Kubien leads MJ15 after hot opening round at junior nationals in Tulsa

Myles Kubien wasted little time putting his name on the front of the MJ15 race, opening the Zanfel Presents 2026 NADGT Junior North American Disc Golf Championships at 8-under par and leaving Tulsa with a lead that already carried developmental weight. Gunnison Borges sat two strokes back at 6-under, Gabriel Anderson followed at 5-under, and the first-round spread on the leaderboard showed a field that was far from settled on the 6,043-foot, par-60 NADGT Yellow Junior Nationals layout.

That layout matters. Hunter Park’s Mach 3s asked players to score, but not recklessly, and the numbers reflected it: Kubien found enough birdies to separate, while Markus Stradtman and Jake Hinshaw both stayed in the hunt at 4-under. On a course that blends woods, water, contour and risk-reward holes near the creek, one loose stretch can erase a hot start quickly. Kubien’s opening round suggested discipline as much as power, the kind of round that usually comes from clean decision-making and a calm read on when to attack.

The tournament itself, an Amateur A-Tier scheduled for June 5-7 in Tulsa, placed that start in a bigger competitive frame. The weekend included MJ18, FJ18, MJ15, FJ15, MJ12, FJ12, MJ10 and FJ10 divisions, with Kyle Maute listed as tournament director. That broader structure is part of what gives junior nationals so much significance: it is not just one division chasing a trophy, but a full snapshot of the sport’s next pipeline. NADGT’s 2026 expansion, with added divisions and a $20 reduction in A-tier entry from 2025, only sharpened that sense of access and opportunity.

Kubien’s round also stood out because the Tulsa stage already had a recent benchmark. At the 2025 championship, John Ryan III won MJ15 at 34-under, Gabriel Anderson finished eighth at 7-under, and Kubien tied for 12th at 5-over. A year later, Kubien’s position at the top told a different story, one of real progression and a player turning last season’s lesson into this season’s opening statement. His PDGA profile lists him from Talala, Oklahoma, which adds another layer to the Tulsa narrative: this was a local junior meeting a major stage with a sharper game and better control.

Hunter Park, established in 1998, is built for that kind of test. The standard course measures 5,595 feet, but the championship setup stretched the layout to 6,043 feet, making shot selection and mistake avoidance even more valuable. Kubien’s two-stroke lead was not a finish line, but in an event designed to expose the next generation, it was a convincing first answer.