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Anthony Barela Wins 2015 USADGC with Authority

Anthony Barela Wins 2015 USADGC with Authority

By: Marty Gregwah #28647
Sunday, June 7, 2015 - 22:27

At the final round of the 2015 United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship, 15 year old disc golf prodigy Anthony Barela #44382 started in the lead by one and never looked back. After just three holes, he had already gained two additional throws on 17 year old Matthew Kashima #43528, carding an eagle on the uphill par five Hole 2 and a birdie on the 915' par four downhill Hole 3. Kashima, having set the USADGC course record two days prior, did his best to keep Barela from running away with it. In the end, there was simply no stopping him.

Seven pars, seven birdies, one eagle, and two bogeys later, Barela tapped in for par on the 18th hole to take home the 2015 USADGC title, his first of what we can only expect will be several PDGA Major victories in the many years remaining of a promising disc golf career. Barela is officially the second youngest competitor to ever win the USADGC, just a few months older than David Wiggins Jr. #24437 when he won in 2010. His total score of 22 under par for the weekend was a new record as well, two better than the previous record holder, which was once again Wiggins Jr. from 2010. 

Barela's score gets even more unbelievable when you compare it to the results of the 2015 Discraft Great Lakes Open (DGLO). The DGLO takes place each year one week before the USADGC, with both events using the same layout on the Toboggan course. After both events are complete, the Toboggan course is pulled from the ground, never to be seen again until the next year's DGLO and the USADGC.

Ben Calloway #39015 edged out Paul Ulibarri #27171 by just a single throw at the 2015 DGLO last weekend. They finished at 23 under par and 22 under par, respectively. It's impossible to say whether or not Barela would have been on the lead card right there with them had he competed in both weekends, but it sure would've been interesting to see. It's important to note that DGLO had to deal with far worse weather conditions than the USADGC, so it's likely that the scores would have been much lower had they had more sunshine and dry ground. 

Looking at that same comparison, USADGC second place finishers Izak McDonald #49631 (14 years old) and Matthew Kashima (17 years old) would have added to the tie for fourth place at DGLO, joining Tyler Horne #16058 and Ziggy Bierekoven #29879 at 17 under par. McDonald and Kashima's average rating for the weekend was 1005, unofficially, well above their PDGA Player Ratings of 972 and 976.   

Marc Burnett #22546 was the 4th player on the USADGC lead card for both Rounds 2 and 3, but the Toboggan finally got the best of him on the final day. His Sunday score of 63 was certainly not what he wanted to do, but he stayed positive and managed to finish in a tie for ninth place all while having a great time. He also had one of the best drives on the uphill par four Hole 13 that these eyes have ever seen.

Marc Burnett #22546 crushing a drive up to near the top of the hill on Hole 13 of the Toboggan DGC.

Finishing in fourth place at the USADGC was none other than DJ Baldwin #39066, yet another absurdly talented 15 year old disc golf fanatic. Baldwin's first round left him heading into Round 2 on the ninth card with 10 throws separating him from the lead. He came out swinging during Round 2, shooting the best score of the day and jumping all the way up to a spot on the third card for the final round. And he still wasn't done climbing the ladder. He shot the hot round on Sunday, matched only by Barela and local 17 year old forehand mastermind Andrew Kaluk #35072, moving him all the way to fourth place overall.

The kid can bomb discs like you wouldn't believe. Here he is on the same hole from Burnett's video above, Hole 13, throwing all the way to the top of the hill. He was able to run an eagle putt on flat ground with the basket fully visible. That my friends, is absolutely mind-blowing.

 

Infamous hole #13. D.J. crushes a driver to the top of the hill! The farthest I've seen anyone put it on this hole.

Posted by Kevin Baldwin on Sunday, June 7, 2015

14 year old Izak McDonald #49631 and 17 year old Kashima ended the weekend in a tie for second place, five throws off the lead. 15 year old DJ Baldwin #39066 matched Barela's final round score of seven under par to jump from the third card all the way to fourth place overall. Local forehand machine Andrew Kaluk #35027 shot a seven under par as well, moving him from the fourth card to a tie for fifth place overall with RC Hunt #36614.

As the writer of many of the articles on PDGA.com, I was truly humbled this weekend. Never before have I seen a field so large dominated by players so young. And never would I have imagined that watching them compete would look and feel the same as watching the top pros, something I've been fortunate enough to have done dozens and dozens of times over the past few years. These teenage prodigies are the future of this sport. Every player out there somewhere with a course record that will "never be beat" better hope and pray these kids don't get a shot at it.

We can't thank the tournament staff and volunteers enough for making this such a fun and eventful weekend of disc golf. The Toboggan is a difficult course to manage, and to all of those that trekked up, down, and across it dozens of times over the past month, we salute you. Congratulations again to Anthony Barela, the 2015 United States Amateur Disc Golf champion! We'll be back next year, but for now, we're gonna rest our legs.

High-resolution photos from the 2015 USADGC are available for viewing and downloading on the PDGA Flickr page.  

Knowing he had nothing to lose, Barela throws a 360 backhand drive off the tee of Hole 17. He did the same thing a few holes earlier on Hole 13, a wide open uphill par four.

2015 USADGC, United States Amateur Disc Golf Championships

Comments

Submitted by ricklebeau on

Wow, the future looks very bright. And Anthony wears Tiger's final round colors, shorts with a belt (like McBeth), and throws a turnaround like Lizotte. Kid has done his homework!