VCU Secures Berth in 2023 JB Cup Finale

The Jim Brown (JB) Cup (Ryder Cup equivalent in ball-golf) structure is fickle; earning a spot in the JB Cup Final is tough, but holding onto it as the newly elevated team is even more challenging. The purpose of this event is to make the top players from every municipality play against each other’s best. It’s a pressure cooker and these athletes apply the pressure.

On Sunday, August 28th, the Vancity United Disc Golf A-Team secured their berth in the 2023 JB Cup Final coming in third place of the four competing teams, relegating the Mundy Park squad, and we couldn’t be any more proud of them.

The story goes back a few years as the club has recently made the JB Cup Final many times but was subsequently relegated back to the JB Cup Challenge (the previous event in the JB Cup structure… it’s complicated). This includes a heartbreaking double-elimination loss in the JB Cup Challenge finale last year that saw them miss out on the opportunity to compete at the Cup.

Not only did they return to the Challenge finale (Sunday) against the same team this year, but they also won in a resounding fashion after defeating three other teams the day before (Saturday) setting the stage for their return to the JB Cup Final. They were hungry to prove themselves at what is described as British Columbia's premier disc golf team match-play event and did just that.

Shawn Luco: “The most important thing is that we’re a tight team and we play for each other. We have great camaraderie and everyone is pulling in the same direction. It’s all about growth and improvement and embracing the challenge and the competition. This is one of the most pressure-filled, intense, and enjoyable competitions in the calendar year for a lot of these guys. I’m super proud of them. Third place feels like a real big step in the right direction for the growth of VCU’s JB Cup team.”

Day 1 (Saturday) of the JB Cup was a grind.

Best-shot saw both Langley and VCU give themselves an early lead with 4.5 and 4 points of a possible 6 while Islands and Mundy earned 2 and 1.5, respectively.

Alt-shot saw an Islands push earning 3.5 points of a possible 6 points while Langley earned 3 and VCU earned 4. Mundy again fell behind with only 1.5.

With both best-shot and alt-shot only being worth 6 points each, the day was only half done. Singles are worth 12 points; 12 matches per team, each worth 1 point instead of doubles matches required 2 players but only reward one point.

Another incredibly tight round: VCU with 5 points, Islands with 5.5 points, Mundy Park making up some ground with 6.5 points and Langley extending their lead with 7 points.

Final scores on the day show it’s still anyone’s game with Langley in control and Vancity United not far behind.

Langley 14.5
VCU 13
Islands 11
Mundy 9.5

Day 2 (Sunday) was another grind and one of the tightest JB finales we’ve ever seen.

Best-shot saw Langley open the door wide open for every other team only scoring 1 win for a single point. VCU managed 2.5 points, leaving many more points out there. The big beneficiary, Mundy Park earning 5 of a possible 6 points boosting them to 14.5 while Islands earned a smooth 3.5 points. Game on.

Langley 15.5
VCU 15.5
Islands 14.5
Mundy 14.5

VCU Let’s Go

Alt-shot couldn’t have gone worse for Mundy Park picking up only one point with a single win. Langley continued to drive themselves ahead of the pack while Islands picked up a point on VCU with each earning 4 points while VCU earned 3 further tightening the rankings up top. It’s still anyone’s competition.

Langley 19.5
VCU 18.5
Islands 18.5
Mundy 15.5

Keep in mind that the singles round is worth 12 points with 12 matches per team, each worth 1 point, while the previous two rounds of best-shot and alt-shot combine for just 12 points in total with only 6 points each. Singles have the potential to change everything.

But nothing would substantially change despite the possibilities. Langley extended their lead earning 7.5 points while Islands swapped spots with VCU earning 6 points while VCU earned 5. That was all it took; Mundy only earned an admirable 4.5 points leaving them at the back of the group and relegated.

Langley 27
Islands 24.5
VCU 23.5
Mundy 21

Kingsley Ralling: “It was close, probably as competitive as ever. In match-play, the margins of victory are very thin so scoring separation is always right there. I’d love to look over the list and see how many matches were within one or two points.”

Mundy Park will be the host of the 2023 JB Cup Challenge.

Tom Tischer: “It was a great weekend. Every match is challenging. It was the tightest JB Cup I’ve ever been involved in and the first one I played was in 2016. And this is the first year we’ve been able to stay in (the JB Cup) for years so to not be relegated feels good and to me, that’s a win.”

Congratulations to our entire team on working their way back to the top-tier of team disc golf in BC. Game on!

VCU-A Roster:
Miguel Alvarado
Steve Crichton
Steve Crozier
Brendan Cuddihy
Uku Feldman
Coert Grobbelaar
Ryan Hebert
Anthony Iammarino
Shawn Luco
Kingsley Ralling (Team Captain)
Ryan Sherriff
Jade Smith
Parsa Tajbakhsh
Tom Tischer
Stephen Yu

JB Cup Finalists Shake Hands

We’d like to congratulate the Langley team on winning the 2022 JB Cup. Congratulations, we can’t wait for next year.