Boy Champ
Sam Phelans was only 16 years old, but he needed a travel permission slip from his parents to the airline to compete in the PDGA Pro World Championship in 1984. It was one of his first disc golf tournaments outside of Southern California, and he received his PDGA number just a month before the event.
Tough defeat teaches lessons
Sam was young and didn't have much tournament experience leading up to the 1984 PDGA Pro World Championship, but he'd suffered two tough losses in overall events that he'd never forget. He'd lost the 1983 Junior World Championship by 4/10 of a point, and just a month before the 1984 Pro World Championship, he'd missed a 15-foot putt on the final hole to lose the U.S. Open by one stroke. These two experiences were shocking at the time, but Sam had no idea they would propel him to become the youngest PDGA Pro World Champion in history. Between his U.S. Open loss and the start of the World Championship, Sam practiced every day at La Mirada from sun up until the street lights came on.
The youngest PDGA World Champion in history
The 1984 PDGA Pro World Championship was held at Ellison Park in Rochester, New York. The venue had a permanent course and a temporary course built for the tournament. Luckily for Sam, Ellison's permanent course was long and favored a power player like him.
Armed with his Aero, XD, two Avias and a towel, Sam went up against the best players in the world. After the first round he was already 8 strokes behind the leader, but the World Championship is a marathon, not a sprint. Sam set a course record of -8 in the second round and backed it up with a -8 in the third. By the final 18 holes, “The California Kid” (as he was jokingly called) was 6 strokes ahead.
Sam was understandably nervous early in the final round. After the first three holes, he found himself three strokes behind a tough opponent who was on his way. “That's never going to happen again,” he said, recalling his recent close loss. He practiced hard at La Mirada, which helped him stay focused.
I'm very competitive and I remembered losing by one stroke last month and losing by 4/10ths of a point the year before.
– Sam Phelan
On the sixth hole, known as the Top of the World, Sam pulled out his trusty Aero, took a breath, and lightly touched the pole over 600 feet downhill. The crowd cheered, and Sam went into his round confident that this week was his turn. In the end, Sam won the tournament by five strokes.
Take home the trophy
Sam Phelans returned to Southern California where Innova Champion Discs had just formed and proudly shared the news of his victory with Dave Danipace, Harold Duvall, Charlie Duvall, Tim Celinski and the rest of the growing Southern California disc golf community. Sam remembers this as the beginning of his relationship with Dave Danipace, who took him under his wing and coached him until he broke the world record for the distance. Although there were no official teams at the time, in many ways Sam Phelans was one of the first athletes of Team Innova. He set the stage for Innova to continue as the champion's choice for decades to come.
The next Boy Champ
Forty years later, disc golf has grown in ways no one could have imagined in 1984. With so many athletes dedicating their lives to the sport, disc golf's top events are more competitive than ever (even winning the MPO's C-tier is extremely difficult!) So, will anyone ever beat Sam Phelan's record? Unlikely, but not impossible. In 2022, 17-year-old Gannon Barr won the U.S. Disc Golf Championship, the only event that rivals the World Championship in terms of prestige.
With more funding pumped into the sport and younger generations looking to top disc golfers as role models, there will be an opportunity for new boy champs to emerge who may already have endured some tough losses, put in some hard practice, and are hungry to beat today’s top players.
Even if the chances are slim, there may be some kid who makes it, and I am rooting for you.
– Sam Phelan
