Valerie Mandujano is the 2022 Waco Annual Charity Open champion. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

There were a few things carrying Valerie Mandujano through the battle.

She leaned on the words of her late grandfather, a role model for her family.

“He would always tell us to keep fighting and that it’s a new day,” she said. “That’s the mentality I had today. I think the thing that kept me pushing was always thinking about him and telling myself that I wouldn’t let another one slip away.”

This is the first Elite Series win for Valerie Mandujano. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

Confidence in her training while learning a new bag with a new sponsor paid off, evident by the trust she showed on a win-sealing throw on the 53rd hole.

“It was a little bit of everything working today – driving and putting,” Mandujano said. “It was knowing my discs and choices at the end. My fiancé, Mason (Ford), helped me with that. He guided my bag and said ‘let’s see how this works for you. Let’s go to the field sometimes five times a week to see how these discs fly. It paid off.”

It all paid off as Mandujano took off on Sunday in a gutsy performance to grab her first PDGA Elite Series championship with a four-stroke win at the Disc Golf Pro Tour – Waco Annual Charity Open presented by Prodigy Disc.

Valerie Mandujano lines up a shot on Sunday in Waco. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

Mandujano had been in the mix several times throughout her career, only to see the trophy slip away. She was in that same spot on Sunday, with strong competition right there with her on a course that punishes the slightest miscue and leads to dramatic swings at every turn.

Down four strokes to Eveliina Salonen entering the final run through Brazos East Park, Mandujano buckled down after a slow start with four-straight birdies to jump into a share of the lead at the turn. Fairway hits, scrambling and putting – all crucial at a course like the Beast – propelled her to a one-stroke lead over Kristin Tattar through 16 holes.

“It was just about seeing how I can score, how I can play my game and stick to it,” Mandujano said of her final-day mentality. “At the end, I was like it was a lot more strategizing to see what other players were going to do and how everyone else was doing on live scoring.

“I felt like what kept pushing me was telling myself that I’m not the same person I was a year ago. I’ve grown stronger than I’ve ever been.”

Family is big for Valerie Mandujano. Photo: Kevin Huver / DGPT

All that remained was the final two holes.

Her trust and confidence showed on 17, the treacherous dogleg that demands precision and has ripped away wins throughout the drama-filled history in Waco. But Mandujano conquered it. This one wasn’t slipping away.

“It just showed me personally what I am capable of doing,” Mandujano said. “I felt like for the longest time that I was close to winning or I was right there in the mix and then I would have a bad round and it would go away.

"It showed me what winning is on tour. I think it gives me something to hold onto so whenever I'm right there again, I can just go back to these feelings."

Tattar finished second, four strokes back. Catrina Allen, whose hot round of 8-under propelled her 14 spots up the leaderboard, rounded out the podium. Ohn Scoggins and Kat Mertsch finished fourth.

The Disc Golf Pro Tour resumes at the Texas State Disc Golf Championship on March 25-27 in Tyler, Texas.