CSUMB women's disc golf wins major

In the team's first season of competition, the CSU Monterey Bay women's disc golf club team won the 2015 National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship, a Professional Disc Golf Association major, last weekend.

The team, made up of Traci Alger, Mikaela Bogdan, Jenn Schopfer and Guillermina Rodriguez, edged the University of Oregon by one shot to win the tournament title at 736. The Otters led by seven shots heading into the finals, but the Ducks quickly whittled away at the Otters' lead. Down by a shot, Oregon missed a putt on the final hole, allowing CSUMB to lay up and take the title.

"It was great to have challenging competition such as the Oregon Ducks, a Division I school," Alger wrote in an email.

Alger led the way for the Otters, taking eighth in the individual competition.

"The most exciting thing about the competition for me was making the cut for the women’s individual championship," Alger said.  "The top eight women competed in a round that went into the dark on the third day of competition, which consisted of 13 holes of the Old Glory championship course. The focus and determination of all those women was difficult to beat."

CSUMB was one of only two schools to field a team in every division (women's championship, men's championship, men's first flight, men's second flight).

The team's coach, Merle Witvoet, also teaches a disc golf class at CSUMB. Sierra Lewis paved the way for the CSUMB women's disc golf team last year, competing as an individual before a women's team was created. The Otters are supported by events and fundraisers held by the disc golf club on campus.

The team practices at the Cypress Course and Oaks Course at CSUMB, as well as the Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course in Monterey.  The club plans to help create a disc golf learning course in the park next to Los Arboles Middle School in Marina.

There will be a new disc golf course in the area before that, at least for a weekend. Alger, Witvoet and club Vice President Michael Goitia are in charge of volunteer coordination for the inaugural St. Jude Disc Golf Charity Invitational at Bayonet Golf Course on May 22-24. The Professional Disc Golf Association event is being held to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.