The Monterey Bay Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club caught a case of the Kevin Costners. 


If we build it, they reasoned, they will come. 


As with Field of Dreams, it worked, only with fewer ghosts and cornfields.


The Jellies completed the Ryan Ranch Disc Golf Course in 2008. This week, the world will come for the 2011 Professional Disc Golf Association World Championships.


The first PDGA Worlds were held in California in 1982, so this year’s event represents a homecoming, albeit by way of atypical circumstances. Host cities normally submit their bid to host the games three years in advance, but after Houston dropped out a year and a half ago, there was an emergency request for bids and Santa Cruz was chosen as the host city, though much of the action will tee off in this county. The 400 competitors will descend from 32 states and 14 countries hoping to get catch a chunk of the $108,000 purse, the richest yet. 


The six-day event will be split among four courses – Ryan Ranch and CSUMB’s Oaks Course, Pinto Lake Course in Watsonville and DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz. Players will traverse each 27-hole course once according to rules similar to what the disc-addicted call “ball golf.” If the disc lands in an unsafe position such as poison oak, the golfer can throw from a meter behind the spot. If the disc travels out of bounds, the golfer gets a stroke penalty. Tee shot accuracy is a must, as out of bounds off the tee is a two stroke penalty. A “cut line” is set Friday night and those with lower scores than the cut play the 18-hole semi-finals at Pinto Lake and DeLaveaga Saturday morning, Aug. 13. Later that day, the field is cut in half and the 9-hole finals take place at Pinto Lake, where organizers expect between 3,000 and 5,000 spectators. 


The players are split up into divisions: the men and women open pros; men and women masters (over 40); men and women grandmasters (over 50); senior grandmasters (over 60); legends (over 70); and senior legends (over 75). 


They wouldn’t be here without 20 dedicated MBSJDGC members and countless volunteers. The club was founded in 2004 by Sean Allen, Steve Thomas, Alan Cosseboom, Mike Brown, Merle Witvoet and Dr. Stancil Johnson (member of the Frisbee and Disc Golf Hall of Fame). The Jellies acquired about 72 acres of Ryan Ranch in 2008 and cleaned the place up after its unofficial past existence as a dump. The money and equipment was donated by members of the Jellies and the city of Monterey.


The courses’ championship pedigree is a product of the sheer length of the course, the significant elevation changes and the variety of shots needed to succeed. 


Monterey County is no stranger to disc history. “Steady” Ed Headrick, commonly known as “The Father of Disc Golf,” designed the Cypress Course at CSUMB, reportedly one of the last courses he played before his death in 2002. He also founded the PDGA and the amateur DGA, and is credited with coining the actual term “disc golf.” The DGA headquarters remains in Watsonville, where it supports both the CSUMB Disc Golf club and the Jellies. 


Insiders call the two Ryan Ranch courses some of the most challenging in the world, even without the poison oak. The dog-leg left seventh, for instance, requires a technical drive, but the carefully measured 831-foot distance makes players believe they need to bomb it. After a driver-distance second shot, the golfer needs another approach shot and a one-point putt just for par. 


But that won’t intimidate the world’s greatest, which includes some significant locals. Aptos’ Nate Doss – rated number nine in the world – is looking for his third championship. Brother and sister Avery and Valerie Jenkins live in Santa Cruz; Avery was the 2009 World Champion, while Valerie is already a three-time world champ and rated the best woman player in the world. 


Outsiders will also contend. Ken Climo from Clearwater, Florida, was once unstoppable; he won nine crowns in a row and 12 overall, but his prime is now behind him. Nikko Locastro from St. Louis, Mo., is already ranked number one in the world at 23. 


Steve Thomas, founding president of the Stinging Jellies, thinks placement of the tournament affirms his belief in the disc prominence of Monterey Bay – as did CSUMB’s 10th place finish at the 2011 National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships. 


“I believe that Central California is the epicenter of disc golf in the world,” he says. This week, his case is pretty compelling. 


The PDGA Pro World Disc Golf Championship takes place Aug. 7-13 at DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz, Pinto Lake in Watsonville, CSUMB’s Oaks Course and Ryan Ranch Course in Monterey. Free. www.2011proworlds.com.