champ snapped back to life with a scorching back nine to log a 4-under par 60 at the Emporia Country Club, a mark that has her in control early at this four-day PDGA National Tour event. Jessica Weese’s 1-under par 63 put her in second place, while Jennifer Allen, Rebecca Cox, and Paige Bjerkaas sit in third place at 2-over.
JohnE McCray shared his thoughts on his round one Glass Blown Open performance on a new episode of Chain Reaction. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
PDGA Media’s Steve Hill covers the action from day one of the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open! Joel Freeman changed his expectations and was rewarded with the lead in the Open division, while a pair of Mcs shined. Catrina Allen overcame the slow grind of play with an aggressive finish to pace the women’s field.
There are nearly 1,600 people on the ground at the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open, but if you're ready to watch from home we've got you covered. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
The biggest tournament in disc golf calls for coverage that is equally sizeable.
Sure, there are nearly 1,600 players who will descend upon Emporia, Kansas, this week for the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open, making it the most attended event in the sport. But there are still countless competitors who didn't make the trek -- maybe you're one of them? -- and want to watch from the comfort of their homes and offices.
Annually the biggest happening in disc golf, the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open brings high quality along with massive quantites of competitors. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen
Planning for the Dynamic Discs Glass Blown Open -- which takes place this week in Emporia, Kansas -- is no small task. In fact, the second stop on the 2019 PDGA National Tour has made a name for itself as the largest annual happening in disc golf, with various side events and a festival atmosphere stacked on top of the competition.
