20th Anniversary of Majestic will surely be a Spectacle

Written By: Bill Ashton

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Minnesota Majestic. It is the longest running PDGA event with the highest cash purse in the state. The Majestic by far is the biggest disc golf tournament around our area, so you won’t want to miss this event. With 223 entrants from 19 different states and one player traveling in from Ontario, Canada it will truly provide a great deal of competition in all divisions respectively.

Even the Open Pro Women’s field will have some great competition from returning Champion Des Reading whose player rating is 967. Angela Tschiggfrie who finished second last year is highly competitive as well with a player rating of 950.

The Open Pro Division will certainly be exciting to watch as it has a total of 72 total entrants, with 21 players having a rating of 1000 plus. Here’s a quick look at the Top Rated Pros traveling to this years event.

1000 – Andrew Rich – Eugene, Oregon
1002 – Keith Warren – Stevens Point, Wisconsin
1003 – Adam Olson – Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1003 – Jon Drummond – Minneapolis, Minnesota
1004 – Timmy Gill – Minneapolis, Minnesota
1004 – Jay Reading – Davenport, Iowa
1006 – Matt Hall – Willis, Texas
1007 – Geoff Bennett – Canton, Michigan
1008 – George Smith – Columbia, Missouri
1009 – Chris Hereen – Madison, Wisconsin
1010 – Justin Brunnell – St. Louis, Missouri
1011 – JD Ramirez – Allen, Texas
1012 – Greg Barsby – Grass Valley, California
1013 – Chris Sprague – Des Moines, Iowa
1016 – Coda Hatfield – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1020 – Cale Leiviska – St. Paul, Minnesota
1020 – Eric McCabe – Emporia, Kansas
1023 – Matt Orum – Mobile, Alabama
1031 – David Feldberg – Springfield, Oregon
1033 – Barry Schultz – Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1039 – Ken Climo – Clearwater, Florida

The 2006 Minnesota Majestic Champion was local professional Cale Leiviska who walked away with $2500—the largest purse a player has ever won within the 20 year history of the tournament. Can Cale repeat again? With the impressive list of top rated players registered it will definitely be a challenge for Cale to repeat back to back championships.

There have been several repeat champions such as Jeff Harper, Ron Russell and Barry Schultz, but only Ron Russell won back to back titles in 1998-99. Both Russell and Schultz have won the Majestic the most with three wins each.

Here’s a complete look at all the past winners of the Minnesota Majesic.

1987-Tom Cremer
1988-David McCormack
1989-Jeff Harper
1990-Steve Wisecup
1991-Steve Valencia
1992-Jeff Blount
1993-Unknown
1994-Jeff Harper
1995-Danger Grant
1996-Timmy Gill
1997-Scott Stokely
1998-Ron Russell
1999-Ron Russell
2000-Barry Schultz
2001-No Tournament/Hosted 2001 Worlds
2002-Barry Schultz
2003-Ron Russell
2004-Barry Schultz
2005-George Smith
2006-Cale Leiviska

Since 2002, the Majestic has given out over $50,241 in prize money as an A Tier PDGA Tournament. In 2002, Barry Schultz won $1300 of the $7,286 purse. In 2003, Ron Russell won $1670 of the $9730 purse. In 2004, Barry Schultz won $1890 of the $10,910 purse. In 2005, George Smith won $1700 of the $7,735 purse. In 2006, Cale Leiviska won $2500 of the $14,580 purse.

This season will also prove to be another successful event. With great sponsors and volunteers the Majestic will no doubt be a spectacular event for both the players and spectators. So if you’re a fan of disc golf, grab a friend and head out to Kaposia Park in South St. Paul and Hyland Hills Ski and Snowboard Area the weekend of June 2-3, 2007. You won’t want to miss the best players in the world competing right here in the Gopher State. It’s a chance of a lifetime to see such stiff competition right in your backyard. So grab your cameras or even a disc or two for some autographs. You won’t be disappointed!