The United States Amateur Disc Golf Championship is always a good benchmark to determine the strongest upcoming disc golfers in the US. Played annually on the famed Toboggan course at the Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan, the top amateur disc golfers compete in the three-round event to determine the country’s top amateur disc golfer.
Team Discmania’s Kyle Klein finished in 15th last year at the USADGC and had his eyes set on the top spot going into 2019. After a blistering hot start to the tournament, Klein was in the drivers seat and took home the title and can call himself the 2019 US Amateur Disc Golf Champion.
“The title almost feels surreal, like it's hard to actually believe it,” Klein says. “It was something I was thinking about all year and I kept my eye on the prize the whole time.”
Klein opened the tournament with a 52 (-11) which gave him a one shot advantage. He kept the momentum up with another 52 (-11) to give him a comfortable lead with one round to play. The 52 also marks the course record on the Toboggan’s amateur layout… and he did it twice.
He says the hot start was key, “The quick start definitely did help, it would have been more nerve-racking than it already was if I only had a 1-2 stoke lead.”
Klein only had one hole over par the entire tournament and told himself to stick to the game plan, “During the final round, I was thinking about not changing any of the shots I throw, and not doing anything different than what I did the first two rounds. I knew if I did that I would have no problem.”
As the holes dropped off at the end of the round, Klein was able to knock in his final putt before raising the trophy for his first PDGA Major win of his career.
Tools of the Trade
Klein had a number of discs he reached for throughout the tournament which not only helped him set the course record, but also take home the USADGC win.
“I used the S-Line DD3 a ton and the Neo Instinct was another go-to,” Klein says. “I also used the C-Line CD2, the Crowned Eagle MD3, the C-Line FD3, and the D-Line P3X”
