David Feldberg & Valarie Jenkins win the Memorial

For the second day in a row, Barry Schultz carded a spectacular hole-in-one at the Memorial to grab the lead from Dave Feldberg in the Men’s Open division in the final round. His ace on the 340 foot, hole 11 looked to be just the shot of adrenaline he needed and that he would ride the momentum to victory, however Feldberg refused to give up. Dave would battle back to grab a one stroke lead going into the 663 foot, par 4 hole 16 but an errant roller left him behind some trees off the right side of the fairway with a very tough upshot to put himself in position for a birdie. Dave’s second shot came up short and caught some rocks leaving him with an impossible 50 footer under some very low hanging tree branches while Schultz was in perfect position for an easy birdie. With the gallery already expecting another tie, Dave took a knee behind his lie and let loose a putt that hit dead center chains and stuck for birdie. Hole 17 looked to be an uneventful hole with both Barry and Dave in position for relatively easy birdie putts but Dave’s 25 foot putt bounced off the chains leaving Barry with a 20 footer to tie the match. Barry stepped up to a putt he has made a million times and let it fly but it also bounced off the chains and hit the ground leaving him and the large gallery shocked at what they had just seen. Going into hole 18 with a one stroke lead, Feldberg threw a perfect hyzer up the hill and on top of the dam where the basket sits leaving him with a 25 foot putt for the win. Barry missed his 30 footer while Dave sank his for a two stroke victory.

2008 Memorial Champions David Feldberg and Valarie Jenkins

Current Women’s world champion, Val Jenkins shot another very hot round to carry her to a 3 throw win over Des Reading and establish her as the woman to beat in 2008. Watch for these two ladies to battle it out all year long as Des will be looking for another NT and World title while Val will be looking to stay at the top of the women’s division. Newcomer, Liz Lopez matched Val’s final round score of +3 on the long course at Vista del Camino to catch Carrie “Burl” Berlogar, who started the day two throws in front. Lopez finished four strokes ahead of Burl and just three behind second place, Des Reading. If this week’s play is any indication, watch for Liz Lopez to establish herself as a force to be reckoned with on the women’s tour this year.

Tournament director, Dan Ginnelly shot a scorching -11 on his home course on Saturday to claim the Masters title by just one throw over Mike Milne. Dean Tannock led the tournament most of the way but had a very tough day carding just a -2 to fall back to fourth place behind Oregan’s, Tom Embree who finished strong with a -9 to claim third.

Kathy Hardyman took the Master’s ladies title by four throws over Sheila Kirkham and Suzette Simons. Kirkham shot lights out in the final round finishing at +5 for the day and besting her closest competitor by 5 strokes on the day. Lisa Warner rounded out the lead group and finished in fourth.

Harvey Brandt extended his round two lead by one over Jeff Kennedy to finish four throws in front and claim the Grandmasters title. Marty Hapner finished third with Todd Erickson taking fourth.

Danny Jeffards dominated the Senior Grandmasters division to win by a large margin over Jan McDonald and Paul Bagwell.

The 20th Memorial was a huge success in every way. Dan and Sue Ginnelly along with a very large group of volunteers from the Arizona Disc Golf Club are to be congratulated for a very well run event and a great kick off to the 2008 National Tour.